My sister is a genius.
Before Instagram created highlights and stories, users could see a beautiful three-by-three grid on someone’s IG feed. This was typically called the “Top Nine” and the importance of the thread’s content depended on these nine squares looking beautiful and cohesive.
Jill commented one day that the nine squares didn’t actually matter. Instead, what if users focused on six categories of pictures to post? Then it wouldn’t matter what order they were uploaded to the feed because each block of nine squares would still look great…and so would any two rows of six…or any one row of three pics.
Brill.
My mom and I were visiting Jill and her family, and as the three of us sat at her kitchen table, we all pulled out paper and pretty colorful pens. The brainstorming began.
What would be in our Content Six?
At Serious Writer, we’ve been teaching Content Six as part of the marketing strategies when it comes to social media because this concept goes way past the use of Instagram.
If you can list six umbrella categories of content, you can use that to determine what you’ll post on Instagram, as well as what six Pinterest boards to focus on, what blog content to cover, and what type of lead magnets or freebie giveaways you can use to build an email list.
With the update to Instagram, we don’t see a full nine squares anymore, which is why Jill’s insight into Content Six was really ahead of its time.
To create your own Content Six, pull out a fresh sheet of paper, grab your favorite pen, and let’s get started.
Step 1: Number your paper one through six.
Step 2: Choose broad categories that represent you.
Some ideas include: family, faith, occupation, career, hobbies, sports teams, etc.
Step 3: Under each broad category, list a few specific things to post or share.
For example: If “food” is one of your broad umbrella categories, your specific posts and pics could revolve around:
- healthy recipes,
- a specific food plan (Keto, Whole 30, Atkins, etc),
- meals for 2,
- smoothies, etc.
The good news?! You can change your Content Six at any time.
I have a mom devotional releasing at the end of this year (They Call Me Mom with Kregel Publishing), so sharing funny parenting memes is one of my Content Six categories. Next year, it might be something different.
Not only does Content Six help you know what to post, it also helps you know what not to post. If a pic is fun but doesn’t fit into Content Six, don’t post it on Instagram.
Throw it over on Twitter and start a conversation. ?
Here’s my Content Six from tonight. I haven’t filled in the specific pics yt but I’ve got my umbrella categories figured out.
Have you ever done something like Content Six before? I’d love to know what categories you pick for yours!
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