Start Thinking Like a Marketer So People See Themselves in Your Content

This episode is all about helping you think like a marketer, not just in theory, but in a way that’s practical and approachable. I’m breaking down how to connect deeply with your audience by moving beyond those generic identifiers and tapping into real-life scenarios, emotions, and storytelling that makes your content truly resonate. We’ll discuss the psychology behind great content, learn how to speak directly to your audience’s lived experiences, and you’ll leave with a quick win you can put into action this week. Whether you’re selling a product, a service, or simply trying to grow your presence on social media, the goal is to build genuine connection, community, and belonging through every piece of content you share. 

In this episode we’ll be covering:

• How to think like a marketer by knowing and understanding your audience almost as well as you know yourself.
• Practical tips for creating relatable content that focuses on real-life moments and scenarios that can be used in any industry.
• The why behind specific identifiers  vs generic labels like “busy mom” or “small business owner”
• The key reasons people choose to follow and buy: connection, community, and belonging, and making sure they are in any content you create.

Featured content in this episode:

• Masseya: Home cooked meal for your kids

Recommended episodes:

• Episode 042: Your Simple B-Roll Can Become Easy Reels That Actually Convert
• Episode 067: The Importance of Belonging on Social Media
• Episode 076: Create Content That Makes Them Want to Keeping Coming Back
• Episode 080: A Crash Course in Social Media Marketing

