Top Content Types for Growth in 2025: Stealing Social Secrets from Wicked, DWTS & Whitney Leavitt

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This week, Joanna and Michelle break down what Wicked, Dancing with the Stars, and reality TV villains can teach you about building a magnetic personal brand. Plus: the content formats dominating 2025 (and how to use them to get real traction).

What You’ll Learn:

• How to use personal branding the way Hollywood franchises and reality TV stars do
• The content formats currently outperforming everything else — and why
• How to improve watch time, hooks, POV angles, and “thought reversal” content to boost conversions
  
  

Timestamps:
 00:00 – Introduction
 02:45 – The business lesson behind Costco’s $4 Culture Pop moment
 05:58 – What to give away for free (and what not to) in 2025
11:52 – Wicked’s two-part rollout & why it’s a personal branding masterclass
18:40 – Why reality TV villains dominate attention (and how to replicate it ethically)
27:15 – The content formats popping off right now
39:10 – Why your content isn’t performing (and how to fix it)

References & Resources:

• Wicked (movie)
• Dancing With the Stars
• Secret Lives of Mormon Wives
• Alex Hormozi
• Culture Pop
  
  
  

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📩 Michelle: hello@michellepualani.com
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Transcript

Joanna Newton: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome back to another episode of Click Tease. Today we are digging into the importance of personal branding and looking at some, some examples in Hollywood From Wicked to Dancing with the Stars to the Secret Lives of Mormon wives. We'll also be sharing some really popular content ideas that we are seeing right now that are helping creators grow and really connect with their audience. I'm Joanna Newton, co-founder of Millennial Marketer and Agency that helps creators build their own digital products.

Michelle Pualani: And hi, I am Michelle Pulani Houston, founder of To Be Honest's Beverage Company. We're a non-alcoholic, functional beverage brand as well as business and marketing mentor. Let's dive in.

Joanna Newton: Today I am sipping on a pumpkin spice draft latte from La Colombe. It's kind of late for me to be having this much caffeine, but it is the Dancing with the Stars semi-finals. So I've gotta stay up watch that 'cause I've been watching that with my family.

Michelle Pualani: Reason [00:01:00] to stay committed. I love it. That show is actually pretty entertaining. I used to watch a little bit of it. I can't really get into like television shows right now. I've got like a particular mindset and the only guilty pleasure I have right now is either like reading or audible audio books for romantic or romance fiction And, uh.

But that's a really good show I used to really love. So you think You can dance? Did you watch that one?

Joanna Newton: it a little bit. It's, they're so entertaining. Every week

Michelle Pualani: I loved the dance component and of course you have like their, you know, storytelling in terms of their lives and the things that they do. But love, love, love that show. Today I'm drinking Super simple. Um, I've got a crisp apple from, does it? It's not quite noon, but it's noon where you are. So, um, but no, it's the op.

They actually did, they have like a holiday pack out. It's kind of cute. The little design that they [00:02:00] do, which has kind of like a Yeti type character and then kind of snow dots and they have the crisp apple, the ginger ale, and then like a classic cola. I actually really love mixing this with our product, the TBH focus.

'cause it gives it a little bit. A like more bitter profile as opposed to that sweetness. But today just crisp apple, super simple.

Joanna Newton: I,

Michelle Pualani: Very refreshing.

Joanna Newton: bought that pack at Costco this weekend,

Michelle Pualani: Yeah.

Joanna Newton: they had. Culture pop, like big packs on

Michelle Pualani: Oh yeah.

Joanna Newton: for $4 for the whole thing.

Michelle Pualani: What?

Joanna Newton: bought three things of the thi things of it. My husband was like, you should have bought more. They were on sale

Michelle Pualani: Okay.

Joanna Newton: And when I got up to the register and was like, can I just double check? and the, the ladies that were bringing me out, they were like, no, it's really $4. And I was like, why? And it's, I'm like, I checked, it's not expiring soon. Like why is it $4? And they said that they have a [00:03:00] big, they think they must have like a new flavor shipping in. So Costco, so wants to clear it out.

So check and see if it's still there at your Costco. $4 for like,

Michelle Pualani: Culture pop. Culture pop is a soda alternative that is like a prebiotic probiotic option. I've seen them actually at Funny Story. So we participate in like local markets and popups for our physical product, the non-alcoholic functional spirit alternative, and we were doing beverages at this event.

Culture pop has been in partnership with the woman who coordinates the events and we've met the sales team and like the street team, they're actually super cool. They usually hand out free culture pop sodas with a brand and CPG like that. You have to go high volume. You have to go lots of money and vested to be able to get that distribution, to be able to get that brand awareness.

And what you're looking is trying to take up as much market share as fast as possible. So the fact that they've dropped the price incredibly is not for profit, is not [00:04:00] for gain, right? Like you're trying to get people obsessed with the product and trying the product as quick as possible so that then they continue to purchase from you over time.

