Influencer marketing works best as a genuine partnership, not a transaction where a brand pays for exposure and expects nothing more. Follower count alone is a poor predictor of return on investment, brands increasingly get more value from smaller, more credible micro- and nano-influencers.
How big has influencer marketing actually become?
“A local influencer at the bottom end of the scale can earn R1,000 per month, but one with international influence can earn up to R50,000 from their content,” said Atiyya Karodia, lead strategist at digital agency VML South Africa, describing an industry that grew substantially in just a year and showed no sign of slowing. Travel blogger and influencer Anje Rautenbach, who runs Going Somewhere Slowly and has built a combined social media following of around 20,000 since starting in 2012, agrees the industry is genuinely growing, but notes South Africa still lags more established markets like the US and Europe in maturity.
Do brands actually get better returns from bigger influencers?
Not necessarily, according to Rautenbach. Brands are increasingly turning to smaller “micro” or “nano” influencers specifically because their connection with their audience, and the audience’s trust in them, is often stronger and more credible than a mega-influencer’s broader but shallower reach. “Big numbers doesn’t necessarily mean an equally big return on investment,” she warns, cautioning brands against picking influencers purely because a competitor worked with them.
What does a genuine influencer partnership actually look like?
Rautenbach is specific about the word choice: “It is called a partnership, instead of being seen as a giant island on social media, brands should engage on social media with whoever is working with them.” Her practical advice is to value the influencer’s time and effort, and let them convey the brand’s message in their own authentic voice, within necessary guidelines, rather than forcing a scripted tone that reads as inauthentic to their audience, part of the broader picture covered in going viral can make or break your business.
What should influencers do to actually earn brand investment?
“Invest in your own brand if you’re expecting a brand to invest in you,” Rautenbach says, a reminder that credibility and consistency come before commercial opportunity, not after it. Her own approach prioritises quality over quantity in content output, treating consistency as more valuable than sheer volume of posts.
What mistakes does Rautenbach want brands to stop making?
Beyond chasing follower count over genuine fit, she flags basic engagement failures: brands that don’t respond to or acknowledge people using their products, even a simple retweet, are missing low-cost positive reinforcement that their audience actually notices. She also calls out brands using visual content without proper permission, credit or compensation, treating it as a basic respect issue that shouldn’t need explaining.
Frequently asked questions
Should a small business work with a large influencer or several smaller ones?
Several smaller, genuinely engaged micro- or nano-influencers often deliver better return on investment than one large influencer with broad but shallow reach.
How should a brand approach an influencer partnership?
As a genuine two-way relationship, engaging with the influencer’s content and audience, rather than a one-off transactional post with no ongoing interaction.
Is follower count a reliable way to choose an influencer to work with?
No. Engagement quality and audience trust matter more than raw follower numbers for actual campaign performance.
Originally published in February 2019. Updated September 2026.
