This is part two of an ongoing series where we will come to know more about the men of influencer marketing.
At Find Your Influence (FYI), we have more than 100,000 influencers who have opted in to our network to be discovered by brands around the world. Taking a closer look at the FYI network, 84 percent are female. That leaves 16 percent of the network led by men. Who are these men? What makes them so successful? How have they built their personal brands? And why did they chose influencer marketing?
On Wednesday, September 26, I spoke with Brian Morr, a menswear and lifestyle influencer based in New York City. Brian’s blog, Sink the Sun, chronicles his life and brand experiences in the Big Apple. What follows is our conversation:
It’s great to meet you, Brian. Tell me more about you. How did you get started in the world of influencer marketing?
“I currently work at a hotel in SoHo, in New York City. I’ve been working there for five years now. I’m originally from Long Island. Right after college I went back to live back home with my parents close to the beach so I started taking photos of the beach, myself at the beach and then myself in the city when I got my job in SoHo. It kind of just took off from there. There wasn’t a point in time when I gained a lot of followers, it just happened organically over time, which was pretty cool. I’m often asked for tips or tricks of how it happened but it just happened on it’s own. I guess people liked the things I was posting, so I thought, ‘Okay, I’ll run with this.”
How has Instagram worked for you? Are you using other social channels too to execute various influencer marketing campaigns?
“I mainly use Instagram for collaborations, ads and things like that. I do have a blog too. I created the blog after the Instagram following took off because I wondered if Instagram may only be a fad that I would still have everything available on my blog. It’s a great outlet to get all of my thoughts out. I was an English major in college so I use that to my advantage in creating content like blog posts.”
I’ve spoken to a few influencers and a common thread is that many of you seem to have earned your degrees in English or Communications. This has proven helpful when creating unique content.
“That content, that message, It’s what we want to say to our audience and it’s very important how we word everything. It’s been really helpful to me to have that background.”
Let’s talk about your followers. Do they all fit into the same general category or different categories? How would you describe them?
“The majority of my followers, I think 80 percent, are male. I do a lot of men’s fashion and promote a lot of men’s brands on Instagram. I’ve done a lot of collaborations with alcohol brands too, which may be more appealing to guys. The demographic of my followers is somewhat similar to myself, although I do have 20 percent female following, but I’m geared more generally to men. My following is more New York-based than anything. It’s cool because I see a lot of people in the city that have recognized me. It’s pretty cool how this whole platform came to be and came to be something great for me.”
You mentioned engaging with your followers. Aside from them recognizing you on the street, what does your engagement with your followers look like?
“I do get emails here and there about style tips and questions. They are really few and far between. I do get a ton of direct messages, which I think is a lot more than other influencer friends who I’ve spoken to. Most of the stories I put on Instagram are pretty relatable. I do get comments on my photos but more often direct messages about my stories or my style or where I’ve gotten something. I usually wake up each morning with 30-35 new direct messages. And I do answer all of them. I think this helps my engagement grow.”
You mentioned that you also work in a hotel. Is your role in influencer marketing your side hustle or are you looking to make that your primary hustle?
“It’s definitely something I’m thinking of doing soon. My current job at the hotel doesn’t interfere with the influencer side of my life. They’re very helpful when it comes to needing days off and they even let me take photos in the hotel. Right now I work 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the hotel and then have the rest of my day available to dedicate to shooting. I have the weekends off so I spend much of my weekend taking photos and creating content. It is pretty crazy, it’s two full-time jobs at this point. It’s awesome that I could take a hobby and turn it into something greater, turning it into something I love.”
You’ve worked with many different brands. What brands have been your favorites and why?
“I did a campaign with Heineken. With them I went Ultra in Miami and Coachella. It was like a yearly campaign which was really cool. That was more geared toward male influencers, all about Heineken, all about beer.
I did a few things with Timex and they were really cool to work with. I love watches and enjoy the opportunities I’ve had to work with different watch brands.”
What brand has resonated the most, or had the most engagement with your followers?
“I did a cool campaign with Reebok over the summer that got a lot of comments and messages. It was a new shoe line made from renewable material. Those pictures came out great and it was an all around awesome campaign. I heard from the agency that the brand itself did well from it.”
What, or whom, inspires you?
“Moving to New York City a few years ago has inspired me to get up and go and do this for a living. Living the New York City life has inspired pretty much all of my work. Everyday I see people hustling and doing everything they can to survive and thrive here. That’s really inspiring to me.”
In the world of influencer marketing, it appears to be heavily female. As a male influencer, tell me about the community of influencers you engage with. How would you describe that community?
“I definitely think women have the upper hand at this, which is not a bad thing at all. Women have started this influencer marketing revolution and that’s awesome. Male influencing is a whole different ball game. We have our own little group. When I go to events, I’m often asked if I know many women influencers. I really don’t because every event I go to for a brand is primarily a male event. There are a ton of new influencers popping up every week which is awesome. More competition is more incentive to work harder. For every one male influencer there is probably ten female influencers fighting for jobs. I think it’s pretty cool that guys have caught on to it and are now able to do it for a living.”