Boost Retention Rates and Create Memorable Content that Feels Human

I’ve said this before, we’re going back to basics when it comes to creating content online. In this AI age we are craving memorable content that connects us and feels human, content that feels real and tangible. There’s an increasing trend for an analog lifestyle, we’ll explore what those trends look like with lots of examples (all linked below!) and how I plan to incorporate this into my own content in 2026. We’ll talk about how the viral Topgolf story ended and what viral unplanned moments can teach us about belonging online. We’ll also discuss how important your retention rates are and why community interactions are key to engagement and growth.

In this episode we’ll be covering:

• Reframing trendy content, especially if you feel anti-trend and don’t want to follow along.
• Getting people to interact with your posts and how I get so many comments.
• Creating content that makes people feel connected and like they belong somewhere.
• Why the analog trend is working so well right now and how to start incorporating it into your own content plan.
• How to hold audience attention, and increase retention rates and watch time with current trends.

Featured content in this episode:

• Shannonmckinstrie: Topgolf breakdown
• Travelingtoretirement: Our number one money rule as a married couple
• Professorcorporate: Ways to call people stupid at work
• Satmasterclass: Writing
• Ambitiouslyalexa: January journal prompts 
• Wordsof_emmaheaphy: Journaling on screen
• Askbridgetteg: Boyfriend instruction manual
• Theselfhelpplanner: Four goals you need for 2026
• Vuongdusti: Media I’ve been consuming instead of doomscrolling
• Cheesegal: You let your kids pick the menu
• Tahirashome: 10 Things we did to make

Recommended episodes:

• Episode 67: The Importance of Belonging on Social Media
• Episode 88: Find Your Content Rhythm and Build a Simple Content Strategy
• Episode 90: How You’re Going to Become Really Good at Content Creation in 2026 (Part 2)
• Episode 92: This is the Era of Experiences and Belonging
• Episode 95: Building Real Community with Stories and Shared Moments

