Gbenga Sogbaike Joins BBC Africa’s Panel @ Social Media Week Lagos

Gbenga Sogbaike, CEO of Plaqad Limited on Thursday joined other notable names in the industry to discuss issues relating to building and monetizing online influence at BBC Africa’s panel session at the Social Media Week Lagos.

The session which was moderated by BBC’s multimedia Journalist and documentary filmmaker, Yemisi Adegoke also featured speakers like leading travel Influencer and founder, TVP Adventures, Funmi Oyatogun, Journalist and BBC Business Editor, Larry Madowo and leading travel influencer, blogger and founder Olorisupergal (OSG), Oluwatosin Ajibade.

The panel session themed, “Fame, Fortune & The Business Of Influence” provided attendees fascinating insights into the world of influencer marketing and best practices to commercializing large audiences.

As part of the session, each of the speakers was required to answer the question: “which came first, fame or fortune?” to which all the panelists agreed that social media popularity and influence was a precursor to making money as an influencer.

Speaking after the session, Plaqad’s CEO, Gbenga Sogbaike said: “Influencer marketing is strongly hinged on a human-to-human connection that is too often missing in other forms of marketing.

“Influencers generally have the unique advantage of having successfully built trust with their audience, brands want to reach. These influencers have mastered the art of communicating and engaging with these customers hence it makes great sense for brands to enlist their help to connect with them.

“Influencer marketing done well provides 11 times higher ROI than traditional forms of digital marketing.

On monetization, he said: ” We are set to release Nigeria’s first-ever influencer compensation report that examines monetization and issues revolving around paying influencers in greater detail.

“For now, I would say influencers need to focus on providing great content and value to their audiences while delivering stellar results to brands, to effectively monetize.

“The golden rule for making money on the internet is that you must sell something.

“As an influencer, that can be marketing products or services of other brands or simply creating and selling your own products, or both.

“It is also important that you connect that online influence to an offline community.

“Don’t stop the engagement on your Instagram, YouTube or Twitter page; also build an offline community where you can connect in person with your followers.” He added.

The panelists agreed on authenticity and the need to specialize in a niche/industry category as being important for anyone looking to be a successful social media influencer as that would not only set them apart from other influencers, but make such influencer the go-to in that specific niche for brands looking to reach audiences.

Plaqad is Nigeria’s leading community-led content distribution and influencer marketing platform helping brands execute seamless, measurable and cost-effective marketing.

Plaqad partners with all major media outlets in Nigeria; blogs/online publications, print, radio, and TV and boasts of a rich network of over 2000 top content creators and social media influencers in different niches.

The brand in less than two years of commencing operations in Nigeria has worked with top multinational brands like MTV, MTN, Heineken, Opera, SureRemit, Interswitch, and Nigerian Breweries among others.

Social Media Week Lagos is an annual week-long conference, and the focus for 2019 is “STORIES: With Great Influence Comes Great Responsibility”.

The event features a central stage for keynotes and panels, multiple rooms for workshops, masterclasses and presentations, and an area dedicated to co-working, networking and interactive installations.