← Call Her Creator with Katelyn Rhoades
Call Her Creator with Katelyn Rhoades
130. The Weekly Scroll: Instagram’s BIGGEST 2026 Update: Mini-Drama Reels & Anonymous Stories
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This episode is sponsored by Brevo, Collective and Shopify. Brevo is your all in one marketing and CRM platform that helps you turn attention into actual revenue. From email marketing to automation to CRM tools, Brevo keeps your audience warm without
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you manually following up 24.
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7 and collective helps you handle the business side of being a creator or entrepreneur. From bookkeeping to taxes to compliance, they
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make sure you're structured correctly and and not leaving money on the table.
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And Shopify your commerce engine. It's how you actually sell the thing. Whether that's digital products, physical products or services. Shopify gives you the tools to build, market and scale your store all in one place.
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If you're serious about building a real
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business, not just posting content, these are the tools behind the scenes. Get started with brevo@brevo.com Creator save with collective@collusive.com CHC and launch with Shopify shopify.com CHC
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what is up? What is up? Welcome to another episode of the Weekly Scroll. Instead of scrolling for updates, I scroll for you. So every week I handpick the most important updates for you. Whether that is from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, doesn't matter. I am hand picking what's most important right now. And this episode is brought to you by my all in One Creator membership, Club Influence.
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This is for the creator who wants
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to grow on Instagram without spending hours researching the trends. We handpick all of the viral reels ideas for you on a weekly basis. We've got a monthly content calendar for you, content prompts, canva templates, all of the things that you need to grow on social are inside of Club Influence. All right, this week I got some really fun Instagram updates for you. And then on top of the updates, I'm actually going to give you some actionable tips to make them work for you. So the first update we have for this week is that Instagram is leaning in to the mini drama content like super hard. So if you've seen on TikTok those fast growing formats, the mini drama storytelling, it's all over Instagram. So think about like the point of view reels or those videos that start with an emotional hook or maybe it's like content that has a cliffhanger at the end or serialized stories or content. Basically it's that content that feels like Netflix but you only got 30 seconds to watch, right? So this confirms exactly what I've been teaching. People are not watching content anymore just for information. They're watching for that emotion and that storytelling. I'm actually testing something over on call her creator. If you're not following me over there, go check me out on Instagram. I'm testing out this series where I'm just talking to the camera. I've got some B roll clips in the background. I've got voiceover, and it's very like uned, just storytelling of things that I'm doing. So, like this whole month, I'm doing Stan's dare to post challenge, which is where you have to post 30 days in a row. And so I'm doing days one through 30. Day one of two, day. I'm sorry, day one of 30. Day two of 30, day three of 30. And it's little things that I'm doing to change my life. Like little small habits I'm making to change my life. And it's just me talking. And I think this is where Instagram is headed. We're headed to more talking head story telling reels, less trends only content. My trend only content is still getting a ton of views, don't get me wrong. But if I want to connect with my followers and my audience, I know that I have to talk to them. And this is my way to do that. So I've got three ideas that you guys could steal today so that you can lean into this talking content as well. So idea number one, this is like the moment everything changed. Story hook. So this is like a personal turning point storytelling series where the hooks are like very dramatic, right? So like a couple of hook examples would be like, I almost quit blank until this happened, or I was about to give up on blank and then I got this dm or this one thing changed everything for me. And how it plays out is like you've got that strong emotional hook in the first three seconds of your video and then you tell the story quickly, like a movie scene. Either it's talking head or you've got B roll clips and you're doing a voiceover and then you end it with some kind of lesson. Why does this work? Because it creates that curiosity, right? So that emotional investment. Immediately they're. They're invested in this problem that you had, and then you're solving it and you're teaching them something about it. So this is that classic mini drama structure problem. Build some tension and then what's the resolution? So love that. If you need an example, head over to call her creator. Idea number two, point of view. You're watching yourself make the wrong choice. This is extremely relatable mini drama scenario, right? So hook Examples here. Point of view. You keep posting but nobody's engaging. Point of view. You finally launch X, Y, Z and no one buys point of view. You're scared to blah, blah, blah. And it's basically you documenting