Relatability in Everyday Content with Instagram Stories and Reels

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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.

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What is up, friend? Welcome to another episode of Good Content with Shannon McKinstrie. When we're recording this, it is April 26, 2024. It's a Friday. I typically try to record these early in the week. My Sweet podcast manager said it was okay. It's just been one of those weeks, you know what I mean? We've been traveling, obviously, juggling business, kids, homework, et cetera. But they made it.

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You made it. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of us. We did it. But let's talk about what's been really on my mind all week, because honestly, I want to talk a lot of things today, but I want to keep these ten minutes or less because that's all I got. I know it's all you've got to. And so far. The feedback has absolutely, it's been overwhelming. To be honest, I again never thought I'd start a podcast. So knowing that people like it, just is everything. So thank you, thank you, thank you. Thanks for spreading the word. Thanks for all the feedback and keep it coming so I know what you guys are liking and all that good stuff. Okay, so what I want to talk about today is kind of like a huge topic, but we are going to narrow it down, okay? And that topic is relatability. I hear from people all the time, my life is boring. I don't go anywhere cool.

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I live in a small town. You've heard me say before, if you follow me on Instagram, the magic is in the mundane. And let me tell you something, when people are like, Shannon, I can't sell. I'm struggling to sell. Do you know where I sell Instagram stories? Sure. My content will lead to people, maybe into a many chat funnel type of thing, right? And sure, some of my reels help me build my email list and things like that. I also sell through email. I sell through my posts. Absolutely. But I would honestly say, for real?

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For real, 80% of my sales come from Instagram stories. I don't have the data to back that up. Yes, I'm a data nerd, but for my clients. So, um. But I would. I would absolutely say that because I do look at how many clicks and things like that. And most people, it takes them several times to buy something. Right? You know the marketing rule of seven from that was like, literally 100 years ago. Someone came up with that.

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Or maybe not 100. We're talking way back when the rule of seven meant people need, like, seven touch points with a brand or a product to purchase it. It's like 77 now. That's what a recent study said. I know I should quote the study. I'm sorry, but we do data over here. Okay? Like I said, I don't track my own data. I track everyone else's. With that said, don't let 77 scare you. I do. Everyone asks me how many stories. I'm like, I don't care how many stories do you want to do. Stories is the magical place where you can literally just, like, put stuff up just to test.

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And the reason stories are so powerful is because while if I just posted relatable content all day long, I probably wouldn't make any money, right? It'd be like, me with my kids, me with funny content about my husband loving golf, funny content about just marriage. And I would love to do that stuff, but I know my audience wants my Instagram tips, and I'm here for it because I freaking love to give Instagram tips and marketing tips and things like that. Right? That's what brings me the most joy. But on my Instagram stories is where I do poke fun at. Oh, I can't leave my husband unattended at the grocery store. Look what he bought. Oh, it's the end of the day, and my husband, I are just scrolling on our phones for 3 hours and not even talking to each other. But what a time, right? Like, I will share that stuff with people on stories or what my husband and I are watching, what my kids and I are. Something funny Chloe did. What flavor coffee creamer? I've just discovered when I tell y'all, five ish years ago, that's when I really started showing up on Instagram. Was like 2017, 2018. Gosh, that's even more than five years ago. What is math?

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That's when I really started going on Instagram. I was not posting every day.

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I've never posted every day, but I was definitely not posting every day then, because I had. I was managing, like, 20 social media accounts. It was a different time then, but, yeah, I didn't post much, but I was on stories every day, literally using it to just document my life. It was almost like I treated it as a journal of sorts for myself, just to kind of document my journey as a business owner, journey as a new mom. Right. This is when Cam was, you know, toddler baby. I would document her. And I go to the coffee shop, and, I mean, it's. It's funny to think back, right, with my husband's old, dusty laptop from the government that, like, I was able to use. Cause we didn't have any money to buy me a laptop. And I'd set her up at Starbucks. I would put a photo on stories and be, like, writing captions for my clients while my daughter reads a book and eats a cookie. People be like, wait, what do you do? What is it? Oh, my gosh.

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I'm telling y'all, if you just document your day, first of all, we want to connect on a human level, right? Relatability. That's what this is all about. That doesn't mean you have to be hilarious. It doesn't mean you have to be super sappy. It's just like, how can we relate to you? How can I bond with you? Another thing on stories I used to do five, six years ago that people loved was my target dollar spot fines. I would go to target almost every day. You know, that was, like, our outing. We do, like, library story time and target. And in stories, I'd be like, hey, guys. Oh, my God. Do you guys remember when flat lays were a thing that was, like, you would put things, like, on a flat surface and take the photo from up above, and that would be your Instagram post, and it would be, like, a motivational thing and a coffee cup. Oh, my God, they were so cheesy. But I learned.

