CELEBS RECORD INFLUX OF INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS

MBABANE – With around one billion monthly active users, Instagram is a massive platform and hugely popular all over the world.

Instagram is an American photo and video-sharing social networking service owned by Facebook, Inc. It was created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, and launched in October 2010 and eventually taken over by Facebook in 2016.
With the rise of influencers, people can even make a living there or at least get some free things.

Eswatini celebrities have also recorded an influx of followers ever since their accounts were first set up.
Some of these celebs even have more Instagram followers than the population of Eswatini.

Rapper Illa Penboy recently recorded 190 000 followers for his page name MrSuccessful events.
However, when we look at the number of followers amassed by Eswatini-born stars, Amanda du Pont takes the lead with over 3.1 million followers, followed by the rapper.

To me, getting more followers on Instagram should be considered a talent.
Some people around the globe have argued that investing a lot of time and effort in creating a massive following is useless and attention-seeking.

This statement is incorrect! Having a massive following on Instagram has quite a number of social and financial benefits.

Here are some of them:
1.     You could get money – lots of money! You could make a lot of money off your Instagram account from advertisements. Marketers are always out looking for ways to reach new markets.

The moment advertisers see that you have millions of followers and that the majority of these followers fit the demographic they are looking for, they are likely to contact you to advertise a product for them. Some famous Instagrammers get paid to advertise products on their accounts, to go and dine at certain restaurants, or visit certain idyllic tropical islands just so that marketers could expose their products to their followers. Amanda du-Pont has endorsed quite a number of South African brands due to her following on the social media site such as Shield deodorant and Adidas sportswear. 

2. You could inspire change: Having a massive following (being famous) gives you the power to bring about change. Nowadays, hashtags started by celebrities have a way of going viral on social media and are more often than not picked up by mainstream media outlets reaching an even wider audience. Just by getting lots of real free Instagram followers, you could advance a social or environmental issue more powerfully, and people are more likely to take action because you (a famous Instagrammer) posted a picture or video of it. Most recently, local rapper Illa Penboy used his profile to inspire other people with his ‘Donate Bread Campaign’ which has grown massively since the time it was started.

3. Your business could end up gaining more clients: Getting a massive following which could easily be achieved by getting yourself free Instagram followers – will make both you and your business popular. Anyone visiting your Instagram profile will be operating on the assumption that whatever product or service you are selling is already popular because of your many followers and will be more willing to try it out.

There are numerous brands that are specifically using this technique to increase their sales. Khosi Shabalala, who is a local make-up, artist recently featured in a paid partnership with Eswatini Beverages for the Flying Fish brand locally and has also visibly grown her craft through her following.

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