This is the Era of Experiences and Belonging

We’re diving into what truly makes your content stand out, especially as we look ahead to 2026. I’ve seen so many trends come and go over the years, but the most impactful strategy remains the same: creating an experience and a sense of belonging. Whether you’re a brick-and-mortar shop owner, a realtor, fitness coach, business mentor, or product creator, what sets you apart is inviting your audience to feel something. In this episode, I’ll break down how to transform your content from “teachy and generic” to ME-centric and lived-experience focused. We’ll talk about crafting carousels and reels that put your followers in the story with actionable ways to make your messaging familiar, cozy, and inviting.

In this episode we’ll be covering:

• Why lived experiences matter more than generic “value” posts that sound like Google or ChatGPT.
• Shifting focus to Me-Centric hooks where you share real experiences, recommendations, and stories.
• Creating a sense of belonging and community allowing your audience to see themselves in your content, while also helping them feel safe.
• The growing desire for memorable, interactive experiences both online and in-person.
• Leveraging familiarity with hyperlocal content that mentions specific cities, states and other locations.
• Personalizing your content to speak to specific people making them feel seen and like they belong. 

Featured content in this episode:

• ShannonMcKinstrie: 5 Subtle Content Shifts Driving Massive Growth in 2026

Recommended episodes:

• Episode 067: The Importance of Belonging on Social Media
• Episode 081: Your Next Powerful Piece of Content is Already on Your Phone
• Episode 085: Start Thinking Like a Marketer So People See Themselves in Your Content
• Episode 088: Find Your Content Rhythm and Build a Simple Content Strategy

