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. Greetings and sorry for looking like a beach bum. If you're watching this on YouTube, it is what it is. We are at the beach. And it's actually perfect time to record this episode because last week I mentioned I want to talk about the Herd category. If you've listened to any of my podcast episodes, you know I talk a lot about the four Hs, which is a method that I came up with years ago trying to help people simplify content creation, right? People have been told create, you know, one piece is for converting, one is for growth. It's just overwhelming and too complicated when we are scrolling on social and deciding if we're follow, purchase, like comments, share whatever it is. It's based off feelings, right? So we need to create off of feelings we know that our people want to feel. And that doesn't mean it has to be deep or anything like that. A lot of the content in the viral hooks, I give you all a lot, are kind of like based on tips, tutorials, et cetera, which is the helpful category, right? So I did these four categories. The four H's based on kind of feelings, but also great ways to serve and provide value that aren't always tips and tricks, right? So the first H is heard. Second is helpful, third is humor, fourth is happening. So helpful content, pretty self explanatory, right? Anything that's helpful, humor, pretty obvious, right? Makes them laugh, it's relatable. And then last of course is happenings. And that's like really like behind the scenes. Did you move somewhere new? What vacation are you on? Did you hire a new employee? Events you went to, launches, new arrivals in your boutique, Things like that that are happening kind of behind the scenes, but also can be business related of course, or personal. They can be personal too. By the way, anyone telling you not to post personal stuff, do not listen. That's like the biggest red flag of all time. We're on here to follow people, but Herd is the one that I feel like most people struggle with. They're just like. Because I think for me the reason I came up with these four Hs is because for a while again it was like conversion content, sales content. And I'm like, we can convert, we can sell, we can, we can do that with any type of content. To be honest, every piece of content I put out there is to grow, nurture, sell. So the other flip, if you flip the coin, other people are saying inspire, educate, entertain. Right? That was kind of the standard pillar. So inspire was the one that I always struggled with because I'm not a big like, what's the word? Like mindset girly. I'm not a big affirmations, like type of person. So I was like, I don't really want to put out motivational content, motivational quotes. Like, that's just not me. So I was one that struggled with it too. So I came up with Heard because if you can make someone feel heard and seen and know they belong in your space and that like your account is for them, they're hitting follow immediately. And honestly, it really just brings up the whole concept of social media in general. We're on here to feel seen, heard. We want to follow people where we feel safe. And even if that is a rugby account, it's just like we're into rugby over here or it's a non toxic account, they feel safe over there. Whether it's a account where, you know, right now it's June, you know, and they're sharing pride content and that's where you feel safe. Like it can either be that deep or it can be deep. As in like my account where I just hope people feel safe to ask questions and get a real answer based on data, not just what's going to get clickbait. Right. That's kind of my thing. So I want you to really think about when it comes to her, to not overcomplicate that H of my pillar system is what is the vibe of your account? What are your core values? What makes people go, I feel seen here. This person gets me, this boutique gets me. Even if it's a hair salon, what are the things about your salon that make people go, oh, that's where I need to be going. That's where I need to be shopping. That's right. The way customers and that we all act now, we're, we're a little more picky with who we follow, we're a little more picky about who we, where we shop and things like that. We want to make sure that our values align. Yeah. So with all that said, I picked some reels for you to show you because I want to tell you I have helped. When I say hundreds of people go viral and this hook I'm about to share with you, I shared about a year ago on Instagram. I helped people when I say 40,000 followers off this one reel. That type of blow up because as soon as they know your account is for them and that you get them and you are a safe space, you win. You win. But again, this is where I come down to when I always say the three S's. Specificity, simplicity, shareability, Right? So is it shareable, is it specific, is it simple? So let me break down. This is. This one literally screams heard. And this, I actually broke this reel down when I spoke at Social Media Marketing World because this just is the perfect way to do herd now it says and it'll be in the show notes. Welcome to the side of Instagram where we celebrate middle travelers. People who are not budget travelers, but also not luxury travelers. More hotels and hostels. People who love to eat street food but also like to splurge on a fancy meal. Who think experiences are worth more than physical things. If this is your vibe, come say hi. 42,000 likes. 