I Tried Content Clusters for One Week. Here’s What Happened. | Series 2, Issue 4

Welcome back to No Filter Fridays - caffeine-fuelled and chaos-approved.

I’m sharing the warts-and-all reality of rebuildingThe Mama Assembly™ from scratch - because too many of us try to figure it all out alone.

Each week I pull back the curtain on what I’m trying, testing, and learning as I go - the stuff that might just save another small business owner a few headaches (or a few hours lost to Canva).

If you’re at the start or somewhere in the middle of your own build, this is for you.

(If you missed how it all began, catch up in Season 2, Issue 1: The Epiphany to Pivot.)

Season #2 | Issue 4: I Tried Content Clusters for One Week. Here’s What Happened.

This week I tried something new.

And by “new” I mean, it's new for me.

I finally tried content clusters.

Not the stiff, corporate kind where you map out “brand pillars” and colour-code them until you forget what your own personality is.

I’m talking Gill’s Version.

The mum-life, midlife-pivot, coffee-powered, “let’s see if this actually works or if it’s just another shiny idea I chased with caffeine” version.

And honestly?

For once, I didn’t hate it.

Let me walk you through what happened, because the results were… surprising.

The moment it changed

On Monday morning I looked at my TikTok drafts and thought,

“This is chaos. No one knows what I’m doing. Including me.”

So I picked a few lanes.

A few things I naturally talk about anyway.

My clusters became:

• The “Hey…, you good?” check-ins

• Tue Truth Bombs

• Mum-life humour

• Midlife reinvention bits

• Behind-the-brand moments

• Real mum talks, because apparently I’m that person now

Nothing fancy.

Just a bit of structure so people start recognising me.

Then I actually stuck to it for a week.

The numbers don’t lie

The TikTok grid says everything.

My views didn’t just creep up.

They jumped.

But the interesting part wasn’t the views.

It was the pattern.

The video that performed best?

The now-iconic “Do you like my animal-print skirt?” moment.

It had everything TikTok loves:

• me talking directly to camera

• a question

• a divisive topic

• a tiny bit of midlife chaos

• relatable mum-energy

• my family calling it a hard no

• me low-key loving it anyway

People commented.

People stitched.

People had opinions.

Apparently animal print is the hill we’re all willing to die on.

The soccer goal video

This one went nuts (for my numbers!) for views.

But barely anyone commented.

It told me something huge:views don’t equal community.

Turns out the videos where I look like a proud soccer mum get attention,
but the videos where I say “be honest, is this skirt a vibe or a midlife cry for help?”
get engagement.

The “Hey…, you good?” series

It’s still early, but I can feel this one brewing.

I talk straight to the viewer.

I say their name.

It feels like a friend dropping into your kitchen while you’re hiding from your kids.

This one needs time.

But it’s already pulling stronger numbers than I expected.

Why content clusters worked

I didn’t become organised.

Let’s not pretend.

I didn’t magically schedule my life like a corporate productivity guru.

I still got distracted by Pinterest for two hours and resized Momentum Monday quotes instead of writing this newsletter like a normal person.

The difference was something simpler.

I stopped posting from panic.

I started posting with intention.

And a big thank you to Lana, 'The TikTok Coach', for introducing me to the Content Clustering concept.

She was right.

You can find her on TikTok at @lana.k.social. Her advice is simple, sassy, and cuts right through the noise.

Every post had a lane.

Every lane had a purpose.

And that tiny bit of structure made my creativity feel less like a feral toddler with a glue stick.

I also got a little invite from TikTok this week. Can’t talk about it yet, but it was a nice nudge that this whole ‘content cluster’ experiment is doing something.

It was the first time the app felt less like a mystery and more like a nudge.

What absolutely did not work

Because this is No Filter Fridays, and I don't do bullshit:

• Pretty ocean videos?
  TikTok gives zero cares. Save it for IG.

• Over-editing?
  No one likes it. Not even me.

• Talking too fast?
  Apparently the entire internet is overstimulated. Keep it slow, Gill.

• Changing a video twice?
  TikTok punishes me like I insulted its ancestors.

• Trying to upload from the web app?
  A crime against humanity.

All of this is part of learning the platform while building a brand from scratch in real time.

The unexpected side effect of posting more

Somewhere around Wednesday, my kids came home and casually informed me that their friends think I’m “cringe.”

I said, “Good. They’re not my target audience.”

Honestly, I refuse to take creative notes from a generation who can watch someone onYouTube play a game for seven hours while mumbling“doo doo doo doo… six… seven…”

If being a midlife mum on TikTok is cringe, then great.

Cringe mums build empires.

Cringe mums reinvent their lives at fifty.

Cringe mums are out here doing more than watching someone eat Skittles for views.

And if a few ten-year-olds think I’m embarrassing, I’m clearly on the right track.