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Did a whole training on flat lays back in the day, cringe. But, uh, yeah, I mean, that was what Instagram was then. We didn't have reels, so I would go to target dollar spot and find. But here's the thing. It's still related to my business because I would pick something up and go, oh, my gosh, this will be perfect for a flat lay. Oh, my gosh, this would be perfect for my soon to be office. I worked my business into it. Now, let me preface this. While I teach strategy, I help people build out social media strategies that work and convert. I don't live by a strategy. If I feel like talking about something that day, I'm sharing it. If I feel like putting a reel up about a certain thing, I share it. I'm that type of creator. Okay, 99% of you, listen to this, are not full time creators. This does not come natural to you. To document your day, to take people through your world and invite them in, and to just take videos and photos everywhere you go. I've been doing that since I was six years old. I live in the right generation, right where I could actually make money from doing this. I remember my dad would be like, girl, what are you gonna do with your life? You know, like, he was worried. He was like, uh, how are you gonna make any money? Just like the fact that you like to like, edit videos and nerd out. So luckily, social media, praise God for that. Okay, back to the relatability.

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I use stories to relate to my people. We bond in stories. I sell in stories. Again, I don't walk in every day going, I'm going to sell something major today. I just document my day. I'm like, hey, just sent an email to the reels lab. And I'm like, oh, actually, now that I said that, let me talk about what the reals lab is so people know, or now I'm at story time with my kid. Now I'm making dinner and joking about whatever, but I will sometimes put the label and be like, look at the marketing on this. I will always bring it back to business somehow because that's my brain. If you are struggling, you're like, Shannon, it doesn't come natural to me. You know I've got you, ready?

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Relatability and we're gonna get into relatable reels in just a second. But relatability on stories is what you're gonna do. This is how you kick off your day. I have a pinned reel on my reels tab all about this. If you want to read the caption because there's more in there. But if you want to wake up every day and have a strategy for your stories so that they not only get you more views but convert, this is what you're gonna do. Now, again, like I said, I will do like 20 stories a day. That's a lot. Does everyone watch those? Heck no. After three to four stories, you see my views go from like 5000 to like 2500. It is a major dip.

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It is all the time. My husband noticed it, too. He's like, wow, no one watches my stories. After like four, I'm like, we tend to just dip off. And after that we might fall later in line in the storyline because of the algorithm.

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So just know those first three stories. If you, especially if you are in launch mode or trying to sell and struggling in your business, you're like, gosh, Shannon, I need to make a sale like today. Then you need to be intentional with your stories. Like I said, I'm not typically intentional, but because it's a rhythm, I typically do this exact same thing for my first three. So the first three are going to be your most important stories all the time. The first one, we're not walking into their day on their phones and selling to them. If you want to go for it. Again, this is a suggestion based on what I know to be true. That works. You can do whatever you want. Okay. I don't want anyone saying, well, Shannon told me I have to. You do not have to do anything. But this is what, this is what proven to work. Okay. First story is something to connect and relate. I used to do a crush the day list. If you've been following me on Instagram for a while, you remember I did it every single day. I eventually got bored of it because I was just like.

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I was just bored of it. It would be a picture of my morning.

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Usually my laptop's open. It's got something open that I'm using. Slack my course, whatever it is. So they are reminded of what I do. And I would list out what I'm up to, but I would always add in something silly. My first thing would normally be like, you know, oat milk latte to the face, right? Or something funny like that. So I would. Again, I would break down things that I knew my people liked, too. They people. That's right. When oat milk was, like, coming on the scene, a lot of people were like, oh, Shannon, I see you drink oat milk. What do you think about it? Like, I love it. Little things we would bond over. You guys think your life is boring. That is boring. We're talking creamer here. Okay? We want to know what our friends are drinking, consuming, right? So I would start with usually that, and then I go down the list like one on one call, blah, blah, blah.

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And then I would end it like, laundry on laundry on laundry. And then I would joke, like, let's be real. Probably not going to get to it. And I would just kind of have some fun with my to do list. It wasn't just business. It gave them something to relate to and attach to. Okay. Then my second would normally be something, again, behind the scenes. Like, I'm hopping on a call with a person, and it'd be like a picture like this, like with my zoom open and me doing like, probably a cheesy peace sign or whatever.

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And people would be like, what you do one on one calls, just like a little breadcrumb. So connection, breadcrumb. And then on the third, I'd usually like, sell and be like, if you want more info, or on the third, I'll usually do something else, kind of like of a connection point. Maybe it's a post from another creator. Maybe it's another behind the scenes for something to relate to. So it's not just sell, sell, sell, right? Kind of warm them up, remind them who you are, what you do, why they're following you in the first place.

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Anyway, I have a whole reel pin about it. But if you guys are selling something, those first three are so important. If you're like, in launch mode, that first one, I would encourage you to show your face. Either talk to the camera or show your face so that they can fill your energy and your excitement for whatever it is. But you're going to start off by saying, it's a great day, da da. By the way, did you know that my new podcast launched? Did you know that I started an email list, head to the next story and then they can do it. Do you see what I mean? Greet them. You wouldn't walk into a party or networking event, be like, hey, everyone, I got this thing for sale. Same thing. You enter. It's almost like every morning. Introduce yourself, remind them who you are, then go on. Okay, so that's number one about stories and how. Just document your day. Use them as a fun way to document, and don't take them too seriously, and use them to relate to your audience. Be approachable. Have some fun. Use stories. I also use stories like, test out content. Like, I'll type something out that I'm, like, thinking of posting.

