To become a successful social media influencer, you first need to pick your niche and platform and build a significant following.

Influencer guru, Princess Jennifer Umeh-Ubaka aka Princessjecoco is a lawyer, fashion designer, hotelier and event planner. Her Instagram Princessjecoco boasts 86k plus followers and she is the brand manager for Big Brother Naija Shine Ya Eye housemate Jackie B.  In this interview with Vanguard she tells us how she became a sort after influencer.

Can you tell us how you got started in this space?

Well, after graduating from the University of Hertforshire, United Kingdom where I studied Law and Robert Gordon University Aberdeen, where I went for my Masters in Oil and Gas Law (LLM), I started to build my aesthetic on social media, Instagram. While I was doing that, brands started to reach out to me because they liked how my aesthetic looked. Brands will message me to run adverts on my page for a fee and others always wanted to know what products I use on a daily basis. They absolutely trust me so I decided to go into it full time. Also, instead of waiting for brands to reach out to me, I started reaching out to brands. That’s how I started getting more paid collaborations as well.

You studied law, why are you not practicing?

You know sometimes in life, we can’t in totality know what tomorrow brings. I studied law because I was honestly very passionate about Human Rights and making sure people’s voices are heard but then other issues took that passion and I realised that after all in whatever capacity we find ourselves we are still serving people. Well let’s see, I may go back to practicing, who knows, after all it was my first love (Laughs).
 
How lucrative is brand influencing in Nigeria?

Brand influencing in Nigeria is really lucrative enough to pay your bills and many influencers are making a living out of it. Internet is the new age now and many brands are leveraging on that to market their product. You can testify that during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was through technology that many businesses were able to thrive and remain in business. As an influencer, you also need to be consistent. 

How can someone become a social media influencer in Nigeria and earn money?

To become a successful social media influencer, you first need to pick your niche and platform and build a significant following. Once you have that, you can then start reaching out to brands and pitch your services to them. It is also important to build organic relationships with brands by engaging with their social media contents and mentioning their products for free if you like them.

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How many followers do you need to get paid as an influencer?

There is no minimum requirement on the number of followers, as anyone can be an influencer as long as they have a loyal audience and expertise in their niche. Still, anywhere over the 1000 follower mark is a good place to start.

Which social media platform is best for earning?

All social media platforms have their own pros and cons, but all are good for earning money. Still, people believe that YouTube is most profitable as there, you get paid for the ads shown on your videos and the earning-potential is unlimited. It is more difficult to become an influencer on Instagram, but once you do have a substantial following, it is also quite profitable.

Who is the highest-paid Instagrammer?

Christiano Ronaldo was the highest-paid Instagram influencer in 2020.

There are many people on Facebook and many do not know to make money there, how do Facebook influencers make money?

Facebook influencers can make money by creating and posting sponsored content for brands that they collaborate with. They can also sell their own products on Facebook to earn money or become an affiliate and promote other brands’ products on Facebook.

Who is the highest-paid social media influencer?

This keeps changing from time to time, but there are few celebrities who are right at the top of the list, in general. Kylie Jenner, Christiano Ronaldo, Kim Kardashian-West, Selena Gomez, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson are some of the highest-paid social media influencers.

What is your advice to young people aspiring to become social media influencers?

I think that they can leverage on some of the points I have raised earlier to start with. It is better to try rather than give excuses and procrastinating. If it is really what you what to do, start now and be consistent in it and I assure you the sky will be your limit.

Vanguard News Nigeria