Brock Johnson is an Instagram Expert and in this episode, he breaks down some helpful DO’s and DON’T to help you gain more followers and exposure on social media. Earlier this year, he gained 100,000 followers in 3 months by utilizing “reels” and he explains how you can do the same and also how you can start to make money from your content. If you have been struggling to grow your account, this episode is absolute MUST LISTEN for you.
On how to be successful on social media:
“I can boil it down to three things. Step one is having a very clear niche. I have been on Instagram since 2012. My first 5 or 6 years on Instagram, I didn’t have a business, so there was no niche. It was just pictures of me playing sports or with my friends. Then for the first 2 years of my business, I started to niche down, but it was kind of all over the place. It was marketing then Snapchat, Instagram, Tik Tok, it was all over the place. In the last 2 years I focused on Instagram, in the past 2 years I hyper focused on Instagram Reels. My focus is how to help businesses grow using Instagram Reels.”
Growing the brand:
“It’s just being consistent and showing up every day. The more you post, the more you grow. Over the last 4 to 5 months, I have averaged 2 posts a day to my feed, along with dozens of posts to my stories. That is the secret sauce to my growth.”
On growing a personal profile:
“I think the struggle with that is if I have a personal brand, I have a lot of different interests and hobbies. So how do I niche down? And ultimately, we are not in the days of the 2014/2015 influencer craze, where people were blowing up and having big followings becasue they had some pretty filters on their photos. Nowadays, even these influencers who are posting about parenthood or their family or their life or whatever, they still have a niche. They are still talking to one primary demographic. Or they are focusing on one specific thing. It could be gluten free recipes or parenting toddlers. Whatever it may be, I still think focusing in and picking out one of your passions is the best way to grow on social media.”
Instagram saying they are not a photo sharing website:
“It sent shockwaves amongst the Instagram coaching community. But it wasn’t that big of a surprise to me. This was not Instagram making a random decision. They didn’t wake up one day and say ‘We are not doing photos, we are doing videos.’ This was driven by the consumers. Instagram is a business, and they are going to respond to what the consumers want. Overall, people are more engaged when they are watching a video. People love watching videos, and Instagram realized that. So they went OK, we are going to keep promoting videos. It doesn’t mean that photos are dead. You can still post photos and have success with posting photos. The announcement meant they are focusing on video because we are focusing on videos.”
On Instagram stories:
“Stories will not help you grow your following. That might shock some people listening. What stories do, is help you with the relationships. They build trust, build likeability and credibility. They are also a great place to sell. You can add the link sticker to do that. But to grow your following, you need to post to your feed. The best place to do that is Reels, but photos can still be effective. If I post a still image, it will get more likes than a Reel. This is becasue of variability. People love it if you shake things up, be different to the status quo.”
On how he grew his following:
“My first 6 years on Instagram were just whatever. But in 2017 I launched my first business, which was how moms can keep their kids safe on Snapchat. In 2017, Snapchat was as hot as Tik Tok is now. People were concerned about it, so it was my original business. That quickly morphed into moms growing their business on Snapchat. I taught people how to market using Snapchat. Then Instagram launched their stories and I followed suit. I taught myself how to grow my business and then taught people to do the same.”
On the Instagram algorithm:
“The algorithm is all about attention. Do you have your audience’s attention? Another word for that is engagement. Are people watching your videos and liking your posts? Are they saving, sharing and commenting? If so, you are holding your audiences attention, and Instagram will reward you for it. Instagram is a business, who makes money by selling advertising. They want people who are increasing attention. If you can create posts that increase those things, the algorithm will reward you, and the cycle goes uphill or downhill.”
On using giveaways and competitions as a tool:
“I think they should be done inconsistently. If you do them all the time, it loses its lustre. I do one either once or twice a year. When people see it, they have to enter becasue they don’t know when the next one will be. I also say don’t ask people to follow you to try to win. That’s a huge mistake and I see everyone doing. Here’s what happens, you get the spike from the giveaway, then 2 things happen. Either they will unfollow you, or they will remain a follower but don’t care about your stuff. If Instagram shows a post of yours, they won’t engage. That leads to a low engagement rate and low reach. I say to share a post, becasue if they decide to follow me, it’s from their own free will. The following is just so they want to follow along.”
On how to make money on Instagram:
“Sell less. Here is why. Most of us listen to the things we have talked about getting more reach, and think it is a perfect time to sell. But there is a reason we don’t watch commercials on TV. We change the channel or wait to press a skip button on YouTube. When your Instagram is a commercial, they are changing the channel. My feed posts are to serve and entertain my audience. The stories are where I build my relationships, like my dogs or me snowboarding. You get to know me and trust me. I would say 3% or less of the time I would promote something. What I like to do is get people to send me a direct message or have a poll sticker. For anyone who says yes, I reach out via direct message. It requires more time and effort, but it is higher converting and not selling to the masses.”
On people striving for perfect Instagram posts:
“Here’s what happens when we value quality the most. Quality doesn’t mean good or bad, quality means good vs. perfect. So when you are looking for a quality post and you trying to make a high quality Reel, you are trying to make something that is perfect. We then get stuck in procrastination and overthinking, then we never post. People are trying to make 3 perfect posts. I let go of that perfectionism and shoot for good enough. I can crank out slightly above average posts every day. If I go for perfect it would take all week.”
On what he is grateful for:
“The team around me, my fiancée and the opportunity that social media provides.”
Brock Johnson can be found on Instagram here.
Featured image: Impact & Growth Summit
