Podcast Summary: Good Content with Shannon McKinstrie

Episode: Find Your Content Rhythm and Build a Simple Content Strategy
Host: Shannon McKinstrie
Date: November 18, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode, recorded in Shannon McKinstrie’s signature relaxed and candid style, cuts through the noise of social media advice to offer clear, practical strategies for building an effective and sustainable content plan. Shannon shares her philosophy that there are “no absolutes” in social media, details her original “4 H’s” framework for planning content, and guides listeners in finding their unique posting rhythm. The focus is on making content creation enjoyable and connecting with audiences in a genuine way, rather than getting bogged down by so-called rules and rigid calendars.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Myth of “Absolute” Content Rules

Shannon’s Core Philosophy: There are no inflexible rules for content creation—except for platform technicalities (like hashtag limits).
- “If anyone is speaking to you in absolutes … like, you have to post twice a day … there is none. What is the magical amount of times to post? There isn’t one.” [04:04]
Content success comes from authenticity and resonance, not following someone else’s rigid formula.

2. The “4 H’s” Framework

Shannon introduces and explains her original system for simplifying content planning:

Heard: Content that makes the audience feel seen and validated—a “warm hug,” pep talks, community-building.
- “It’s that belonging, it’s that warm hug or like a pep talk type thing where it just goes, dang, I need to hear that. Or dang, you get me.” [07:18]
Helpful: Tutorials, tips, suggestions—direct value and education.
Humor: Silly, playful content, relatable jokes, and trends.
Happenings: Behind-the-scenes, life updates, personal shares—what’s happening in your business or world.
- “Who are you? What’s going on? Where are you at? What you doing, what you love? What’s your vibe?” [08:15]
These categories create flexibility—content can blend several H's at once.

3. Simplifying Your Content Rhythm

Instead of stressing over perfect schedules, Shannon recommends picking a posting rhythm (cadence) that fits your life and business.
- “You pick a cadence. Whatever word you want to say. I want to post three times a week … And they’re doing great.” [11:34]
Use your natural energy and audience habits to guide what you post and when.
- Example: Softer, “Heard” content on Mondays, more “Helpful” tips midweek, humor or happenings by the weekend.

4. Examples of Content Planning in Action

Shannon shares how she organizes her week:
- Monday: Soft, “warm hug” content (e.g., POV, community-focused)
- Tuesday–Thursday: Helpful ideas, tips, tutorials
- Friday/Saturday: Humorous or “Happenings” (life, behind-the-scenes, fun trends)
Flexibility is key: “I don’t live by a content calendar. I don’t live by a strict schedule. You can’t, on social media, you can’t.” [14:20]
“Most of my content is in the helpful category because my content is more of an educational account … But then by Friday, Saturday, I will definitely at least post a happening or something humorous … I showed some pictures, gave them some thoughts.” [15:35]

5. Audience Alignment and Content Identity

The “magic sauce” is matching what you love to create with what your audience wants.
- “What is it? Like, really check in with yourself of what you love creating and what your audience wants to see. That’s the magic sauce right there.” [17:24]
You can lean into one category or mix several—there’s no right or wrong.

6. Content Hooks and Examples

Shannon provides specific examples of hooks for each “H”:
- Heard: “Dear algorithm, send me everyone stuck in View Jail, one flop away from quitting and ready for a quick content that performs so Instagram can feel fun again.” [21:21]
- Helpful: “The hook that’s blowing up accounts on Instagram right now, which is that Dear algorithm hook.” [22:10]
- Humor+Education: “I talked to the camera … I’m very unserious … I shouted out Scorpio season, did a weird dance move … and gave tips on social media.” [22:45]
- Happenings: Birthday post with personal reflection and behind-the-scenes pics.
Content can (and should) overlap: funny + educational, heard + happenings, etc.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“There are no absolutes in social media except for, like, the general, like, terms, conditions, rules Instagram gives us, right? … But overall, there’s no hardcore rules.” [03:30]
“If your content connects with them, they’re going to go to your account, look around, maybe buy something. Right? It’s the same as like when we walk past the store, we’re like, that looks like me. That looks cute. I identify with this. Walk in, that’s your content.” [05:23]
“Every piece of content needs to resonate and connect. That will always build authority, that will always lead to conversions, that will always lead to follows.” [05:12]
“Once you come up … you know I’ve got hooks I share every week on this podcast. And so I’ll leave you … that is just a humor hook, a herd hook, a helpful hook, right? Just to help you guys get started.” [20:55]
“There is no absolute and these things can intertwine … Do you see what I mean? There’s no rules and there’s so many rules out there that we’ve lost the plot.” [23:44]

