Embrace the Content Creator Mindset - Good Content with Shannon McKinstrie

Summary

Good Content with Shannon McKinstry Episode: Embrace the Content Creator Mindset
Release Date: April 22, 2025

Introduction

In this episode of Good Content, host Shannon McKinstry dives deep into cultivating a content creator mindset. Shannon emphasizes the importance of removing content creation overwhelm by focusing on tried-and-true strategies that resonate with audiences. She shares insights from her Reels Lab live coaching sessions and provides actionable tips to elevate your social media presence effectively.

Optimizing Reels with Simple Tweaks

Shannon begins by discussing her Reels Lab coaching calls, where members submit their reels for live audits. She highlights that often, improving a reel requires just one or two simple adjustments.

“It’s either a little adjusting of the text or adding one more descriptive word that makes someone stop and go, this reel is for me.”
— Shannon McKinstry [04:30]

These minor changes can significantly enhance engagement by making the content more relatable and compelling.

The Four H's: Creating Content Based on Feelings

Central to Shannon's strategy are the Four H's, which guide her content creation process based on the desired emotional response from the audience. These emotions include:

Helpfulness: Providing relief or solutions.
Humor: Creating relatability through laughter.
Hurt: Addressing pain points.
Hope: Inspiring and motivating followers.

“We buy off feelings. We follow people because we relate to them and they make us want to do better.”
— Shannon McKinstry [06:45]

By targeting these emotions, content creators can foster deeper connections with their audience, leading to increased loyalty and engagement.

Personal Branding vs. Content Creating

Shannon challenges the traditional notion of a personal brand, advocating instead for viewing your social media presence as a personal account. She notes that authenticity and relatability are key to successful content.

“If you want your business account to grow more and succeed more, you need to start treating it more like a personal account.”
— Shannon McKinstry [12:15]

She urges creators to share personal stories and aspects of their lives to build a genuine connection with their audience, making their brand feel more human and approachable.

Engaging Your Audience Through Stories

Shannon emphasizes the power of storytelling in content creation. By sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses and personal anecdotes, creators can make their audience feel more connected and engaged.

“On stories, talk about what you’re up to. Share your life and things you love to bond with your people.”
— Shannon McKinstry [16:50]

This approach not only enhances relatability but also encourages followers to interact more openly, fostering a sense of community.

Building a Community

A recurring theme in the episode is the importance of building an engaged community around your brand. Shannon asserts that community-building has always been fundamental, despite recent trends highlighting its resurgence.

“If someone feels like they belong in your community, they’re going to follow and tell everyone about you.”
— Shannon McKinstry [19:20]

She advises using language that resonates with your target audience and incorporating elements that make them feel included and valued within your community.

Practical Examples and Strategies

Shannon provides several practical examples to illustrate her points:

Wine Stopper Reel:
- Example: A video showing unpackaging a wine stopper with the caption “I just found THE Wine Stopper on Amazon.”
- Insight: Emphasizing specific words like “THE” and using relevant emojis can make the content more engaging and targeted.
“Adding one more descriptive word makes someone stop and go, this reel is for me.”
— Shannon McKinstry [08:10]
Travel Agent Reel:
- Example: “Best friends, no passport, luxury resort trip.”
- Insight: Including identifiers like “no passport” immediately conveys ease and convenience, attracting those looking for stress-free travel options.
DIY Home Improvement:
- Example: “Five easy DIYs that instantly make your home look more expensive.”
- Insight: Words like “DIY,” “instantly,” and “expensive” tap into desires for quick, cost-effective upgrades, increasing the reel’s appeal.
“The word instantly triggers instant gratification.”
— Shannon McKinstry [18:05]

Conclusion and Takeaways

Shannon wraps up the episode by reiterating the importance of approaching your content with a content creator mindset. Key takeaways include:

Focus on Emotional Connection: Create content that evokes specific feelings to build a stronger bond with your audience.
Personalize Your Brand: Treat your business account like a personal account to enhance authenticity and relatability.
Engage Through Stories: Share personal experiences and behind-the-scenes moments to foster community.
Use Strategic Language: Incorporate descriptive words and identifiers to make your content more engaging and targeted.
Leverage Community Building: Continuously work on building and nurturing an engaged community around your brand.

