‘Follow Bulawayo artistes on social media’

Melissa Mpofu, Showbiz Reporter
Musician-cum-comedian Madlela Skhobokhobo has been encouraged by fellow comedian, Madam Boss to utilise social media platforms to consistently engage with fans in order to boost his brand.

The two are in South Africa where they are shooting a sitcom with renowned actors from that country such as Sello Maake kaNcube. They have also been captured with Isibaya actress, Lerato Mvelase who acts as Sibongile Mkhize.

During a recent live video on Facebook by Madam Boss as she introduced Madlela to her followers who are nearing half-a-million, she encouraged a shy looking Madlela to talk to fans live. Realising how shy he was, Madam Boss said: “Hey, you don’t like social media. Talk to your fans. There are so many followers here from Bulawayo.”

Madlela responded saying he was reluctant to go live on platforms such as Facebook as people from his province are not as supportive.

“I must be very active here hey. You guys (artistes from Harare) get a lot of followers while for us in Matabeleland, I don’t think there’s a person who has more than 100 000 followers on Facebook or Instagram,” said a disheartened Madlela.

“I’d therefore like to appeal to people out there to also go to our pages (Facebook/ Instagram) and like us. If you like anything from Bulawayo go and like, follow us.”

He assured would-be followers that they would not be disappointed as there is a lot of talent in Bulawayo.

“We won’t disappoint you as there’s a lot of talent in Bulawayo. Recently, Asaph was nominated for the MTV music awards showing how much talent we have.”

Madam Boss who has established a good relationship with Madlela from their stint in the neighbouring country also encouraged her followers to follow him and other artistes from the city.

To his credit, Madlela has been very active on Facebook in recent months, constantly updating followers about his ventures. It was through this platform that he managed to assist with the discovery of fellow musician, Clopas Sikhosana from Nkayi showing how powerful it is.

Being active on platforms such as Facebook is key for artistes, especially now when they cannot physically engage with audiences as they get to engage with them online. By doing this, it keeps them relevant. Having many followers also improves one’s chances of clinching endorsement deals. In order to get as many followers, other than buying them, artistes need to ensure they consistently share quality content.

A quick survey on Facebook showed that Madlela could be right that there may be no artiste from Bulawayo who has over 100 000 followers. Research showed that comedian Nceku is topping with 58 000 followers.

Below are the statistics from the various Facebook fan pages:
Comedian Nceku – 58 000
Musician Sandra Ndebele – 43 000
Comedian Long John – 31 000
Musician Martin Sibanda – 22 000
Dance group Iyasa – 18 000
Comedian Carl Joshua Ncube – 17 000
Musician Awa Khiwe – 11 000
Musician Jeys Marabini 8 000
Actor Mbo Mahocs – 7 000
Musician Nkwali – 5 000
Musician Vusa Mkhaya – 5 000
Musician Sikhosana Buhlungu – 5 000
Musician/actor Lee McHoney – 5 000
Musician Mzoe 7 – 2 000
Musician Novuyo Seagirl – 2 000
Musician Asaph – 1 000
Musician Lady Tshawe – 1 000