An interview with Mike Morrison - Mike's Bloggity Blog
Beyond being a successful blogger, Mike is active in the entrepreneurial world through social media, creating and running events, and occasionally weighing in on political matters.
Mike touches on his event “SocialWest” which is a 2-day event focused on marketing education. Mike also discusses his ‘influencer’ status, concentrating on his blog, Twitter, and Facebook less so than Instagram since there has been a history of Instagram influencers misleading their audiences. He goes on to give suggestions on how agencies and companies can better utilize influencers by working with them while creating campaigns rather than bringing completed campaign plans to them.
Mike goes on to say that influencers like himself are always working with their audiences to take them on a journey and it can seem clunky if that interaction is essentially interrupted by an ad. Instead he feels that he can incorporate a sponsored post into a project or activity he has been planning for a long time, ultimately aligning with his brand and maintaining his authenticity. He believes that the best way to build and maintain a following is to be true to oneself rather than either try to be everything to everyone or to constantly advertise things to people.
Finally, Mike’s advice to marketers is not to simply chase influencers of the same type in order to advertise your brand. Rather he gives examples of where a mixture of ‘traditional’ online influencers can be mixed with different types of influencers that aren’t specifically online-based. He uses the example of a record store owner who would have a great deal of impact on the decisions of his patrons to fill up a concert or festival, or a vegan influencer who may only have a few hundred followers but they would be the exact audience for a very specific restaurant, etc. He says that this is a strategy that can bring greater impact and bring in a greater and more diverse audience to interact with your campaign or brand.
Written by Claudia Palomino