We live in an era of social media.
It is more common to have regular people keep up with and become morbidly obsessed with social-media-famous personalities. The result is that these regular people often mimic the lifestyles of they see online.
Influencers can help your small business grow.
Who are social media influencers?
These are the famous individuals you see on social media platforms from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.
There are five classes of influencers.
|
Influencer Category |
Number of followers |
Amount charged per post (Kshs.) |
|
Nano influencers |
1,000 – 10,000 |
Kshs.1,000 – Kshs.10,000 per post |
|
Micro influencers |
10,000 – 50,000 |
Kshs.10,000 – Kshs.50,000 per post |
|
Mid-tier influencers |
50,000 – 500,000 |
Kshs.50,000 – Kshs.500,000 per post |
|
Macro influencers |
500,000 – 1,000,000 |
Kshs.500,000 – Kshs.1,000,000 per post |
|
Mega influencers |
1,000,000+ followers |
Kshs.1,000,000+ per post |
You have to note however that an influencer may charge a client based on many factors and so their fee may not necessarily follow the above table. For example, in Kenya, it is common to find mid-tier and macro influencers charging between Kshs. 15,000 and Kshs. 150,000 per post. Examples of such influencers are Wabosha, Joy Kendi, This Is Ess, and Azziad, among others.
Case study of a business using influencers to grow
In the recent past, a rather unknown fish-selling joint buried somewhere along Garden Estate road, off Thika Road turned into a social media sensation.
The brand, Big Fish, has seen throngs of social media users (mainly from Twitter) order deliveries or show up at the eatery for a platter of fish and ugali which for the most part is in a bid to be part of a popular trend.
Big Fish has grown significantly from this spike in customers and it has even taken on a more professional look as a legitimate
food vendor. The brand’s Twitter page also shot to over 13,000 followers in just a few weeks and currently has over 67,000 followers. Somewhere in between the social media hype, the owner made enough to move the eatery, revamp it and add sitting space.
Arguably, growth that would have taken Big Fish months on end was achieved in a few intense weeks. Surprisingly, Big Fish became
a full-fledged eatery in early 2018 and in just two years of operation, it has become the most hyped fish joint around Nairobi.
Why did Big Fish grow so fast?
Well, it all traces back to influencer marketing. One of their pictures went viral sometime in 2019. A few Twitter accounts considered influential retweeted and engaged the brand. This triggered a few first individuals to visit the joint and they posted it on social media, a few more saw these posts and wanted the experience for themselves, then a few more and it became a viral sensation.
Big Fish also started allowing people to place orders for their friends, colleagues, lovers, etc and this too became a trend of gifting each other fish meals and posting them on Twitter. And again, more people joined in and placed orders.
One of the owners, Osumo, in an interview said Twitter catapulted their sales so much and that the “for the culture” trend of visiting, taking pictures, and sharing them was the core of the brand’s growth in a big way.
Notably, also, the owner said that he invested more in social media once he saw how much online influence affected his business.
Big Fish somewhat exemplifies a smaller version of Popeyes viral chicken sandwich campaign in the U.S. At the core of both are influencers.
When a few influential people post something on social media, their followers subconsciously mimic whatever is posted. This is the gist of online influence. Sometimes there seems to be a rush to copy influencer-inspired trends because of the infamous FOMO (fear of missing out).
A lot of people for instance still visit Big Fish not because it is the only place that sells fish in Nairobi but rather due to the pressure of missing out of a good thing that every other person on Twitter seems to have experienced.
Triggering a social trend is what makes influencers powerful and what makes them necessary for your small business.
Influencers range from a simple social media account covering a niche topic and with very loyal followers to larger social media accounts with hundreds of thousands of general followers. Depending on your product, any of these influencers could be the key to growing your brand online.
An influencer will not only drive traffic to your business but also create credibility and trust with the mass market. This creation of trust is what happened to Big Fish alongside the viral hype that drove traffic to the eatery. A customer for instance would be more confident ordering delivery from Big Fish than when ordering from a less-known competitor in the same area. Such confidence is the heartbeat of online businesses.
There is however a caveat to the influencer strategy
An influencer will only work if they are the right fit for your business.
It is imperative that if you are selling fashion items, ensure you get an influencer whose followers care for fashion. This is particularly necessary for a small business whose marketing budget needs solid sales conversions rather than general exposure to the mass market.
There is a prevalent and unending debate on how well influencers drive traffic to a business and how much they should be paid.
On one end they can build a brand from the ground – up while on the different extreme end is an influencer who cannot convert his 20,000 followers into a single sale for your business.
Understanding these extremities of outcome and working with the right influencer will thus also save your small business a lot of headaches.
Either way, your small business needs a social media influencer. Now or later.