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Transcript

Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:05]:
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. All right, y'all, I'm so excited for this episode because again, what is so fascinating to me as someone who's worked in social media for over 10 years now and marketing and media for even longer, is as much as, like, things change. So much still stays the same. So back in 2020. No, so 2021, I just had Chloe and I remember making this reel and saying, you know, here are five things people growing on Instagram are doing right now.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:48]:
People really successful on Instagram. These are the five things they're doing right. And one of the main things I push is that they're creating experiences. And I remember stressing that so hard because I was like, especially in 2020 and during the pandemic, I was like, if you're, you know, that's why everyone panicked because all these businesses hadn't been active on social media yet. And I'm like. And they're, you know, again, being told, provide value, provide value. And I'm like, you know, it's like coffee shops are like, what do you mean? How do I provide value? Tell me how to tell them how to make a latte. It's like, sure.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:15]:
But also, like, value is like showing what it's like to walk into your store, what it is like to experience your shop, your movie theater. So even from the brick and mortars, I was saying the same thing. Okay, so, yes, you need to help them understand what it's like to walk into your store, your event space, whatever it is. Photographer, same thing. They want to know what it's like, what is it like to have you as the photographer, realtors, what's it like to spend a day with you? What's it like negotiating with you Fitness coaches? We definitely want to know what it's going to be like to be working with you, right? Business coaches as well. Every single industry you can think of. And again, even when you think about, like, corporations and like, let's say, like, one of the things that people always ask in an interview is typically, what's the culture like here? What's, what's it gonna be like for me to hire you to work with you? But also, not only that, I just talked brick and mortars. I talked to service providers.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:08]:
I talked, right. Hello. What are we missing? Products. Even products. I don't care what you sell. I wanna know what, what my experience will be like using this product in my kitchen every day, using this whatever in my car, we want experiences, even on social media. And if you can figure out how to make your content and experience your Instagram stories and experience, you've won. So let me tell you what that looks like.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:36]:
And there's going to be. I just shared a carousel this morning and it breaks down all of this. So I want you to go look at it, go study it. But obviously I'm going to dive in a little deeper on this podcast episode about it. So one of the biggest shifts we've seen in recent years is the ME centric hooks. I talk a lot about it on this podcast, right? But what that means with ME centrics is it's you're sharing your lived experience. So instead of how to buy your first home in 2026, or what books to read to become disgustingly wealthy in your 40s, whatever it is, right? Whatever that advice is, if you're sharing something helpful, it's the books I recommend to my clients as a xyz, it's how I helped my client my buy their dream home when they thought blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay, this goes for humorous content.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:21]:
This goes for heard content. You guys have heard me talk about the 4H's so much happenings, all of it, right? When you're doing a pov, you're creating an experience, you're putting them in a story, right? So we've gone from these teachy, boring, generic hooks to hooks that are either helpful, humorous, make people feel heard, or share what we're doing behind the scenes. But do a storytelling twist. Because Instagram has been a storytelling app since the beginning, it still is a storytelling app. So as much as things change. Yes, they do. They also stay completely the same. So what we do is what we do has always worked.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:56]:
Creating experiences, creating a community to belong, letting people into our world, sharing our values, sharing what we're passionate about, sharing why our service or product or community is the best or our place is the best. And we make sure our messaging, our copy, our video creates an experience. It makes us feel it. Right? So when you go to this post, I'm going to point a couple out. Okay? So the post I shared this morning, the link will be in the show notes, right? One perfect example of this is from a home interior design or construction. One of those, right? It says pov. You put a sauna inside your shower and instantly your home becomes a wellness retreat. 125,000 likes, you guys.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:39]:
And all it is is a 10 second, eight second video of the person walking through the shower and leading you to the sauna. You can feel it, you can feel what it's like. And then what happens to your brain psychologically? We picture what our life would be like with that sauna immediately. I want that bathroom. I want this experience. I want my home to feel like a wellness retreat. And they didn't just stop at pov. You put a sauna inside your shower.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:01]:
They made you feel. And what does feeling do? Creates an experience. Okay, so there you go. That's a great example for those of you who sell transformations or, you know, beautiful luxurious things. Another one, this is a great one. It says when you don't have space for a full time dining table, 42,000 likes. And what this creator does is show this cool contraption and you'll see it again in the carousel I created. And then she demos how to open it and it creates this dining room table.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:26]:
So someone lives in a small apartment or a small space or is hosting something soon where they need another table. They are experiencing this. They're watching it, they're absorbing it. Yes, but they're experiencing it. So this is the era of experience and belonging. And I actually saw a post the other day on LinkedIn talking about how experience is going to be the big thing for 2026. Like in more in person events, more things at shops and things that. Right? We don't want to just walk in.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:52]:
Well, some of us do, but most of us don't want to just walk into a store and walk out. We want things in there that also create an experience. And actually the other night we had, my husband's, he's a realtor and the brokerage had a big party, right? They had experiences all over the place. They had a photo booth, right. They had obviously a dj. They had, you know, vendors set up. We don't want to just walk into a party. We need things to do, same as social media.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:15]:
We don't want to just scroll. We want an experience. We want to feel something and we want a place where we belong. So again, if you can help People belong in 2026, you can create an experience with your content in 2026 and you can make them feel seen and safe in your space. You're going to crush it. Okay, here's another example of experience. You know when I talk about the ME Centric hooks, right? ME Centric is another. A home construction, kitchen design guy.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:40]:
Five things I'd never do in my kitchen. As a someone who builds kitchens, a travel agent, I have found the most baby friendly, all inclusive resort in Mexico's Rivera Maya. Should I say toddler friendly resort? No. I have found it for you. And in the video it shows her experience there. So me Centric Lived Experienced hooks and videos are going to continue to crush you guys. There's a reason my content does so well and I take people through my day of how I shoot B roll, how I edit a reel, another one this creator does recipes, et cetera, food, how I prep dinner for the week in less than two hours. So again, I want you to also write this down.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:19]:
In addition to me Centric Lived experience, your perspectives, your thoughts, your opinions, your jokes, your stories, your humor, your values, I also always want to make sure that that hook on your screen or that hook in your carousel, why do they care? Always add that why do they care component. Like what I did for my carousel was five subtle content shifts driving massive growth in 2026. Why do my people care? Because of who I am directly under it. I go from someone who helps people grow on Instagram for a living. This is what I see working on Instagram right now. I just drove it home again, like, hi, over here. This isn't just something Chat GPT told me. This is me and my lived experience.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:52]:
Okay, let me give you one more. I know you guys are going to look at it, but another thing we're going to continue seeing in 2026, again, for familiarity, we want to feel, you know, it's okay to repeat yourself. We want to feel familiar with your content. We want to feel cozy, comfy, like you get us borrowed from other brands people are already familiar with. Old Navy, Target, even places work. I've talked about this on the podcast too. But like I always say for my hyper local people, add in your state, your city as much as you can. Because if I live in Raleigh, when I see a reel about Raleigh or Durham or Apex or Cary, I stop immediately.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:25]:
I want to be in the know, right? So in the Bard familiarity slide of this carousel, you'll see that too. You know, creators mentioning Target, goodwill, Sedona, right? So if you're thinking of going to Sedona or you live in Sedona, you're going to stop and look at it. So we're going to continue to see that, but we're also going to continue to see the power behind the scenes again, inviting people into your world. So we don't just want to know what you know. We want to know your process. I want to know what it's like to work with you. So I'm going to end it there, right here with the behind the scenes. Ready? Because this photographer nailed it.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:53]:
She says POV photographing 20 years of friendship like it's a 2000s coming of age movie. And then she shows her getting set up and taking the photos. And then it's clip, clip, clip, clip, clip of the images. Now I know the feeling and the experience I will have with that photographer. I'm not just getting my photo taken. I'm getting a movie scene with my best friend of 20 years. Okay? And again, we just want to be seen. So when I say experience belonging, call out your person.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:21]:
Are they a cat mom? Are they a toddler parent? Are they a former D1 athlete? Call it out. We want to feel seen, we want to belong, we want a safe place and we want an experience. That's what your content needs to do in 2026 and starting today, because you're listening to this on December what? 16th, you got this. Look at my post. I swear, this post is basically a masterclass in what's working in 2026 and how you're going to blow up your account. Make sure your carousels, your videos and your on screen text for your reels creates an experience. Invite them in, make them feel something. And if you need help, of course, keep listening to this podcast every week I'll be giving you more and more of this.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:02]:
And of course I've got the Reels lab if you need more help. I mean, my huge wish for you in 2026, stop stressing so much about the algorithm. Start stressing about your people and the experience. They want to feel what's concerning them, what their values are, what products they need in their life. Right? Because the moment I am creating, I'm immediately thinking, how can I get this person to feel what I'm saying? And even my silly POV last week. Or no, not pov, but the funny Jon Hamm trend that was going crazy. I did like 2025 me, stressing over hooks trending audio in my caption and then it flips to Jon Hamm and it says 2007 me, clubbing at 3am in my business casual outfit, about to upload 300 blurry photos to Facebook that even in humor, makes people feel. It gives them an experience.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:44]:
They can feel themselves. All my millennials can feel that moment when we used to just post on Facebook without a care in the world and it was funny and people related to it. They shared it. They loved it. So again, no matter what you're sharing, what is the experience or what is the belonging? What is that sense that you can give them to make them know? This is the account for me. And you're going to do just fine, friend. Love you. Talk to you next week.