Because once you have that customer and they like the product, you're looking at making money. Later on, so kind of an interesting story, but those culture pop sodas were being given away for free at an event that we were charging beverages for. And that was the one piece of feedback. And I don't typically like provide super constructive feedback because usually it's like, I know how hard it is to run the event, to do this festival in this market and everything else.

But I was like, Hey, if you have vendors, who are they paying to be there to sell? Don't give away that same product for free. Like, you know what I mean? So it was, it was just kind of an interesting point of reflection and thinking through like your business, what sort of precedent are you setting? Like are you giving anything away for free that is then to the detriment of your other services or offers?

Joanna Newton: Yeah.

Michelle Pualani: Being thoughtful about [00:05:00] the type of person that you're bringing in and what they're expecting, and then also how you're positioning yourself in front of them.

Joanna Newton: and I think

Michelle Pualani: Yeah.

Joanna Newton: matters like your overall brand image, but as well as the stage that you're in, like what you might need to give away for free when you're starting out versus what you should be giving away for free when you already have a presence aren't always the same thing. And I think that that's something to really keep in mind.

Sometimes when I talk to new course creators who are new in the digital space, they're very. What's the right word? They're, they're very hesitant to give away their knowledge for free, but they'll have like no audience, no following, no email list yet, and they wanna sell a $500 course and that's a really tough position to be if you don't have something free or low cost to start to nurture your audience with.

It can be really tough to get people to that like higher ticket price point.

Michelle Pualani: Absolutely. I think that [00:06:00] we are in an era where it used to be the case where, again, the barrier to entry in the beginning. Was simply about like consistency, showing up, and if you're putting out information, education of any type people, were gonna be drawn to you because the options were limited. We are in an oversaturated market in pretty much every single industry, every single coach, every single service, every single type of content.

There isn't a lot out there that. Not already done before. Not to say that you can't be niche and unique and you have a different value proposition. Like of course you can find those qualifiers, but ultimately, like we're in a saturated market across the board, and so the way that you approach your marketing, your positioning, your offers, has to.

Be distinct in some way. And we are in the era of like, you, you gotta give away information for free, but just in a certain type of way and not be worried about that. You know what I mean? Like, you [00:07:00] know, they always say, market the what, right? And then sell them the how. So you tell them and diagnose like, this is your problem.

This is what you're experiencing. This is where you're getting stuck. Like this is what you want, this is the outcome. But you don't say like, you take these steps in order to get there necessarily, unless of course you have a different business model. I think Alex Mozzi is actually a good example of this, where he gives pretty much so much information, everything away for free as much as possible.

Like he charges for his books, but all of his online digital courses. But everything that he does from launches to content to YouTube, to all of his things that you get everywhere, the mosey minute, uh, via email newsletter. That's all free information that he's teaching, educating, coaching. But his ideal client persona is someone who has a successful business that they can acquire, then grow and scale.

So you just have to think about like, what's the information you're giving away for free? It's not what you would [00:08:00] sell or someone would pay for, but how then can you get that person into the paid stuff?

Joanna Newton: it bridge the gap? Like do, do, does what you're offering for free actually attract the ideal person that you want to be your customer, whatever that is. Because I think that analogy of looking at you. Give the what away for free and sell the how. That's a really good starting point, but then all of those things need to connect to what you're actually going to sell.

In the end. You may want to give away the how in your case, because you actually want. To get people to a stage before you work with them. So if you give the how away for free or at a super low cost in a way to prepare them to be the right customer for you, then that could actually make sense. And breaking that rule, um, might actually make sense for you as long as it makes sense strategically for what you're selling next.

Something I work on a [00:09:00] lot with clients is. know, like their ascension ladder. And a lot of gurus or, or people will give you this, you have to have a $0 and a $7 and then a 27 and then a this, and then a that. And they'll give you a very prescriptive like for what your ascension model has to be. But essentially you want to think through you're getting someone's attention. they're connecting deeper with you. What's that first step product for them? What's that next step? Next step, next step. And map out what you want their journey to be. And then make sure your systems support that journey, um, from step to step, and that those steps actually make sense for that person. Um, and, and I don't believe in that really prescriptive, you have to have this particular model, but there's a reality that you have a. to put your customers on a journey that makes sense to them. If your lead magnet is like a free how [00:10:00] to Grow on Instagram guide, but your offer is trying to help them sell on YouTube, there's a disconnect, right?

Like that

Michelle Pualani: Yeah, absolutely.

Joanna Newton: gonna be like, why aren't people going from one to the other? Because you're not creating the path for them.

Michelle Pualani: Yeah, it's so important in any type of advertising to have that continuously. Make sense across your ad, to your website, to the landing page, to the email, to the thing that you get. There should be consistent messaging across the platform, and it needs to make sense to them from a consumer perspective.

The other thing is the type of service that you're offering, right? Like you're a service, you're an agency. You can very well teach the how to of launch in a YouTube video, but guess what? Not everyone's gonna wanna do that for themselves. And so when you're selling a service that does the thing, you want to be explicit in the how.

