The social media space is turning into a global super mall; part of its crowd are those who depend on it to stay connected to loved ones in faraway places, then there are those who visit for lifestyle reasons and the buyers and sellers. There are the overnight celebrities or outright brands because of their massive following. This last group is referred to as “social influencers”.
Two ways to look at influencers is first as someone who has the power to affect purchase decision of others because of his or her authority, knowledge, position or relationship with his or her audience; second as an individual who has large following in a particular niche, which they actively engage with. The size of the following depends on the size of the niche.
One of the sessions organized by Schick Magazine a lifestyle media house on Day 2 of the ongoing Social Media Week Lagos (SMWLagos 2019) had one of such influencers as panel members – Tobi Bakare, former Big Brother Naija 2018 finalist and actor. Tobi has over 71,000 followers on Twitter and more than 1 million fans on Instagram.
Other members of the panel are either influencers in their space or are managing social influencers; Kunmi Odueke, radio presenter and host; Afua Osei, co-founder, She Leads Africa; Ink Eze, founder AsoEbibella; and Ugo Monye, creative director, Ugo Monye.
“Being a social media influencer comes naturally as a result of your lifestyle, it’s not something you learn,” says Bakare who shot to limelight during the BBNaija show in 2018.
He highlights a critical characteristic of most influencers: it is usually not the original plan for opening an account on any social media. However by being associated with a particular value, consistently, they start to acquire followership.
Often by leveraging their personal stories, influencers create contents that go viral. The bulk of social influencers are celebrities, industry experts and thought leaders, bloggers and content creators and micro influencers.
Ink Eze said that to be a successful social influencer, one must think of oneself as a brand, that way it is easier to define purpose as a social brand.
“You have to put yourself out there to get people as well as brands’ attention,” says Osei.
