Career

How to Become a Social Media Influencer in Nigeria

Published

9 months ago

February 6, 2024

After reading this article, you will become a social media influencer in Nigeria and be able to roll with celebrities of your choice. In this current age, it is very easy to be popular because of the powerful tools we all have available to us for free. This is the social media (Facebook, Twitter Instagram, and many more).

It is available to us as long as you have a smartphone and the internet. And many Nigerians are taking the internet into use to become a star effortlessly although with serious effort. Now, you can become popular without even becoming a celebrity first.

You do not need to act in a big film, you do not need to win the lottery, you do not need to do anything you do not want to do to be popular if you do not want to. And I guess that is why you clicked this article. And I am going to show you how to today.

You see, becoming a social media influencer in Nigeria (ability to influence and craft power online) is not hard if you know the secret, however, I must stress here that it is not something that happens like magic. Let me start with the story of Lasisi Elenu (Bra Segun). I bet you never knew him before this time.

Before he became popular, he had a 9 – 5 job as he explained in an interview. The job was boring to him and he decided to look for a way to keep himself company by putting on a character inspired by his father. This is how Lasisi was born. He was born out of boredom.

So one day after putting on the character again, he felt the urge to video himself in the act so he tried it out. He videoed himself and after so much criticism he decided to share it on social media and that was how his fame began. His video was shared more than a thousand times on social media.

In fact, according to that interview, he said when he woke the next day his jaw dropped. He could not believe what his eyes were seeing. Apparently, what he found joy in doing in secret was not only liked but loved but Nigerians and he never knew until he decided to share.

This is one of the secrets of how to become a social media influencer in Nigeria but I will go deep into this as we move further in this article. There are different ways of becoming a social media influencer in Nigeria.

You can be one by becoming a blogger (Linda Ikeji), YouTuber (Fisayo Fosudo), caring for the needy (Aunty Landa), chasing or tackling a case (cannot remember anyone now on that), comedian (Woli Arole), dancer (Kaffy) and so on. The list is unlimited. So I will try my best to explain how you can use these different gifts or passion to become famous or become a social media influencer in Nigeria.

Who is a Social Media Influencer?

A social media influencer is someone who has been able to establish trust on social media in a specific niche or industry. He or she has been able to build great followership (large audience) and is able to convince his or her followers through their originality.

Qualities of a Social Media Influencer

There are 3 main qualities of a good social media influencer and these are:

A. Power of Persuasion

A good social media influencer must be able to persuade people online followers and non-followers with their actions and comments on trending issues. He/she must be able to this through genuine or original content.

B. Ability to Create Trust

Another quality a good social media influencer in Nigeria must have is trust. You must not be found saying something about a trend and the next day you are saying something else. You must be able to stick with a decision you made on a certain issue online and follow it to the core.

Even when it seems the odds are against you in every way. This is why you must take your time and do your findings before relating to anything online.

C. Possess Knowledge

A good social media influencer must have the knowledge and this is not the knowledge you learned in school it is the knowledge of knowing a bit of everything. I know this sounds like a cliche but it is true. The ability to easily understand topics discussed on social media always passes a message to your followers and followers-to-be that you know what you are doing despite the fact that you are awkward in one way or the other.

How to Become a Social Media Influencer in Nigeria

Here are steps on how to become a social media influencer in Nigeria.

1. Develop your Skills

This is the first step to becoming a social media influencer in Nigeria. I always say there is something everyone has to offer on social media beyond the pics and show off. If you have not found yours, it means you have not searched enough, and if you have found it and you have yet to share it. It means you are brave enough. Let us take a look at Bobrisky.

He does not even fall under having a gift or following a passion yet he became popular because he decided to follow a cause, a strange call (as I see it) and he owned it. Most times, it is not about having something worthy to share, it is just about following your weird cause and owning it.

Last year, another lady became a social media influencer on social media just after she came all out and owned up to the fact that she has slept with over 300 kinds of men and claimed she is not a prostitute. Because this is not regular news Nigerians hear every day, it shook Nigerian social media and even beyond.

She instantly made millions of followers the same week she decided to speak out. These are rare instances. Do you have a gift/talent or passion? Now is the time to build and work on that passion/talent. See all this time you have not uploaded anything as a hibernating period. Although there is no such thing as perfection, develop your gifts into perfection.

Be deaf and blind to what your friends say about it as to whether it looks crazy or it sounds absurd. Their opinion does not matter, what matters is the satisfaction and joy you derive in doing this. Follow your dreams and do not hold back even for one bit.

2. Explore your Options Online

This is the second step to becoming a social media influencer in Nigeria. Now, I know this normally comes with some fear. I remember the day I wanted to open a Facebook page for our blog. My hands were sweaty and I was not stable. But guess what? Despite all this, I still went ahead and did it all the way and I have never looked back ever since.

So also my first live video on Facebook, the first video on YouTube, and so on. Also, when I was about to open my first social media account “Facebook” even before TheInfoWorth existed as far back as 2010 I was extremely scared. Fear is normal especially if we are doing something for the first time but it should still stop us from doing what we are supposed to do. “Feel the fear but do it right away”.

This is always my favorite phrase. But before you do this, you need to consider the platform you should use. The platform that will aid what you are trying to showcase to the world. Is it Facebook, Twitter or Instagram? Although it is possible to be on all 3 platforms, you still need to choose the social media to will work for you the most. Let me give you a brief illustration.

If it is comedy you are into or dance or maybe spoken words and you want to use these talents to become a social media influencer in Nigeria you need to go for Instagram. It benefits you because it allows you to post videos, use IG TV, and tag people (other influencers in your field) and Instagram is also good for photographers who want to become social media influencers.

