How Social Media Marketers Can Make Money in Nigeria's Political Industry

Are you a Nigerian social media marketer? Have you ever thought about how you can make thousands and even millions from Nigeria’s political industry?

We are approaching the middle of a pre-election year. Politicians are now jockeying hard for position ahead of what looks likely to be a bitterly divisive 2015 polls in Nigeria.

During campaigns and elections period in Nigeria, billions of dollars flow within the economy and this huge amount of money is spent on political campaigns, meetings and rallies, much of which comes from politicians’ private pockets.

You do not need to be a politician or a hired thug to make money from the Nigerian political system. You do not even need to risk your life carrying arms, fighting or snatching ballot boxes because I am going to share with you one of the cool ways of making money during election periods in Nigeria.

This business opportunity I am going to share with you is still hot, and if you can position yourself well, you will make a lot of money; regardless of whether you belong to any political party or not.

Social media is one of the most powerful tools available today for promoting personal brands, political events and reaching out to a large audience of potential voters. And this explains why a lot of political office aspirants now have social media profiles and fans page so as to leverage social media during campaign and election periods. If you possess social media skills, then you can make millions by helping aspirants spread the word about their political ambitions.

How Do I Get Started as a Social Media Marketer?

As a social media marketer, I believe you already have your own social media accounts, and having huge followerships or connections will be an added advantage. I also believe you do possess the social media skills needed, that is, the ability to strategically promote a personal brand on social media.

Most of these political office aspirants do know the power of social media and some are already using it to promote their personal brand. However, due to the busy nature of political campaign periods, most would not have the time to update their social media accounts. In fact, some are seriously searching for social media marketers who can strategically promote their personal brand online, and they are willing to pay big. Yes, I mean BIG!

So, google the names of the political office aspirants you know, get connected with them on social media and email them a business proposal of how you efficiently and privately manage their social media accounts and strategically promote their personal brands online. Or, you can book an appointment to meet them at their office and then present and discuss your business proposal. If they are very busy to accept your appointment or read your proposal, you can get in touch with their campaign managers and let him/her know how you can help his political client win the primaries and election by leveraging social media.

Search around for other political office aspirants, connect with them, state your intentions, perform your due diligence and I recommend you stick to ONE political office aspirant as personal branding during political campaign periods can be very tedious.

How Do I Promote His Personal Brand?

Let’s assume you are now acting as a Social Media Brand Manager to one of the political office aspirants, here are some tips on what you should do:

Campaign Calender: Work closely with the campaign manager and some other top members of the campaign team and get to know the details of their political campaign programs, scheduled meetings, events dates, and other necessary information. This will help you plan ahead of what contents or information you should focus on writing and what updates you should be posting on social media.

Set Up a Blog: If you can not set up or manage a blog, then hire a blogger to work with you. You need to write on politics, governance, projects your political client have executed in the past (if any), is currently executing (if any) or planning to execute in the future, his political aspirations (use his ‘political promises’ as key points), and also write rich contents that will enlighten the masses on why they should vote for your client. Remember, their success is your success, too! You also need to upload high-quality photos and videos of each political rally on the blog, most especially those campaign rallies that attracted huge crowd and ended on a positive note. Always respond positively to every comments made on the blog.

Set Up Social Media Accounts: If your political client is not already on social media, then you would have to set up his/her own social media accounts most especially on Twitter and Facebook. Upload a high-quality ‘political’ profile photo, write a good ‘political’ bio profile, and include the blog url. Make sure you customize each of the social media accounts to match his/her political aspirations and regularly update the account with rich contents.

Create a Facebook Fans Page: Every politician wants to know how he/she is popular or accepted on social media. They also want to have a page where they can get to connect and engage directly with their social media fans and followers. Update the page regularly with informative and unique contents. Ask intelligent questions that can help the campaign with positive feedback, and make sure you positively respond to every comments made on the page.

Publicize Their TV and Radio Shows: Let their social media fans and followers be notified before such shows take place so they can plan ahead to watch or listen to such programs. Remember, most politicians are great orators and they love to feature on television and radio programs because these publicity platforms offer them the opportunity to communicate their ambitions and manifestos to viewers and listeners. Also, make sure you have a record of the video or audio (you can get them from the broadcasting station) and upload them on youtube and on the blog. Then share and promote the video or audio links (url) on their social media accounts and fans page.

Promote Their Interviews: If any interview was conducted with any print media such as newspapers and magazines, promote such interviews on the blog and social media. Also, if any positive news is published with their names attached, be sure to promote such news on the blog and social media, too. If their names happens to enter the news based on a negative report, be sure to communicate well with your political client so as to be guided on what or what not to do or say.

Join and Promote Their Campaign Rallies: If you have a lot of free time on your hands and enjoy going places, then you should join their campaign team and follow them to most places they will visit to communicate their ambitions to the people. Record such rallies, take good high-quality pictures and upload them on the blog and social media. Some tools you would need might include a laptop, a smart phone, an audio or video recorder, internet connection and a digital camera.

I’d like to see you make much money as a social media (brand) manager.

NOTE: Make sure you negotiate to receive the payment for your services on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis. Do not wait until the election is over as most political office aspirant claim to be ‘broke’ after a failed political campaign.

How Social Media Marketers Can Make Money in Nigeria's Political Industry
Brand Marketer, Nigerian Election, Nigerian Politics, Social Media Manager, Social Media Marketer