Social media, a place for brand positioning, not just for posting – Buzz Africa CEO

…If you don’t invest in visibility, you will remain small – Miracle Vincent, CEO, Buzz Africa

Most young people live on social media for fun, others look for traffic at all costs, but Miracle Vincent has created a thriving business out of managing social media for business owners. In an exclusive interview in Port Harcourt with IGNATIUS CHUKWU, the young man who began as a singer and dancer, revealed the aspects of social media that have turned him and a few others into professionals with a strong career path.

What’s the name of your company?

The name of my company is Buzz Africa PR and Creative Agency Limited.

Why such a name?

Buzz signifies noise; Buzz signifies attention. So we actually transitioned. When we started, we were answering ‘Brands Brain’, so we had to transition to have a name that fits, that aligns with the industry. So if someone hears the name, you understand it. That’s why we did it, and our focus is visibility, attention—Buzz, attention, Buzz Africa.

Can you describe your business structure, how old it is, the experimentation stages, so we can understand Buzz Africa?

Buzz Africa started in 2023, now three years. We started first as a social media agency because we discovered the problem that I mentioned. We have people, celebrities, entertainers, business owners that needed to transition to social media, but they lacked the technical know-how and the content strategy ideas and all of that. So we saw that problem and we decided to solve it.

I started the company with my friends; my friend that is a video editor and a graphic designer; myself, I’m a social media manager. So that’s how we started. So as we kept developing over the years and based on our study and analysis, we have now transitioned into a full PR company. Our services include PR campaigns, social media management, influencer marketing, the major one being music marketing.

But we are positioning ourselves to be a company that is specialized in social media management and PR campaigns. We want the market to know us for this. That’s our market penetration strategy: the social media management. So we handle everything: publications, the campaign strategy creation and execution, and all of that.

Now, for the social media management, most persons ask, do we have competitors? Of course we have competitors, but what makes us different is our data-driven approach. Most others work with assumptions.

We’ve done studies over the years, we’ve got courses and all of that, done analysis to understand that, for example, that virality is not by; it is engineered. We understand this.

We’ve managed brands for several people and we’ve achieved several viral content mileages, and its because we understand something.

There’s a way social media works. People have preferences and we understand these preferences. We understand the hook concept in social media story casting, and what makes people stay on a story. We also study to know how to turn a story around to attract more attention.

The social media algorithm has changed. It no longer at the number of likes, the number of shares and all of that to push your content. The social media algorithm is looking at scrolling behavior. That’s what social media is looking at, the algorithm is watching: How long, how much time do people spend on this content?

How research makes us stand out:

Because we understand this, we create content in a way that is able to grab the attention of people and make them stay there. That’s why you see they keep coming with different strategies: TikTok came with short videos, before you knew it, Facebook added reels, Instagram added reels, YouTube added shorts and all of those things. They’re fighting for attention, they want to keep people there.

Because we understand this, we don’t work like other people. Other people start by asking about brand guideline and all of that, and then they begin their assumption strategy. They begin to try and find out what works; they just begin to post different things based on their assumption. We don’t work like that. We always know the brand guidelines, the brand values, brand voice and all of those things, but what we do that makes us stand out is that we do our research.

This content in this niche, why did this content go viral? We study, we do analysis: Why did this content go viral? Why did this one not go viral? When we understand these things, then we begin to create the body, I mean the different elements of that video. This video that went viral, this is the way it was done, the person said this, the person said the story this way, this is the strategy the person used, this is demonstration, so we understand that and that’s what distinguishes us.

So over the years we’ve worked with several brands in Africa, in Europe, and in the US, ranging from artists to professionals and all of that.

So our major goal for Buzz Africa is to give African brands the spotlight that they actually deserve. That is why we started the company. So our tagline, “Let the world see you”, is a call to action. We’re telling people, “Rise, let the world see you. Rise and take the spot that is meant for you, let the world see you.” So our mission is to elevate brands and ignite entrepreneurs.

We hear that we are in a generation of noise and that attention is now the highest currency. Now that you’re venturing into ‘Noise’ as a profession, have you planned your way so that your own noise will be unique and not disappear, dissipate into general non-profitable noise?

Yes. I have. Now, over the years, even before I founded the company, I discovered a major problem, which is that we have several people that are very credible, they are competent, but they are earning less. They are competent; they’re really good at what they do, but they don’t get the recognition that they deserve. But the other people that are not even really that competent, but just because they show up, just because they have the attention, you see them earning more, you see them getting the recognition.

