In an interview conducted at SES 2013 in San Francisco, Jon Morris of Rise Interactive leads a discussion that details the importance of influencer marketing. As the CEO of Rise Interactive, Jon Morris excels at developing custom Internet marketing media strategies that encompass a unique combination of the six Internet marketing channels (paid search, SEO, affiliate marketing, e-mail marketing, social media and display advertising). I began the interview by asking Jon to explain how influencer marketing is impacting the SEO world as well as the Internet marketing world in general. Hear Jon’s response in the video below: Here are some key takeaways from the video:
- The biggest asset available to Internet marketers are the networks that other people have already built. They key is figuring out how to tap into those networks.
- Using creativity you can develop customer content to reach those key influencers. Jon tells a great story about how he targeted the Sharks from Shark Tank and got them to share his content. The video is worth watching for this story alone!
- Anyone could take advantage of influencer marketing, all it takes is an investment of time. You have to first identify the influencer(s) you wish to target, go through their social activity to identify a topic of interest to them, then develop some content interesting enough that the influencer(s) will share it with their network.
- Jon says this is perfect for small businesses because it levels the playing field. You don’t need a massive budget to leverage the network of other influencers.
If you have any questions after watching the video, for either myself or Jon, ask them in the comments section and we will do our best to respond to everyone! Please visit SEJ’s YouTube page for more video interviews from #SESSF 2013.