And if it is about using your profession to become a social media influencer, Twitter is the right social media for you. Twitter is where you see many people from different professions become influencers easily. If it is about creating a page like a group where you want people to talk and feel free to express themselves you can also give advice.

If you see yourself using this to become a social media influencer you should go for Facebook. I must reemphasize that not all social media platforms available on the internet are good for you when it comes to turning passion or gifts to influence people. It took me a long time to discover this myself. Choose the social media platform that is best for you and start exploring.

When I say exploring here I mean you should devote time to it every day. You can start with 30 minutes to start liking other people’s and other influencers’ posts. Make it engaging and leave eye-dropping comments when there is a need for one. Your comment does not have to sound or look intelligent. It can be crazy, foolish, or even naked (if you know what I mean).

Just make it stand out. This has really worked for me for quite some time now. I no longer look for perfect words to say when I want to drop a comment on a post. All I do is to be myself and leave what I think will make people want to visit my profile. When you do this for quite some time people start visiting your profile every day and perhaps you are even able to get some followers.

These kinda send coded messages to social media algorithms that your account is important so therefore it will start drawing people to your account. This is kind of techy so I can not really explain much on it. It takes serious effort to achieve this but at the end of the day, if you’re able to do it, it pays at the end.

3. Upload Content on Social Media

At this step of becoming a social media influencer, you can upload your first content and instantly become famous and you can do it and get just likes for your efforts. Doing it and not getting instant fame is what happened to Mark Angel Comedy but persistence kept him going. In fact, it was not his content (comedy skits) that made him later become popular but a particular character in his skits – Emmanuella.

I remember then that it was all about “this is not my real face o” a particular phrase she used in one of the video skits. This line was basically the most said line at that time. So try your best to make your first content the best content by putting in your best before you upload and when you finally upload and it does not bring the success that you want, do not give up and quit saying this is not for you or that people do not need your talent or gifts. Persistence does it!

Try as much as possible to understand why it did not work. Understand what is missing. If possible try and get feedback from friends or the little followers you have on how you can make it better. And if it’s not something that doesn’t need feedback visit other people in your niche. Visit their pages and try to see what they are doing right that you are not doing.

Spy on them day and night, follow them and make yours better. Note: I am not saying you should do exactly what they are doing verbatim. Just copy and make yours better. And if your first upload or coming out becomes a success it is not time to relax rather it is time for serious work.

Like one of my mentors would say “the best way to really know you’re progressing is by making yesterday’s work better than today’s.

4. Collaborate with other Influencers

This is another step to becoming a social media influencer in Nigeria. It is impossible to see an island survive on its own. Anywhere you see an island it is likely that there are other islands surrounding it. This is exactly the same as doing something to scale higher in life. The people you look at today and envy were once where you are now – struggling to make fame.

But they probably realized at some point in their lives that they need connections and collaborations so they chased it and got it. This is also the same for bloggers. When you see us guest writing on other blogs we are not doing it for doing sake we are doing it to get something in return.

1. To make ourselves known on other blogs.

2. To make ourselves known to the traffic of that blog and

3. To attract big traffic to our blog.

Almost all bloggers who do guest posting or guest writing on other blogs do it for fame and when it comes to becoming a social media influencer in Nigeria this should not be different. Connect with influencers in your niche and be ready to serve (ready to learn). Feature in whatever they do and as time goes by you will begin to attract their follower to your content and your following and gradual fame if not instant fame will begin.

5. Increase your Engagement

Becoming a social media influencer in Nigeria is not only about sharing content but it is also about talking as regards pressing things happening in Nigeria. This is one thing I like Alibaba the comedian for. Despite all the millions he has made doing comedy persistently he still talks about common things that affect the average citizen in Nigeria.

The other day I saw him lamenting on Instagram about a proposed law – talking about how absurd it sounds and the lamentation got thousands of people commenting on his post. The post also touched me so I also had to leave a comment.

When you talk about the things happening in Nigeria as a social media influencer, it lets people know you care about them especially what is happening in your country despite all the fame you have got and the money you have made. So grab the opportunity when there trending news and make a buzzing comment about it.

6. Invest in your Skills

Invest in that gift/ talent or skill that you want to use to become a social media influencer in Nigeria. And when I say invest this time I am talking about using your own money not anybody else’s money. Are you a photographer and you feel you need to get a new camera? Do so. Are you a blogger? You need to invest in your blog. Are you a comedian?

Invest in video editors for yourself. Doing everything yourself can be very traumatic especially if you have a regular 9 – 5 job you also do. Invest money also in learning more about what you do. Go to seminars if you need to. Buy books that will advance you and expand your knowledge. Do courses online. Being a social media influencer in Nigeria is not only about being in the face of all people, it is also about making yourself better while you climb that social ladder.

7. Attend Concerts and Shows

Lasisi Elenu (Bra Segun) just came back from London from a comedy show he was invited to perform comedy according to his post on Instagram. So you see it is not only about meeting and influencing people online through social media. It is also about forming bonds with people outside social media and the simple way to do this than to go for GIGS.

You might think there’s no need for this because everyone knows you but this is not true. You will be surprised that there are some people who do not even know what you look like or what you do. Just the other day someone next to me was asking me who Timi Dakolo was even after hearing him sing. I was like “Are you serious?” Who does not know Timi Dakolo but apparently, she truly does not know him.

That is just the way it is. You think everyone knows you just because you’re popular online but it is not always so.

Conclusion

It is all about taking the step, and making an effort. Every social media influencer in Nigeria that you know today took the first step and they have not looked back. But however, I will say put everything in your life in others before you hunt for fame. Because things, like looking for a wife or living a private life are very hard when you finally become famous. Above all this, I wish you good luck.

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