Social media is where it’s happening these days! Social media has created and still creating Jobs and even entire industries. There’s a phrase often used in traditional media “…controlling the eyeballs”. Back then, the number of eyeballs you control determines your revenue as a media organisation but now, the number of followers you have on Social media can greatly increase your earnings either as a media firm or just an Influencer.
There are folks who have said they do not care about their follower count on either Twitter; Facebook or Instagram but the truth is, brands ONLY approach social media users with a high number of followers for “Ad gigs” which can be a lot of money depending on how many followers you’ve got.
So, big time business people like Donjazzy; Ay and several others with a large social media following still get Ad gigs or are made brand ambassadors by several brands due to the large following they have on social media, even though they are already successful in their chosen careers. Like BurnaBoy once said : “….even Dangote still dey find money”.
There are Influencers who were previously unknown but are now very popular and cashing out big time because they have been able to grow their social media follower count and Influencing and are steadily using same to cashout big time. The likes of Pamilerin; ElCrufixio; Mbahdeyforyou; Chemical Brother; Iyawothickerbody etc have become very popular in the Naija social media space and have created businesses around this their social numbers and influence.
We have seen cases where some social media accounts have been suspended or totally deactivated by our landlords (LOL!)…Jack or Zuck and the social media account owners start scampering around to either get their accounts restored or create new ones and start begging people to help them grow back their accounts. This shows how valuable these accounts are and their earning power.
We know that there are Mini; Micro and Macro Influencers (number of followers determines where you belong) but if you have less than 10,000 followers on any social media platform you will probably not get a look-in by any brand except the Macro Influencers are willing to engage you as a side gig from whatever gig they get from brands.
So, if you have a social media account and you’re active, it will be good if you INTENTIONALLY grow your following. Even if you don’t intend to monetise your numbers, you can still use it for social causes and activism that will benefit the society.
If you’ve noticed, most print media in Nigeria now have very active social media accounts and will mostly post a Breaking News first on their social media accounts rather than wait for paper production time the next day. For those who are inactive on social media, well this may not mean much to them but if you are active, try to intentionally grow your account.
How do i do this you may ask? Well, there are several proven methods, some of which are – 1. Post content consistently. 2. Engage the few followers you’ve got right now. 3. Always post something relatable.
There’s no denying the fact how important and very valuable social media is in this millennial, from – Governance to Business to Education to Activism to News media…etc. So, growing your follower count is invariably growing your social influence and that is a social capital that can be used for positive good.