Deep Dive: Wowzi - A Platform For Creators in Africa

When we think of a creator, many of us think about influencers. 

That’s no coincidence because there really are that many influencers! In fact, the global influencer market is estimated to surpass the 3 billion mark by the end of this year.

In this digital age, innovators, entrepreneurs, and companies are starting to enter the fray and harness the power of social media for marketing. This isn’t a surprise, considering more than 50 million people in Africa use social media every day.

Source: GSMA Africa

Without a doubt, this also means tapping on influencers and their audiences.

One company that is at the forefront of the creator economy is Kenyan startup Wowzi, which aims to revolutionize the existing advertising market.

Let me give you a little background. Essentially, Wowzi is an influencer platform created by Brian Mogeni, Mike Otieno, and Hassan Bashir. The platform bridges the gap between social media users and advertisers.

Before the company was even born, the team conducted an experiment to find out if they could increase sales at Beirut, a restaurant in Nairobi.

The task was simple: they asked people to share their meals online for 500 Kenya shillings and waited to see if Beirut’s sales increase.

And it worked! The customers got paid via Mpesa, Beirut agreed that it was a great move, and Wowzi was born.

How Wowzi works

Wowzi links social media influencers with different advertising agencies. In exchange for pushing the brand’s message, these influencers are compensated with a certain sum.

At the same time, Wowzi gets access to consumer insights, such as the number of organic views and clicks, through these influencers. 

Influencers get quite a bit of autonomy when it comes to taking up jobs on the Wowzi platform. They can control their job preferences, what content they decide to upload, and the frequency of uploading content. 

Advertising agencies are also required to post their available job opportunities along with their budgets, giving influencers the power to select and reject jobs.

As long as you have at least 250 followers, you can join Wowzi as an influencer.

After downloading the app, simply connect it with your social media account and select “Opt for Job Offers”. Next, create and submit content to the Wowzi team for verification purposes, which will be reviewed within seven days.

Once you have been verified as an influencer, you will be asked to undergo a two-day training program.

Source: Wowzi Profile

To take on a job, you can opt-in for a job offer, create and submit a draft post, and wait for it to be approved.

Once the post has been approved, the influencer can upload this content.

When Wowzi’s moderators verify that the work has been completed in full, payment will be released to the influencer.

Creating value

What Wowzi does sounds simple in theory, but it actually multiplies value for both creators and companies.

On one hand, it provides influencers with the opportunity to monetize their work. On the other, it gives companies access to the world of nano-influencers — influencers with smaller audiences, but have higher engagement and closer relationships with their followers.

In Episode 3 of the Creator Economy in Africa podcast, Johnny Falla, Chief Growth Lead at Wowzi highlights,

“Our mission is to connect capacity and opportunity at Wowzi;”

what we see is young people have a really strong desire to talk about the world around them. they have phones and the internet and it becomes incredibly easy to channel that energy and excitement and interest into a value exchange for people’s creativity. what we’ve also found is that there is no end to how creative young African youth are. so when you provide a framework for people to play in a sandbox, within which to express their creativity, it becomes very clear very quickly that tehre is so much potential out there that brands aren’t tapping into.” 

Making A Difference 

And with things like technology, smartphones, and the internet, it becomes much easier to channel this kind of excitement and energy into a value exchange for people’s creativity. The Wowzi team learned that when they provided this sort of systematic framework for people to work within, they were met with an incredible amount of potential that brands were not tapping into.

Small influencers can earn from $300/- to $2,000/- a month from paid posts. There is more trust at the nano-influencer level. Mike Otieno - Co-founder at Wowzi 

Reference Bloomberg article on Wowzi 

Companies like Wowzi are streamlining processes for the creator economy.

Even in remote locations, creators can accept and reject job invites with a few swipes from their phones. Creators can also customize their job preferences, thus making sure that they are matched to the most appropriate jobs.

Social media is a new way of collecting information. When it comes to consumer behavior, influencers and creators are at the forefront of this niche.

The gig economy is only going to grow from here, and the companies and individuals who stay ahead of the curve will stand to benefit the most.

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