We recently connected with Brock Johnson and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Brock, thanks for joining us today. What’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?
When it comes to the debate of “quality or quantity,” I often hear “quality should always be your focus. Anything less than the best isn’t worth sharing.” On social media, I believe this couldn’t be further from the truth. While quality does matter, focusing on it often leads to perfectionism and burnout. Additionally, the path to creating “high quality” content is through increasing quantity. The more you share, create, and post, the better your posts will become. Also, on every social media app, it’s been shown that the more you post, the more people you will reach, and the more you will grow.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I am a social media coach with a specialty in Instagram. In 2016, I began using Instagram for marketing, but face the same challenges and algorithm-frustrations as everyone else. While the grow was relatively slow, I was able to launch multiple courses and 1:1 coaching during this time. in 2021, everything changed. I challenged myself to post 1 Reel per day for the month of April. At the end of the month, I had not only established the habit of consistency, I had also grown by 30,000 followers in that month. Since then, I have grown my Instagram following from less than 70,000 to over 600,000 in less than 2 years. I come from an entrepreneurial family and started my own “businesses” (The quotes are very intentional – these businesses were often only around for a few months before I’d lose interest) from a young age. In 2016, I launched my first real business called Unwrap Snap, which helped moms keep their kids safe on Snapchat. However, the NCAA shut down the business and launched an investigation to ensure there were no illegal donations being made. As a student athlete, the NCAA was concerned that the business may have just been a way to accept illegal donations from booster — of course, it wasn’t. After being cleared, I relaunched the business with a focus on social media stories (both Instagram and Snapchat) and started a podcast called Social Media Money Makers. In 2019 and 2020, I gained a following on TikTok and started a new podcast called Build Your Tribe with my mom — now a top 10 marketing podcast. Soon after, we also launched our Instagram membership community called the Insta Club Hub.
I’m most proud of my ability to create freedom for myself and my family. Freedom to go where we want, when we want, and do what we want. My wife and I love to travel with our 2 dogs and make it a priority to frequently be exploring new places and adventuring together.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
My entire history of business is a constant story of pivoting. My first ever real business was a course that was born out of necessity. As a freshman college football player, I. needed a way to provide for myself, but knew that a traditional 9-5 wouldn’t be possible, considering my academic and athletic demands. Less than a year after that business’s inception, I recognized a whole in the market and a need I could fill. I had taught hundreds of parents how to use Snapchat, and they now wanted to know how they could market their businesses on Snapchat, as I had. This was my first redirection; from Snapchat for Parents to Snapchat for business. Soon after the rebrand, operations were suspended while the NCAA cleared my business from concern of illegal donations. Upon getting cleared, I pivoted again to include Instagram Stories into my teachings. Influencers and marketers alike were flocking to Instagram and away from Snapchat, and I went with them. As my business continued to grow and expand, I began teaching on all areas of Instagram marketing, rather than just Stories. After 2-3 years of this, Instagram introduced their newest feature, Instagram Reels. Quickly, I saw the power of short-form video on Instagram and began showing others how they could leverage this new tool.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
My rapid, yet sustained growth is primarily the result of consistency. A fellow social media marketer, Hrabren Bankov aka. “Marketing Harry,” coined the term “hyper-consistency” when referring to my content. Over the past few years, I’ve maintained a schedule of multiple Instagram Reels per day, as well as numerous Stories and other posts. Now, I’ve expanded my presence to include daily posting on TikTok, Pinterest, Youtube, and Twitter as well. Early on, I was concerned about overwhelming my audience, and myself, with “too much” posting. After months of experimenting and testing, I learned that your content will only be considered “too much” if the value is not maintained. By consistently sharing high-quality posts, my audience appreciates and even requests the high quantity.
Another huge factor in my growth is my scientific approach to social media. I believe that as entrepreneurs, our job is not to have all the right answers, but rather, to ask the right questions. I challenge myself to always be testing, experimenting, and studying the algorithms. Often, I feel that my queries border on obsession with figuring out how these algorithms actually work and how marketers can take advantage of them.
The final piece of my success is luck. Most shy away from the word luck because admitting it in your own success feels discrediting and recognizing its role in other’s success seems jealous. On the contrary, I believe that almost all major success stories include some degree of luck. Being at the right place, at the right time, and having things “go your way” is often beyond your control. On social media, going viral is often times more luck-based than skill-based. I don’t say this to minimize my own hard work and dedication, but only to view my story, my whole story, thought the most honest lens that I can.
Contact Info:
- Website: InstaClubHub.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brock11johnson
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brock11johnson
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/brock11johnson
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@brock11johnson_
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@brock11johnson