You outprice yourselves — Business owner tells influencers amid brand deal complaints

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By Enitan Abdultawab

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A Nigerian businessman and owner of Fekomi Bitters, Adefemi Komiyo Lawrence has criticised influencers and content creators over what he described as rising costs of promotional services and concerns about the delivery of agreed marketing content after payment.

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Lawrence made the remarks in a now-viral video while reacting to claims by Instagram influencer Maryam Oyakhilome that many content creators are currently struggling financially due to declining Facebook monetisation and reduced brand deals.

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Maryam had stated that creators no longer earn as much as before from online platforms, adding that many brands now prefer to market their products themselves rather than rely on influencers.

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“A lot of content creators are broke right now. I’m also broke. The reason is Facebook doesn’t really pay us anymore,” she said.

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She added that monetisation earnings had dropped sharply and pointed to brands like Fekomi as examples of businesses now pushing their own products directly.

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In response, the businessman argued that influencer marketing has become increasingly expensive and difficult for many brands to sustain, especially when campaigns do not translate into measurable sales.

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He said promotional costs in the industry are no longer sustainable and questioned the return on investment for businesses that rely on influencer-driven campaigns.

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According to him, even major entertainment productions do not spend comparable amounts on marketing despite large-scale returns.

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“What they do not know is that 95 percent of their followers do not even buy our products. I only want to pay for visibility. So, if the visibility does not convert to sales for me, there is no point,” he said.

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Lawrence also blamed influencer management agencies for inflating prices and locking creators into unrealistic business arrangements.

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“The problem is that some of you put yourselves under managements that put you under strict and non-feasible deals, and you become overpriced as a result,” he added.

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