Why I grew from a celebrity blogger into a lifestyle influencer on Instagram

The Internet presents many opportunities for individuals to find their own ways in creating opportunities for themselves, and their businesses.  When I was introduced to the Internet some two decades ago, I fell in love with it, and decided to explore and grow with it, in every way I could!

I started gaining online visibility through HI5, a now-defunct social media platform, sometime in 2006. My fun posts on my interactions with Ghanaian celebrities and other activities soon garnered thousands of followers. For me, it was all fun but little did I know it would become the building blocks to a career path like no other!

I continued my work as a reporter with Ovation Magazine, interviewing celebrities and attending all the fun parties and events in town. Most of these made their way onto HI5 and MySpace but also I started looking for more ways to express myself on the Internet.  I explored writing content for websites, and I got many opportunities to do so. A YouTube culture was birthed along the line, and I explored that too, using my phone to record content and posting it online. There was an audience for almost everything I did so I continued to push and explore for more opportunities.

Then in 2008 I was introduced to the concept of blogging, so I created a BlogSpot page where I posted stories and videos from my YouTube.  Twitter and Facebook started growing and I used them as tools for my blog, and to connected with friends and family (and well, also made new friends and family in the process).

I later started pursuing blogging as a fulltime job and www.ameyawdebrah.com was born.  My name started to travel far and wide for my blog, and a sure way for people to reach and connect with me was through social media. So I started using Twitter and Facebook in that regard, in addition to projecting my blogs.

I remember receiving a random email that Instagram was no longer exclusive on iPhone, so I signed up on my Samsung; and repeated what I had been doing on Twitter and Facebook on there also. My following and reach started growing on Instagram but it wasn’t a good tool for directing traffic to my blog, compared to Facebook and Twitter.

In the last 5 years or so, the blogging space in Ghana has evolved, with a lot more players coming on board. There are plenty websites or blogs known for the various content… good or bad.  However, throughout the years, I have managed to be relevant largely due to my pioneering role in blogging in Ghana. But a lot has changed since I started blogging.  The concept has changed and the platforms used have changed too.

Ghanaians are now producing a lot of content on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Instagram has become the hotbed for content, for most Ghanaians, perhaps because of its ability to reach a lot of people in a fast manner. Many people have emerged on Instagram as blogs or bloggers.

In 2018 I changed my Instagram strategy from posting just about everything to rather sharing more curated experiences and building it up for influencer marketing. Since then, growth on my page has been slow but steady and the quality of the audience I get is perfect for my new direction. Reading about how to succeed as an influencer helps to build your brand, based on the experiences of others, and I am a living testimony to that.

Currently, more than 50% of my monthly income comes through my social media influencer engagements. And the good thing is that I get these from local and international businesses and organizations who are looking to reach Ghanaian and African audiences. I have also built my Instragram in a manner that attracts the diaspora audience as well. In fact, even when I travel to New York, I am invited by brands and influencer marking agencies to try new experiences, products and services.

According to reports, influencer marketing continues to thrive especially on Instagram in the year 2021. Influencer marketing is a form of social media marketing involving endorsements and product placement from influencers, people and organizations that have some expert level of knowledge or social influence in their fields.

There are a lot of influencers in every niche: from fashion to finance to home décor, beauty and fitness. There are also lifestyle influencers who attract audiences with their daily routine, interests, and attitude to life, nice visuals, and everything in between.

In America for example, majority of marketers do influencer marketing. It has been forecasted that some 67.9% of US marketers with 100 or more employees will use influencers for paid or unpaid brand partnerships throughout 2021. Although some marketers (such as travel marketers), cut spending on influencer marketing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the interest in working with influencers actually increased; between 2019 and 2020 the percentage of US marketers using influencers grew from 55.4% to 62.3%.

In Ghana the pandemic also has seen a lot of businesses like Guinness, HD+, Glovo and others exploring new ways to reach their target market using influencers such as myself.  My revenues from influencer marketing have increased by some 40% from June 2020 to September 2021.  And so gradually I am started to feel that the investments I made in Ameyaw TV to be able to great engaging video content on all my platforms is paying off. But we are not content, we will keep learning and unlearning, and exploring avenues and new trends to remain a fixture in the online space with excellence.