You're giving them transparency about the process and how they could do it for themselves. But through that process, they would realize [00:11:00] like how many steps and how much expertise it takes in order to do it. So it's like, okay, well I understand the how now. But I don't wanna do it myself, so I wanna pay you to do the thing.

So if you're like a coach and you're selling educational materials on, you know, the, the how of getting fit type deal is again, you're gonna diagnose where they're going wrong in your messaging, in your content creation. But because you're offering. A product that is based around the knowledge that you have of actually how to get there, then you wouldn't give that away upfront.

So it depends on the type of business that you are and what are your offers and how are they related to that? Super important.

Joanna Newton: Very, very important. I wanna talk about Wicked, because Wicked For

Michelle Pualani: Oh yes.

Joanna Newton: is coming out Thursday.

Michelle Pualani: Mm-hmm. Are you so excited?

Joanna Newton: Did you watch The First, I know you're a Wicked musical fan. Did you watch the first movie?

Michelle Pualani: I did watch the first movie,

Joanna Newton: you, I'd love, what's your opinion? Did you love it? [00:12:00] Did you hate it?

Michelle Pualani: so I enjoyed it. I don't, I don't really know why people would hate it. The, the thing that I can come up with is that people get very, very attached. I think this happens with books. Plays, you know, see any type of situation in which there's an expectation and a precedent that has been previously set.

Right? Wicked is a movie adaptation of a live Broadway musical. And so when you have something that's in the context that someone attaches themself to. There are characters and you know, specific actors that have played those roles for a very long time. There have been ways that they've approached each of the songs, certain scenes, even the set and display of how things are done.

And I think what happens most predominantly is people don't know how to differentiate and disassociate, and so they'll go into whatever that next thing is, usually, again, like book adaptation to a movie [00:13:00] and think that because of, based on the way that they experience that initial introduction of whatever the storyline, the people, the characters is, they're not willing to then see the next version.

In and of itself, they're always gonna be comparing. So for myself, I thought Ariana Grande did a phenomenal job with her role. Oh my gosh. Jonathan Bailey. I, Jonathan Bailey, that's his name, right?

Joanna Newton: I think so.

Michelle Pualani: I think so. It sounds, I think it's right. He was just named the Sexiest Man alive, I think. Yeah. I, I saw something on Jimmy Fallon, um, about it.

It was really cute. So he is an actor that I absolutely. Adore. Um, and he's so sexy and so wonderful and so charismatic and I think the way he played the role was fantastic. So I, and, uh, I'm forgetting Cynthia.

Joanna Newton: Yeah.

Michelle Pualani: Okay. Cynthia Ri the, what's her name? I'm, so, this is,

Joanna Newton: I'll, I'll just

Michelle Pualani: so

Joanna Newton: blanks.

Michelle Pualani: I'm [00:14:00] details the worst names and things like that, and.

Joanna. That's why we, that's why we compliment each other. Especially with this podcast. I'm the worst with details.

Joanna Newton: theater nerd, so like

Michelle Pualani: Yes.

Joanna Newton: I'll know all

Michelle Pualani: Yeah. I'm like stage one. I used to really love theater. I was kid. I'm a big musical fan. Like I like it. I'm the same thing with music artists, movies, et cetera. I just don't, I don't have that thing, you know what I mean?

That quo of, I don't wanna say obsession, but you know.

Joanna Newton: say obsession. Um, what I, I think is really interesting about this movie rollout, and I'll call it a movie rollout because they split the musical into two movies. I think that this franchise of the two movies did some very intentional things to away from Michelle, what you were talking about.

When people have expectations of. Of a film because they loved the original and it's a remake. It's an adaptation. It's a new piece. [00:15:00] can be very critical of it. And actually, for the most part, the first film, I mean, there's going to be some criticism, but I think the overall feeling towards the movie was pretty positive.

Yeah, some people picked on one thing or another, but for adaptation of something and a new version, it got some really good. Good response. And I think some things that it did really, that I think is really interesting, um, to make people like the first part and not be too critical, but then also keep attention up until the second movie. And a couple of things they did was one, first, when the first movie dropped, we knew when the second one was coming. Sometimes when there's parts of movies like. It could be years, but they actually filmed both at the same time, very intentionally. And it kept that momentum. And then we already knew when the, the second one was going to come out. The other thing that I think they did was the first movie is pretty [00:16:00] true to the original. of the songs are in it. There's not that many changes to the songs, you know? A little bit of different instrumentation or a riff or things, but like the lyrics, the core, everything was actually pretty true to the Broadway musical, and I think they did that intentionally and didn't really take a lot of risks because they're going to take more risks and changes in the second movie because at this point, if people saw the first movie. And loved it. They're gonna go see the second. If there's things that they are critical of, well, they've already bought their ticket, um, because the second movie has two new songs that weren't in the show. And I'm guessing there'll be some plot differences. Like I just am imagining that they're gonna take a few more risks when they go.

I guess we can report back because I'm going to see it on Thursday. But, um. think that was really interesting choice for them to make, to save all of the new stuff for the second film and not have it in the [00:17:00] first.

