Mumbrellacast Interview: KIIS FM’s Ryan Jon on how brands stuff up influencer marketing
Brands need to be aware of what they want to achieve with an influencer. Look beyond ROI, and don’t just go ‘ok what will this equate to in sales?’.
Ryan Jon is a jack of all trades when it comes to content. While his day job is hosting mornings on KIIS 101.1 Melbourne, he’s also a podcast host and producer, digital content creator, social media marketer, influencer and more.
Joining the Mumbrellacast, Jon speaks about his current gig at KIIS in Melbourne and new brekky host Lauren Phillips, as well as his time on breakfast radio in Perth and the journey from regional radio to finally hitting the big time in a metro market.
After all the build-up, was the job in metro radio all it was cracked up to be? “No way… but I think that’s the danger of building up expectations having worked in Mildura, Muswellbrook, Toowoomba,” he says. “The reality is that when the mic turns on, it’s just another microphone.”
Jon chats about the changing nature of the Perth radio market and SCA getting rid of his old station Hit92.9 to replace it with Triple M. He also dives into the decline of regional radio as a hub for developing talent, but says that new ways of making content and getting seen means “you don’t need to go to Dubbo for $38,000 a year first to get into radio and the media.”
Since departing full-time radio, and before he got his current job, Ryan leaned hard into content creation and growing his sizable social following, and he chats about the benefits and burdens of leaving behind a full-time salary to become a freelancer.
Jon has previously been an outspoken critic of the Australian Podcast Ranker for being limited in scope and having a system that favours radio catch-up podcasts. “We’ve never had someone approach us and say ‘we’ve seen you on the ranker’,” he says, questioning the value of the ranker for podcasters and advertisers.
Finally, he chats about his time spent in content marketing. On being a brand ambassador and influencer, and being involved in content creation he says “don’t wait for someone to give you permission to start doing it.”
Join explains what brands do wrong when looking for an influencer to work with, and on the other side, why influencers shouldn’t say ‘yes’ to every brand who gets in contact.
“Influencers need to take on brands that they can actually connect with. My personal brand isn’t being a ‘beard guy’, but beard oil brands come to me about being a ‘beardfluencer’ and I’ve turned them away, my audience is 80% women. It doesn’t make sense.
“On the brand side, brands need to be aware of what they want to achieve with an influencer. Look beyond ROI and don’t just go ‘ok what will this equate to in sales’. You need to be honest with yourself and work out is this a brand awareness campaign? Is this something else?
“Stop expecting more about of it than is possible. Have a five-minute conversation with the influencer to see if they can actually deliver what you want out of it.”
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