The inaugural Australian Influencer Marketing Council (AiMCO) Awards revealed a raft of creative campaigns via social media.
Among the pool of winners is Matt Johnson, known to many as Matty J. He won Best Creator on Instagram – sponsored by Hello Social in the talent category.
Johnson has gathered a following of 333,000 on Instagram and 65,900 on Tik Tok. He has a podcast, The Penny Drops,on Listnr
Johnson spoke with AdNews about sponsorship, finding a niche in the entertainment industry and his role as a content creator.
Would you say the pandemic allowed you to reach your followers on a personal level, if so, do you think this influenced your content?
“Even before COVID, I've always had a focus on trying to connect with my audience on a personal level. I think what separates great content creators apart is being able to have a two-way relationship with your following. But when lockdowns first hit, the travel show I was just about to start shooting was cancelled, so all of a sudden I was staring down the barrel of a few months stuck at home without any work. I thought to myself, this is the perfect opportunity to focus on producing comedy skits really consistently . In the 12 months following, my videos were watched nearly 50 million times and my audience grew by over 35%.”
Do you work with content creators or creative agencies to promote your work or are a lot of your creative ideas internally sourced?
“I like to think of myself as a micro agency when it comes to creating content. For any briefs that come through from clients, I always pitch back with a few ideas that I then flesh out to full storyboards and scripts. Sometimes the brand/agency will come forward with an existing idea - for example Praise were launching their Chicken Salt Mayo and they wanted me to become a seagull security guard down at Bondi Beach to protect chip eaters.
But the majority of the time, I'm just given a tagline to be used as the foundation for the concept. An example of this is when Coles Express were using the line 'become your own barista' for their self-serve coffees. From this, I created the Hipster Barista where I instantly transform into a stereotypical barista after grabbing my coffee - complete with fixie bike, moustache, glasses and super 8 camera.”
How important is sponsorship and advertising is in the field of content creation?
“Branded partnerships have allowed creators to sustain a full time income and keep the content flowing. Essentially, it's the lifeblood of content creation. But at the same time, content creators play a vital role in the marketing strategies for brands. If done correctly, I think influencer marketing is the most effective way for a brand to build awareness and drive sales. Koala, Hello Fresh and Ionic are perfect examples of how you can use creators to successfully grow your brand.”
What advice would you give young entrepreneurs starting out in this niche?
“Find your niche - it doesn't matter if that's cooking, brick laying or parenting. Use your passion point to create content because there's always an audience who shares your interests. Swim with the tide - what I mean by this is, start utilising new features as soon they become available on social media platforms."
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