Michelle Pualani: Hmm. Interesting. Yeah, I think that one of the things I think about, you know, especially from the marketing perspective of something like this, is leaning into the media circuit and social media, because you have to think about like, how do we hear about things these days? Predominantly social media. Like you'll see something and then Google, and of course, you know, there are media outlets and news outlets and things like that.

But where I get most of the like initial word hint story, typically social media, and then refers back to like, you know, click the link in bio or you can click out or find this here. Um, as far as the news story surrounding it, and then all of the in-person media. Interviews and appearances and premieres and all the things that the celebrities take part in are still very much alive when it comes to in person.

So obviously this is a [00:18:00] digital format. We're consuming a movie, it's on a screen, you know, you go in person, maybe live to watch it at the theater, you stream it at home, but there's still very much a live component that. Our entertainment world, take part, takes part in, and then we get snippets of that, you know, from a social media perspective, whether that's interviews or just like funny questionnaire, comments and things.

Um, one of the things I really like is seeing the celebrities related to the movie do like games or engaging interviews, and that's super popular right now. We've actually done this recently in our content really quick, is just like. Jeremy is the one in front and I'm using my arms to like make a drink.

Joanna Newton: way.

Michelle Pualani: Oh, thank you. We're trying a whole new content creation, which I'll, I'll, I want to before, thank you. Before we close out my thing today, I wanna talk about like comic content creation, things that are working, [00:19:00] but for. These larger movies and how they're reaching people and how they're keeping people engaged, honestly, has nothing necessarily to do with the movie.

Like Cynthia or Ariana or Jonathan are showing up not as their characters, but they're maybe talking about the show in interviews, but a lot of them are actually not talking about the actual movie. They're just. Around the time that Wicked is gonna come out, they're showing up on the chicken shop date, or they're showing up on the wings episodes, you know, the hot wings eating thing?

Joanna Newton: where they eat the spicy wings.

Michelle Pualani: Yeah. They eat the spicy wings. So I think that part of the marketing surrounding like these things recently is above and beyond, like these are the songs that are gonna be in the movie, like. This is what the, like clips from movies. You see that too, right? You see little previews, but it's more like the buzz, the conversation surrounding it.

Joanna Newton: Yeah. And I think that that's [00:20:00] something that to keep the excitement going between the two movies and make sure the second, I think the second movie will have a better showing in the opening weekend box office than the first because of the, the work that they've been able to do all year to get people to love the movie, but then also love these actors and these people.

Right. And it's. shows how important a personal brand is to get people connected because people know the backstory now of Ariana Grande wanting to play Glinda since she was a little girl, and they know Cynthia's stories and they know these people and they wanna go see. Ariana Grande b Glenda, they wanna go see Cynthia b Alphabet.

It's beyond this just, I'm seeing a movie to be entertained. They like want to be part of that story and bridging that

Michelle Pualani: Yeah.

Joanna Newton: the personal brand in the movies. Marketing is so important and so huge.

Michelle Pualani: Absolutely. And thinking of [00:21:00] that for your brand and business is, you know, people talk about like, oh, do behind the scenes, do your founder story, talk about your background. And I know that we as individuals in our businesses, we often get tired of that because it feels like we're repeating ourselves.

We're constantly putting the same things out there. And then we have to think about like, okay, well how am I gonna talk to my customer and how am I going to. Present my product in a really unique way, and how am I gonna position my offer and do all these things and we get a little bit too overwhelmed and tend to overcomplicate.

I have a client that recently came on where she is actually, she's a local purveyor of Afghan based. Cuisine. And so she comes from Afghanistan. She has this beautiful story of getting out of Afghanistan, having her daughter, um, moving to the us. She's based here in St. Luis Obispo, which is our town, and she has, uh, culinary skills that lends toward cooking classes.

She does catering and private events, and she does popups and she does these different things to present the, [00:22:00] the Afghan, like Afghanistan based cuisine. It's beautiful. And so when I was first initially talking to her and we're talking about where she positions herself, how she markets herself, like what she does for content creation, all of the things that I do from a marketing and business perspective.

It is so beautiful, her story. And those are the things often as individuals that we take for granted and that we don't use in our marketing because we're like, oh, well people don't wanna hear about that. Or, you know, I should now talk about like what they're gonna get out of the program. Yes. And. Share your story, like people are connected to your story, people are connected to your background.

People want to feel the struggles. You know, we talk about that story arc of the hero and your experience and your ability to put that into words and to get people to connect with the emotion. Of why it is that you do what it is that you do, how you've evolved [00:23:00] to the place that you are such an important part of your marketing, and you can see it in almost all of the successful brands and businesses and content creators and the things that we see, you know, online.

Like you were talking about Ariana Grande and Cynthia, and how they're, they're connected to Wicked in such a larger way than just, oh, I just wanted to play this role, you know?

