Tips & Tricks for Content Creation from Mackenzie Kimbro
Social media content creation can be daunting! Episode 47 guest Mackenzie Kimbro knows that being in the social realm requires give and take. Here, Mackenzie provides tips, tricks and advice to navigate your way through social media creation!
“What has been the most rewarding part of my career so far? Definitely the community that has been built, and that includes the people who choose to follow along with what I share and engage in conversation with me, as well as the brands I have come to know and have had the privilege of working with, sharing their stories authentically within my lifestyle,” she says. “The connections and conversations are worth any of the stress behind the scenes and I'm truly so thankful for the opportunity to not only share my life in a space that has been so receptive and engaged, but also share the stories of others and support people I care about along the way.”
Apps I Use to Create Content:
Video Editing: InShot & CapCut is good, too. Practice makes perfect, and it's ok if there's a learning curve!
Photo Editing: Lightroom (mobile and mobile presets)
Creating content for Instagram Stories: templates from Storyluxe and Unfold are good basics to start with, but there are a ton of template apps available!
Canva for all things graphics!
SCRL is great for engaging carousel posts on Instagram, since it allows for photos to be on multiple slides so it keeps your audience engaged longer, scrolling through the gallery
What’s New to me but I’m loving so far: EquiCapture from Shelley Paulson! It has horse sounds and photo pose inspiration for people with horses, camera settings, all kinds of great stuff!
TIPS & TRICKS FOR CREATING!
Video editing in the Instagram app is tricky - personally, I use a third-party app (like InShot) to do the majority of my actual video editing. Then you can either add any on-screen text in the app and upload that version to post, or you can upload the plain video and add captions on-screen in the IG app, but if you do that definitely save the final version with captions to your device and upload it as a new post on IG to prevent glitches with your captions! Also, for any apps, would recommend buying the subscription or professional version (cost prohibiting, of course) to allow for removal of app's watermark.
MAKING TIME FOR MENTAL HEALTH
On the episode we discuss the toll social media can take and the “must do’s” to stay afloat in life and on the app. Here are some thoughts that I hope help you all!
Set boundaries for health: The apps are designed to keep audiences engaged for as long as possible. Create boundaries for yourself so the constant scroll of social doesn't interfere with your life outside the apps. As a content consumer, setting those boundaries might mean not scrolling before bed if you deal with negative self talk and comparison based on what others are doing online so that you can actually get a restful and rejuvenating night's sleep to wake up your best for the next day. Also remember, social media is a highlight reel! You're seeing a very small amount of a person's day on stories, and you're seeing the best possible version of content being posted in photos and videos. Not many show the messy middle or what life looks like just outside of that single frame, so try not to compare yourself or think you're not doing good enough based on what you're seeing other people do.
As a content creator, if you're just getting into the space don’t be afraid to learn as you go, just start posting, and try not to overthink it. This is something I personally struggle with STILL after years of doing this professionally. All of the educational material you see is going to tell you to post as much as possible and the truth is that yes, the more you post, the more chance you have of good engagement and the higher number of eyes will likely see your content because there is more of it readily available to BE seen. But if you are so stressed about creating content that you are just pumping out stuff that isn't truly reflective of your brand vision or doesn't share the message you're trying to authentically convey, then step back a minute and get some clarity. Create engaging content that is true to what you want people to know you for and the community will follow - it will just take time! Be sure to show up outside of those posts as well - reply to comments on your posts, reply to direct messages, and engage with other accounts that resonate with you (like and comment on their posts, show support of brands you use in daily life, share posts you like from other people's or brand's pages to your Instagram stories so more people can see that content, and eventually all of that is reciprocated!).
Most of us don't actually achieve overnight success with huge follower counts, but building authentically with an audience who really wants to and likes to engage with you means more in the long run! And as much as this might seem scary to those starting out and not being comfortable posting to social media - with practice, it does get easier!
Find & Follow Mackenzie on Socials!
Instagram @kenziegk
Facebook: "Roots Run Deep, Mackenzie Kimbro"
Website, which also houses the video library for all "Roots Run Deep" shows: rootsrundeepaz.com
