Make Your Content Pop by Knowing Why People Want to Buy

Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:05]:
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. Hello. Welcome to another episode of Good Content, and we're going to have a little bit of a come to Jesus talk today. So I'm hearing from a lot of people "My engagement's down. My reach is down.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:34]:
I can't get my reels to convert from views to followers." I have a lot of theories behind this. Obviously, it's my job to stay up on trends and see what's working. But, like, I think what a lot of people miss, is a lot of people in my industry, we push the views, the engagement, the trends, the hooks, the formulas so much, that a lot of the work you need to do before you take these formulas that we give you is obviously a ton of market research and knowing who you're talking to, a lot of it just comes down to knowing your people. Cause I think we get so excited, we're like, oh, this trend. Let's go.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:03]:
You gotta know exactly what's gonna resonate and with that comes market research. I have other podcast episodes on that, but when I had a call with my Reels Lab students last week, it was interesting. There was a prompt that helped several of them go viral and several of them crickets. And every time they're like, Shannon, why didn't this work? And I'm gonna share it with you today. Cause this is exactly why it didn't work. And I'll share the prompt with you, too. Cause why not, right? Have some fun with it.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:25]:
So, the prompt was simple. It was just. Did I hear you were looking for blank? Right? And you say, what it is they're looking for? What's their desire? And then you would say, either cool or good or great or whatever. Rad. Whatever you would say, dope, because I made this for you, or I made one, or I created more, or I found this blank. Okay. So one of my students in particular who went crazy viral on this is a maker and had these cute little, you know, things.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:54]:
I don't want to give away all her secrets, but the things that she sells are really cute. Obviously, that helps, right? But she showed you're looking for this. So a lot of people in Reels Lab are like me, okay? We are. The thing that we're looking for is actually in our brain, so we can't exactly show it all the time, but what mistake a lot of them made, which is not... I told them in the call, I was like, okay, now I know that this is something that y'all struggle with. That's why I love these calls with them was that when I put the blank and I said, you know, insert what they're looking for, and I said, you know, what's the desire? But what they thought that a desire was, was them. So let's say travel advisor, instead of saying, did I hear you were looking to go on a trip to Hawaii that will cost less than this and that you get a direct flight. I mean, again, that's getting a little too specific, but you know what I mean? Instead of saying the thing that they actually want, did you say you want to live in a clutter free home but can't afford to? Da da da.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:49]:
I found this for you. You're putting the outcome of what they desire, not your title. So, with that said, a lot of people in the Reels Lab would say, did you say you were looking for a real estate agent? Did you say you were looking for a therapist? No, they're not looking for a therapist. They're not looking for a real estate agent. They're not looking for new candles. They're looking for the outcome that comes from your services or your product. So I did a reel about this. So some of you may have seen it, but I said, they're not looking for a travel advisor.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:19]:
They're looking for a way to get out of town where they don't have to sit in front of a computer and, you know, do mental gymnastics for 10 hours. Or they're just looking to go somewhere that offers blank, blank in the third. And you're like, cool, I found this resort for you. You see what I mean? Like, it's like you're not scrolling... as they're scrolling they're literally not looking for you and this is the biggest takeaway ... right now if you're picking up Instagram, you're not going, let me see what an Instagram strategist wants to mouth off to me today. No, you're looking for more views, more sales without being on your phone all day.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:49]:
You're not looking for an Instagram strategist, just like you're not looking for a realtor. You're not looking for a home organizer. When you open your phone, you're looking for the outcome of that. So, you guys, once you figure out what that outcome is, that is when your reels go insane. I'm telling you, I've done this with thousands of business owners. The second they figure out what the actual desire is of their people. Explosion. Okay, so another example.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:13]:
You know, I think I said in the reels about perfume, like, they're not looking for perfume. I'm not opening my phone "let me see what perfume" but if someone says, everywhere I go, everyone stops me on the street to compliment my smell, my scent, I'm gonna go buy it. Okay. If I'm scrolling and I see someone say, did I hear you say you wanted to do something fun with your family that your husband will actually enjoy doing, too? Right? We always joke about the husbands being dragged on fall activities. What is the pain point? What is the thing stopping them? What is the thing that they're like, no, that actually, yes, you're right. I am desiring that and take my money.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:47]:
And here's my follow, too. That is what you got to get down to. And that is why the Day One Conference that we're having in Indy in October, if you can do it, I'm telling you, it's going to be more valuable than any VIP day, any course, anything. Because I can't tell you how many things I see out there. And I see them all, all these courses teaching formulas and stuff like that. It's like, there's nothing about messaging. And that's where people fail. It's literally putting the cart before the horse, whatever that saying is.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:11]:
But, yeah, it's the non sexy part. It's the non fun part. But when you know why people buy from you, when you know why people hit follow, your content starts popping off. I'm telling you. And this is something I still struggle with. I'm always asking, like, when someone DM's me and goes, oh, my gosh, I'm so glad I found you because blank, you best believe I screenshot it, write it down. Because I'm like, okay, so and so likes my account because this - and that might change over the years.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:35]:
I'm not gonna change. My strategies have barely changed at all in the past ten years. My messaging, if you go back to my Instagram, if you're ever, you know, not that you would ever be bored enough to do this, but go way back. I've been saying the same stuff for years, relatability, relevance, community, authenticity. Also, I've been saying this stuff forever, okay? But the way I create my content adjusts based on what's working right now. So, again, it's not the come to Jesus is, it's not your fault. If you're a marketer you already know. You're listening to me going, yep, yep, yep.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:04]:
If you're not a marketer, marketing has changed. Do the timeless marketing strategies still work? Yes. But as a whole, it's changed because of the mediums we're allowed to go down and all this stuff. Right. But also the fact that we are consuming so much content every day. It has to change. The way you market has to change. Your message doesn't have to change.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:23]:
Your mission doesn't have to change, but you just have to tailor it. So again, you haven't been taught how to do it right? Right now, what's working right now, and that's why this podcast is what it is, because I want you to know what's working right now. And what's working right now is speaking directly to their desires and pain points that they don't even know they have. I share this, obviously, in the Reels Lab every week. We teach this in The Social Squad Society. We'll be going hard in the pain on this at the day one conference. If you can be there, please be there. It will be life changing.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:49]:
I'm not kidding. It's going to transform your entire business, how you approach marketing and your business in general. Info will be in the show notes. But I'm just telling you guys, I wish I could tell you in a ten minute podcast how to nail your messaging. It takes work, and you might need to work with a brand strategist. And that's okay. I've done it, too. I'm a marketer, and I still need to work with a brand strategist or copywriter sometimes.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:09]:
Like, what am I selling to? Why are people buying this for me? Why? Right? We get in our own heads. I can help someone else do it. I think the biggest thing that you can do for yourself to create good content is figure out why people buy from you. I know I've talked about this before, but I'm telling you right now, in August of 2024, everyone is saying their reach is down. Their engagement is down. My clients are going viral. I went viral twice this past week when I had to delete. Long story.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:30]:
It just gave rude comment people, people that love to leave rude comments, It gave them a post to just go nuts on, and the language was getting vulgar and I just didn't have feel like dealing with it. And then I turned the comments off and then they went to other things to be like, oh, you turned your comments off. So I was like, I don't have time for this. So again, just know, just because you're going viral, you know, if it's upsetting, you, take it down. Most of my viral reels do not attract that, but it was about rude comments, so I was kind of asking for it. I just didn't think it would get as crazy as it did.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:58]:
Oh, my gosh. And then I had another one go viral with my daughter. And, of course, super relatable, super funny. It's bringing in, follows, hopefully, of my ideal people. Cause everything else I share is very niche. But again, you know, I hate to say it's not hard to create content, to bring in followers of your ideal people and go viral and make sales. It's really not hard. It's not complicated, and it comes down to your messaging, and that is something that you've got to nail unless you want to keep throwing spaghetti at the wall, and that's fine, too.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:25]:
That's where the quantity people come in. Quantity over quality. I'm like, no, no, no. Let's spend the time. Quantity is a band aid. I pushed results. The root cause, if you will. You know, like, holistic doctors.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:37]:
Like, let's get to the root cause of why this is happening. I'm the root cause of marketing. What is the reason people actually want to buy from you? You've got to figure that out. Ask questions, interview people once you know that. You guys, I know I've already talked about this, at least on one other episode, but I've got to drive it home. Messaging first, social second. But, yeah, that hook I told you.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:59]:
Did I hear you were da da da da? I want you to fill that out, and I want you to do, like, ten versions of it and maybe even test it in a Facebook group you're in or with a friend. Like, which one would you stop on? Ask someone who you know is your ideal client. Which one resonated? Did I hear you were looking for cool because I made this for you. Cool because this formula will work. Cool because I found this on Amazon. Cool because we're having a sale. Okay. And I'll give you one more prompt that I see working really well.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:26]:
Oh, fall content, right now everything's fall. I know. I already talked about it, too. But, like, if you can use some fun words to describe something, like, the words we think of with fall are comfort and serotonin and. Right. All the. All that stuff that we're like, ooh, fall, cozy vibes.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:39]:
So. And I would make sure in your hooks, you're adding words like that that are kind of grabbing people's attention right now. Fall. Autumn, cozy comfort if you can add those sorts of things in with hooks, like cozy, the softest, coziest, blah, blah, blah. If you sell websites like website templates for the folklore girlies, right? Bring in stuff that's popular, that's going on in pop culture right now. Obviously, Taylor Swift Folklore is very August and fall, things like that, if you want to have some fun with your hooks. But I would start with the. Did I hear or did you say, whichever you want to say.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:06]:
Did I hear you say, did you say they're gonna go, oh, how'd you know? Right. All right. Take it. Run with it. I love you, friend. Have a great week. I'll talk to you next week.