Buzz Africa is out to unearth hidden talents, treasures.

But when you engage them, you find out that these people are not really deeply competent; the media is just pushing a narrative and making us have a particular perception about them and all of that. So this particular problem was what I saw and what I decided to actually solve. That’s why over time we engage with people that are doing a great job; they’re doing great work, but nobody knows about it. We’ve engaged people that have served in different industries for several years, but nobody knows about these things, and most of them now want to grow to become industry leaders and all of that, but they’re not being recognized. So that is why we started this.

So what makes us very different from all other PR agencies is this: most others focus on doing campaigns, PR campaigns, and all of that, which is really good, but very focused on social media and social media management.

And this is also part of the problem that we saw when we started. We saw that many persons knew about traditional media publicity but the world was transitioning to social media. I mean, many business owners really wanted to be active on social media, just for them to get attention and visibility and recognition. They usually go to radio for interviews, have interviews on television and all of that, made publication in newspapers, and all of that, but the world began to change. Very many persons were trying to adjust, but these same persons that were trying to adjust lacked the technical know-how; they lacked the competence. Most of them know about social media, but they don’t have the time. So they are too busy.

In that situation, we have a business owner that really wants to be active on social media and maybe he or she knows few things about social media, but doesn’t have the time to follow, monitor, and even post on various handles.

Even if they create content, they don’t have the time to post consistently and to consistently show up on social media. Most of them don’t know the right content strategies; they don’t know the right content to post. Many persons think it’s just about posting, but what we do differently is that we help you know how to reach your target audience through positioning.

It’s not about posting, but about positioning?

Yes, yes.

One of the things I always say is that social media is not a place for just posting; social media is a place for positioning. So many persons come on social media and the only thing that they do on social media is oh, they just post motivational quotes, oh, they are celebrating this, they are doing that, and all of that, but the world has changed. Many persons don’t really check your resume and all of that; they check your social media. So you say you are this, you are that, you are the best in this, and they check your social media, it does not reflect that. So social media is a place for positioning. You say you are the best in this, you want to be the best in this, you want to dominate this place and all of that, you have to dominate on social media.

Social media has made it easy for persons to gain global attention.

Social media has made it easy for people to actually gain attention globally. Before now, when people want to gain attention, it’s a bit limited; limited to a particular geographical region. For example, if you have an interview in a radio or tv station, it’s limited to that particular region, but with social media, you can blow up and gain global attention. Over the years, in the past five to 10 years, we’ve had many persons that have got attention and gained prominence just because of social media. So, we understand this, and that is why our focus is to take over this space. Many persons are not paying attention to it. Influencer marketing came and some other brands paid attention to influencer marketing, which is good, but very few—and I’m not even sure they are few—that pay attention to social media management. Many don’t.

How Buzz Africa plans to take over its space:

So what we do at Buzz Africa is this: We hire social media managers to business owners. So now, people now trust humans and not businesses. So you can say you have a great business and all of that, you can be really good, but people trust humans because of the high rate of fraudulent activities globally. And this is the same thing that top business owners like Tony Elumelu, Dangote, and others discovered early. That’s why they started building their personal brands outside their businesses, and that’s why you see their businesses are dominating. They’re also standing out, doing all other things because when people now trust your personal brand, people trust you. People do business with you if they know, like, and trust you. So if they know about your business, and maybe they like what you do, it takes trust for them to actually bring out money to pay. So they trust human beings; they don’t just trust businesses. It has changed.

So that’s why it’s very essential for business owners to be active on social media. So we hire social media managers to business owners, to professionals, to entertainers, to the celebrities and all of that. I think I saw a video yesterday where the then famous Papa Ajasco lamented that the world transitioned but that he did not move with the world.

Attention is the new currency:

Many people are like that. There are many people like that. So for these entertainers to remain relevant, they have to be active on social media. A legend that is not active on social media will be perceived as an upcoming, because the world has changed. That’s why most of the old school that are consistently active on social media remain relevant from generation to generation. Many persons keep saying social media is not for their generation, but attention now is the currency. If you are not the person buzzing, if your name is not buzzing, you won’t get the respect.

Businesses often don’t think this way. They think that doing what they do well is all. You are now talking about building two brands: one for the business, one for the owner?

Yes, they are critical aspects of the new reality in the transition process from what it used to be to what it is now.

Which is best; doing the business owner’s social media or teach him to do it?

