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The Content Sundae Formula for Sustainable Content Creation
Imagine this: You’re scrolling through Instagram when you see yet another creator jumping on a trending audio clip. It’s catchy, it’s clever, and it’s already been used a thousand times. And suddenly, you’re spiraling.
“Should I be doing this too?”
“ Am I behind?”
“What if I miss the wave and never go viral?”
Let me stop you right there.
If you’ve ever felt pressure to jump on every trend in order to grow your audience or stay relevant, you are not alone. And honestly? That’s not the strategy that’s going to bring long-term success (or peace of mind). Inside today’s episode of the Chasing Simple podcast, I shared my Content Sundae Formula, a visual and practical way to understand how viral trends can fit into your content—but only when done strategically. Let’s break it down together so you can stop chasing trends and start creating content that actually converts.
Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
- Join me on Monday evenings at 4:00 pm Pacific time/7:00 pm Eastern time for my weekly YouTube Lives!
- Check out my Playbook for Complete Marketing Game Plan
- This week’s action step: Check out the Content Sundae Formula and break down your components that make up your foundation.
- Find us on Instagram and tell us you what you thought of this episode: @mrsamandawarfield
The Truth About Trending Content
Trends can be fun, effective, and even boost your reach—but they shouldn’t be your strategy.
This is where so many educators, course creators, and content marketers go wrong. They pour time, energy, and creative bandwidth into trying to replicate trends that don’t even align with their brand, all in hopes of “going viral.” But the truth is, viral content only works when the foundation of your content strategy is already strong.
What Is the Content Sundae Formula?
My Content Sundae Formula will help ensure that you’re strategically putting out content that moves the needle for your business, while also allowing you to occasionally leverage trending content.
The Ice Cream Base: Educational Content
This is the core of your content. It’s the valuable, actionable, insightful stuff that showcases your expertise and helps your audience learn something new. If you’re an educator, this should be the majority of what you’re sharing online.
Think:
- How-tos
- Behind the scenes of your processes
- Quick tips related to your zone of genius
- Clarifying industry misconceptions
- Teaching frameworks (like this one!)
Great educational content attracts the right people. It builds trust. It helps your audience see you as the go-to expert. And without it? Trends won’t do a thing.
The Drippy Toppings: Personal Content
The second layer is what makes your Sundae yours. These are the parts of your brand that bring connection and personality to your content.
Your audience needs to know more than what you do—they need to know you. This doesn’t mean sharing everything about your life, but it does mean intentionally incorporating parts of yourself that build relatability.
Choose 3–5 “personality pillars” to weave into your content. For me, that’s things like my love for Disney, Taylor Swift, and my cats. These “drippy toppings” help your audience feel like they know you, and they often make your educational content more memorable.
The Sprinkles: Viral Trends
Here’s where the magic (and the simplification) happens.
Trends are the sprinkles—just a light touch, added on top when it makes sense. Instead of chasing every viral reel or TikTok sound, I encourage my clients to batch their core content first (ice cream and toppings), then stay open to trends as they come.
When you come across a trend that truly clicks with your brand or sparks an idea naturally, that’s when you sprinkle it in. Not because you “should,” but because it fits and you have the capacity to add it in without derailing your entire content plan.
Why This Approach Works
When you build your strategy around what you want to say, not what the algorithm wants, you:
Stay consistent
Save time and energy
Avoid burnout
Actually connect with your ideal clients
Create a sustainable system you can stick to
Following the Content Sundae Formula means your content strategy is rooted in intention, not impulse. It gives you the freedom to be creative with trends without relying on them for your growth.
Want Help Planning That Content Sundae?
If you’re ready to create content that works for you, I’d love to invite you to join my free Content Planning Bootcamp. It’s a 3-day challenge designed to help you build out next month’s content with clarity and confidence.
And if you want to go deeper into the strategy behind this approach, grab a copy of Chasing Simple Marketing. Pages 68–71 are all about the Content Sundae Formula and how to apply it to your own business.
A Simple Shift That Changes Everything
Trends will come and go. But a strategy that feels aligned, sustainable, and focused on serving your audience? That’s what builds a business with staying power.
Next time you see a trending audio or viral format that tempts you to drop everything, pause. Ask yourself: “Is this a sprinkle, or am I trying to make it the whole Sundae?”
Choose intentional over impulsive. Strategic over scattered. Because that’s the kind of marketing that moves the needle—and keeps your sanity intact.
Until next time, go out and uncomplicate your marketing and your business.
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