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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. Well. Hello and greetings. If you're watching on YouTube, this is my daughter's bedroom. We are actually doing a full makeover over of the podcast room. We're getting built ins.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:34]:
It's. It's already looking amazing. My friend Terrace is doing it. I can't wait to share it with you guys. But for the next week or so, I'll be going different places around the house to record this podcast. So first I just want to say I. I have to say thank you so much. A couple weeks ago my podcast manager, Steph, who is amazing, let me know that we surpassed 400,000 downloads of this podcast.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:58]:
And that's in just over a year, I believe. We started April 2024, May 2024. And I just want to thank you so much for being here. I again did not think the world needed another marketing podcast. But the fact that you guys love it just makes me so happy. So. And I think what every time someone tells me how much they love the podcast, they basically say how it's digestible. They feel like they know me.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:21]:
And yes, we do know each other. You're my friend. I promise if I saw you in real life, I would give you the biggest hug. Like, I just love what I do so much and I want you to win. And that comes to the last one, which is a quick win. This is what this podcast is. Yes. Marketing is a lot.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:35]:
You gotta think like a marketer, you gotta learn copy, you gotta learn messaging, you gotta constantly be on top of what your target audience wants and what resonates. And that's why I love this podcast. Cuz it really does help you. All those quick wins lead up to you really starting to think like a marketer. So I just thought it'd be fun to kind of talk about what does it mean to think like a marketer. And if I were to say what it's like to think like a marketer, I would say you gotta be in your audience's head. You have to be literally so obsessed with connecting with people, your people that like you know them almost more than you know yourself. And again, you know, someone just asked me cause I love to get of all those hooks on Instagram, right? And she goes, you know what? I've been talking a lot about identifiers.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:14]:
And someone goes, I. My person is a busy mom. She's like, but that's so vague and boring. I'm like, yeah, it is. So is me saying small business owners. It's like, they're like, right? That's so generic. What mom isn't busy? What corporate person isn't? Whatever. Like it, it gets really vague.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:30]:
But that's why you got to get into the psychology of it all. This is why I talk scenarios. So, so, so much. So again, when she said tired mom, I'm like, why are they tired? And you gotta get down to that. Meaning the dreaded four to seven window when you still have to entertain your kids. Dupe. Dinner time, bath, bedtime. And then it's like, do you get any time for you? That's what I mean.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:49]:
So instead of like, you're a busy mom. Okay, yeah. Or you're a tired mom. Yeah. Why? So again, even if someone goes, oh, I sell here. I'm in my daughter's room. Of course, it's like Sephora Central. If someone goes, oh, well, I just sell lip gloss, right? Well, why do they want the lip gloss? And I get a lot of people saying that, like, oh, I just sell candles.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:04]:
Oh, I just sell whatever it is. I mean, think about it. Back in the day, what did a lot of people do? They went door to door to sell Tupperware, knives. Obviously we gotta need the product, right? But let me tell you, this is not my daughter's only lip gloss, okay? Why does she have so many social media? Why is Summer Fridays in her room social media? It's not because she walked into Sephora and said, oh, let's try this. She knows that this is everywhere. This is what all the girlies in the school are rocking. This is what I see everywhere on TikTok. Right? So a lot of that product, a lot of products or services or whatever it is are.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:36]:
Because oftentimes it is popular and it is trending. That's true. But then what about your product? It's not something that the influencers are talking about. That's why you're listening to this podcast, right? Summer Fridays does not need my help. Or they might eventually call me. But this is where the belongings comes from, right? What is it about your core values that they see themselves in? Let's say your candles are non toxic. Well, again, there's a lot of non toxic candles. Why did you create the candle? Maybe you're a cancer survivor.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:05]:
We need the storytelling. And this is what I mean when you say. When I say, think Like a marketer, what are the scenarios they're going to find themselves in? They're going to want their house to smell good, but what smell like what? A boutique hotel? These are the things you got to dig into when you think like a marketer. It goes beyond why do they want the product, what do they want it priced at, why do they need it, what does it do for them? It goes beyond that to the point that you have to become so obsessed with knowing why every single person buys your product or service. And I get people that buy the Reels Lab and who listen to my podcast for different reasons. Like I said, some people want a quick win, some people just like my insights on things because they're actually marketing experts and they just like to hear the social media side of it. Most times there's gonna be many reasons people wanna follow you, buy from you. I have people who follow me that don't even post on Instagram.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:51]:
They just Again either maybe they connect with the fact that I'm a girl mom that I live in Cary, and they like to watch my stories and see where my family and I are going. But at the end of the day, why are people following me and buying from me? Connection, community, belonging. That's thinking like a marketer. So I'm actually working with a client right now who does sell a product and her big thing is like, she's like, I know I just sell a product, but like, I really want more DMs. And I was. The way you get that is through that content that I talk all the time about, heard and humor. Because that's where they see themselves in your content. And when someone can see themselves in your content, they're going to follow, they're going to buy, they're going to at least be interested or send you to a friend.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:27]:
How do you get that? That is marketing. It's psychology, okay? It leads to emotions. So in addition to, you know, let's think standard marketing, like, okay, billboard ads, postcards, right? That's getting them to buy something, that's getting them to opt in, typically, right? Social media is a long game. It is a community. It is a, like I said, a belonging. And that's why I say it's so important for people to think like a marketer. You can't just. And as soon as you start thinking that way, what are the scenarios they found themselves in? Again, let's say you are the parent coach who says, busy moms, tired moms.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:59]:
Why did the mom hire you? Because she started dreading the four to seven window. Then that's what you say in a reel pov. You find yourself dreading the dadada and you want to start absorbing the tiny moments. And you find my account or this is your sign to what is the tip you have so you stop hating the 4 to 7 window. Instead of saying you're a busy mom. Do you see what I mean? Let's say you're a Mexican restaurant. Clearly, I'm craving Mexican food. What am I not? It's you.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:26]:
You're going to want to go to the place where they know your name, right? You're going to want to go to the place where you're watching their Instagram and you feel like you already know them. Again, I talk about nitro Bar a lot in this podcast. I cannot wait. If I'm ever in Rhode Island, I'm going. It's my first stop off the plane because it's a community. I already know their quirks. I already know the vibe. I know what it's going to feel like when I walk in.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:46]:
That's what social media does. It's not just products and services. And that's where you got to go with your content. It's less about pushing your offer, pushing your services, pushing your products, pushing what's for sale, pushing what you need to sell. Right? It's more about why they're scrolling social media in the first place. Connection. And again, it's about understanding their choices and why they follow who they follow, why they buy the lip gloss they buy. And like I said, a lot of it is because it's viral, it's trending.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:12]:
But a lot of the times, it's the core values of the business. It's the fact they give to the same charity as you. It's the fact that it started in your hometown, those connection points, right? Little things like that. Or it's because they use it, because they asked to borrow it, and now they're obsessed. The other day I was at a conference. I asked this girl, I go, what fragrance are you wearing? I, like, want to put it everywhere. Now. Do I need perfume? No, I've got plenty of perfumes. But it smelled so good.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:40]:
It was, like, intoxicating. So what would that perfume do if they were running an ad or if I was their social media marketer manager, whatever you want to call us, if I was their content creator. Remember, social media managers call yourself content creators because you're probably doing a lot more than managing. Anyway, I digress. I would do the one, the classic one I love. Now, I am Talking in reels format right now on this particular episode. Okay, Those simple B roll reels that I love, because those are the quickest win. And since we're talking quick wins today, the quickest way to get a quick win is, again, you got to nail the messaging first, which is what we're talking about now.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:09]:
And the second is to type it out and put it over some cute visuals. A cute little B roll. It would say something like, not to be dramatic. One of my favorite prompts, not to be dramatic. But if you wear this perfume, you'll get stopped everywhere you go. Another way you could do it, because that is the desire. That is the desire. Of course they want to smell good, but I'm gonna buy a perfume that literally, somewhat I'm stopping the person and that she even said, she goes, yeah, I get stopped all the time.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:32]:
That's the perfume we want. Okay? So you take those in the moment, real life moments. Testimonials you've gotten. Watching what your kids buy, watching what your husband buys, watching what your friends buy. Understand their behaviors. That's thinking like a marketer. When you go buy something, why'd you buy it? Obviously, sometimes again, right. There's all sorts of reasons we buy.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:50]:
I'm not gonna go into it. This is not gonna be a long, lengthy marketing class. Obviously. You know, if we're in a wedding, we gotta buy the bridesmaids dress, right? We gotta buy what the bride wants. But then there's things like what you and I typically sell. Why are they buying it? So after you get down to the psychology of why they want your product and why you're the one they're going to choose, you build those stories around it. And like I said, storytelling is not that deep. Not to be dramatic, but if you put this perfume on, everyone's going to stop you.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:14]:
That's a story. That is storytelling. And guess what? We can. Our brains are selfish. It goes right to, like, we are picturing ourselves getting stopped at the mall, stopped at the party, stopped at whatever. Okay? So with that said, that's a quick win for you today. I want you to go through your testimonials. If you don't have any yet, go to your competitors testimonials.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:30]:
See why people are buying and what they're getting out of it. And honestly, go to Amazon reviews. That's like one of my favorite things to do when I'm buying something is go to the Amazon reviews. What am I doing? I'm looking to find pictures of people with my body type to see If I want to buy the product, right, and I'll read the reviews, I'm going to trust that over what you say as the fashion designer, as the candle maker. Right. And once you know what scenarios they dread, things they desire, you keep them around for a journey. Because now you have made them feel a part of your world. Through Instagram stories, through your TikToks, through your LinkedIn posts, whatever it is.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:04]:
And what's fun about quick wins is that those quick wins turn into one big one. They turn into the breakthrough. And here this is actually a perfect segue to wrap this up. There's a video of a mom and she's it'll again, it'll be in the show notes. Now, did she say you're a tired mom who dreads dinner time? No, she said when you make a home cooked meal for your kids that no one complains about and she's like, puts her hat on backwards like she's the bomb, right? It's an emotion, it's storytelling all wrapped into one. Now, of course there's hundreds of different types of hooks. Like I talk about the four H's. There's also curiosity hooks, there's storytelling hooks.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:43]:
Right? But none of that matters until we know your messaging and until you start thinking like a marketer. That is not to say you need a PhD in marketing. I don't have one. Of course I think like a marketer. Cause I am one. I've been doing this a long time, but that's why I love this podcast so much. Cause I'm hoping this helps you start thinking like a marketer and less vague of your client and customers and more. What is the reason they follow you and buy from you? And the more you bring them on a journey, the better your progress and success will be friend.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:10]:
So your assignment this week is think of a scenario that your people find themselves in instead of saying something vague like busy corporate person. Right? You're tired of sitting in an office where every meeting could be an email and you want to start your whatever, but you don't know where to start. Welcome that type of content. Don't just make them feel it, make them feel emotion. Tell a story with your content. That's when your social media is going to take off. And again, if they can see themselves in your content, game over until next week. My podcast room for this week is now being infiltrated.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:43]:
I love you, friend. I hope this was helpful and that it gave you one quick one to run with this week.