Sharjah trials new platform to promote social influencers to businesses

Shams Media Services, a subsidiary of Sharjah Media City (Shams), and OMNES Media, an integrated media and communications solutions company, have launched the OMNES Influencer’s platform.

The platform has already seen more than 2,100 influencers register on the platform, which also provides an influencer licensing service and specialised training programs and recommends influencers based on the requirements of business owners’ campaigns.

The platform aims to attract influencers, develop the talents of influencers, and promote influencers and plans to enhance the adoption of influencer-based marketing, such as shifting customers to video-based content on social media channels and increasing the adopting of ad blocking programs, said Dr Khalid Omar Al Midfa, chairman of Shams.

He said the move comes as the global marketing industry through influencers is witnessing tremendous growth, and is expected to reach more than $24 billion in less than five years.

“This indicates that there are endless opportunities for influencers and advertisers,” he said.

“We are fully confident that the OMNES Influencers platform, which has been developed with precision and care, will contribute to redrawing the features of the communication industry and have a positive impact in all sectors of work and marketing,” he added.

Dr Khalid Omar Al Midfa, chairman of Shams

Reasearch published in November revealed that one in six UAE-based businesses have suffered a loss of between $100,000-250,000 from a negative experience at the hands of a social influencer.

The report released by Duff & Phelps, a provider of governance, risk and transparency solutions, and its unit Kroll surveyed over 900 marketing and brand managers within the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector.

It showed that influencer marketing comes with certain risks, with 85 percent of FMCG companies having their brand negatively impacted due to an association with an influencer, with almost a quarter of these companies claiming to have been adversely affected multiple times.

In the UAE, companies said they have had a stronger track record with nearly a quarter of firms avoiding any influencer-related issues.

Despite the risks attached to influencer marketing, the Face Value Report revealed that consumer devotion to digital devices during the pandemic has supercharged the global influencer industry.

Fahed Aldeeb, CEO of OMNES Media, said: “The OMNES Influencers platform is an effective tool for institutions and companies to communicate with a wide range of influencers in various countries of the world. In turn, these influencers can help these companies in promoting their brands, services and products and achieving their desired results.”

Over the past few years, advertisers have become increasingly reluctant to pay large sums to obtain the services of top celebrities and influencers, which has opened the door to a wide range of micro influencers.

Aldeeb added that even those with fewer than 5,000 followers can be considered smart investments for businesses, and he called on influencers to register on the OMNES Influencers platform to enhance their presence and popularity and increase their chances of earning a decent income on a regular basis.

The platform aims to attract influencers, develop the talents of influencers, and promote influencers

According to the Duff & Phelps research, the UAE emerged as a clear winner when comparing how much companies make from their influencer campaigns against what they spend running them.

The average amount spent per influencer among FMCG companies globally is $22,151 per year. The UAE has the highest sales increase to expense ratio at 82 percent – comfortably above the average of 46 percent – but the UAE was also among those countries that reported paying the least to their influencers, alongside the UK and the US.

The report said that during lockdown, two-thirds of FMCG companies have either maintained their influencer spending at pre-coronavirus levels or increased it slightly, while nearly a fifth (19 percent) upped it significantly.

By 2021, nearly half of FMCG companies (46 percent) expect to spend 31-50 percent of their total marketing budget on influencers — up one-fifth compared to the average spent between 2018-2020 — while nearly one in 10 will spend more than 70 percent.

In 2018, UAE-based influencers were forced to obtain two different licences under National Media Council regulations if they want to continue earning a living from their blogs, social media and YouTube channels.

Influencers need to obtain a trade licence before they can apply for their special e-media licence – the licence that allows them to post advertising and sponsored content on their channels.

Those that fail to comply risk having their accounts shut down and being fined AED5,000.

Serial entrepreneur Sara Al Madani

Last year, serial entrepreneur Sara Al Madani told Arabian Business that marketing and advertising agencies have “destroyed” the term influencer in the Middle East.

Al Madani said she believes the word influencer – which she views as positive – has been corrupted by commercial interests.

“I love the word ‘influencer’, because it means you teach, help and nurture,” she said. “but I don’t like it anymore because of how people have made the word look. It sounds like a person who does ads for money.”

“It’s not about having millions of followers, or looking good on social media. That’s not an influencer,” she added. “Knowledge is for free. We have to pass it on.”