Your Winning Content Strategy is Hiding in Plain Sight

If you’ve been looking for your winning content strategy: it’s hiding in plain sight! We’ll discuss our favorite type of content right now: personal and less polished, while we break down real examples with viral hooks. Plus, I'm going beyond just Instagram today, I’ll let you in on my favorite carousels taking both Instagram and TikTok by storm (with links!) and we’ll talk about studying your own scrolling and buying habits to unlock the kind of content that drives engagement and sales, all while keeping things authentic and fun.

In this episode we’ll be covering:

• Discovering your winning content strategy through observation, leaning into what's already working on Instagram and TikTok.
• A real-life listener success story: growing to 126,000 followers in just one year using content hooks I’ve shared on this podcast!
• How to analyze viral brands outside your niche to inspire fresh and effective content ideas.
• The Nitro Bar's repeating, human-focused content formulas that keep outperforming the typical marketing guru advice.
• Creating your own carousel posts with candid photos and overlaying text.
• Human connection, emotional storytelling, and authenticity are more powerful than overly-polished, scripted posts.
• A little self-reflection on your own buying and scrolling behavior to help shape your unique content strategy.

Featured content in this episode:

• Cozycornerkai: Solo dates I love
• AshleyKburns: The stuff Zillow won’t tell you
• Kaylaskitchandfix: Carousel day
• Chacekitchen: Soup season Carousel
• Courthaynes4: How to heal from anxiety 
• Btswsuki: Websites I can’t live without
• Mita.studioo: Next projects on my sewing list
• Inspirewithyas_: Books I think every highly sensitive girl should read
• Annnamiller: Top books I recommend as a Christian therapist

Recommended episodes:

• Episode 062: Why You Don’t Need Fancy Content to Stand Out
• Episode 074: How to Humanize Your Account When You Feel Stuck in Business Mode
• Episode 076: Create Content That Makes Them Want to Keeping Coming Back
• Episode 077: Simple B-Roll and Strong Hooks for Low-Effort, High-Impact Instagram Content