Joanna Newton: and it's a paycheck and it's all of those things. And that's why we are, we started this conversation mentioning that I'm gonna be watching Dancing With the Stars tonight. That's what makes Dancing with the Stars such a success, right? Because we're taking all of these. and, and normally these aren't the biggest celebrities, right, that go on dancing with the Stars, but we're taking all these celebrities, all these personalities, and you are getting energy from all of those different fan bases coming into and watching the show. And they don't, at the end of the day. It's not just about who's [00:24:00] the best dancer, it's about who has a great story, who's activating their fans on social media to vote? What's happening on social media in between episodes? What is that story behind it? And this season, Andy Richter like stayed very long on the show. And it's not a very good dancer, but it was because of the way he connected with the audience and told his story in improved week to week. And then there were people online who were angry that he was still on saying, it's not fair. This person goes right, and you have this conversation that's based on. People, it's not just ratings and scores, it's storytelling and

Michelle Pualani: Yep.

Joanna Newton: Right. And a, B, C did something so interesting. Um, there were two people on the show that were in, that are in secret lives of Mormon wives. And like overlapped. So the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives came out, and I haven't, I don't watch that show.

But, um, [00:25:00] it came out and now there's all of this conversation because there's, there were two girls on this season and that season is talking about them being exci excited about being on Dancing With the Stars and that process. Right. And it's fascinating to watch because now the girl that's still on is like getting on. All of this hate for 'cause I guess she only went back. Whitney Levitt only went back to Secret Lives of Mormon wives because they said, well, if you do one more season, we'll let you do Dancing with the Stars. And so now they're like, there's all this talk about her being like conniving and manipulative and all of this stuff, which is only going to breed. And more excitement and more people to watch, which is just kind of fascinating.

Michelle Pualani: So I've never been one who's into like gossip. Reality television, but the majority of people are actually very interested in other people's business. I mean, [00:26:00] real ultimate, it's like, it's why we have influencers, like we are weirdly obsessed with what other people do with their lives and time and choices and things like that, whether it's real or not.

And I've thought about this a lot because I always feel like I'm showing up online more so in terms of like, oh, I have to be this certain type of personality, or I've gotta present myself in this way, or I've gotta maintain a certain level of professionalism and do these things, but. I wanna do this tactfully.

And so that's why I struggle with it is like, how do I integrate this in a way that's like not cringe slash is more representative of me in like an authentic way. But if you can kind of lean into that like little bit of like gossipy nature of like, oh my gosh, did you see or. This thing, or how can you integrate?

And I've been reading a lot of, again, romance novels and thinking about like, okay, what are the common through lines? What are the human experiences? What are the tropes? What are things that over and over and time and time again, [00:27:00] work to kind of capture people's attention and get them invested? You know, it's like as you're closing out a chapter.

What is the ending so that you're like, oh my God, I have to read the next chapter right now. Like what's gonna happen? What is that kind of like point of obsession where people are so interested in what you're talking about and how can you turn your own personal stories or that your case studies for your clients into.

Gossip like in a way that just makes people so interested that they want to consume your content, they wanna consume your marketing, they wanna read your emails, they're looking forward to opening your next substack. Like that's what you're trying to create. It's not just education, it's not just information, but it's a way to captivate and hook and like pull that in.

Joanna Newton: And we should talk about your content now because I've noticed that shift for you in the TBH content and you did that little, I'll, I'll pull up a piece of content of yours where you did that skit with like, it's like a skit with you and you and your husband and [00:28:00] like your, it's like when your wife gives you that look right. You know, and you

Michelle Pualani: Uh.

Joanna Newton: something, and then he's like, goes to make you a drink. And then it's like. Cheeky and fun because like the hook is making you think of one thing, but then you're actually just getting a beverage right. But like that kind of stuff is a way you can in your content, because you're a husband, wife team, like you can play on that.

You can have those skits. They don't have to be your real life situation, what actually happened. You don't have to be like, this is what we fought about. Like, and, and the truth is, if you think secret lives of Mormon wives. Is real and that Whitney Levitt is really some sort of nasty villain. Like don't get reality tv because it is, they play roles, right?

Like we, like it's fun.

Michelle Pualani: And production value. It's, that's, that's editing, that's production, like, that's curating based on a producer's [00:29:00] viewpoint of what they think will work and get rating.

Joanna Newton: Yeah. And, and people have to fit roles and, and jobs and all of that in a story. But you can take your personal experiences like Michelle, you can take you and, and your husband's personal experience working on this business together and interacting with this product together and turn it elevated. Extra versions of what really happens to give people that like, I mean, it's like voyeurism, right?

People wanna watch behind the scenes what's happening. It doesn't the behind the scenes, but it can be inspired by what's really happening in your life.

Michelle Pualani: Yeah. Which brings us to our content, my content creation conversation. One of the things I wanna talk about today is just sort of common. Themes that I'm seeing in content pieces that are being incredibly successful right now. So obviously like there are all different kinds of styles and approaches and different ways that you can do your content and your marketing from a social media strategy.

[00:30:00] But some of the things that I'm seeing that are still either consistently successful or maybe like newer to our social media scene, but that are capturing that attention and I think all of them almost share some type of. Uh, emotional relatable storytelling component to them that makes them successful.

