Social media content creation is a space that’s increasing in value locally, with 45.34 million South Africans using the internet (74.7% of the population), and 26 million social media users (42.8% of the internet users).
This is according to the Global Digital Report 2024, produced in partnership with Meltwater and We Are Social.
Ad spending in the influencer advertising market in South Africa is forecast to reach $30.23m (R560.64m) in 2025. No wonder marketers are looking at this space like it’s a pot of gold.
The content creators and marketers must, however, find middle ground to make business engagements for all parties concerned as profitable as possible, while carving a path for the developing niche market.
For example, this was evident at the SA Creator Event 2025 recently held in Johannesburg. The necessary indaba saw scores of content creators, ranging from nano to macro influencers, and marketers converge to discuss what the different stakeholders need for a more symbiotic and efficient digital marketing partnering experience.
Some of the brands represented on the panel included integrated marketing agency Matte BLK, Google South Africa, Netflix and Humanz, to name a few.
Pain points
Some of the pain points for corporates and agencies included how content creators position themselves in the market. The digital content creators need to understand the landscape of media and position themselves better to be more attractive to marketers.
In the last few years some major media outlets have closed their doors, and the content creators are seen as “the new media”. They are building a community worth top marketing coin locally; and marketers are looking with a keen eye.
However most content creators do not have knowledge of how to manage the business end, and how to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the shift in the media space.
With the advancements of tech in mind, marketers don’t really focus on engagement rates these days because of the ‘boosting phenomenon’, where creators pay money to boost their engagement figures.
Creativity and originality
So, creativity and originality are what set them apart from the rest. They should take advantages of opportunities to incorporate AI in their work, which is increasing in demand among corporate and agency marketers.
The creators must differentiate themselves and not just post just to be posting. Quality control measures help successful content creators know their niche, and themselves, and will give their strategies better direction. Taking these measures will help them know which brands they better align with.
During the exchange of information and ideas, the influencers were encouraged to see themselves as businesses, be professional, with some corporate speakers mentioning that they’ve seen invoices without banking details or email addresses, as examples.
The content creators mentioned that they consider themselves as businesses, however they are in a developing industry and brands should give them grace.
Don’t chase numbers
Asked what brands look for in potential social media partners, the panel of marketers were big on encouraging the creators to be authentic to connect with their messaging objectives.
Creators must be authentic rather than focusing on chasing numbers, while not straying too far away from what they want to do. Marketers hire creators because of authenticity and their data. Once originality and authenticity are lost, brands sense it and won’t want to associate themselves.
The influencers have done well to grow their community over the years, and now the challenge for them is to come up with strategies to grow their economy.
The content creators were also given business tips, advised on processes they can follow for seamless collaboration with brands such as learning ways of making trade agreements with clients.
Sivu Matyila is creative group head at Matte BLK, an insights-led emerging markets consultancy. We specialise in the mass and middle markets. We operate at the intersection where the emerging consumer meets your brand and act as creative change agents for under-serviced population segments.