2,300 comments. And let me tell you, the comments, they're great. Oh my gosh, we have a name. I thought it's just every 30 plus year old, right? So again, they're giving their community a name, middle travelers. So this went bonus. Bonkers comments again. Finally we fit in somewhere because it's either super low budget, hostile bunk bed, Traveling or extreme 5 star hotel sweep kind of vibe. They gave these people a community to be in. And you can do it too. Okay, so that's one of the hooks you can do. Welcome to the site of Instagram where we believe in, we celebrate, we are all about blank. Okay, that's one of the hooks, the second hook. This one has helped a lot of my clients go viral too. But the one that has helped them go crazy, it is literally this ready pov. You're a blank. You're going to put in the blank who they are. You're a coastal grandmother, you're a car enthusiast, you're a toddler mom. What do they identify as? I had someone in the wedding planning space go viral. I had someone in a toddler coach go viral with this. So figure that out. You know, poll people, lean on ChatGPT, but really try to understand what they identify as. Like what's their identifier. And if you still, if you struggle, one really great book you could read is Identity Marketing by my girl, Veronica Romney. She's brilliant. And it's all about the power of marketing now, where it's less of buy this and more be this. So you kind of like, you know, swifties call Themselves, Swifties, things like that. So again, anything that you could think of that you could kind of help, give them a title. Like, POV, you're blank. Struggling with us. Ready? So POV, your 2026 bride. If you're in the bridal space, POV you're a toddler mom. POV you're a rugby junkie. I don't know, like whatever it is, if you're local, pov, you're a Washingtonian. Pov, you're a mid sized girly. Whatever it is, shout them out. And then it's just. Pov, you're a blank. Tired of blank. And find my account. So let's say you're an author, but you write some sort of type of book, but you do it in a different way that you know people will be like, yes, that's the kind of book I've been looking for. So you could say something like, pov, you're a true crime junkie. Pov, you are a romance novel lover. Tired, who's tired of books with main characters that blah, blah, blah. What is it about your books that make it different? And you find my whatever novels, you find my book, you find my account. Another girl who went viral with it. It was like, POV, you're a 2026 bride who wants to have a blah, blah, blah wedding without it costing over whatever, whatever. And you find, you can say our venue in Lexington, Virginia. You find. You find my account, you find whatever it is. Okay. But again, like I said, if you're not sure exactly what to call your people yet, you could just say, pov, you're tired of blah, blah, blah, and you find this product, whatever the product is, pov, I do it in a different way. So I do pov, your reach is trash. This works really well for my account sometimes. Pov, your reach is trash. And you find this trending audio and my favorite hooks and get out of 300 View jail. So there's lots of ways you can do it. But that's more of a helpful way, right? That's more of the helpful category. But when we're talking heard, we're like, I could say something like, pov, you're an exhausted content creator. You're a business owner who's tired of the clickbait or whatever, tired of conflicting Instagram and just want actual strategies with proven results. And you find my account. Things like that. So this is again where you really gotta find out what vibe your people are looking for. And they haven't found that account yet. And you're like, here it is. I made it for you. So you can do the welcome to the side of Instagram, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, or pov, you're a toddler mom who's tired of blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and you find my account. You're basically saying, this is the vibe here. This is what I share, this is what I do. And they feel heard. Okay, Obviously, there's so many ways to do heard. Heard could also be. I love this one. This is from a realtor in Florida. How life feels. Because you listened to that little voice in your head that told you to move to Florida, and now your evening walks look like this. So that's the other version of herd. I call it like the warm fuzzy hug. But again, this makes people, because they go, I did the same thing. I ditched blah, blah, blah for Florida. And I'll never look back. It makes them feel safe. It makes them feel seen. This person understands them. 78,000 likes, 22,000 shares, all because she made them feel heard. And the audio sounds like this here. I'll let it play right now. Another way to make your people feel heard. So again, we've got the shout out, exactly who you are, what your core values are, what your vibe is, right? That's the pov. You're a blank one. Or the welcome to the side Instagram. Both of those are great. Or you can say how blank feels, how life feels, that sort of thing. And then there's also ones that are as simple as this. A summer countdown. Right now, it's summer, which is why I look like this. I look crazy because I was, you know, at the beach. We're all in summer mode, so anything that gives them that vibe that they love. Maybe you are a realtor or a content creator in New England. Create a reel showing that feeling that they cannot wait to get to the beach and be in back in that coastal New England life, right? That makes them feel heard. It makes them feel. They get you. We are on social media to feel seen, heard. That's a big part of it. Not just to learn and be entertained and all that, just to know that you get us and we're safe here. So especially with it being, like I said, pride month, Summer. Think about the things right now that people are like, gosh, I just wish there was an account that had this type of vibe. You're like, here it is. And lastly, another great one to take and run with if you want. If you have clips like this crater, it literally just says this vibe, and it's a bunch of clips just showing the vibe, but it basically shows what this account is about and what his whole thing is about. Travel, photography, lifestyle, like that is his account. If that's how they travel and that's what their life looks like when they travel or that's their desire, they're going to follow him. They feel heard, they feel seen, they feel comfortable to be here. All right, that's it. That's how to create heard content. And this is the perfect time to do it because there's a lot going on and it's summer and people are like, whew, I just want to have some fun and feel seen for your heart. Now, again, lastly, if you are in the therapy mindset, mental health category, then this is your moment. Heard is your category. Do the inspirational quote. Do the stuff that makes them go, gosh, I needed to hear that today. God has heard. So there you go. Those are a bunch of different ways to create her type content. I love you, friend, and I'll talk to you next week.