yourself with some kind of problem. And then however, you pull them in, like with emotion and then you reassure them with some kind of mindset shift. Right? So you describe the situation very dramatically, like over dramatically. And if you have a problem with this, go into ChatGPT and like tell chat what your problem is and then say, can you dramatize this as if it was a 15 second Netflix reel? And then speak directly to the viewer's emotions. So you want your viewer in mind for this video. You're not making it for yourself, you're making it for your viewer. So you need to speak directly to their pain point. And then you're going to end with some kind of mindset shift or some kind of reassurance, right? So people feel seen and it feels like this short emotional story, not just advice. And then the last idea I have for you guys is episode style content. So this is a multi part storytelling series. Okay, so hook examples would be like part one, the biggest mistake I made when growing my audience. Episode one, the moment I realized I was playing small, or the DM that almost made me quit. So they know that they're watching some kind of episode. So you start with the dramatic teaser and then you tell part of the story and then you end it with a cliffhanger so that they have to come back for the next section of it. Right? This creates that binge behavior and longer watch sessions. And this is exactly what Instagram is looking for right now. Many drama content works because it mirrors how our brains are wired. We're naturally drawn to that tension, emotion, resolution. So instead of teaching like a textbook, creators who frame their lessons inside of stories will win. And this is how you're going to stand out on Instagram right now. So love this update. Make sure you lean into the story driven content.
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Starting something new can feel terrifying.
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I remember when I first launched my
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podcast and my business constantly asking myself, what if no one listens? What if no one buys? What if this just doesn't work? But choosing to take that leap was one of the best decisions I've ever made. And having the right tools makes all the difference. That's why so many entrepreneurs trust Shopify. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses worldwide. Empowers 10% of all e commerce in the US it helps you build a beautiful online store with ready to use templates, create email and social media campaigns to reach customers, and manage everything from inventory to analytics all in one place. It's time to turn those what ifs
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into with Shopify Today.
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Sign up for your $1 per month trial at shopify.comchc go to shopify.comchc that's shopify.comch.
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Tax season is right around the corner.
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And if you're already dreading it, you're not alone. I used to get so stressed around this time of year, but Collective has made it so much easier and way less overwhelming. Collective keeps your business tax ready all year long. From capturing every deduction and keeping your books clean to quarterly tax estimates and professionally prepared tax filings. They handle the back office so you don't have to. It's truly an all in one financial solution that turns tax season from a panic into peace. And right now, Collective is giving my listeners 50 off your first two months. When you go to collective.com CHC that's 50 off your first two months at collective.comCHC again, collective.com CHC
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next update.
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Kind of.
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I don't know how I feel about this one. I mean, it's good and it's, it's good. Personally, business wise, I'm not a fan. Okay. You'll soon be able to view stories anonymously on Instagram. So meta's testing anonymous story viewing. Not just Instagram. This is Instagram and Facebook. Sorry. You can watch someone's stories and they won't see your name. How many times have you asked your best friend, go watch so and so story and tell me what they're doing. Like, I've been there, done that. I think we all do it. This is going to change Instagram behavior pretty dramatically though, because right now, story views are social signals. And so when they're anonymous, that means we're going to get more silent viewers, fewer visible interactions, and it's going to be harder to gauge engagement. Right. So story replies and polls are going to matter even more because passive viewing data will become less reliable. We're going to need them to do something to know that they're there. So I, I went ahead and I came up with a couple of things that you can do for when this update does actually come to fruition. Three updates that you can do to make sure that we're still engaging our audience. 