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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. All right, guys, let's do a quick little update from last week's episode about the topgolf situation. Right now I want to say something because I got so much feedback from this episode, but I also shared the whole breakdown of it on Instagram, on LinkedIn, on TikTok, et cetera. Right? So I got a lot of feedback and some feedback. Okay, well, real quick, let me just tell you because you guys love that episode.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:41]:
In case you missed it, they did have the party on the night I was here. I was home, I poured a glass of wine and my husband and I watched it unfold. We were cracking up. They live streamed it. They had confetti, they had part of the net that fell framed for him. I mean, just hysterical. They did fly in the Tony guy. That was hilarious.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:58]:
And everyone loved it, right? People were going crazy. Everyone that was there was like live streaming it and obviously tons of jokes and just good times were had. Now someone made a good point on LinkedIn. You know, they're like, well, Shannon, but I mean, this is temporary. This is right? So, you know, viral spikes are fun, but what's crazy is like, think about it. I know I've talked about this before on other podcast episodes too, but say you go viral for. For something. Maybe something crazy happens in your life and you share it and it goes viral.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:24]:
It has nothing to do with your business. Well, the people that connected with you when you had this viral moment, they'll remember. That's why they followed you. But that's where community comes in. Once the community starts and people are bonding over something or they're cheering you on for something, or they're following this journey of yours. They're always gonna remember that, but then they wanna continue to see more. So with the topgolf thing, or with anything that happens, like maybe you share something crazy and it goes viral and you get all this attention. You're like, hey, what do I do from here? What starts as something kind of random that just sparks this, you know, viral spike and makes people pay attention and follow you and things like that, you often can't plan those right.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:59]:
And that's why people love them and rally around them on social media, because it is authentic and that's what people want. When we go to the movies, we know, we're getting a script and whatever. When we're on social media, that's not what we're looking for. Right. We're looking to talk about the movie. We're looking to see real time moments and get your perspective and your thoughts and your advice and your humor and your stories. Right. We know that.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:17]:
So while we can't plan these moments, we can learn from them. Of what, again, is going back to basics on social media. What does that mean for you? It means building a community around your brand. And like I said, that was literally my Instagram bio in 2015. And it was funny because back then I realized, like, no one really understood what that meant. So I was like, I have to change my bio because people don't understand what that means. Now I feel like people understand what that means because we focus so much on virality and followers and then people get stuck and then they're not making money and they're not being remembered because you have to build a community. And the community comes from obviously shared belief systems, funny inside jokes.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:54]:
A lot of the community is created in the comments section. A lot of the community is created in your Instagram stories because you're sharing things beyond what you're sharing on your feed. That gives people a chance to connect with you. So while you can't create a content calendar with these amazing ways to build community, not always you can. But it just shows how a lot of the unplanned moments are, are what people are craving. And that's where we go back to me saying the biggest trend, quote unquote, is going back to basics. So again, it's not how do we recreate what topgolf had with this Logan guy and this Tony guy. It's what does this teach us about humans online is that they want to be part of something and they want to belong.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:32]:
It all comes down to belonging. I'm telling you, the word belonging is something you guys got to write down every time you're doing a post. How can I make people feel like they belong in my community? Not just when I'm posting about my product or service? And it goes to show how much people want to participate online. Now I get people all the time. No one's commenting on my stuff. No one wants to leave a comment. No one's responding to my stories. What are you responding to? What can you not continue scrolling on until you've commented what was it? And study that and learn from these moments and then do it in your own content.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:04]:
How do I get people to Comment because my people know me. We vibe together, we laugh together in stories. Even in my talk to camera reel, sometimes I'll slide something in there that's kind of funny or millennial coded. And people will comment on that oftentimes. Maybe I'm holding a mug that's really funny or maybe I'm eating something, right? You never know. Those little connection points, they sound silly, guys. But even if you're a realtor showing a house and you're wearing this really fun necklace, like, maybe people are commenting on that. Who cares? People are like, oh, I don't want other people in my industry commenting.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:35]:
I don't want. They're only commenting on my this. You are memorable. Right? And again, and I'll just say this as a side note. I know a lot of realtors because I work with a lot with Realtors. I've worked with all industries. I've worked with every industry under the sun. Realtors for sure get really upset.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:50]:
And actually makers too. A lot of makers say this too. And like artists, like, the only people following and commenting are other people in my niche. I'm like, good, sure, that's not your ideal people, but what is happening every time they comment? It's going to more people. And I know for me, if I see other realtors or other whoever's in the comment section of someone that shows me like, oh, wow, they're trusted in their field. So that's just a side note. So what I mean by this big trend, I don't wanna do big predictions, but let's. Let's call this predictions my biggest prediction for 2026.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:17]:
Let's. That's what this episode will be, right? Again, it's going back to basics. What does that mean? And let me tell you exactly what that means in one quick way that you guys can get a quick win today. Ready? And this reel will be in the show notes. And when I tell you, I have saved dozens like these, so I'll. I'll go through a couple of them. So going back to basics. If you think about basics of human connection, of basics of just life before social media, I know you guys have seen it.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:43]:
I've seen posts everywhere like how I'm going more analog in 2026. Ways to go analog in 2026. It's everywhere. Of course, I'm talking social media that's not analog. But people are creating content that looks analog. Okay, so this creator here, this is actually one of the most. Probably one of those important reels you can watch because she's got the hook right where when you're doing a talk to camera, you want the hook over your head. You want it to be me centric, ideally.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:08]:
And then you want your captions under your head. And she's got this lockdown. So this is a really good reel to study. But this is why this one probably did better than she could have done. A version without this and a version with it she's got paint out. So what it does to our brains, in my opinion, is this yearning to slow down and live more analog and things like that. That's one example. Okay, so her hook, just so you know, it says our number one money rule as a married couple.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:34]:
So again, that trigger word, if I'm married, and I am, that stopped me right away. And I was like, money? Sure. Like, we all need money. We all need rules around money. So what is it? As much as y' all can add identifiers to your hooks, That's a great identifier. Married couple. So anyone married is gonna wanna watch this. And again, she's got all this stuff, but the fact that she's got artwork out, it just.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:52]:
It just slows our brain down a little bit. Okay, so that's one example. Another example. All right, now this one's hilarious. It says ways to call. Ways to call people stupid at work. Obviously, that's gonna go well, because that's funny. And anyone that's in an office environment at work is gonna.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:08]:
Is that identifier. They. They're like, okay, that's me. I go into a 9 to 5. And it's obviously hilarious. Yes. But instead of talking it out, he's got the whiteboard. I've done dozens of whiteboard videos.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:19]:
They always do really, really well. Here's another one. This is from SAT masterclass account. So if you're in education is a great way to do it. And it's got 230,000 likes, over 6,000 reposts, 75,000 shares. And it is literally just someone with a pencil and a paper. It says, what is 7% of 300? And then it shows ABCD. And.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:39]:
And then he breaks down how he solves it, you guys. That's what I mean by analog. And I'll show you one more option just so you can see what I mean. So everyone's got different options for different industries. Here's another one. It's literally just someone writing down their journal prompts. Now, if she had a list that just said January journal prompts, and it was just listed Out. It would probably do okay.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:56]:
It would probably do well. But in 2026, break out the pen and paper. Break out something that feels analog. A book, a notepad. Her account is about journaling and lifestyle and self care. So there you go. I have awful handwriting. You will never see me do that.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:10]:
So great for her. But this is what I'm gonna start doing, and you guys will start seeing it in my content. You can play along with me and see if it helps. It's literally people. The difference between someone just holding a book, a notepad in their hand. Because what it does for me as a viewer, I'm like, what's in that notepad? And one more, there's another one of someone writing, I'll have it in the show notes. And it says, there's literally no text on screen. It is just written word.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:35]:
And why does this work? Well, we all know for 2026 retention is key, and you can see retention rate. It's an overall how long people stuck around your video and when they fell off. We know watch time matters most on Instagram right now. And I hate saying like most because I don't like to speak in absolutes, but they've basically come out and said, like, that's what they look at the most. So obviously, save shares, comments, all that matters. But watch time is key, right? So you can see the watch time, how long people stayed, but retention rate key. So what we're going to talk about in this episode is, you know, how to get that retention up. And of course, when you got Community that trusts you and love you, they're gonna watch every second of every reel and swipe every single picture in your carousels.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:12]:
And when you build that community, that's how. That's how it's done. And what's holding attention, what's keeping attention, what's increasing watch time and retention is this more analog feel of content. So that one I just shared, where it's just the written, the written word, where it says, I'm aging before my children's eyes and they are growing up before mine, obviously feeling right. We know content needs to make them feel something. Why did the watch time. Why is the retention long in this? Cause they hadn't finished it. So you're watching them write the last few words.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:41]:
You're going to stick around for that. So there you go. All right, here's another one. Boyfriend instruction manual, chapter three, video games again, a whiteboard. And she could be standing there just talking to you, and that would work great. Now this is the one I Want to start doing. And I'm going to do one soon where I break out the 4 H's. And this is what I mean by you see a viral video, you templatize it and then you make it for your own niche.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:02]:
Okay, so she's got it broken up in four, like a little chart on paper. Look at the engagement on it. I mean, it's crazy. And I swear it's because we, our brains want to slow down a little bit. That's my biggest prediction. Create content that feels comfortable, engaging, feels like there's a community already built around it so that you want in. And we're in there, in there like swimwear. Guys, here, this is, this is the other version I'm going to start doing.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:26]:
He's literally just holding a planner book as he's talking it out. So if there's anything you guys can think of to slow down your content. Cause it's my biggest prediction, at least for the early of 2026. What we're seeing so far, make your content one. You have to start focusing on building a community. And that comes from all sorts of things. Stories, human, lived experiences, all those things. But in addition to that, my biggest prediction is that content that feels like you're physically there with them and adding in those little bits and pieces that make us feel like we're with you or that we're seeing something that only, you know, it just triggers something in our brain.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:59]:
Let's say you're even a real estate agent. Since I've talked about realtors a little bit in this episode, you could start with like, okay, let's say your house costs this much. If this is your mortgage rate. Da, da, da. And do it on a whiteboard, right? That's way more visually exciting than you talking to me about mortgage rates. Right? If you own a coffee shop, you can show us the menu and point to things. Here's what I would get if I were. It makes it feel tangible.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:24]:
It makes it feel like we're there. And so again, I just want to break it down. When we are in this new AI age, we want to see something that feels human and that feels human. Seeing the paint, seeing the pen and paper, seeing physical, seeing the whiteboards. And I think that's the biggest thing. It slows the nervous system. Everyone is trying to go more analog. You see content about it everywhere.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:46]:
So if you're seeing content about it everywhere, you know, everyone's brains are all collectively feeling the same. Um, and I have a client who, she's so funny. She's like, I hate trends. I don't want to follow trends. And I'm like, but what you want to think about with a trend like this quote unquote, this analog move, it's not so much that it's a trendy trend to be trendy. That sounded stupid, but you know what I mean? It's more like this is a common collective feeling in society right now that we just want to slow down a little bit. So how can you help people slow down and kind of use something visual to activate that feeling of, like, they get to pull up a chair and be with you and that they get to see into something that's yours. Then we want to see what's in your notes.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:12:24]:
And there you go. So we'll end it with this one. It also kind of. I just feel like. It just feels simple when we see it like that. We know we're not just getting spoken to or lectured at. Oh, my gosh, here's another one. I just opened Instagram, and look at this one.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:12:36]:
It says, look at this. This is brilliant. It says, pov. You let your kids pick the menu, help grocery shop, cook dinner, and have a candlelight dinner. But look, pen and paper. Look at how well it's doing. So crazy. I love it.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:12:48]:
So with that said, that last one I wanted to share was here. Ready? Just. I'm gonna let it play so you can hear it. Here's some media I've been consuming recently. Instead of doom scrolling, that's the one where he's holding his, like, planner and going about it. 40,000 likes, almost 8,000 shares. Okay, again, not only is he holding the thing to me, and then we go, ooh, look at that. It's.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:13:08]:
It slows our brain down. He also, his hook says exactly what we're all trying to stop doing. Stop doom scrolling. So that is just a little win for you guys. And again, like I said, my biggest prediction for 2026 is more and more me centric. And I found a perfect example this morning to share with you guys. And then we'll wrap this up. These have been going a little longer than normal, but I just have so much to say.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:13:29]:
This one, it's. It's a carousel. And it starts and it says hi. And they introduce themselves and they say, 10 things we did to make our house feel less like a new build. So again, this is another great example of how a lot of people are just going against the grain, right? Like, people don't want new builds anymore. They don't want fast. This they want. Everyone just kind of wants to slow down, make everything feel more homey.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:13:51]:
And as you scroll, you feel like you're in their home. Okay. How can you help people belong? How can you help slow their brain down as they're consuming content? And you're going to win in huge ways in 2026. Build that community. Lead with intention. Take us into your life. Continue to use the hooks that I share here and on Instagram, and you're going to do just fine. Love you, friend Sam.