Multiply Your Views by Adding These Five Things to Your Hooks

This past week was a pivotal moment in my career, from my early days with a bulky video camera to standing on stage as a keynote speaker at Social Media Marketing World, I am so grateful for this journey I am on. There may be a few tears as I reflect on how my lifelong love for documenting memories and making people feel seen has come full circle, and I hope it reminds us all that your unique stories matter in business and online marketing. This week I want to focus on your hooks, so I’m sharing actionable content tips that I want you to start using right away, because these five simple things have helped my clients 10x the views on their content. 

In this episode we’ll be covering:

• The five easy tweaks to personalize your hooks and make them uniquely yours so they stand out.
• How to use identifiers in your content to attract the right audience.
• Using something recognizable that the audience can attach to, this could be as simple as particular as a location or product.
• Be more descriptive in your hook by getting specific, this helps your content get in front of the right people.
• Share something relevant by using what’s happening right now, this could be an upcoming event or holiday, but lean on what’s trending right now.
• Make your content feel personal using the words “I and my” this builds trust and it helps people feel seen. 

Recommended episodes:

• Episode 19: Convert Viewers to Followers with the “That’s Me” Reel
• Episode 40: Build More Connections with Everyday Moments
• Episode 70: Instagram Growth Hacks That Actually Work and Give Your Account Personality
• Episode 85: Start Thinking Like a Marketer So People See Themselves in Your Content
• Episode 97: We All Love Familiarity, Here’s How to Create that Familiar Feeling in Your Content 
• Episode 100: Use Identity Driven Content to Connect and Engage with Your Audience
• Episode 111: It’s How You Fill in the Blanks That Makes the Hook Unique to You

If you use the send a message option above, be sure to include your email address if you would like a reply! (Please allow 3-5 business days for a response)

Join me in the Reels Lab!

Love this conversation? Make sure to follow and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Connect with me on Instagram!