1. Ask for low effort response questions. If people can watch anonymously, they're less likely to interact unless it feels super easy. So instead of like, I Did this today, what do you think? Like no, you cannot ask them an open ended question. You need to have a poll sticker there that says, yep, you did great, or no, this sucks or pick one and they have, you know, poll sticker there. Or maybe you use that little emoji sticker and it says tap this if you like it and it's like a thumbs up. The rule here is to make it take under two seconds for them to respond to you because most people are going to be silent viewers. So lowering that friction to interact with you is going to increase the participation there. Next tip here is create that curiosity gap, make them reply. Okay. If viewers know they can watch without being seen, you need to give them a reason to engage. So maybe you say something like, I can't share this publicly. Reply story and I'll tell you or want this template. DM me the word template and I'll send it to you. Or I only send this to people who reply. This creates exclusivity and incentivity, incentive to interact. I don't know if you guys have seen like all of these lifestyle influencers. They're doing the whole story thing that says tell me what you're doing today and I might send you $5 for coffee or something like that. Like that is an engagement tactic. Love it. Because they're, they know what they're doing. But just because you replied doesn't mean they're going to send you money. Just keep that in mind. It is an engagement tactic. Number three, use storytelling that invites emotional reaction. So if passive viewing is increasing, we need some kind of emotional connection. So we need some stories that drive responses, personal wins or a personal struggle. Even better when you have a struggle. If I share anything about my Hashimoto's or what I'm going through, or I'm crying or I'm just struggling, I get the most support from my people and I am so, so grateful for it. Like it's super hard to be vulnerable with some of the stuff that I share on my stories, but when I do get vulnerable like that, I typically get some kind of feedback from them. You can also ask them point blank like, hey, I need your opinion on this. What do you think? Hey, I'm nervous to share this, but what would you do in this situation? And then you walk them through. Emotional storytelling naturally is going to prompt some kind of reply in the dm. So this is a really great way to do that. If anonymous viewing becomes normal for Instagram and Facebook, story success is no longer going to just be measured by views. Creators too, with brands like, you're going to have to make these people respond to you. So the creators who are going to win are going to be the ones who stop broadcasting and start prompting some kind of response. All right, next update. Threads can now be managed inside of Meta business suite. This is nice, especially for social media managers. What this means Meta is positioning threads as a serious long term platform, not just an experiment. And I can say I used threads. I've gotten rid of Twitter or X whatever it's called. I don't even log in there anymore. I'm only using threads. So we can definitely expect more brands to adopt threads. We can expect more scheduling tools, we can expect monetization features coming. Basically, if you're building a personal brand, Threads is still an early stage growth opportunity for you. So don't be sleeping on threads. Next update TikTok launched a local feed in the US so TikTok now has a local feed tab showing content based on your physical location. This can include businesses, events, local creators, nearby recommendations. Many people do fear that this will revere reveal where they live or it will increase safety concerns. And so some creators are privatizing their accounts. But if you're a small business owner, this is really huge. TikTok could definitely become a discovery search engine for local commerce. So local businesses should start posting on TikTok right now. If they haven't, this is the biggest organic reach opportunity since early Instagram, which has been a While next update AI content labeling deadline is coming February 20th. Instagram and X must begin labeling their AI generated content by February 20th. This is part of a broader push for transparency around AI media. We're entering a new era of social guys. Authenticity will become a premium asset. I don't care what these people say about their AI twins, like human LED content is going to stand out more trust will become the number one differentiator and this aligns perfectly with what I teach. Connection over perfection. And if you need help understanding what connection content is, get inside of social media school. I'll link it in the show notes. I'm actually running a sale on social media sales school right now because I need you guys to get inside. You need to enroll, you need to understand the five core framework for content creation in 2026 because that's what's gonna allow you to stand out on social media. So not only do I teach you what kind of content to post, I also teach you how to the differences about different social media platforms. Which one's the right one for you and your demographics. We'll talk about how to create the most perfect target audience for you so that you can speak directly to them. We'll talk about sales psychology, when to use call to actions. All the things are in Social Media School. So overall what we're seeing right now with all of these updates is a massive shift towards emotional storytelling, AI integration. Hyper personalized feeds platforms are moving away from static content and they're going more towards that immersive, human centered experiences. Which means if you're building that personal brand in 2026, your biggest competitive advantage is not better editing, it's not even better trends. It's being real, it's being recognizable and it's being deeply relatable. So like I said, if that is something that you struggle with, check out Social Media School again. It is on sale right now and it's going to teach you the difference in your content so that you can stand out and grow in 2026. And that's all the updates I have for you. I hope you love today's episode. Please send it to your social media friend or your creator friend. Let's get the weekly scroll on the map and come connect with me over on Call her creator on Instagram. I'll see you soon.