So the first one is actually one that's been around for quite a lot while, um, but it's something that takes something's. That has been proven successful. I was having this conversation with another client recently in terms of, they were talking about like their approach to marketing and coming up with ideas and everything else.

And I think sometimes we think like, oh, well I have, I have to be unique. I have to be interesting. And you and I have both seen a ton of people in person. And then of course we've done a ton of coaching. Podcasts, like we've listened to a lot of people in the space, people who have millions and millions of subscribers, followers who make millions of dollars in the digital [00:31:00] space, and they talk a lot about replicating what's already been successful.

So stitched content I still see very consistently and when you're, you find a content piece or a video that already has reach. Engagement, it's because they typically have a successful hook. So you are just using that hook at the beginning of your video and then you're adding your, take your opinion.

There's a fitness guy that I follow that I absolutely love, he's hilarious. He has this cute pit bull and he's in his home gym and he takes these, these very viral fitness activities and then he tries to replicate them, but it's like hilarious and he struggles and it's just so cute with his dog that I absolutely love.

But that stitch style, using what's already been successful by someone else and then putting your spin on it and responding as the expert, the authority, or again, the engaging content creator, however that looks like, is one of the styles that I see very

Joanna Newton: Yeah.

Michelle Pualani: [00:32:00] very successful.

Joanna Newton: Yeah. And when you're, when you're stitching content, right? If something that's already popular, that hook might have a rec recognizable face, it's been a hook that you know works. I think it also shows that you're part of the conversation, so you're being active and part of the conversation of whatever platform you are.

And then I think that. Without having to say, what do you think at the end of your video or ask for replies, it invites replies because you are adding to the conversation so then someone else wants to add to your conversation because you're having a conversation. You're not just like speaking to the abyss, you're commenting on something that's currently happening, and I think that can just be so effective for people.

Michelle Pualani: Definitely adds that desire for more of like a back and forth or someone seeing the first piece and having a thought already about that first piece. 'cause it inspires that and then putting yours into the mix it, it totally works that way. The other one that I've seen a lot recently, and this is kind of more like our [00:33:00] next gen era of like what I feel like is a younger population.

Is a statement. So it'll be like a statement on screen. For example, there was one that was like quote unquote, puts it in quotes, it says, I really hope my boyfriend is rich. And then the next ones are like, rich in attention, rich in adventure, rich in, and they list these things out. And then of course there are videos related to it, but there are a lot of statement type pieces where either you see the statement and you, that's something you identify for yourself.

Or it's the counter two. So the cute one, this guy did that is like, Hey babe, let's get Chipotle tonight. And then he makes Chipotle at home as more like a home cooked meal. And so he's talking about like home cooked meals and caring for women and like taking care of yourself and that type of deal. And so.

The statement is pulling someone in that either says, oh, I am this person and I relate to that and I want it too. Or again, it's the counter of [00:34:00] that thing, but it's all it is is just like a quote of some relatable sentiment.

Joanna Newton: Yeah. Like a quote or statement and. What you're going for with those is getting a reaction. So you, your statement might make a, give someone like a negative reaction and then you're like, oh wait, it's not actually negative and it gets you hooked in. I saw this video made my blood boil for a split second when I heard it and then like, and then I thought about it and I was like, this person is right.

And the hook was just so good that it got me because she said something like, I wish I remembered the exact quote, said. If you wear sweatpants every day, how can you expect to be the main character in your life? I heard that like that was the hook. And I wear sweatpants a lot of days and I was like, ah, that's not true.

I can close deals in my sweatpants. Um, which I do close deals in my, my sweatpants, but I also do like, get, I'm normally very, uh, put together from here up, but [00:35:00] then I.

Michelle Pualani: Up.

Joanna Newton: up. But then I thought about, so at first I was like deeply offended and then I thought about it for a second and I was like, you know what, like. She's right. And I'm not saying I'm, I don't wear, I'm not gonna wear sweatpants if nobody's gonna see my pants anyway. But there's something about how you show up and if you want to be, you wanna be the main character of your life, should act like one. You should dress like one. You should present like one. And like what kind of sweatpants would a main character wear at home? Cute ones. Do you know what I mean? Like, right. They're gonna, and, and thinking about that, and that content made me think, it made me,

Michelle Pualani: Yeah.

Joanna Newton: made me react. She could have started the video saying, if you wanna show up as a main character, make sure you're not wearing sweatpants every day. That would've been like, way less effective than the way that it was delivered. It was de delivered in kind of like an offensive way [00:36:00] hurt my feelings. But then it made me listen and think, okay, I, that's something to actually think about.

Michelle Pualani: I think it's called thought reversal Content is it's the, some of the best authority building content for your brand is stating something that directly goes against a belief that someone has. Right. And you try to do it like again, not in a way that's like putting that person down necessarily. Right. She said, she didn't say like, if you're wearing sweatpants every day, you're a slob.