Important Timestamps

03:30: Myth of absolutes in social media
05:12: Main point—content must resonate and connect
07:18 – 09:00: Introduction and breakdown of the 4 H’s
11:34: Picking your content cadence/rhythm
14:20: Why strict calendars don’t work for social content
15:35: Weekly posting rhythm example
17:24: Aligning content with passion and audience needs
21:21 – 22:10: Example content hooks for each of the 4 H’s
22:45 – 23:44: Humor + education example and content overlap

Tone and Delivery

Shannon’s tone is warm, personable, and empowering—with plenty of humor and relatability. She speaks like a trusted friend, using everyday language and giving candid glimpses into her own process. Her advice is practical and actionable, focused on making good content creation accessible and fun.

Summary Takeaways

Ignore rigid social media “rules”—focus on genuine content that connects.
Use the “4 H’s” (Heard, Helpful, Humor, Happenings) as building blocks for variety and balance.
Find your posting rhythm based on your life, energy, and audience needs.
Content should resonate, overlap, and reflect your unique personality.
There are no absolutes—so give yourself permission to experiment and enjoy the process.

For more hooks and real-time examples, check out Shannon’s webinar and Instagram account.

Transcript

A (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. Welcome to a very special episode of Good Content is the day after my birthday, meaning I am in rot. This is a major couch rot day. We've been traveling. It's been crazy. It's been awesome. I'm prepping for a webinar that is coming out Wednesday. So I'm like, you know what? Let's just record the podcast straight up from the couch in Shannon's natural habitat. This is again, the podcast. You know, we're doing big things in the podcast room. Hopefully we'll be debuting soon, but until then, I'm just recording random places in my house or wherever I find myself these days. All right, I'm gonna make this one quick and easy because holidays are coming. Black Friday. I mean, you might as well say it's MERRY Christmas, happy 2026, right? Like, everyone, it is like, everywhere you look, it's Christmas, it's holidays, whatever. I did a holiday episode a couple episodes ago, so if you need some content ideas for that, definitely check that out. But I want to talk again about just how to make this easy, right? Because all I see and I get it, I get sent to me from people a lot, obviously, right? Because you guys are like, is this true? What do I do? I'm like, nothing. There's no absolutes. I cannot stress it enough. There are no absolutes in social media except for, like, the general, like, terms, conditions, rules Instagram gives us, right? Or like, you can. You can't use more than 30 hashtags. And honestly, you should only probably be using like, I use about. Well, this is not to go off topic, but I, you know, I used to use literally almost all 30. Now I do between, like, for the kids out there, six, seven. No, but I'll do, like, usually about 10 hashtags or so. Right, but those are rules, right? Like, you can't hack the algorithm, you can't do this stuff. But overall, there's no hardcore rules. So if anyone is speaking to you in absolutes, like, you have to post twice a day, you have by what? There are people growing, posting once a week. There's people growing, posting three times a day. What is the magical time to post? There is none. What is the magical amount of times to post? There isn't one. So I want to start. I just wanted to talk about that a little bit today and also give you guys some content to run with. Of course. Right. But this is how I plan my content. I talk about it a lot on this podcast, but I'm going to like make it so simple for you. So this is the first episode you're listening to. This is a great one. If it's not, then this is a great refresher. So I came up with the 4H's 2 1/2, 3 ish years ago. I did a reel a while ago. Cause I was like, look. Cause everyone was like, well I need, I need conversion content. And then I need authority content. And then I need, I'm like, what? Like this is crazy. Because what it does is it makes you put each piece of content into a box. When each piece of content, you guys, for me, I mean, yes, there's top of funnel, there's whatever, right? They're obviously these are like marketing words that make people think. There's one rule. Every piece of content I put out into the universe, whether it's Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn threads. My main point is what is the feeling they're going to get? And with that feeling, what does