The waning influence of social media influencers

Social media influencing is a popular aspiration among the youth. The premise behind it is that if you have a large number of followers, advertisers will pay to market their products to your audience.

As the ongoing election campaigns approach their climax, there is mounting evidence some politicians are paying social media influencers to shift public opinion in their favour.

The supply of influencers is growing beyond the demand for their services. There's so much noise on social media that it's no longer easy for the audience to pick out a particular message. Social media influencers are getting drowned out in the cacophony of noise. This calls for much greater creativity in influencing people.

As a Nigerian woman recently found out, a large following means nothing outside the digital space. Grace Amaku, who has 1.3 million followers on TikTok, held a meet and greet event.

She wanted to bond with her followers, laugh together, take a few pictures and exchange gifts. She booked a venue for the event and brought along someone to take videos.

Shockingly, none of Amaku's followers showed up! Not a single one! The video she posted on her TikTok channel shows a heartbroken Amaku on the verge of tears, standing forlornly behind a podium with nothing but empty space in front of her.

Surprisingly, the video went viral, racking up over 6 million views.

90 per cent of TikTokers add nothing to people's life, they just stand in front of the camera shaking their bodies

EXPECTATIONS VS REALITY

Comments on social media provide insights into the public's responses to social media influencers. "Instead of amassing likes on social media, build a community," Kwadwo Sheldon, a West African digital content creator, advises. "If you build a community of a dedicated audience, at least somebody will show up."

Many on Facebook were highly critical of the emerging trend of social media influencers. "What does she influence? What's the impact she is adding to the followers' lives? What asset does she have and offer? 90 per cent of TikTokers add nothing to people's life, they just stand in front of the camera shaking their bodies. No spiritual, mental, emotional and financial value, so what are they coming to greet you for?" a Facebook user named Real Omopraise asked.

Some observers noted that Amaku may have held the meet and greet at a location too far away for most of her fans, or that she didn't do enough publicity before the event. "How does she interact with her followers and how did she promote the event?" one person asked in the comments.

Another said, "Never mistake online friends for real friends. Not everyone you communicate with on social media wants to meet you in real life." 

Amaku's experience shows that social media fans may like you for a particular type of content, but they won't like everything about you. An almost similar trend appears in Kenya. Some personalities have become social media influencers because they have a large number of followers. Whenever they post the type of content which made them famous, they get lots of engagement (comments, likes and shares).

However, those personalities fail to replicate the same level of engagement whenever they post sponsored content. It's almost as though audiences can detect content the influencer is getting paid to promote. Perhaps it has something to do with the lack of congruency. The audience just doesn't understand why a motoring expert is suddenly posting about HIV prevention. Or why a star athlete is convincing her followers to buy a particular brand of baby diapers.

Who exactly is a social media influencer? The Public Relations Review describes a social media influencer as an independent endorser who shapes audience attitudes through blogs, tweets and the use of other social media, such as videos and pictures. As an independent operator, the influencer is not employed by the organisation that wishes to pass their message across to the public, but payment is often on short-term arrangements.

The British Council says an influencer is a person who can influence the decisions of followers after building a relationship with their audience, combined with knowledge and expertise in a particular area, such as fashion, travel or technology. That's why we have political bloggers, economists, fashionistas, foodies, financial advisers and motivational bloggers.

In 2018 when Twitter began deleting bot accounts, two prominent Kenyan social media influencers lost half their followers, indicating the presence of bots

COMPETITION FOR EYEBALLS

Statista, a global statistics company, puts the financial value of social media influencing at $13.8 billion in 2021. This was a huge jump from a mere $1.7 billion recorded in 2016. There's clearly lots of money advertisers are pouring into social media influencing.

The growth in social media users explains why advertising money is headed in that direction. Statista puts the number of social media users across the world at 4.6 billion, more than half the entire human population. The number of social media users in Kenya is estimated at 11.8 million, with the most popular social media platforms being Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.

Despite social media influencers having a large number of followers, questions are emerging as to their usefulness to advertisers. As Grace Amaku's story shows, it is one thing to have followers (she has millions of them), but getting them to do what you wish is a different matter. It is also true that Kenyan celebrities who have a large following do not generate engagement when they advertise products and services for some other company. Why the mismatch?

Commentators note that there are many more social media influencers today. 15 years ago, if someone with a large social media endorsed a product, the audience would be in the shops looking for it. Social media was a new development and people were interested in anything they saw on the Internet. The novelty of social media was its key attraction.

In 2022, social media influencers are competing for the audience's attention, what has been referred to as "a competition for eyeballs". The audience has also grown more sophisticated thanks to years of exposure to the Internet.

Furthermore, the credibility of social media influencers was damaged by unethical practices such as buying followers. Since 2018, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have removed millions of social media bot accounts. These are accounts started and run by specially designed software that mimics real human users.

Bots are created by so-called bot factories, which then sell or rent the fake accounts to personalities or organisations that want to show they have a huge following. Bot accounts can be programmed to post comments, click on likes and share content just as real people do. In 2018 when Twitter began deleting bot accounts, two prominent Kenyan social media influencers lost half their followers, indicating the presence of bots.

Dennis Kiplimo, a Nairobi-based social media marketer, advises aspiring influencers to work hard and be persistent in building their personal brand. "Social media influencing is not all about the number of followers but rather your ability to create original content and drive engagement towards a product or topic," he says.