Because that's just like a negative comment, right? She's talking about like the outcome. You wanna be the main character of your life and then she's relating something to it that maybe you didn't even process before, but then is changing your mind. Super powerful in creating the authority for the type of person that you're looking to talk to.

This is another one is I've seen a lot of, we see a lot of like storytelling from a look back and lessons [00:37:00] perspective. Which, which shows like a transformation. So there's a few ways that you can do this, and I've seen it as like, oh, I just turned 35, here's what I would tell my 25-year-old self. And then mostly in the, in the caption, it goes into like the lessons you've learned or you know.

31 lessons from 31 years lived, something like that. And then it's associated with video that is just either on the background, whether that's yoga or you're adventuring or anything else. And then I, you see a lot of that are storytelling of like the before, after the transformation or, um.

Joanna Newton: Like

Michelle Pualani: Like if I was an expert in blank, that here's what I would tell you if I wasn't afraid of hurting your feelings.

Which is kind of a different approach to still telling someone like, this is the lesson, this is what's to be learned. Like this is what you need to pay attention to. But not in a direct way. You know, it used to be like, if you're struggling with back pain, [00:38:00] you need to do these things. Instead of, now we're seeing it more like.

As someone who had back pain for 10 years, these are the things that I wish that I'd known. You know what I mean? Like we're just, we're taking a totally different approach, which is really that learning experience over time or sharing that story over time from your perspective and what worked for you.

Again, making it relatable to what it is that they wanna learn, what they wanna go through, but then shares that kind of vulnerable aspect of. You know, this is my before and this is my after, and this is what happened for me.

Joanna Newton: Yeah, and I think a lot of people when they're making content and, and it doesn't take off and it doesn't perform, and they don't get reactions. They tend to like give up or stop posting or stop thinking about it. But thinking about these different skill like skills [00:39:00] and posting types and different things, and adjusting your content is such an important practice.

There's a, there's a level at which if you are, if you have your profiles set up nicely, you're posting content, you're consistent, right? That's like step one. Make sure, like your bio's clear. Make sure you're posting consistently. Make sure your topics and your messaging are consistent. And then when you're there, if, if you are not seeing growth, you are not seeing engagement, you have to narrow in to the content itself. Like look at, look at your hooks, look at some of these content types that we're talking about. Is there a way you can incorporate them to bring in more engagement? Because you can say, oh, it's just the algorithm. Oh, it's just the algorithm till the cows come home. But the algorithm responds to people engaging, people watching people commenting, [00:40:00] people sharing, people liking.

If people aren't watching your videos. The algorithm doesn't like your videos, and that's not the algorithm's fault, like. To, to put it very bluntly, you have to be more interesting and it's, you might have all of the knowledge in the world, but if you're not packaging it in a way that someone wants to watch it, no one's going to watch it.

And then you're not gonna achieve your, your business goal. So getting good at crafting your content is important. And yes, there are experts out there and yes, there are people that can help you with this, but I think this is one of the tasks. The content creator needs to be the driver of, I've worked with people expect me to drive that, and let me tell you, I am good at what I do, but that is very hard for me to do because I can write scripts and give advice and say that till my eyes blue.

Is that the right phrase?

Michelle Pualani: I [00:41:00] mean, technically it's eyes bleed, but I kind of like,

Joanna Newton: I like till my

Michelle Pualani: yeah.

Joanna Newton: blue. I could say it to my eyes bleed, but if they're not gonna do it and deliver, can never get them their results. I can. You like, and, and it's this thing. So if you are the face, if you're putting yourself into that role, you need to work it and you need to understand this.

Michelle Pualani: I've worked with clients who have expected the exact same thing. And you know, I can help with setting the video up and I can help with being there and I can help direct you and like you said, script. And yes, you're gonna get success, but you have to buy in to what it is that you're doing. And I think it's the.

Best skillset that any online person, if you want a personal brand, if you're bringing your services online, like you gotta get good at that stuff. You know, Alex from ozy and everything else, like they have huge teams, they spend a lot of money, but guess what? They're still the ones who are improving their ability to speak on screen.

They're still improving the way that [00:42:00] they deliver hook. And understanding what is the first thing that you say? What's the next thing that you say? How do you close, how do you get people to keep paying attention? You know, where is your attention? Where is your focus? What is your body doing? Like things, things like that, that are important in your delivery and that content creation as a whole, even just, uh, developing ideas and brainstorming is like, where are you data mining that content so that you know that people are gonna be interested in the topic that you're choosing and what you're bringing to the forefront.

Joanna Newton: Yeah.

Michelle Pualani: Which next piece of style of content that's incredibly successful, we've seen this in our, uh, digital brand in terms of e-commerce. I've seen it in our personal brand is POV or when the blank. So you're basically setting the context for a situation event. Happening something again that you're speaking to your ideal client that they can relate to in some way, and then showing the behind the scenes or showing that experience of whatever that perspective [00:43:00] is.

