How Exactly Does One Become a Social Media Influencer in Africa?

As African brands continue to recognise the value that social media influencers offer, it’s safe to say that the continent is poised to partake in what is fast becoming a multi-billion dollar industry. According to a recent report by Social Publi, 93% of marketers have used Influencer marketing. Insider Intelligence projects that brands will spend up to $15 billion on influencer marketing by 2022. Here’s a signal that now is one great time to become a social media influencer. Let’s understand what it means to have an influence on social media.

What makes a social media influencer?

When you gain recognition on social media for your expertise on a particular subject, then you can say you’re a social media influencer. Your followers consider you an authority in your subject matter, so they turn to you for guidance when the need arises. They’ll most likely act on the advice you provide,  thus you can shape how they perceive certain ideas or phenomena in your area of expertise.  

There’s no denying the potential to earn big in Africa as a social media influencer. Let’s take Nigeria’s Maraji, whose comedy skits have gained her over 1 million followers on Instagram. The social media influencer surprised a lot of people in 2018 when she revealed in an interview that her earnings grew from N10,000 ($26) per Instagram post in 2016 to somewhere between N500,000 and N1 million ($1,300 to $2,600) per post. With numbers like that, it’s not farfetched to aim at earning a living as a full-time social media influencer.

While some social media influencers were already famous from movies, music or some other creative fields, some were able to build their reputation solely through social media. These kinds of influencers have shown that you can become a celebrity from the comfort of your home. Some of the high earning influencers from Africa who built their brand exclusively on social media are, Afua Rida – Ghanaian fashion blogger, Olupekan Tijesunimi – Nigerian lifestyle blogger; Sharon Mundia – Kenyan fashion and lifestyle blogger. If you’ve got the chops for it, now is a great time to start building your personal brand on social media. 

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