Creating Content For An Interest Based Algorithm

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. I saw a really interesting video that we need to talk about, and it was all about how social media as we know it is dead. And I agree in a way, because basically what it was saying, as we know, for the past 6 years, it's been totally different than what it used to be, where we saw mainly the content we saw was from our friends, our family, people we know and are already connected with right now. It's interest media is what they're saying. It's no longer social. It's more interest now while it's still very social. It's conversational. Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:53]: As we know, the algorithm, especially for Instagram, once Reels came out. Everything shifted once TikTok came out, right? Everything changed and it's no longer our friend's new dog or their latte. It's, while yes, we can see that, um, from time to time, but mainly our algorithms are interest-based. And the second you show a shift in interest, your algorithm changes. I, this happens to me. daily because I'm researching content for different industries because my clients are across all different types of industries. So when I'm searching Instagram for, you know, what's trending in their niche, my algorithm then changes because it's so funny. I'm telling you the algorithm, my Instagram algorithm, my explore page looks different on a day-to-day basis, mainly because maybe I saw something funny, a golf reel. Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:50]: I will send it to my husband. Then the algorithm assumes. I'm into golf. That's my interest. Let's say at, I'm planning a trip to Disney. As soon as I like one Disney reel, I'm going to see more. So what does this mean for you? This means you've got to stay up to date. And yes, this is why I tell everyone, I know people used to say when I started my business, you know, oh, us social media managers get jokes about it all the time. Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:15]: Like you play on Facebook for a living. You, I used to joke like, oh yeah, I put little squares on the internet. Back when our grids were squares, but it is a very exhausting career to be in social media marketing. I will, for all my fellow marketers out there, they know you're listening and nodding. We are constantly studying what's working, what's changing, what people are talking about. So not saying you need to do this, but you do need to keep up with what your people are interested in. And that's another thing I wanted to say. I know a lot of people are like, oh, when I post, I lose followers. Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:47]: That's a good thing. Your content should attract as much as it repels. And whenever I lose followers, I like to, well, I lose followers every day, right? We all do. But I like to think it's because maybe they're no longer trying to grow on social media, or maybe they just don't like me. Like, that's always a possibility. Valid, sure. But like, let's say you got married last year. Maybe you were following a bunch of wedding accounts. Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:14]: If you didn't connect with them on a personal level, you'll probably unfollow. So that brings me to building a community. Someone Commented on one of my Instagram posts the other day, saying like, "Oh, there's rumblings," or "What's your what's your advice on this?" Saying someone is saying that Instagram isn't a place to build community anymore, which is crazy talk. And I always like to say there are so many people who still follow me even though they are no longer in the content creation space because we've connected on a different level. And this is why I love telling you guys and giving you permission, even though you don't need permission from me, but giving you permission to test things out. Like I share content sometimes about. My love of Taco Bell, the beach, right? Being a girl mom, whatever it is, being a millennial, right? Because there's more to me than just the fact that I love helping you guys grow on social media. I share my interests in addition to my career. Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:04]: So what does that mean for you? Getting to know your people. It is so important to use things like stories, ask questions in your captions, be like, what do you guys want next? And for right now, the reason I pivoted more so from like talking to business owners. I'm more so talking to content creators because people now know if you own a business, you got to create some content. So like just me paying attention to what people are talking about and just listening to you guys in the DMs, that's part of it. Other one is look at your competitors. And again, there's, you know, I like to look at competitors as my community, but look at what people are asking in the comments. What are people frustrated with? What are they excited about? Right. So. Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:42]: What is the big conversation happening in your industry? It's interest-related. So what are your people's interests right now? Where are we right now? We are in September. What's coming up? Halloween, Christmas, right? So think of things seasonal. Also think of, are your people mainly empty nesters? Why would their interests change? Because they just sent their kids off to school, right? They, their kids are off to college. Think of things like that. So. When it comes to interests and you guys can test it yourself, it's a fun little game. Start like actually searching your interests, right? So if I search, let's, let's do this right now. Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:18]: So I just went to the search bar in Instagram and typed in soup recipes. I'm now going to go like a couple and save them. Ooh, wait, that's actually a really good hook. This reel, listen, ready? I love it. Hold on. I'm not telling you what to make for dinner tonight, but this Italian mini meatball soup has gone— I love that. I'm not telling you what to— I'm not telling you you're doing blah, blah, blah wrong. I'm not here, right? I love that. Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:40]: Okay, so let me save a couple. Oh my gosh, this is brilliant. Welcome to Fall Soup Club. Your membership is free. Hold on. Ready? Welcome to Fall Soup Club. Your membership is free. And for our first meeting, we have my go-to lasagna soup. Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:52]: Oh my gosh. So good. These hooks are brilliant, guys. Okay. Now I'm going to go to my Explore page. I'm going to close out Instagram and I'm going to reopen my Gram and go to my explore page. Look at my explore page. 90% of the content is soup. Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:06]: 90%. And then a baby. Interest media. So there's proof right there. Now, obviously you're not going to switch up based on different interests all the time, but know what your people are interested in at this moment. What my people are interested in right now, because I'm observing what people are asking about. Is again, becoming content creators, how to become content creators. It's no longer, here's how to post as they're like, people are ready to go full in. Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:36]: They're ready. And I'm here for it. For a while, people were hesitant. They did not like the term content creator, but now people see it's, it's really not that deep. It doesn't mean giving your whole life to content. So I've changed my messaging a little bit based on that. I also know a lot of people now that they've done all these talking to camera videos, some people are like, I'm sick of talking to the camera. I'm like, Cool. Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:57]: Here's some no talking hooks. And I started saying for your no talking videos, instead of saying B-roll videos, because a lot of people are new to this. They don't even know what that means yet. I say, here are hooks for your no talking videos. So me just paying attention to what people are interested in and actively looking for, it's part of the gig. And it's really important to do that. And the more you show up in stories and share things, you'll hear back from people and they'll tell you, oh my gosh, more on this. I want more. Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:24]: So again, think of the seasons. Think of your person waking up today. What's on their mind? What can you help them understand? What can you say on their behalf? Right? A lot of the content that does well for me is me saying things people are scared to say. And what's something that they would find funny, right? My 4 H's, the 4 H method, heard, helpful happenings, humor. What is something you can share that they're interested in? And another thing for my local people, what are people interested in? Obviously all things fall. In your city? What can— if you're a boutique, be like, hey, we have the perfect outfit for your fall winery trip in, say, your city, right? Think about what they're interested in right now, because as soon as we're interested in something, the algorithm feeds it to us. You saw how quickly my Explore page changed. And earlier this morning, I will tell you, I looked this morning— I should have shown you all that first, but it was a whole mix of stuff. Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:15]: I should have taken a picture, but it had— Um, I had a quick glimpse. It just had a whole different, a bunch of stuff. So just know you can train your algorithm, but remember, your audience is training their algorithm without even knowing it too. So what can you feed them that they desperately need to see? And that's your content. I love you, friend. Have the best week.