“Attention is currency, so use words that pop out and capture it.”
— Shannon McKinstry [22:00]

Shannon encourages listeners to utilize tools like ChatGPT to brainstorm identifiers and analyze testimonials to refine their messaging. She promises to delve deeper into these strategies in future episodes, providing even more actionable prompts and tips.

“Go enjoy your spring break. I love you, friend, and I’ll talk to you next week.”
— Shannon McKinstry [22:30]

By embracing the content creator mindset, Shannon McKinstry offers valuable insights and practical strategies to enhance your social media presence, build authentic connections, and grow your business with good content.

Transcript

Shannon McKinstry (0:00)

Foreign. I am your host, Shannon McKinstry. 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, so I want to talk about something that I we dove into deep into a Reels Lab live coaching call last week, which is a membership I have where I give industry specific prompts and reels plans for the week every week. And what I do with these calls is they'll submit their reel, you know, maybe one that they're like, ah, Shannon, I want to make sure this is the best it can be. And then live on the call, I'll audit it, right? I'll be like, okay, let's change that, this and that. And it's so funny because every time it's one or two tweaks and it's always something so easy and simple. It's either a little adjusting of the text of the actual text, right? Or it's like, actually, let's add one more word in there, one more descriptive word, one more identifier that will make someone stop and go, this real is for me or I'm interested. Got it. Got to know more, right? And that's all it takes. And that's why I tell everyone, I'm like, you're literally one or two tweaks away every time. So I just thought it'd be fun for this episode because I know a lot of us are on spring break, it's a little crazy. And, you know, when I talk about the four H's, I always say, like, when I create content, it's based on the feeling I want the viewer to get. Whether it's a feeling of relief because it's something. Something helpful, or it's a feeling of, oh, my gosh, relatability they give me because it's something humorous or it's a hurt, right? That's what I mean. I create content based on feeling because, guess what? We buy off feelings. We buy better versions of ourselves. We buy. We follow people because we relate to them. They make us want to do better. They align with our values, things like that, right? So it's all based off feeling. So I know there's a lot of different ways. And let me just preface this. I always say it, one big advice here. If you're ever listening to a marketer and they talk in absolutes, meaning like, you can't do this, you must do this. This is the only run as far as you can away from them. Because there's no one way to do this. And that's why I love studying what's working. Because you can see, like you. You can look at every account. You could look at a Nike versus a small brand versus whatever, and they're all doing something different and growing. So just know that. But the one thing that everyone's doing right right now, who's crushing it, is nailing their messaging and using, again, words that bring up feelings, whether it's nostalgia, a sense of belonging. Right. We talk a lot about belonging and marketing because if someone feels like they belong in your community, they're going to follow and they're going to tell everyone about you. So here's a quick, easy example. This is actually an example I gave my Rails lab students for this week's prompts. And it's literally the simplest reel and it will be in the show notes. And I'll give lots of different examples from different industries to help you guys out. Okay? But this first one, it's literally just a little video showing the girl unpackaging something she bought off Amazon. And it says, I just found the in caps. The word the is in caps. Wine stopper on Amazon. Okay. So again, the fact that the word the is capitalized makes us go, ooh, right? I've just found the wine stopper on Amazon and then with two emojis that reflect what it is. So before you even see it, you know it's going to be cowboy or country related. So if the person aligns with that, or maybe they have a country concert coming up or whatever, they're gonna go, ooh, okay. All right. So that's one example. The wine stopper create content that makes it feel like it's from a personal brand. I've been saying it for 10 years. Personal brand. Personal brand. And I remember the first clients ever worked with were realtors. And they're like, I'm not a personal brand. I'm like, yeah, Yar, sorry, I hate to tell you, but you are. I think personal brand. Ten years ago signaled influencer, and no one wanted it. They were like, I'm not an influencer. Now the term is content creator. And let's be real. You, you need to approach your content as a content creator. That's probably going to be the title of this episode. Sorry, I kind of approached today's episode like, what do I