Joanna Newton: And what's really important with POV content is that it needs to be the point of view of your ideal client and not you. We talked about this last week, like you are not, was it last week? Like you are not your

Michelle Pualani: Oh, we, I feel like it's come up a couple times when we talk about like the graphic designer and, you know, the coach or the expert it, we've talked about it a couple times, which is, we're not yet hit subscribe, click tease podcast. So you get this every single week.

Joanna Newton: Every single week we show up with our marketing, hot takes, updates and all of the things. But yes, if you are making that point of view content, it needs to be something your target audience will relate to, not something you'll relate to. So if I did POV, like about my discovery calls, well well like that doesn't make sense.

I'm not looking for people who want people to. Hire them to work on Kajabi for them. [00:44:00] Right? I wanna find the course creator like my POVs need to be about a course creator's feelings. What a course creator would relate to, what that business owner would relate to For this podcast, same thing. We don't do POV type content right now.

Maybe some day we should, but if we were doing POV content, it wouldn't be of a podcast host. It would be. The people listening to our podcast, who we are sharing advice and insights and who are looking for marketing advice. So like small business owners, coaches, content creators, course creators, that's the POV we need to have.

And because we're also those things that makes it natural for us. 'cause we are business owners, we are course creators, so there's like a natural fit, but that's the POV we need to be taking.

Michelle Pualani: Absolutely, and you're always remembering, who am I talking to? Who am I drawing in? What is that person thinking? What are their beliefs? What are their struggles? What are their pain points? [00:45:00] What's the transformation? What's the outcome that they desire? You center on those? Things, and yes you do behind the scenes, but always in the context of how does it benefit my ideal client?

How does it benefit my audience? Right? The last thing I'll close on for video specific content that I see as really successful are reaction videos. So where they're on screen and another video is playing and they're responding as the expert authority. Really great for coaches, really great for service providers.

Really great for people who are trying to sell any educational content. 'cause they're creating this sense of, again, authority and expertise. And I know what I'm talking about here. This is a fitness video and they're doing this, or this is a relationship video and they're doing this and then you're responding.

So again, you're pulling content that is gonna already attract someone and then you know that they're gonna say something, so you're not sure what they're gonna say. So you're getting invested in, again, like the watch time of like, okay, well I'm seeing the initial thing. I know that someone's gonna [00:46:00] reply, so my brain is like, I wanna stick around for that reply.

So very helpful in garnering attention engagement because now they're reacting to either the first video, similar to Stitch, but different.

Joanna Newton: And doing things to get that watch time up, get people up past the few seconds. That's what helps in the algorithm. So if you are that person who's saying, oh, the algorithm, it just hates me. Are you doing things to get people to watch? That's why a lot of trending sounds can be really good, especially if you notice a lot of trending sounds and trending songs have this like elongated moment with like a punchline. So, and it, it gets you to watch. So how it became a trending song. Is because of that, because it, it elongates that watch time where you're like, you know, in the music and the tone of whatever's happening, that you're waiting for something to happen. So a way to think about that is how in your content can you [00:47:00] get people to wait for the punchline, wait for that moment, and expect to have to wait. So those like reaction videos, they're watching something and you're like, what are they gonna say? What are they gonna say? And it increases that watch time.

Michelle Pualani: Yeah, and these are all things, the reason that I want to learn and like bring these things up and research is 'cause I wanna get really good at this. You know, I have realized. As much as I know about marketing and from a technical standpoint and perspective and have coached and consulted and help other people establish strategies and positioning and messaging, it's always, for me, a lot easier as a third party perspective to be able to help other people assimilate information and then implement, right?

But for yourself, it can be hard to take this in and fully understand it in the output. And so as I'm looking at these content creation like themes. The way that people relate and putting the pieces together. It's my goal to take my personal brand and our physical product business and really establish a [00:48:00] strong foothold of brand awareness and success in the digital space through these.

Practices and, and like we said, it's a skillset that you create. It's something that you have to identify as. This is something that I'm gonna have in my tool belt, not just for today, but for years to come. You know, understanding the principles and foundation of marketing, of messaging, of positioning, of offer, creation, of value proposition.

That is what's important for your business. Like you need to understand those things and whether today it is fitness, tomorrow it is relationships next year, it is a physical product that you wanna create or a service that you wanna offer, or now you wanna be an agency. It doesn't matter. Understanding these principles is always, always going to serve you, and so I think it's, instead of focusing on trying to learn a particular software as the business owner, it's more important that you understand the tools of [00:49:00] marketing, of messaging that you can then take into anything else that you do.

Joanna Newton: It's so important. Your personal brand is the foundation for everything. And if you have that personal brand, like you said, Michelle, it doesn't matter what you do. You can build digital products, you can sell your services, you can do what you need to do if you have that personal brand establishment, and that's not something a freelancer can replace, that's not something a software tool or AI can take from you. That is something you have to own and you have to learn as the business owner. thank you so much for staying tuned to this week's episode of Click Tease. If you wanna learn more and more about how to. Create content that converts and stay on top of trends. Please subscribe and share this with a friend who you think could need it.