The Human Side of Content That Sells

Get your notes app ready, my friend, because we’re going in today. If you’re still feeling a little confused when it comes to specificity and filling in the blanks for all the hooks I share with you, this episode will help everything fall into place. Have you noticed that the people growing the fastest on Instagram right now, are not the most polished, they’re the most human?  This is what is working right now, and we are seeing it everywhere from huge corporate brands to smaller brands who have grown their audiences exponentially. We’ll look at examples from big brands, viral trends and everyday creators to show you how specificity and sharing your unique perspective can help you connect with your audience and grow your business. 

In this episode we’ll be covering:

• The problem with generic advice and what’s really working on Instagram right now. 
• The type of content helping people grow the fastest right now is human content. 
• Building real relationships with your audience when there is such a lack of trust online right now.
• How to turn a generic hook into content tailored to your niche using identifiers and specificity that will resonate with the right people.
• Finding the personal connection for your business content by sharing YOU (hint: sharing doesn’t mean oversharing!)

Featured content in this episode:

• Ourwintonhome: Imagine having your kids grow up here
• Glenwildartstudio: Dollar Tree DIY
• Gadget.life.withme: Handy gadget you didn’t know existed
• Candaces_canvasses x ​​glazedoverstudio: Diet Coke
• Candaces_canvasses x ​​glazedoverstudio: Paint my tomato basil mozzarella plate
• Thehousethatholds: How can I help?
• Simplywell.lydia: No counter space but do have
• Plant.forward.families: I wish more people knew
• Dermarkologist: I wish more people knew (list)

Recommended episodes:

• Episode 56: The Reel That Had Me Clicking Buy Immediately
• Episode 60: Nail Your Short Form Videos with This Simple Formula
• Episode 83: Use the REP Hook Formula and Start Filling in the Missing Pieces
• Episode 92: This is the Era of Experiences and Belonging
• Episode 100: Use Identity Driven Content to Connect and Engage with Your Audience
• Episode 108: Why You NEED To Take Content Creation Seriously

