Planning your marketing strategy? See 9 influencers to work with

2021 was quite eventful for many popular faces in Nigeria. It was a build-up from 2020 when we had to stay home and think a quick way forward. 2021 did not give the promises and was a year of mixed feelings and uncertainty, especially because there was a general financial crisis and high fluctuating forex rates. However, amid all the noise, one thing has been consistent: influencer marketing inspired by top-class creativity.

Nigerian influencers took their game a notch higher and made a lot of brands smile. This year, influencing is predicted to get bigger, as micro-influencers will be added to marketing strategies. Yet, the big-name influencers will still continue to lead the way. This is why we listed these influencers whose 2022 look bright in that space: 

1. Psquare 
2. Beverly Naya
3. Omowunmi Dada
4. Bukunmi Adeaga-Ilori
5. Poco Lee
6. Simi
7. Ruger
8. Zubby Michael 
9. Destiny Etiko

Psquare 

There is arguably no one duo group that is as big as Psquare in Africa. The duo of Peter and Paul Okoye got back together in 2021, and expectations are high that they would make waves in 2022. At the tail end of 2021, they had a comeback concert tagged, ‘Psquare Reactivated’, which was well attended. As a group, they are known for hit songs such as ‘Do Me’, ‘Alingo’ and ‘Personally’. Their status as the biggest will get better this 2022, as their fan base spreads across the continent and beyond. Place your product launch flyer on their page and thank us later. The Psquare brothers have combined followership of 19.7 million followers on Instagram. 

See also: 5 trends that will drive marketing in 2022

Beverly Naya

When people are black and beautiful, there is nothing else to do than appreciate the beauty, listen to their voices when they speak, and marvel at the talent they exhibit. Beverly Naya, in movies, is a top-class actor, no doubt. But, she is also an active social media user and knows how to make her audience talk to her. Don’t sleep on this one this year. Have you reached out yet or you are still thinking? Beverly Naya has about 974,000 followers on Instagram. 

Omowunmi Dada

Omowunmi Dada is a versatile actress who acts both on stage and screen. She is also a voice-over artist, model, and presenter. She has been featured in numerous television series such as ‘Jemeji’, ‘Tales of Eve’, ‘Casino’, ‘Tinsel’, ‘Needles Eyes’ and ‘Shuga’. Her movie credits also include ‘Omugwo’, ‘The Ghost and the Tout’, ‘Oloture’, ‘Finding Hubby’, ‘Swallow’, ‘Ayinla’ and ‘Cordelia’. With her outings in 2021, we are predicting her 2022 would be an even better year. Follow her on this journey and employ her influencing services. She has over 199,000 followers on Instagram. 

Bukunmi Adeaga-Ilori

If you do not Kie Kie already, you are probably not social media savvy. Towards the end of 2020 and in 2021 she was in our faces. If she is not hosting, she is posting skits or appearing skits of other popular content creators. Her list of brands she worked with in 2021 is enough evidence she has got the influencer in her. She has over 1 million followers on Instagram. 

Poco Lee

Well, Poco Lee has always been in our faces, and at the tail end of 2021, he gathered an even larger audience due to Portable’s re-emergence on the music scene. Poco Lee is becoming a force to reckon with in the dance industry. Born Iwe Odinaka, he rose to fame after Zlatan Ibile featured him in the popular zanku legwork video. He has performed at international events such as the ‘One Africa Music Festival’ in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This was even as he hosted Naira Marley’s concert at London’s 02 Arena. He has over 4 million followers on Instagram. 

Simi

Simisola is the one you can hardly hate. She is one of the notable female artists in Nigeria. Her talent, doing the talking for her. In 2021, she released ‘Woman’, which re-emphasised her music prowess. She held her concert, ‘Can You Simi Now! Live with the Banjos,’ in the last days of 2021 and it was well attended. Simi ended the year with a new song titled, ‘So Bad’, featuring Joeboy which already has over 2 million views on YouTube. She has over 9.9 million followers on Instagram. 

Ruger

Michael Adebayo, known as Ruger, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence with his unique sound and interesting look, sporting an eyepatch. He draws inspiration from Fuji music by the likes of King Wasiu Ayinde (K1 De Ultimate) to R&B by American artists like Boys II Men. The release of his five-track EP dubbed, ‘Pandemic’ which houses records like “Ruger”, “Abu Dhabi”, “Bounce”, “Monalisa”… helped make his sound memorable to Nigerians especially “Bounce” which topped many charts including Apple Music Nigeria’s charts. He had over 900,000 followers on Instagram. 

Zubby Michael 

Azubuike Michael Egwu, known as Zubby Michae,l is a film actor and movie producer. He is known for his role in ‘Three Windows’, ‘Royal Storm’, and ‘Professional Lady’. His first appearance was in the movie titled ‘Missing Rib’. Zubby has appeared in many other home videos and his talent speaks for him. Zubby can help you reach about 2 million people on Instagram as he has over 4.7 million followers on Instagram. 

Destiny Etiko 

Destiny Etiko is Google’s top searched Nigerian actor of 2021, and it may be connected to her Instagram page and the reaction it generates, partly on account of raunchy pictures she posts. Her Instagram profile advertises her as a brand ambassador and 2022 looks like a brighter year, considering she has gathered over 200,000 followers since we last checked in 2021. Destiny now has over 3.5 million followers on Instagram.