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And if people are like, oh, that's so enlightening. Or that really, I needed that message today, I'm like, boom, done. And it's usually stuff that I need it, right?

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So like, okay, good. Other people need to hear it. So that's relatable, number one.

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Now, the second thing I want to cover real quick. Now, this is going to be tricky because the reels that are going bonkers right now in April 2024, let me preface that because these things are changing all the time. I'm gonna go to some of my save collections. And again, these can't be forced. These reels, in my opinion, cannot be forced. Here's the other thing. We relate on shared life experiences. Say it again with me. Shared life experiences. I love when I see on TikTok people commenting. So we're all living the same life here. We haven't had one unique experience, right? We love to connect on shared experiences that we are doing. Are you a middle sibling? Do a real about that. Again, let me say this. These reels go viral for a reason. Shared life experience.

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People see themselves in it or they relate to it and they want to start a conversation in the comments with their friends. They're going to tag their friend. They're like, oh my God, this is you, right? Will this lead to follows and sales? I don't know. But if your goal right now is like, you just want to create something fun and go crazy with views, this is what you're going to do. But here's the cool thing.

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You can work it back to your business. Just like I said in stories, even if I'm talking about oat milk creamer, I'm also talking about the wording they use to sell it. I'm always working my business into common things I share. Okay, so here's an example. Ready? Example.

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1250,000 likes. Ridiculous.

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It's just a girl walking. Okay, let's see where she's walking. She's walking in like, what looks like an amusement park. So again, this would be good for travel. Let me also say this. These types of reels are for the masses. They're for the masses. They're going to go beyond your ideal client. Now, that's why I always tell people, be careful with these, because you go viral, but you might attract people that like, you're like, who the heck are you? So that's why I'm like, make sure you work your business in somewhere. Or if you just want to do it for the heck of it, do it. But take it or leave it. Right?

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Relatability. Shared life experiences. This is what's going crazy on Instagram right now. It says, tag the person in your friend group that always walks like they're on a life saving mission and can never just keep pace with the group. Cause she's way ahead of them. Almost 5000 comments.

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150,000 shares.

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250,000 likes. Okay, all right, now this is why. This is what I mean. This is a relatable, fun one that you can share. 330,000 likes. 277,000 shares. 12,000 comments. It says, are you ready? This is what's working right now, guys. Get people to tag people in the comments, start conversations. Shared life experiences. Relatability. It says you get to invite one person out for a coffee date. If they start gossiping, you get$10,000. Who are you inviting? Hello, genius. And I've been for weeks literally trying to think of my version of this to make sure it's still social media marketing based. So it does go to my ideal people. But you know why this worked for them. They are an espresso account. They are a coffee account. Okay. Again, you can do this and work your business. Maybe you're in construction. Every construction team has three types of the one who's doing this, the one who's doing that, the one who's doing that, and then the video reflects it. You can find ways to do it.

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And this is what I mean. This. This one probably won't be coming up in guys algorithms, but I'll read it for you in case you're not watching on YouTube. It's girls in a hotel room. And it goes from one girl at the desk to the. To another. And it says, that's 530,000 likes you guys. It says, pov. You're on a girls trip, and one of your besties is selling a house, and the other is showing you her tampon collection. She brought. Okay, so, okay, that's not for the guys, obviously, but for the guys, maybe. It's like you're on a boys trip and one of

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<v your guys is chugging a beer at 06>00 a.m. And. Or

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<v shotgunning a beer at 06>00 a.m. And the other is, again, like, closing a deal or checking the stock prices. Okay. Like. But this is the thing. This is what I mean. You can't force these. Do not force these. We will feel it. It needs to be organic. Like, that was just. She noticed it, took it, and put it up there. I know this is not typically an idea you can take and run with, so that's why I started with stories, because those you can. Okay. And if you aren't comfortable on camera, can I just tell you something? The way I help my clients get comfortable on cameras, I'm like, get on stories. Sit in your car with your sunglasses on. Something about it makes them a little more comfortable, because they're, you know, they're scared of where to look or what they look like, and they're distracted. Put your sunglasses on. Talk to the camera like it's facetime. The reason we love reels like this is we feel like we are in that friend group. We feel like we are with that person walking. We feel like we are at that coffee shop. It's relatability and shared experiences. We are on these apps as a reminder to feel seen and heard and validated. Okay, all right, that's it. I think I went over ten minutes. I'm so sorry. I had to get that out. But please, guys, just know you're not boring. Our shared life experiences are so powerful. We're just here to connect. Now go create some content. Happy creating. Love you, friend. Talk to you next week.