that feeling do? That feeling is either going to help them want to follow me, help them get to know me, want to buy from me. But at the end of the day, every piece of content needs to resonate and connect. That will always build authority, that will always lead to conversions, that will always lead to follows. If you're content connects with them, they're going to go to your account, look around, maybe buy something. Right? It's the same as like when we walk past the store, we're like, that looks like me. That looks cute. I identify with this. Walk in, that's your content. Same thing. So I came up with the four H's because I was frustrated with everyone saying and I, I was guilty of it too. I would say, oh, educational content, entertaining content, empathetic. I would always say empathetic content. And I was like, you know, it just feels too broad and confusing. So I broke it down to the four H's which is heard, helpful humor happenings. Heard is that I feel seen content. It feels like you belong. It's that belonging, it's that warm hug or like a pep talk type thing where it just goes, dang, I need to hear that. Or dang, you get me, you see me, I want in. It's community based type content, validation content. Second is helpful, which is demos, tutorials, tips, suggestions, ideas. Right? Humor Is obvious. Right? It's just silly, playful, human relatable in that sense. And then lastly is happenings, which is behind the scenes of your business. Who are you? What's going on? What. Where are you at? What you doing, what you love? What's your vibe? Right. But anyway, I can sell with every single one of those with my clients. What if it's a funny reel? I do. You best believe in the caption. I'm also using it to nurture and also maybe convert, whether it's someone to my podcast or convert them to buy my Instagram guide, whatever it is. So I just want to say that when it comes to planning, this is the main thing to do is just know that if you're. When you look at a piece of content, is it something helpful? Is it something that's going to make them feel heard? Is it something that lets them in and invites them into your world? Or is it something funny? Then you nailed it. Post it. Stop overthinking it. Those are the four H's. Okay, so what do you do from there? You pick a rhythm. You pick a cadence. Whatever word you want to say. I want to post three times a week. Shannon, perfect. Most girls in the Mastermind I do with my business partner, Emily. Their goal is three to four times a week, and they're. They're doing great. One of our Mastermind girls just literally sold $10,000 in digital products with within one month of our Mastermind because we changed a couple words in her hooks. You guys, that's what happens when you just pick a cadence. You can stick to and use the words that your audience uses and identifies with. You're good. You are good to go. So that's it. So, number one, know those four ages. Number two, pick a cadence. Pick a rhythm throughout the week that you want to post. Here's my rhythm. It's Monday. Do you see me right now? If you're watching on YouTube, do I look like I want to give a masterclass and. Or take in a masterclass right now? No. I want that heard. Content today. I want content that makes people. Makes me go, oh, my gosh, where's this account been on my life? This is my. They get me. I feel seen. That's what I want on a Monday. So this is how I post on Mondays. I typically post something kind of like a warm hug. Now, today is going to be different because I'm pushing the webinar, so today's a little different. But do you see what I mean? I'm not posting hard Content today. Because I don't live by a content calendar. I don't live by a strict schedule. You can't. On social media, you can't. Okay? So just know none of this is absolute, but this is how I do things. Typically on Mondays, I post something a little softer, warmer, light, swimming light, like, hey, guys, it's those perfect POVs that say, POV, you're trying to da, da, da, da. And you find my account pov, your taste is da, da, da, da. And now you find my account pov, you're obsessed with blank, blank and just want to find blank. And you find my account. That type of content, it's like a belonging. Okay, then Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, I will post a little more helpful ideas, suggestions, hooks, tips, hacks, right? Then the third is your humor, right? And that's that playful. I usually will try to post it on a Friday, Saturday, but if there's a funny trend that I don't see that I want to take part in, I'll skip that and I might just do another