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. Hi friends. So I do this every once in a while where I shoot the podcast from my couch. And it's normally after a trip like we just had. And you can see it in my eyes.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:31]:
I'm puffy. I'm exhausted in the very best way, though. I was about to like, do my hair, put on makeup, and I was like, you know what? Some days we just have to allow ourselves to. Well, of course we now call it rot, but just be and kind of take some time to reflect. So I thought that's what we could do together today. Because last week was the most crucial, important, pivotal weeks of my career thus far as working in social media. And in case you don't know my story, I'll just tell you really quickly and like, the quickest way I possibly can as a yapper, but I will keep it short, I promise. So, you know, I fell in love, which is really fun.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:11]:
I fell in love with what I wanted to do at a very young age, right? I was the girl with the video camera, the really big, heavy video camera, walking around the house, shoving the camera in everyone's face. And then that was like my way to kind of entertain myself before the Internet, right? This was in the 80s 90s. It was funny. My husband even called my dad after speaking engagement at Social Media Marketing World last week. And he goes, I just need to brag on your daughter for a second. She stood in front of over a thousand people and da, da, da, da, da. And like, said all this. And my dad goes, who knew that big clunky video camera would turn into something? And, you know, we laughed, but that's how it really started.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:48]:
I just loved documenting. I loved being silly on camera and doing skits, making my cousins do skits, things like that. Fast forward to high school. Fell in love with a band called no Doubt. And this is why it's such a full circle week. And it's a very. I don't know, I've been like, really emotional, which I'm a pretty emotional person, but it's been like, whoa, like really heavy emotional, but in a good way. I think these types of moments usually happen when something big is coming.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:13]:
So I'm just hoping and praying that that's why I'm feeling this way. But I fell in love with no doubt in 96, when I was in middle school, going into high school. And that was the band. I never missed the concert, never missed any late night show that they were on. So I'm watching Saturday Night Live one night in high school, and they announced that next week, no Doubt is going to be on Saturday Night Live. My mom had a friend that worked actually at NBC. He was. He worked at Dateline, which is also hilarious because Dateline is now one of my favorite shows.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:42]:
And she called him. She goes, is there any chance. I know Shannon's technically too young to go to SNL? Cause I was 16 at the time, or maybe even 15. He was like, don't worry, I'll get you in. So we go to snl. Of course, crying ensues. I'm just like, fanatic. No doubt.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:55]:
Fanatic. But what's funny is I was there for no Doubt. But every single moment, I was fixated on the producers, the directors of the show going from one tiny stage to another. And, like, with the clipboards and the headsets and the cameras, and I was like, this is what I want to do. So I went on to study TV production in high school, went to the Arlington Career center, shout out to Mr. O'. Day, and I started learning. And of course, that's where I learned how to do B roll.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:22]:
It's where I learned whatever. But I never wanted to be on camera ever, ever, ever. I'm behind the scenes, girly. I love to edit. I would sit in that edit bay like a big nerd. In the 90s, in high school, after school, for four to five hours and literally edit videos. Okay, I want you to hear me out. Especially my Gen Z people edit videos with VHS decks.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:43]:
Okay? I remember I edited a family trip to New Mexico to the song Wild Wild west by Will Smith. That song is maybe three minutes. It took me weeks to make this video. Now you could throw it in an app, all your videos from a trip, and it's done. Okay, don't. So y' all are so blessed and so lucky. Do not take this for granted. I spent hours and days creating this video, and I still have it.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:07]:
My dad still talks about it. I think it was Lajitas. Lajitas, New Mexico. And my dad, it's like his favorite video and he cracks up and we talk. It's like one of his fun memories. But this is the stuff I was into. So I went on to study TV production and marketing at Virginia Tech. Was like, I'm going to take over the world with I'm going to direct the news.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:25]:
I'm going to. Whatever went on to cnn realized like, this is not for me. This is not the lifestyle I want to live. Very, very hard. Lots of trauma there, but there, here I am that. Sorry, that was way longer than I promised it would be. But it's just crazy how one little thing in your life can convince you, this is what I want to do. And it all kind of comes back to what you were always good at, right, as a little girl.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:46]:
Well, actually I wasn't good at the camera movements because I would make everyone nauseous when they would watch the videos, when I would make everyone sit down, be like, here's what I shot today. Let's look at Shannon's video. My dad would be like, huh. So very pivotal point in my life was then. That's kind of crazy though. 1996, if you think about it like, here we are 30 years later, here I go, starting to get emotional. Sorry, I'm trying not to cry. But you know, this little girl, oh my gosh, this is so.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:11]:
Sorry. This is so dorky. I can't believe I'm crying. But you know, I think about little Shannon, you know, feeling seen. And part of that whole thing of my keynote Social media marketing world last week was about how we all just want to belong and feel seen and, and having the camera and being the friend. Even in college who was the one who took the pictures and went to Walmart and got em developed and made the scrapbooks. Like that's what always lit me up. And it's just funny that like this all comes full circle.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:37]:
Okay, sorry. I promise I'm getting to the point and to some really good tips for you guys. But I also want you to know I didn't start. So then I, again then when social media, you know, I said in my keynote how Facebook kept me so much company in my CNN days when I worked overnights. I was very lonely during that time because I worked overnights. You know, you don't really have a life when you work a lot of overnights. And now Facebook was such a crucial part of my life because I was in Atlanta, my family lived in D.C. and all my friends lived in D.C.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:04]:
and so when you think about it, that's how social media started. It was a way to connect. And we lost the plot with all these gurus in 2020 telling us we had to do this, do that. And there were all these rules. And I was like, there should be no rules with social media, right? Unless we obviously break some Sort of creepy crazy rule like copying people's content and stuff like that. But there's so much freedom in what we get to do. And that's the beautiful part, in my opinion. So once I decided I wanted to, now that social media was going from personal to business or having that business opportunity, I was like, wait, this is the perfect pivot.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:38]:
Because after I left cnn, I never felt good at any job ever again. And it really sucked, right? Cause I was just basically bouncing from marketing and sales positions. Not so much marketing, but like sales. But my background was in marketing. No marketing position would hire me. By the way, I probably submitted my resume to hundred plus marketing positions over the years. I could get the low paying sales jobs. That's all that would look at me.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:02]:
Then I got to take charge of the LinkedIn and Facebook pages at the 9 to 5 corporate job I was at. And you know, didn't get paid extra, but I was like, I will do it. And that's when I had my daughter decided I was gonna go and just go for it and do the social media management thing. And Ryan, I had no money and I taught, I mean, no money, like we were in so much debt already. And you know, after my speech, it was really, really sweet. The guy who runs Social Media examiner and created Social Media Marketing World, this amazing opportunity where I got to be a keynote and over a thousand people showed up and I still can't believe it. Ryan. I went and grabbed a drink at a mimosa after because I was like, whoo.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:43]:
And Ryan looked over me and started just saying how proud of me he was and just started crying. And then I was like, God, like we just started looking back on the last 10 years and being like, what? This is crazy. And then when I look on the past 30, I'm like, what? This is crazy. And then guess what? In four days, Ryan and I hop on a plane to go see no Doubt play at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Like, it's just like God wink after God wink. And I, I'm sure so many of you listening aren't, you know, Christian, that's fine. I. But let me just tell you, no matter what it is that you like believe in, right? Like, I know my faith has played a huge role into this.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:17]:
And even if you're not, that's not part of your journey. I know there's something that you can say, there's something that helped you, right? My husband, obviously, my faith and all this like, and just always knowing that like, I'm gonna be good at Something, even though it's the thing that no one think will ever make money or help me be successful. And yet here we are. And after that keynote, Michael Stelzner came up to me and I was still in like a daze. Like, the adrenaline was coming down. And he goes, I just want you to know I made the right choice. Excuse me. Like, and this is, you know, me, I'm goofy, I'm whatever.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:49]:
I don't take myself too seriously. I'm like, I do Instagram. But to hear that from someone who has built an incredible brand where people fly in from literally, like Singapore. People were there from Singapore, like Europe. I mean, this man to trust me in front of all these people and his brand, like, I just. Michael Stelzner. No, you're probably not even listening to this, but if you're ever listened, like, thank you from the bottom of my heart. But anyway, I wanted to say a few things that I took from this conference.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:20]:
Obviously, there was a lot of AI sessions and they were incredible. But what's so cool is what so many of the AI people were teaching. I was like, oh, thank God. Is that, like, it's a tool. Same as, like a plumber has a whatever. Like, if you can give me something, the same wrench he has, I don't know what to do with it. Right. The person behind the tool has to know what they're doing.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:39]:
So make sure if you are going to start using AI to invest in some trainings and things like that. Because what I talked on and what so many people have also talked on was human connection and the power of just being human and being raw. And here I am sitting on my couch, like, crying, like, how ridiculous. But also, I just hope this is reaching someone. This is a decade plus in the making. No, no, no. This is 30 years in the making of me getting to do this and little shifts I've made in my business and in my clients hooks even as something like that make a huge difference. And I'm going to end it on this because I want to give you some tips, obviously, because here's the thing.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:13]:
If you're listening to this podcast, I know you're not just here to take and swipe stuff and paste it on the Internet and go viral and not help people. You're here to start thinking like a marketer. You're here to make a difference in this world. You are here to literally change your life and your family's life because of something you're really proud of. Whether it's something you make you Teach. You know, you've learned whether it's a product, whether you're a plumber. And actually, it was funny. I shouted out plumbers in my.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:40]:
In my keynote, and there was one right in the front row, and I was like, yes. Cause that's the thing, you know, it's like we're all really good at something, and we just want to get our message out. But we're struggling to get our message out because we're literally, we're hearing 1,000 different content strategies. We're hearing dozens of different ways to use a hook, we're hearing dozens of different ways to edit our videos, and it gets really fricking clouded. You don't have to take one dang tip of mine if someone else's works for you better. But I would still encourage you to be here just to know that I'm a safe space for you to run ideas by and things like that. So with that said, I want to help change your life today in some way. And I hope one of these things I share with you helps, because these are a few things that I was jotting down on the airplane.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:23]:
Just like little things that I've noticed that have helped people 10x their views. And again, my clients and I talked about a lot of this in the keynote, so I just wanted to run it by you because these are little things you guys can do today with the hooks I share on Instagram, whatever you share in stories. Remember, stories are so powerful. I think I was supposed to talk about stories this week. Sorry. I will next week, I promise. Because they're where I honestly sell the most. It's.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:45]:
Stories are my biggest sales funnel. So I promise we will talk about that next week. So for now, couple things you guys can do with your hooks, right? And I said this in the keynote, is an identifier, meaning something I identify as. Obviously, I identify as type B, a girl, mom, North Carolina resident, shy creator. But again, for you guys, right? Like let's. Let's say the plumber, for instance, a homeowner in blank the city, a typical DIYer. Here's things you don't want to DIY, right? So anyone that's like, oh, yeah, my husband is the diy, or my wife really is convinced she can DIY everything. We'll recognize ourselves.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:12:18]:
So anything sort of identifier. So over 30, boy, mom, girl, dad, stuff like that, corporate millennials, things like that, they go crazy because we see ourselves mirrored back to ourselves. You can add one of these things to your hooks and 10x your reviews promise you. So that's one. Add an identifier. I'm going to give you five here. So write these down. Add an identifier again, Empty nester, shy creater, New Yorker, something like that.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:12:42]:
Some of it's personality. Age is a big one too. I see a lot of these going viral. You're in between the ages of 25 and 30 and da, da, da, da. And people are like, that's me. That's me. Oh, my gosh, I just had this epiphany. Think of yourself being at the dmv.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:12:54]:
You've been waiting there all dang day. They finally call your number. That's me. That's what I want your hook to do. They go, that's me. Okay. And I call it that. That's me reel.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:13:03]:
The one that I do like. Pov, you're a toddler mom. Pov, you're a empty nester. Pov, you're a blah, blah, blah, who wants blank? And you find my account like, that's the one that I've helped hundreds of people go viral with. That identifier is the biggest piece. Okay, next, include something recognizable. And this could literally even be like when I'm holding a Diet Coke. People are like, cool tips, Shannon.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:13:22]:
But like, ooh, that Diet Coke looks crispy. I mean, you guys, something recognizable that we can attach to. So right now I'm wearing an Atlanta sweatshirt. You could even be shopping in Target. And we see the cart and we recognize that. So it doesn't always have to be in your hook a word, but other things that are recognizable. For me, if you're a blogger and you're sharing Nordstrom finds and you put Nordstrom, I'm set. Because that's where I love to shop.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:13:40]:
Obviously, for me, I use words like Instagram reels, right? That's recognizable to my people. They know what that is. But this also is where you could add a location. If I see something about North Carolina, I'm gonna watch, Obviously. If you shop at Aldi, think of the places, the tools your people use, the places they shop, the places they go, they live, et cetera. Those are those recognizable things. Even if you're like a money, you know, you're a money coach, you're an attorney or whatever. Like, what are some things like, I think one of the examples I use in the keynote was like ETFs.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:14:07]:
Is it ETFs or EFT? See, I don't even know. I didn't know because. But I saw it and I was like, ooh, this is Good for my money people to see. Like, it's something as easy as that. Anyone who knows who that is is gonna stop and be like, ooh, I wanna see. I'm interested. Number three, get more descriptive. And it was so funny.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:14:20]:
I was eavesdropping at the bar. Cause that's what we do at bars and at the hotel bar. And some guy goes, gosh, all these sessions, I've never realized how crucial and important it is to be specific. And I was like, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. I love. This is a huge topic at social media marketing world. And that just means, like, instead of saying, like, oh, here's a mom hack for you, or here's a anxiety hack, or here's a therapist hack. Whatever it is.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:14:41]:
Here's a money hack. It's like, I wish more families in debt knew. I wish more couples knew. Right? And then you go into. Not just like that budgeting each month would help them out. Oh, okay, Right. We want, like, I wish more people in whatever debt knew. You know, the whatever agency just came out with a blah blah blah.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:15:03]:
And you can go to www.blank and save $300 a month on blank. Like, that's what I'm talking about. It needs to be read, like almost a thread or like a text message you would send someone. Like, I want the specifics. Again, you say, I wish more single parents knew that Home Depot has a blah, blah, blah every Saturday. And it's a great way to spend your day and leave with something they'll cherish forever. Make us feel. Right? I said that a lot in my keynote number four.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:15:28]:
And this actually came up in a coaching call I did last week, which was really fun. Cause I said, you know, share something relevant. Like, a couple weeks ago, everyone was talking about Coachella. Now everyone's talking about Mother's Day coming up. Right? Ride the coattails of what people are talking about right now. The Met Gala is tonight, I think. I don't know. Think ahead so that when they happen and drop, you can ride the coattails of those.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:15:47]:
You know, I saw a reel Today going viral on the girls. Like, talking about how Beyonce always knows how to answer a red carpet. Blah, blah, blah. And it's like just the fact that they threw in Beyonce, that's recognizable. But again, if she throws in Met Gala, too. That creator, if she does after the Met Gala, that's a perfect way to tie in what's relevant right now and then also use the recognizable familiarity of Beyonce. All right, number five, make it personal by using I and my. I've been saying this for years and I had so many people go, I was told never to do that.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:16:14]:
I was like, yeah, I know. So again, this is where that you guys are listening to so much information from so many people who are living in 2020. Or maybe it works for them. It might not work for you. What I share might not work for you. And that's okay. I would be ignorant to say I know all. And I, I'm the best whatever out there.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:16:33]:
I'm the best content strategist, social media marketer for people who it clicks with. Honestly, if my stuff doesn't click and someone else's does and it works, go for it. But I have so many people say they've heard so much other advice and I'm the only one that made it click. So I'm like, word tight. That's awesome. I have a lot of people with ADHD who are like, Shannon, you're the first person that made it click. And I'm like, oh, cool. I think because it is so nuanced and some people need to hear things differently.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:16:58]:
I also work with so many people who don't want to be full time creators. So it clicks for them because they're like, I can't do five reels a day. And I'm like, same right, so, all right, that's it. Those are just some quick little wins to take this week. So if you had a reel or a carousel or a TikTok or a LinkedIn, whatever, not do well this week, look back and see if, you know, you could add in one of those things or two to see if it does better. So again, when it comes to the how and I. And my what I mean is like, instead of how to grow, how to get your first 10,000 followers, I would say how I got my client her first 10,000 followers in three months. See what I mean? Big difference.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:17:31]:
Sounds personal. Instant trust. All right, I'll let you guys go. This is a longer episode, but I just love you. Thank you for the kind messages to everyone I met at Social Media Marketing World. Please know that was the most incredible day. It's still, I think me getting emotional as podcast is, is me processing it, because it still hasn't hit me. Because also another thing I will say, which is a gift and a curse, but being in this industry and being a creator, you desperately want your message out.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:17:55]:
But you also know there's hundreds of thousands of people who haven't heard it yet. And I get really frustrated sometimes when I see other people growing faster. Believe me. I have imposter syndrome. Like a mofo. It gets frustrating, but not because I want more followers, but because I know people need to hear my message. And on that note, I know breakthrough's coming. Because every time I get like this, something cool happens.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:18:14]:
And it happens to my clients, too. As soon as they get frustrated, something pops off and goes crazy. And it's like, what was I tripping about? But even after social media marketing world, I'm like, okay, so what's my next big milestone? And I'm trying to get better about not trying to move the goal posts and to just sit, hang out with the ball, like, just soak it in and realize what I just experienced and all the amazing people I met. I love you, friend. Thank you for bearing with me with a longer episode than normal. And I will talk to you next week and we will talk all about stories. And I promise you, this is what's so good. Because now, this week, you're going to work on your hooks and your content and just being raw and authentic and totally you.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:18:51]:
And next week, we will get those sales going in the stories. I love you, friend.