want to talk about? Let me just go in and. But that's it. Your content needs to look like now. Does that mean fancy edits cap Cut this. Fancy fonts. No, it just means. And again, these reels that I'm talking about will be in the show notes. In case you missed my Instagram post about it. You want to approach your content and make it look like you're just a human on Instagram. Right? And I say this all the time. I did this on a thread the other day. I said, if you want your business account to grow more and succeed more, you need to start treating it more like a personal account. On stories, talk about what you're up to. Do you know how much engagement I got over the weekend from Easter from showing Chloe being funny? From where we are at brunch, that's where we conversate. I know my audience feels a lot more comfortable opening up in the DMS and going, hey, Shannon, loved D. I love that dress. Where'd you get it? Or hey, what's your. You know, where'd you get that lamp? Right. When I'm giving Instagram tips, people are just kind of taking notes and like, whatever. But if I never open it up to just share my life and things I love, how am I going to bond with my people? Okay. And then here's an example for travel agents. I love this. It literally says, best friends, no passport, luxury resort trip. Brilliant. She could have said luxury trip for you and your girlfriends. Okay, what is the extra identifier here? No passport. So right away, this real signifies to me, easy. We don't have to worry about passports. We don't have to probably worry about layovers. Right? What is one more identifier you can put in your hook or just simply in the text? No passport. The Amazon. Right? Those words just make a reel more interesting. And this goes beyond educational, which I like to call helpful content. Here's another one. There's a trend right now going around saying, I probably needed a hug. And then what'd you do instead? Like went to Target instead. Like, people are using it to be funny. Some people are using it to be sentimental. Her says, I probably needed a hug, but I bought a 200 year old New England home instead. So anyone in New England right away is. And go, ooh. Or people that love that kind of character. The fact she said 200 year old little tiny. Adding a few extra words to this reel is what made that go viral for her. And here's another one. And I did this on the reels, the weekly Reels Lab video I sent everyone the other day. Cause I was like, this is brilliant. It says five easy DIYs that instantly make your home look more expensive. Let's break that down, shall we? DIY immediately makes us feel okay. We're capable, Right. The word instantly triggers instant gratification. And then the word expensive. She could have said five easy DIYs to do for your living room. Boring. She made this feeling. I'm like, oh, I could do this. And it's gonna make my home look expensive. Sure. And I can do it myself. And I don't have to pay anyone. I'm in saving, sharing, following, et cetera. Lots of takeaways from this episode. Approach it as me. You. You are. It is your account. You are a personal brand. Even if you are a brand, right? And I always say this, right? The boutiques, the coffee shops, like, ask your employees to be a part of this. This is where we fall in love with. We want to follow humans, we want to follow people we can relate to and talk to and feel approachable. So if you can couple that in Instagram stories and you're real and all, just bring it all home and make your account feel like a community. And it's so funny, y'all. I saw a TikTok the other day. This is a great way to end this podcast. Saw a TikTok the other day saying, nowadays, the big thing now is community. I'm like, are. Are people crazy? Like, that's been the point this whole time. Ten years ago, my first tagline on my loosely call it a website. It was nothing fancy. It was just a one page little thing. And my tagline for my brand as a social media manager was, let's build an engaged community around your brand. That was 10 years ago. Still the same. And how do you build a community? First, you make sure you're using words in your content they identify with and relate to and see themselves in. And you use stories to show up, take them behind the scenes, and you create content that makes them feel, period. How do you want them to feel? I will go more into this next week because I know there was a lot to digest and I will give y'all actual prompts to go along with these. So over the next week, use ChatGPT to come up with those identifiers. Look at past intake forms from people. If you're a business coach, look at testimonials from brands you look up to that align with you. What words pop out that they're using that you can start adding into your hooks and into your content and your all your copy and your scripts to get their attention. Because attention is currency, right? So There you go. I hope this is helpful. Go enjoy your spring break. If you're on it like we are, I love you, friend, and I'll talk to you next week.