helpful. Most of my content is in the helpful category because my content is more of an educational account. I'm not a lifestyle account. I'm not a brick and mortar where I sell products. A lot of my stuff is educational. But then by Friday, Saturday, I will definitely at least post a happening or something humorous, something light, something behind the scenes. Yesterday, what did I post about my birthday, right? I let people in my life. I showed some pictures, give them some thoughts. And it was actually, if you think about it, it was a mix of heard and happenings, right? Cause in there I shared some thoughts on, like, life and this and that. So this is all to say, when you lean your content on that, what's the overall vibe, feeling, et cetera, that's going to connect and resonate. Pick a cadence three times a week, four times a week, five times a week, spread it out like that. If you want to do only helpful content, that's fine. If you want to do only humorous content, we know those accounts work, right? What is it like? Really check in with yourself of what you love creating and what your audience wants to see. That's the magic sauce right there. So do that. And then from there, you just rinse and repeat and you come up with your helpful ideas. You come up with your humor ideas, you come up with your. Right now, this will all be taught in my webinar on Wednesday. I hope you can be there. Go to my Instagram account. Obviously, the link will be here in the show notes, but it's going to be fire and I'm going to give you guys. Sorry, that was fire. Why did I say it that way? I'm just really excited. I geek out over this stuff. I love it. I just want to help simplify this for you guys because once you come up, you know I've got hooks I share every week on this podcast. And so I'll leave you. That is just a humor hook, a herd hook, a helpful hook, right? Just to help you guys get started. So here's an example. Ready? Here's a herd hook. My herd hook last week was Dear algorithm, send me everyone stuck in View Jail, one flop away from quitting and ready for a quick content that performs so Instagram can feel fun again. That was my herd, so take that, run with it. A Dear algorithm, send me everyone x xyz. Right? And make sure you add those identifiers in there. Not just tired moms, not just men who want, you know, ex athletes looking to da da. What is it? What? How do they describe themselves? Right. My helpful one was this one, which actually is doing really well for my account right now. The hook that's blowing up accounts on Instagram right now, which is that Dear algorithm hook. Okay, these will all be in the show notes. That was a helpful one. And I broke down the hook and I should tell people how to do this hook. So that's helpful. My happenings was obviously my birthday. Now, humor was last week too, actually. I talked to the camera I had and it's funny. You can mix things up. It's humorous, but it's me giving tips on social media. But I'm showing my personality. I'm very unserious. And I had some parts where people were like, oh my gosh, Shannon, they're cracking up the comments. Cause I shouted out Scorpio season. I did a weird dance move that was weird. And then I also like have a few moments in there that are just kind of funny. So it's education from a lighter humorous space. So as always, these can overlap. Right. The other humorous one I did a couple weeks ago was how life feels when you're back with your long distance friend who's been there through every era, is always down for shenanigans and makes you feel whole. Now again, that's humor because it's funny. The video is funny. It's just like frolicking and being silly. But that's also heard. Like I said, there is no absolute and these things can intertwine and one piece of content can be helpful. Funny. Make people feel seen and show behind the scenes. Do you see what I mean? There's no rules and there's so many rules out there that we've lost the plot. Instagram is where people connect. Instagram is where people want to feel seen. Instagram is where we want to learn from each other. Instagram is where we want to feel like our thoughts and perspectives matter and that people get us and those four H's pulled together. Make the account people want to follow and come back to. I hope you can join me for the webinar. I hope this got you some fun ideas. I love you so much. Thank you again for making this podcast just what it is and I just love showing up for you guys every week. Thank you for watching this even in my messy type B corner glory. And I will see you on the webinar on Wednesday.