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Transcript

Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:00]:
I am your host, Shannon McKinstrie. Welcome to Good Content, the podcast where I remove the never ending content creation, guesswork and overwhelm so that you can actually enjoy being on social media again and growing your business with what has always worked. Good Content. Okay, so what if I told you your brilliant winning content strategy was hiding in plain sight? Because it is. So here's what I mean by that. I did a reel on this probably about a year ago, and I want to start talking about it again because I don't know if I've talked about it on this podcast yet, if I have, again, marketing is repeating yourself over and over again, finding clever ways to repeat the same thing over and over and over again, right? So doesn't hurt to hear it again.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:48]:
And if you're new here, hi. I'm so glad you're here. But first, I thought it would be fun to start out with a couple snippets from an email I got the other day from an amazing listener. And it just makes me so happy because again, this podcast was only because a few people were like, I think you should start one. I'm like, who wants to hear my voice? First of all, I hate my voice. And second, the world doesn't need another marketing podcast. Like, does it actually need another marketing podcast? Does it need another podcast about content? Who actually wants to hear my opinion? Right? Because it is, you know, any industry you look at nowadays, especially because everyone's creating content, everyone's building, whether it's a side hustle or a they're going full time, everything feels oversaturated. But it's so funny because if you, if I were to ask any family member of mine, friend of mine, and mention other people in my field, they probably wouldn't know him from anything, right? We're so almost like, when I like to say, like, and I know I heard it somewhere, but you know, when you think of, like kids in middle school, elementary school, high school, that's their whole world.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:43]:
And that's why they get so upset about the drama and stuff. Because, like, their world, like, that is it. And it's the same as business owners. Like, this is our world. And I'm like, there's so much stuff going on outside of our world that we don't even know. But so I need to remind myself that just because there's thousands of people spreading the gospel of content creation, I'm still allowed to make a podcast about it. And I can't believe how well it's doing, and I can't Believe I just got this email, and I'll tell you what it said. And it just makes me so happy that I did start it, because again, I was like, I don't know.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:10]:
We'll see how it goes. Oh. So it says, hi, Shannon, I just listened to this week's podcast and felt right there, fired up with you. She found my email. So she goes on to say, I'm one of those silent listeners that you have helped for about a year and thought it was time I finally reached out to say thank you. I look forward to listening to your podcast. She says very kind words that just literally brought tears my eyes. And then she goes, I started my account last September.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:34]:
So September 2024. So about a year, yeah. She goes, I'm now at 126,000 followers, you guys. She's grown to 126,000 followers in a year. Like, can I say I'm jealous. I've been doing this a while. She goes, and sales of my product have been beyond that I could ever imagined. And then she goes on to say.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:56]:
It's all thanks to this podcast. I mean, I wish I could hug her so bad. I need to get on a flight to wherever she is and go hug her. The hooks that you inspire me to use always perform so well. Now, I looked at her Instagram and she's right. I. Every single hook, I'm like, oh, my gosh, yes. Those are the ones I'm sharing.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:09]:
She goes, last fall, I went from 0 to 10,000 followers in 10 days. Goosebumps. I believe you gave the example. Did I hear you were. And then I filled in the blank with something specific, and there it goes. It took off. So I shared that in a podcast this time last year. She goes, you mentioned changing lives in your episode.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:23]:
Truly changed mine. Oh, my God, Jen. Love you. So I obviously started following her. I can't wait to follow along with all the success she's having. And when I looked at it, I was like, I mean, she's doing everything I say. But here's the thing. Everything I say is based on the content strategy that is right in front of you.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:40]:
It's hiding in plain sight. That's exactly what I said in a reel about a year ago. So in that reel, I share how a lot of what I do the podcast here, what I share with you, the Rails Lab, where I actually share, like, more tailored hooks to their industry, Right? And it's stuff that I see that's grabbing my attention that's going viral, meaning if it's going viral as long as it's going viral in a good way, it's going viral or performing really well because people. It's resonating with people. And I study those and I figure out how to tailor them to your niche. A lot of you, unfortunately. And again, if I. If I'm trying to lose weight in my 40s and I find, you know, weight loss, who helps people in their 40s, I'm going to probably take their word for Bible.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:19]:
But what if it's someone who's actually not spreading good stuff? I'm sure there's people out there going, nodding your head, right? Let's say I'm building a home, and there's one home builder that's looking at the other home builder. Like, what are you talking about? That's gonna be in every industry, right? So what I see a lot of people in my industry saying is stuff that I'm like, literally everything they're saying, I'm like, none of the successful brands are doing. And that's why it drives me crazy. I'm like, literally no one succeeding on Instagram right now is doing what they're saying. And if you just look at what the brands succeeding on Instagram are doing right now, there's your content strategy. There was a guy. I cannot remember his name because it was a while ago when I did this reel, and I was rewatching it the other day, and I didn't mention the guy's name. And I'm like, I'm kicking myself because I'm trying to remember who it was.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:00]:
But it was a gentleman who has skyrocketed on Instagram. And he literally said all he did was study brands that he's obsessed with, not brands in his niche, brands he's obsessed with. Okay? So that's why, I mean, when I go to my Explore page, when I just scroll the reels tab, I rarely see content from people in my own niche. Okay? Because I'm engaging with stuff I'm interested in. I'm engaging with food, North Carolina content. I see marketing content here and there, but mainly I'm seeing motherhood. I love interiors, things like that, right? So I'll see what's doing well for them, and I'll be like, okay, well, how can I use this for my reels lab students who are in. You know, there's someone in the reels lab who literally, they create cool balloon garlands, right? So I'm like, how can I use this for her? Or I'll find one for a hair salon owner who's also A coach.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:45]:
How can I adjust this for him? Right? I look at what the people who are absolutely crushing it are doing, and some people that were crushing it two years ago aren't crushing it anymore. And if that's you and you're nodding, hello, welcome, I'm so glad you're here, go look at what all the people killing it on Instagram are doing. And I know I'm not. I'm talking about more than just Instagram today, because I've been having some Fun success with TikTok. And just straight up, I literally use TikTok. Like, if I put an Instagram story up, that's basically how I use TikTok. I'm like, oh, I put that on my story. I'm gonna go throw it on TikTok.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:17]:
Way more off the cuff, way more random. I just use, again, TikTok as my playground. So please don't look at my TikTok and think, what is Shannon's strategy? I ain't got one over there. I literally just throw some things up. I'll get there eventually. Right now, I'm just kind of having fun over there. But with Instagram, what I'm doing is doubling down on what I see working right now. And when that stops working, we figure out what's working now.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:37]:
So when I say it's hiding in plain sight, your brilliant, epic marketing strategy is right in front of you. It's. It's the soda brand you like following. It's the mom and pop shop down the street that's blowing up on TikTok or Instagram or whatever it is. And there's one. I know I want to shout them out. I know I've shouted them out before. They're called the Nitro Bar.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:54]:
And all their content, they do the same three or four formulas every week. And let me tell you, they don't look anything like the content that the gurus are telling you to make. Okay? They're personal. Even though it's a team, they probably have, like, 20 staff members. You feel like you walk in that coffee shop and know the stat, know the staff. A lot of the content the owner creates looks like it's a crater outside of the coffee shop. Creating it about the coffee shop and what I mean by that is, like, one she did was, like, propaganda. I'm falling for flying to a random small town in Rhode island and buying all their merch because you saw TikTok about how good their whatever latte was.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:28]:
It's the owner in the shop, but it's written as if they're like, it's almost like was that movie. I know. You guys are probably screaming it at me. Inception. That. Okay, wow. I just got really loud. Okay.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:40]:
Inception. It's almost like. Or it's literally. It's very. It's just subliminal is what it is. And we love subliminal, right? And honestly their formulas are the same all the time. Another one that they use is let's make our blah, blah, blah. So let's make our viral pizza bagel together.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:54]:
Let's make our new fall drink together. They do that every week. The other thing they do is they'll interview their staff. They'll go, hey, actually one was really hilarious the other day. He goes, hey, I'm hungover. What would you make me? And the barista is like, here's what I'm going to make you. The other one that they do. How lucky are we to be alive at the same time as blank? So they'll say the blueberry lemonade.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:13]:
I know I've talked about them on the podcast, but 500000 on TikTok, I. They probably have about the same on Instagram, but they're putting the same content on TikTok that they do on Instagram. And I'm saying that because a year ago I would not. If I put some on Instagram, I wouldn't put it on TikTok. Now I'm throwing everything I put on Instagram on TikTok just to see what it does. Still doesn't do as well as whatever I put directly on TikTok because TikTok is just a different culture, whatever. But they have found the magic sauce because again, they're creating very human content. Okay.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:42]:
So if I wanna start crushing on TikTok, which I do eventually, right now I gotta get Chloe off to school next week and then I can finally maybe double down and commit. But what I noticed as well on TikTok is those real life moments that I literally will share on stories and I'm like, oh, you know what, I'll share it over there. The other thing I've done well on TikTok with as well as Instagram as this new age of carousel posts that are those just literally photos from your camera roll with text on top. Let me talk about that for a second. Just so you know. Cause again you're like I said, your content strategy is hiding in plain sight as you're scrolling TikTok and Instagram, you will see these everywhere right now. So do them. When you see things going crazy, figure it out and make it.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:22]:
And that's why you're listening. So let me tell you about these carousel posts because they're absolutely genius. And we'll have them in the show notes if you want to play around with them. And the way I describe them is like they almost look like a short children's storybook, right? You're going to use real photos from your camera roll. Sometimes these photos don't even have to make sense with text. I'll tell you what I mean in a moment. It feels like a little story or it just feels like some quick digestible tips and just clear text over that overlays the photo and looks like a page book. Again, they'll be in the show notes if you want to look at a few of them.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:52]:
I've done a few that actually did pretty well for me and brought in a good amount of followers. But I'm telling you right now, what is hiding in plain sight right now is less polished, more real. More real time in the moment hooks that. I know you guys are tired of me saying it, but with I my R us, if. If you want to do the more plural route, like the nitro bar, they go, let's make our viral, blah, blah, blah. But it's a female or a male talking to the person, talking to the camera saying it. It feels human. If you're a corporation, same thing goes, let's say the office right now, like the show.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:26]:
The Office, let's say they were an actual paper company in Scranton. What I would do for the Office would be something like what happens after you place an order with us with timestamps. And this is exactly what I mean. And it is in the show notes. This is actually one that I found on TikTok that was, I think, brilliantly done. It says timestamped hosting day in my life. So as you know, you know right away you're like, okay, if I have something coming up that I'm going to be hosting, like a party, I'm going to say this. Maybe you're hosting Thanksgiving.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:51]:
Whatever it is, you're like, I'm going to save this. So I, you know, I know she's already giving authority with that hook. And the photo just shows a bunch of, like, platters and tape on them. So, you know, you're like, oh, man, this girl knows what she's doing. You swipe. Slide 2. 6:30am Wake up after snoozing the alarm too many times, adding a little personality in there. Slide 3.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:11]:
7:03am Empty the dishwasher Drying rack and clean the kitchen. Slide four, breakfast for the perfect angel baby. 7:38am shows the cats. So again, she's letting you in on her life. It's not just about the hosting. This is what we see. Going crazy, personal, right? So let's say if it was the office, right? It was like Dwight takes your phone call and da, da, da, da, da. Or right.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:31]:
You know, and you could introduce the people in the office. People would love it. So that's a little thing about just the carousels and how they're different. I saw someone on Threads the other day or today. She was like, oh, my God, I just spent all this time on a carousel. And it, like, didn't. And I wrote her. I was like, look, you know, hope it's okay to take a look.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:46]:
But I take. I took a look at your carousel. Here's some suggestions. Here's what's working right now. Other suggestions on these carousels. Because again, it's all hiding in plain sight. Another one. Solo dates I love as an anxious introverted girly by Cozy Corner Kai.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:12:03]:
Slide two. So remember how carousels, it was like, slide one, the hook. Slide two, a little intro. Slide three, get into it now. It's like, just get into it again, there's no rules. You can still go, you can still use canva, you can still whatever. But if you want to do what's working right now with what's hiding in plain sight, hopping in here and do this. Slide 2 says, Coffee shop this.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:12:21]:
A seasonal latte, a book and pretending like the rest of the world doesn't exist. Slide 3, Long walk with my favorite playlist headphones on. Da, da, da. And then she goes on to say all that. I know you're thinking, but, Shannon, that's not business related. Here's what I would do if I was using it solo work dates I love as a social media strategist and mom of two. Something like that. Here's how a realtor used it.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:12:43]:
Ashley Burns in Franklin, Tennessee. The stuff Zillow won't tell you about moving to Franklin, Tennessee. Brilliant. Zillow is recognizable. The words Franklin, Tennessee is recognizable. You swipe the second slide, there's a quote, how's the humidity? And then it has a breakdown. Slide 3. What about tornadoes? Has a breakdown.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:13:01]:
Slide 4. How? Right, you can use this. And just like I said with the office, you could do timestamps. That's such a fun way to do it. Another great example of this could be, let's say you're a lawyer and you're like podcasts every business owner should be looking at from someone who send cease and desists for business owners. I don't know, make it fun. Slide two it's just a screenshot. You could use a simple photo from your camera roll, maybe you at your desk with a screenshot of the podcast over it and I'll give you an example in the show notes of just what that would look like.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:13:33]:
My Mindset Therapy people this creator says how to heal from chronic anxiety directly underneath as someone who started having panic attacks in elementary school, got off the highest doses of SSRIs and healed completely naturally, this is content. Right now, it is personal. Whether you are a coffee shop with 20 employees, you're a law office in the middle of summer, Mississippi, this is what it looks like. We want to know who you are. So again, it's all hiding in plain sight. And this is your exercise for today. To wrap this all up, I want you to think of one thing that you recently purchased and one account that you recently followed. And I want you to sit with this and ask yourself why? What made you follow the person and what are they doing that got you to follow them, even though maybe they're really good at what they do? It could be something with their personality, something with the content.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:14:22]:
What got you? What is it in their stories? So that's number one. Number two, what's a product you recently bought? What's the feeling attached to it? Was it a necessity? Was it because you had something coming up that you needed? Was it because it was luxury and it made you feel good? The more we study, and this is, this is to drive it all home. This is the purpose of the episode. I wanted to end it on this. The more you study your own behaviors, your buying behaviors, your scrolling behaviors, what gets you to comment, what gets you to share, what gets you to save, what gets you to hit purchase? The better you'll become at creating content. Everything I'm sharing with you here or with my Reels lab or in my mastermind with Emily, or just in the DMs with someone is based on what I see working. Not what worked two weeks ago, not what worked five years ago, what worked today, yesterday, and will work tomorrow. And that's why this podcast means so much to me, because I know there's so much information out there that is six months old, one year old, and it no longer works.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:15:18]:
So start observing. What grabs your attention, what gets you to hit purchase? What is it? And before you compare yourself, know that this is only just an exercise to get in that mindset of, like, okay, what's working right now? And guarantee it's a lot more human connection, emotional connection, storytelling. Because again, we're going back to basics. But real quick, just what's hiding in plain sight for me right now is these really casual carousels. If your carousel stopped working, that's what to switch to. And the other one is obviously, what. Just all the hooks that I share on Instagram all the time and on this podcast last week, the week previous, those are all still working. That is what's working right now.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:15:55]:
Those hooks that start with here's what I'm. This is the book that. Blah, blah, blah. This is the recipe. You know, you thought you found the best whatever until you found my. This. Fomo. Curiosity, excitement, emotion.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:16:07]:
That's what's grabbing us, and that's what's working. So take this week to really study intentionally as you're scrolling, what grabs you, what excites you, what gets you to hit follow, link, all that stuff. And then second, think about something you bought recently. Um, and if it is something like, well, Shannon was olive oil, and I need olive oil. Okay, but let's talk about that. I switch olive oils all the time. Could be the packaging's fun, could be something's written on the bottle. Think about this stuff.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:16:33]:
You're here because you want to start thinking like a marketer. You don't want a quick shortcut because that doesn't work. We know that now. And that's what I'm here to help you do. I love you, friend. Bye.