NUMBERS LIE: DO KENYAN INFLUENCERS REALLY HAVE INFLUENCE? IS IT A GET FREE THINGS SCHEME

By Cheptoek Boyo | May 21, 2020

There is something enthralling about numbers. That’s the fact that even at the apex you will still find ones and zeroes.

There is also this common maxim that numbers don’t lie – an overused aphorism that Kenyan social media influencers like reciting with great nuance.

Kenyan social media influencers ‘feed on numbers’. They will tell you that their numbers don’t lie. It’s a tired lie – but one which Buzz Central just found out.  

A discipleship in the range of 50k, 100k or a million will put any social influencer on the correct pedestal when it comes to determining their social capital and influence. That’s the easy part.

The difficult part is how to transform these great numbers into active consumers of whatever it is they have been paid top dollar to influence.

The so called social media followers are nothing but a bunch of energized youth out to satisfy their hunger for high voltage gossip about that ‘role model’ person.

This click of individuals just want to be entertained – and for free. Some of them – actually all of them – don’t have a penny to their name. A trip inside their pockets will leave you feeling their thighs. Their purses are thin and malnourished – and it’s not their fault.

They will never buy whatever it is you are promoting or marketing on your page.

Of course this kind of people are good fodder for brands that are only keen on visibility and not return on investment.

A top fashion designer recently opened up to me about her disappointment after engaging the services of an influencer to push her products online.

This particular influencer has over one million followers. That’s a serious congregation. He was assured of good bread from her business once she was ready to part with Sh50,000.

Pictures of her store and products were unleashed to the whole world. Only one person turned up at her shop after all that hustle.

The said customer bought goods worth some Sh7,000. Thousands others made inquirers but never actually followed up. Her social media account attracting more followers, but that was it.

A second trial, call it a discount offered by the said influencer, was even more disastrous.

This reminds me of a post by a popular YouTube vlogger I bumped on to recently. She wanted her house fully refurbished and wanted a partner dealing in interior décor.

It costs water and firewood to do interior décor for a beautiful girl. One then wonders just how many posts she will have to put up for the said partners to recover their money – and make a profit. This is what is called an expensive gamble.

Then there is this story about a couple vlogger who promised a client top sale for cribs and children clothes provided she gives them a crib and a makeover of their baby’s room. The influencer only posted once. Refused to pick the clients calls, no purchase made.

There is also the story of a top artiste also with over a million followers. The lad promised a car dealer along Ngong Road good returns once he posts his cars on social media, that Kenyans will be tripping on themselves rushing to buy.

On Valentine’s Day the guy was paid six figure and together with his girlfriend, staged it as a gift for her just for publicity stunt. No client turned up to buy the car, let alone inquire about it.

See, numbers can lie, especially in Kenya. You better concentrate with influencers attracting a specific audience to push your brand. If an influencer is popular in political circles, he or she will not sell your baby cribs. Instead, ask them to propagate your political ideology.

Then there are influencers who get brand jobs just because they know someone. They are the worst. They don’t have any influence what so ever. They can’t even relate to brand they have been paid handsomely to push. This is money lost.

While most Kenyans look up to them these influencers and envy them, they live on a borrowed lifestyle

This is my two cents advice.

Investigate an influencer before settling on one, then be loyal and grow with them to build a brand. It takes time.

Brand companies investigate the people your being charged as influencers.