In South Africa, where the majority of the operational team is located, the company has offered both a technology service and an agency service until now. Much like a self-serve offering available from Google or Facebook, from early 2017 Webfluential will release a significant product update that will allow brands to run their own self-serve campaigns. For complex campaigns requiring campaign management and production elements, Webfluential has recently on-boarded its first strategic partners that will provide a bespoke offering, with additional strategic, agency input to service clients in 2017. The Webfluential account managers will work from within these partners to ensure that influencer marketing throughout the industry is being guided by the best in class, accelerating opportunities for both South African influencers and brands.
Kirsty Sharman, head of global operations at Webfluential, said, “From early 2017, the South African market will be serviced by partners of Webfluential, as they are equipped with all the know-how of influencer marketing, but also sport the ability to offer creative strategy, content and video production, and other products complementary to influencer marketing.
“We’re excited to provide more opportunity to both influencers and marketers by opening up our distribution model. We still hold great relationships with local clients in South Africa who have supported us from the start; we plan on working together with our partners to ensure that all our clients continue to receive our support. We also look forward to the new and interesting ways that partners will pitch and package influencer campaigns in 2017.”
Webfluential Global, the Mauritian based technology company that provides the software, will continue to function as it always has - helping partners around the world find the right influencers for their clients, offering pricing guidance, CRM tools to run campaigns, quick processing of influencers payments, and the ability to report on exact metrics of their influencer campaigns.
“For the near 15,000 influencers that are a part of the Webfluential network, this change in distribution will create more opportunities for them than ever before. More agencies accessing the technology platform every day will mean more opportunity for brands to leverage the Webfluential platform to find that perfect influential creator for their next campaign,” concludes Sharman.
UPDATE: Along with the announcement of their increase in local partnerships, Webfluential has announced the closure of its agency operations. Read more here.