What we do is this: We take that burden off you so you focus on your business, focus on everything that matters to you.

While we handle your social media. Everything that concerns helping you gain attention, we handle that. Our own work is to ensure that your story is amplified. The world sees the value of what you do. That’s it.

How are businesses responding to this new reality? Now, how is the market reacting to this education?

Initially, they were hesitant, but now, many businesses want to be on social media. In some sectors In fact, it has become so bad that, let’s say in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry, we have the distributors, we have the suppliers and all of that. The suppliers are the people that are mostly active on social media. But now, both the suppliers and the distributors are active on social media because they now understand the efficacy, the importance of social media now.

Social media is all about fight for market share:

Many business owners are slow to join social media. Many persons don’t really want to be out there but deep down, they feel bad not being recognized or when people don’t give them the accolades they deserve. It’s about fight for market share. Some understand that if they must get the highest market share in their industry, they need to be out there in the social media. And that is—even Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, everybody, they’re putting themselves out there.

What you’re saying is that the fight for market share has moved to social media?

Yes, sir.

Most businesses in Nigeria are in the SME category, and even smaller, down to nano and micro. So, what do you have for them and what advice do you have for them?

SMEs, engine room of Nigeria’s social media activity.

The shocking truth is this: The SMEs and the micro businesses, they are more active on social media.

They are more active on social media because they understand this. They want to learn digital marketing, they are paying people to do ads for them because they understand this. But these people are not really our target audience.

Our target audience is the large-scale businesses and the business owners and all of that. For example, our starter package begins at 250,000. And so far, in Port Harcourt, we’ve had less than five businesses that were able to afford that particular package. But we’ve worked with several people in Lagos and across different countries too.

Why is Port Harcourt too slow? Is it because they are poor or they don’t understand the message?

Two major things. Last September, so I declined a job (as an employee) from a particular brand, the biggest gospel record label in Africa. After declining, they consulted. I went to Lagos and my eyes opened wide, like there are greater opportunities in Lagos. So I came back and invested all our funds into a particular campaign. Understanding the Port Harcourt business landscape, we hired salespersons to reach out to these people because that’s what is really effective, and I was part of the people that went out.

Two major things are problem in the Port Harcourt business landscape: One, the people (business owners) that understand the importance of social media in Port Harcourt don’t work with the brands in Port Harcourt. They work with the brands in Lagos and Abuja because their assumption or their perception is that these people out there in Lagos and Abuja are the ones that can deliver exceptionally.

The second problem is that most Port Harcourt business owners are not willing to pay the right price to get the right service. They’re not willing to spend more money on these things.

So, that’s why I’m at this point. I’m willing to do everything to ensure that I educate them because most of them still say, “My product is good, it will advertise itself.” And it’s wrong. If people don’t see that product, if people don’t know about this your service, it will be limited.

Many of them still believe in ‘word of mouth’ advertising. They are not willing to spend big and make it big, achieve advantage of scale. These are people that are spending money on several things in their business, but when it comes to things like social media positioning, they offer peanuts. And it’s because they lack the understanding. People that actually have the understanding know how it works, and they prefer working with the people outside there.

Wow, so you think starting with campaign, education, awareness campaigns will be the starting point?

Yes, this will involve free programmes that business owners need to attend. It will involve working with manufacturers, Chambers of Commerce, and the likes of the Rivers Entrepreneurs and Investment Forum (REIF), and other business clusters. It will involve getting to know their leaders, offering them 10 minute talks during their meetings; sometimes offering them the basic packages, giving them promo packages of very low rates. So I think some of those things will be good.

You are a young person, which class is easier to relate with: old or the new business owners?

It depends; the millennials (the older people) seem to appreciate it more because they have the knowledge of how it works and they know the importance. There are several young persons, the Gen Zs, who do not seem to know the value. Simply, there’s a knowledge gap.

If you don’t invest in visibility, you will remain small:

While we are elevating brands, we are igniting entrepreneurs to take action, we are igniting entrepreneurs to invest in visibility. Because if you don’t invest in visibility, you will remain small. There’s a particular scripture I love so much that inspired me while I was growing up. It says; “Seesth thou a man diligent in his work? He shall stand before kings and not before mere men.”

It means that a man can be diligent in his work, he can be very hardworking, he can be very competent, but if no one sees him, he will keep standing before mere men and not before kings. So that is what we understand and we want people to rise to that level. Many persons are limited because they are not visible.