What I learned about Content Clusters

Content clusters made me (and my Outlook calendar) more organised.

They also gave my audience something consistent to recognise.

And that is building trust, faster than I expected.

I’m still experimenting.

Still figuring out what sticks.

Still posting videos of myself asking strangers if they like my skirt.

But I finally feel like I’m not throwing spaghetti at the wall anymore.

Some days the spaghetti still sticks.

Some days it slides straight off.

But at least now I know which wall to throw it at.

What’s next

Next week you’ll see:

• more “Hey…, you good?”

• more Tuesday Truth Bombs

• WTF Thursdays (finally)

• more cheeky mum-life content

• more behind-the-build stories

• fewer clips of the ocean

• probably more animal print

• definitely more coffee (maybe some vodka)

• TikTok tapped me on the shoulder for something pretty exciting. Can’t talk about it yet, but let’s just say someone out there likes what I’m doing.

And now that the clusters are in place, I can already feel the momentum building.

I feel less chaotic, my Outlook calendar is organised, I know what I need to do.

If you’re experimenting too…

Pick three lanes.

Just three.

Try them for a week.

Don’t overthink it.

Don’t make a spreadsheet.

Don’t wait until you have your life sorted.

Just choose your lanes and show up.

Worst case, you end up talking to the internet about animal print.

Best case, you learn something about your audience and yourself.

Either way, it’s a win.

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Thanks for reading,

Gill x

Fuelled by caffeine, curiosity, and occasionally vodka.

If You’re Curious What I Actually Did This Week…

(Warts, wins, caffeine, and chaos below 👇)

If you think content creators just “post a few videos,” let me give you a small taste of the chaos.

🧩 This week I:

• posted more TikToks than I have in months
• launched two new series (“Hey…, you good?” and Tuesday Truth Bombs)
• filmed a soccer goal and a skirt debate
• resized Momentum Monday posts because the square ones were sending me feral
• redesigned half my Pinterest boards
• rebuilt my Outlook calendar with a “Done” and “To Do” system
• updated my Digital Assets aesthetic
• fixed my Shopify footer
• reorganised Trello
• drafted this No Filter Fridays issue about four hours later than planned because Pinterest kidnapped me
• planned my first TikTok Live and had several “can I pull this off?” chats with a friend about co-hosting
• started cross-posting to Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube… and gained my first ever YouTube follower
• showed up for Pantry day with my community crew
• received a huge bunch of sunflowers from my friend Sharon, who has somehow put up with me for forty five years
• planned my 50th pool party and BBQ, including decorations, catering, invite lists, sleepover logistics, and whether a grazing table counts if you make it yourself
• started mapping out my daughter’s birthday party, which lands two weeks after mine because of course it does
• got my hair done because a woman can build a brand and still want fresh roots
• completely flipped my LinkedIn and TikTok strategy to personal brand first, company second
• cleaned up my TikTok handles and aligned everything under my name + The Mama Assembly ecosystem
• created alt text, first comments, CTAs, and workflows
• and still managed to get the kids to sport and drink coffee like it is a vitamin

All while ten-year-olds told me I am “cringe.”

Honestly… I am thriving.

What it looks like

I’m building this in plain sight, so here’s my real Outlook week.

If you’ve ever wondered what consistency looks like behind the scenes… here you go.

Green = Done (created & scheduled)

Red = To Do (eek!)

And the beauty of this weekly view? I can instantly see I haven’t carved out enough time to work ON the business, so something will have to give. I'll work that out next week.

This calendar is backed up by my Trello board (which I said I'd share), this is how I organise myself:

And I also have a Trello board for my Product Development:

📊 WOW (Week on Week) Summary = FULL TRANSPARENCY

Because reinvention’s not just a feeling, it’s measurable progress.

Progress isn’t always viral, sometimes it’s visible in the quiet metrics.
Every post, every subscriber, every small step builds the rhythm.

And because I promised myself I’d build this brand in plain sight, here’s what actually moved this week:

• LinkedIn impressions jumped 67.7%

• My personal followers grew 3 (small but steady)

• The Mama Assembly company page gained 3 new followers

• My No Filter Fridays subscriber count nudged up 2

• Newsletter article views leapt 80.5%

• The Mama Assembly company page visitors jumped by 425%

• TikTok followers grew by 5, which is a 6.3% lift in one week

• Instagram grew by 2

• And I posted 2× more on TikTok than last week

Not bad for someone who still hasn’t worked out which drawer the lunchbox lids live in.

These aren’t influencer numbers.

They aremomentum numbers.

And that’s exactly what this content cluster experiment is about.

What happened between 14 Nov – 20 Nov:

 

Progress isn’t always loud. Sometimes it’s hidden in the numbers, the quiet proof that momentum’s building.