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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. Get your notes out, my friends, whether it's your notes, app, pen and paper. We are going in today because I know there is still a big struggle because I see it in the comments of my content, which is the specificity aspect of using specific language. I give a lot of hooks, right? And I mentioned it in the podcast last week's. You know, there's these blanks and people are still like, I don't know what to put in the blank.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:48]:
So we're going to break that down today. But even if you never look at my hooks, this is still going to help. And you know what's crazy to me? And I'm just going to say this, this might ruffle feathers, but honestly, I'm at the point where I don't even care. I do. I never want to hurt people's feelings, but this shouldn't hurt feelings. It should just hopefully be like a aha moment and hopefully it clicks for the people spreading stuff. That's not true. A lot of the advice I hear, even from experts, huge experts, like beyond like, I, they don't even probably know who I am, right? I'm just a little guy, right? So they're saying things that I'm like.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:17]:
When you look at the top creators and the brands, the deltas of the world, I mean, even TSA's account, UPS account aren't doing anything that these gurus are telling you to do. The people growing the fastest on Instagram right now, they're not the most polished, they're the most human, they're the most personal, they're the most. Let me pull the curtain off. And wizard of Oz it. Here we are, right? That's why I do things differently and why so many people who I adore in my industry do differently. We're watching what's working. We're watching what the big guys are doing. We're watching with the small creator who went from 10,000 to 200,000 in the past, which, hello, I know many who have my client who went from 12,000 to 85,000. 8 x'ed income.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:02]:
Okay? I promise you, I know what I'm doing. I'm not good at much. I know. I got this for you guys on lock. This is just me getting my dad. My grandfather was a pastor, so maybe he's Just getting on my podium and being preachy. But like, my gosh, be careful who you're taking advice from. I digress.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:19]:
This is not me being catty. This is me being. I'm holding your hand hard right now, okay? Or not hard, very gently. And what's working right now is what we called a couple years ago and I just did a reel on it because I noticed even the big brands were doing it. I noticed Taco Bell was doing it. I noticed Diet Coke was doing it. I noticed American Express was doing it. They started posting like people, you could look at their content, be like, is that my friend Sarah? Is that Johnny? Who is.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:45]:
No, right? It's looks. Well, obviously we know the rise of user generated content, but again, that's for good reason because we are freaking tired of being sold to. We've got our guard up. This is the least we've ever trusted anything. There is a trust issue across the globe. So with that said, I just wanted to kind of say that when you were listening to all this advice because I put a reel up yesterday about saying anyone telling you not to share anything personal, that's like the worst advice that could ever be out there. First of all, business is personal, okay? Social media is called social media. It's not that deep.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:21]:
And again, by personal, I do not mean your deepest, darkest, darkest secrets. I do not mean having to share your childhood trauma or trauma trauma dump. If you ever want to trauma dump in person, I'm your girl. But what I mean is talking from your perspective, your lived experience, that's what all it is. That's all it is. And I'm going to tell you exactly how to do it. So again, we're in a time where people are more connected digitally than in real life, which is sad, but it's true. It is what it is, right? A lot of us are working remotely, we're not around people we know a lot.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:51]:
So when we are out in the world, we want to connect with people. We are yearning for that human connection. So don't let people tell you it needs to be all business. It does not. I was even on TikTok this morning geeking out over this new trend and I'm seeing like the auto body shops doing it. One million likes. It's the one where I don't know if you've seen it. They start an interview and someone just goes around and goes.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:10]:
It's like what the first person and the person gets the mic and goes, what? And so whatever that person says back, they then take the mic and say that to the next person. So they'll be like, what? And the person back will be like, what's your deal? And then she'll go to the next person, go, what's your deal? And then the dude will be like, what I do to you? And then they'll go back, what do I do? It's so silly and so funny. And I'm seeing dentist office do it. You guys. Is that going to make me want to go into an auto body shop or a dentist? Yeah, it actually is. I always hear people are like, well, where? How am I supposed to sell? I'm like, are you kidding me? That sold me immediately. Now, also, let me tell you, I got a client years ago when I was Itty Bitty Baby, social media manager with 500 followers in the D.C. area.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:50]:
I put up. I think I've shared this story, so forgive me. Just a video of my husband and I doing mommy, daddy, shark. Our daughter Camden, at the time was much younger and she was mortified. I put it up on Stories. Okay, this is before reels. And I got me a client and my girl Fran, a friend of mine, Fran, we've met through Instagram and we've worked together a few times. Fran Moore, and she helps agency owners scale, et cetera.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:13]:
She's brilliant. And she did a whole rant on Summer House, which, by the way, if you want to talk the Scamanda at all, I'm here for you. It's a Bravo show, if you're not familiar, and there's all this drama around it. She did a reel on that and she got clients from it. And let me tell you something, Gary Vee has literally said this before, and I've been saying it for years, and so has he, because he's someone I actually like as a guru. I really. I mean, I don't know everything he says, so don't you know. But, like, I know what I've heard him say before.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:41]:
I, like, would love to meet him. And. Oh, my gosh. And he literally did a keynote somewhere recently. And I think it was like for, like, group of, like, electricians and people. I don't know. Forgive me if it's not. But he says to them, I don't care if you're a plumber, electrician, or whatever you are obsessed with Dancing with the Stars, you better get on Instagram and do a reel.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:00]:
Or TikTok and do a reel about how your pissed so and so got voted off. And then the caption be like, oh, by the way, I'M a plumber and da, da, da, da. And if you guys. I'm sorry, saying now what I do, because most of my content is Instagram related, because you might be like, Shannon, you're not doing what you preach. Yes, I do a lot of content outside of what I do. I share stuff about my love of Taco Bell, Mexican food, especially in stories. Right. I've shared all sorts of reels that have gone viral.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:26]:
I've had reels go viral about my beach sub. I've had reels go viral with my daughter decorating her cake. I always won't do what I preach. But like I said, I know what my people need the most is drowning out the noise of this Instagram craziness in the social media marketing world. So that's what I share about now. Do I sell hard in my reel. No, it's in the caption. I sell in the caption and I sell on stories.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:47]:
So just want to clear that up. That was a lot. All right, now let's dive into some hooks going viral, because that's what I promised you guys. We talk about. Sorry, I'm a little sassier than normal on this episode, but it's just because of what I've heard being said in the Instagram world. All right, so here's one. For instance, it says, imagine having your kids grow up here. Your nearest grocery store is 25 minutes away, and this is your view every morning.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:10]:
Now, the purpose of this is what is working right now is specificity and seeing ourselves instantly in your content. If I cannot connect to it or see myself instantly, this is also timeless marketing. I don't want to make it seem like this is some. Whoa, Shannon. Like, and all these people figured out the magic. No, like, this has been the thing, but there wasn't as much content. Now there's all this content. Grabbing attention is really hard.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:37]:
Right? So if you want to grab attention, I gotta see myself. So there you go. And Matt and I talked about it a little bit on last week's podcast. But what's brilliant about this, if you break it down, imagine it's not just, ooh, pretty backyard in wherever they are. It's imagine having your kids grow up here. Your nearest grocery store is 25 minutes away, and this is your view every morning. That is going to obviously grab people's attention who love rural living. It's obviously a gorgeous home.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:03]:
Right? Another way to do this, just so you guys, like, like I said, you'll see. And it's funny. I got a comment the other day like when I shared about how the big brands, the Taco Bells, the Delta Airlines, whatever, are posting like people, Someone's like, yeah, I can't get my business content to do anything, but I got a new kitten and it went viral. I'm like, exactly. But that's predictable. I not shocked by that at all. I. I can connect to someone on their cat a lot faster than their business that I know nothing about.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:29]:
Right. So how can you still use business content to grab your people? Easy use terms, words and their identity. Right? So let's say, you know, you work with a lot of gen zers. Hey, I'm pushing 40. Here's what I wish I knew. At 25, that's going to grab the gen zers. And you can then say all these things you've learned in life. Maybe you're a business coach and at the end be like, oh, by the way, if you're thinking of starting your da da da da holler, that's how it works, you guys.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:55]:
Okay, another one for recognize. This is Dollar Tree diy, but also it's Easter plates now. Easter is now over. But that went viral over Easter. So again, why do I recognize that? Oh, because I celebrate Easter and I shop at Dollar Tree. I'm going to stop. Okay, so there's an example of how to do it. You know, one is a lifestyle.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:15]:
That was the house. The other is a brand. Now let's get into more businesses that I know. You guys are always, like, really struggling with products, things like that. So let's go to a product. Oh, perfect. Here's one. It says handy gadget you didn't know existed.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:29]:
So the way that they did it is they gave that psychology of FOMO because they, they're like, I didn't know. But again, handy gadget is just kind of like buzzy. It makes us curious. It makes us go, I love anything handy. I love gadgets. And in the video, she's demoing how it works. So that's obviously going to grab our interest and spark our curiosity because we want to know what's inside. And then they waited for the payoff and then three seconds in, they showed it.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:54]:
Also, it's taste driven, right? That's a print that people who like aesthetically pleasing looking little things are going to like. All right, for my product, people found one for my makers. And again, why does this do so well? You'll know immediately when I tell you. And let me just tell you the comments before I tell you no, because I'd buy this so fast. Take My money. I came across this on my fyp. Now I need to know, how do I buy this? This person. This maker has 13,000 followers.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:22]:
Candace's canvases. So again, 73,000 likes. Let me see how many views it got. 1.6 million. And all it says is, we love her with a wink face. So it added a little bit of personality. Right. You know, it's kind of like a.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:39]:
It's very Internet speak. And it is of a Diet Coke glass that she made. And then she's pouring the Diet Coke into it. It's got a little like a sippy cup, but it's ceramic. Why did that go crazy? Because Diet Coke. But before you say but, Shannon, I don't. I can't borrow other brands. Familiarity for all my content.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:56]:
Got you. So now that we found that, that's a little harder to mimic. Right. But I just want to show you what's possible. Even though she. She has 13,000 followers. That's crazy that she got that many views. Paint my tomato basil mozzarella plate for the summer with me.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:10]:
And it's super cute. And she takes you through the process of how she makes it. So again, when I say specificity, she didn't just say go to paint my pot with me or whatever. She said, paint my tomato basil mozzarella plate for the. So someone loves a caprese. I always feel funny saying it. They're going to stop and watch it. Let's go to a few more.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:29]:
Now. This is a great one for. This could be for etiquette coach or hosting events. It says 10 ideas for when a guest asks, how can I help? And in the video, they're just putting butter on a dish. I mean, that is the simplest reel. A hundred thousand likes. So what. What makes that specific and stand out to people who are scrolling? People that often find themselves in situations where they're going over and there's that awkward moment of you want to ask how to help, but that's not always helpful.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:56]:
Right. So they recognize themselves in the situation in the scenario. I'll find one more. Okay. And it's so funny. My algorithm now is like all pottery. Isn't it funny? I'm telling you, Instagram is just all the algorithm. The algorithm is your matchmaker.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:12:10]:
But you know what I mean? It's literally just trying to match you up with things that you're familiar with. Phrases, words, your age, your location, all of it. So, all right, I love this. This person, it's just a little tiny wall in her home. And she could have Said decorate this wall with me. That would have worked three years ago. Instead of says pov, you don't have counter space for produce, but you have a blank wall. And then she shows what she did.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:12:34]:
So she put that little curiosity into the payoff about two, three seconds in. Again, that's what I mean by these specificity type of thing. So when I give you guys hooks that are like pov, you're blank. Who wants blank? And you find my page. I know those blanks. You're like, what do I put? POV your you live in a small home. You POV you are brand new to New York. POV you're a die hard blank.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:12:59]:
POV you're retired. Whatever it is, you're an empty nester and you love blank. And you find my account, call out their name, their identity, and then put it as that they desire. They don't just want. I don't want to get too much in the weeds here. Cause this is all. I just want to give you guys maybe one hook to practice this week. So let's do that.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:13:17]:
It's actually one I share a lot which is I wish more blank knew. This one does so well for people. I have helped hundreds of people go viral with this. So here's what we're going to do. Ready? Because this is probably the easiest one to fill out. I wish more people knew. You can either make a suggestion, advice, an idea, or your product. Okay, but what you say, you could say people or you could say I wish more toddler moms knew.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:13:41]:
I wish more beginner golfers knew. I wish more anxiety sufferers knew. I wish more people. Blah, blah, blah, whatever that is. Right? Or I could just say I wish more people knew. I wish more couples knew. Right? Maybe you're a therapist and you're giving advice. If they did it a.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:13:56]:
I wish more people over 40. Whatever. Whatever it is. Okay, what is it? But don't just say eating more protein is good for you. That there is a water park in Williamsburg, right? What? Why do I care? Okay. And so what you're gonna put there. Let me give you an example of one that went viral. I wish more people knew that you can just blend half a block of tofu, a can of lentils into your marinara sauce.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:14:21]:
It makes it super creamy and adds 50 grams of protein and 26 grams of fiber. There it is. Over a million views. 1.2 million. Oh, here's a great one. I wish more people knew. From your favorite derm. And he has a whole list underneath so that's another way you could do it.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:14:35]:
One of the tips he says is dilute vinegar soaks are a cheap way to treat toenail fungus at home. Specific. Don't gatekeep. I've never gate kept a thing and we're doing just fine. Right again. I wish more golfers knew. Holding this stretch and you show the stretch for 30 seconds before tea time can instantly improve rotation and your whatever out drive your friends. I know that was something another golf for you.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:14:59]:
So I'm not stealing, but stuff like that. That's what I mean. Like, that is what I mean by specificity because specificity sells and this is the biggest thing I get. Well, Shannon, I don't know how to describe my people because I sell to all people same. So what is it about them or what is it about you that's different? So I would say people stuck in 200 view jail. You could put the scenario rather than the identity type. So I know this was a lot. That's why I asked you to get your pen, paper notes and I wanted to throw a bunch of hooks at you.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:15:26]:
And again, I wish more people knew that you could use a blank to blank and in the video demo it now for me. I could probably just have video of me sitting at a computer. I wish more people knew. And I've used this before. And this is a fun little tip for you. I wish more business owners knew. If you switch your business category to entrepreneur on Instagram, you get all the music back. Not for you to know that.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:15:45]:
There you go. And I've done that two or three times. One time it went crazy viral. Other two times it did decent but still got new followers. People were appreciative, et cetera. So let's start with that one. But try to get as specific as you can without being too crazy specific. You guys are gonna kill me.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:16:02]:
I just want y' all to nail it. I want y' all to nail it. So I wish more. And again, if you are a brick and mortar, I wish more brides to be or I wish more DC brides. I wish more 2027 brides in Copenhagen. Whatever. I don't know. I'm just coming up with random places new about our venue because our bridal suite is unlike any other.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:16:22]:
And in the video shows the bridal suite that's specific Enough, it says 2027 Bride. It says the location, and it says why do I care? All right, I'm gonna leave it at that. That was a long episode. I just wanted to make sure that you're leaving this podcast today with a win I love you, friend.