Use this trust formula to grow and strengthen your audience

Hey creator,

This is a special edition of Creator Toolkit.

A few weeks ago I attended a meetup hosted by Brock Johnson, a social media coach who teaches strategies on how to improve your social media presence and growth.

He works with NBA players, Meta, entrepreneurs and has a global team of almost 30 people.

I like him because he’s not a bullshit artist. You and I both know we don’t have time for another internet course pusher.

I paid $1 for this meetup in Chippendale, Sydney, and the room was full of 50 other people who also put forward a dollar to attend.

It was a 3 hour workshop on building trust, consistency and strategy using frameworks and principles that mitigate the ups and downs of social media algorithms.

I’m going to share everything I learnt from Brock Johnson with you today:

• Trust Formula

• S.H.A.R.E Framework

• Optimising for relatable content

Now,

Let’s get into it 👇

If you want a more in depth experience, I hold 1:1 strategy sessions, which you can schedule here: https://calendly.com/smalleyjess/powerhour 

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Trust Formula

Building trust on social media isn’t just about providing value or looking polished.

It’s important to also consider the following:

• Vulnerability / Authenticity (sharing real stories, behind-the-scenes, failures, personal moments)

• Relatability (content that makes people say “me too!” rather than “wow, they’re impressive”)

• Consistency (showing up regularly so people know what to expect)

How do you achieve this? Brock breaks this down into several shareworthy pillars.

1. What motivates you? 

• Your story 

• Your journey 

• Don’t tell your whole story and journey in one post. 

• Tell stories about minute moments. Small wins, panics, challenges, nitty and gritty. Focus on the feelings. E.g About a month ago, on a late Monday evening, I received a DM from Steven Bartlett. He asked me a question that I’ve never had the opportunity to answer before. I stared at the DM blankly, with one thing turning over and over in my brain: “How do I reply to this?”

2. Community 

• Spread this message 

• Raise awareness 

• Screenshot a review and share it to stories 

3. Relatable 

• funny content 

• Common pain points 

• Memes 

• Don’t water yourself down - be specific

• Relatability comes from specificity 

4. Controversial content 

   Note: This doesn’t mean cause harm to a certain group! You carry a certain opinion on something that isn’t the common way of thinking. Share it!

   E.g I think the thought that podcasts are oversaturated is complete nonsense!

• Opinions 

• Ruffle some feathers 

• Contrary to common belief 

5. Timely content 

• breaking news/headlines 

• Pop culture 

• Timely notifications e.g

📌 S.H.A.R.E Framework

This is one of Brock’s practical frameworks for what to post so your content builds community and engagement.

• S – Stories: Share personal stories or small everyday moments

• H – How-to: Teach or explain something helpful

• A – Ask: Ask your audience for their opinions, advice, or preferences

• R – Relatable: Share content your audience sees themselves in (“You know you’re a parent when…”)

• E – Engage: Create content specifically designed to get replies or comments (polls, quizzes, controversial takes)

📌 Optimising for relatable content

This helps keep your content balanced between value, entertainment, and conversation starters.

Brock emphasises that especially in today’s algorithm-driven platforms, relatability beats aspiration.

Instead of always trying to look perfect, focus on posts that feel approachable:

• Everyday struggles

• Behind-the-scenes

• Mistakes or messy parts of life/work

• Humorous takes your audience personally relates to

This makes people feel connected, because they see themselves in your content rather than just watching someone “better than them.”

Did you enjoy this type of content? Reply to this email to let me know, and I’ll publish more stuff like this.