--- title: "SA Telecoms Index: Influencer marketing on the rise" description: SA telcos leverage social media influencers to drive positive sentiment --- [Skip to content](https://dataeq.com/resources/reports/influencer-marketing-on-rise-telecoms/#main-content) [![DataEQ Logo](https://dataeq.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DataEQ_Logo_FOR%20USE%20ON%20DARK%20BACKGROUND.png?width=120&height=43&name=DataEQ_Logo_FOR%20USE%20ON%20DARK%20BACKGROUND.png)](https://dataeq.com/) - [About](https://dataeq.com/about-us) - Solutions Show submenu for Solutions - [Marketing](https://dataeq.com/solutions/marketing) - [Risk & Compliance](https://dataeq.com/solutions/compliance-and-risk) - [Customer Experience](https://dataeq.com/solutions/customer-experience) - [Customer Service](https://dataeq.com/solutions/customer-service) - Resources Show submenu for Resources - [Reports](https://dataeq.com/resources/reports) - [Quarterly Insights](https://dataeq.com/quarterly-insights-reports) - [Case Studies](https://dataeq.com/resources/case-studies) - [News](https://dataeq.com/resources/news) - [Knowledge Base](https://dataeq.com/knowledge-base) - Agentic AI Show submenu for Agentic AI - [AI Agent](https://dataeq.com/agentic-ai-agent) - [AI Agent Assessment](https://dataeq.com/agentic-ai-customer-service-assessment) - [What is DataEQ's AI Agent?](https://dataeq.com/what-is-the-dataeq-ai-agent) - [Consulting](https://dataeq.com/consulting) - [Careers](https://dataeq.com/careers) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [About](https://dataeq.com/about-us) - Solutions Show submenu for Solutions - [Marketing](https://dataeq.com/solutions/marketing) - [Risk & Compliance](https://dataeq.com/solutions/compliance-and-risk) - [Customer Experience](https://dataeq.com/solutions/customer-experience) - [Customer Service](https://dataeq.com/solutions/customer-service) - Resources Show submenu for Resources - [Reports](https://dataeq.com/resources/reports) - [Quarterly Insights](https://dataeq.com/quarterly-insights-reports) - [Case Studies](https://dataeq.com/resources/case-studies) - [News](https://dataeq.com/resources/news) - [Knowledge Base](https://dataeq.com/knowledge-base) - Agentic AI Show submenu for Agentic AI - [AI Agent](https://dataeq.com/agentic-ai-agent) - [AI Agent Assessment](https://dataeq.com/agentic-ai-customer-service-assessment) - [What is DataEQ's AI Agent?](https://dataeq.com/what-is-the-dataeq-ai-agent) - [Consulting](https://dataeq.com/consulting) - [Careers](https://dataeq.com/careers) Request a demo # SA Telecoms Index: Influencer marketing on the rise \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ #### 2022 ### Telcos also face rising regulatory pressure as they venture into financial services South Africa’s influencer economy experienced major growth in 2021, as increasingly more local brands prioritised multi-channel social media campaigns. This was shown to be true in DataEQ’s newly released South African Telecoms Sentiment Index, which was conducted in partnership with Deloitte Africa. The Index tracked over 1.8 million social media posts directed at the country’s major telcos between 1 January and 31 December 2021. ![Net Sentiment ranking of SA telcos according to customer feedabck](https://dataeq.com/images/news/sa-telco-index-21-influencer-mkt.png?width=593&height=297&name=sa-telco-index-21-influencer-mkt.png) Influencer ads were a notable driver of positive reputational sentiment for some providers in 2021. Index leader MTN particularly benefited from influencer partnerships, which boosted its public Net Sentiment by at least 7 percentage points. This accounts for all conversation that clearly stated being a commissioned advert through the use of hashtags like #Ad or other similar identifiers. This practice, however, is still relatively new, and despite being regulated by the Advertising Regulatory Board, not all influencer advertisements promoting network providers on social media disclosed this information. This means that influencer promotion could have had a larger impact on providers’ Net Sentiment than what is indicated here. As an advertising strategy, influencer marketing offers multiple advantages over more traditional strategies. In addition to being comparatively cost effective, social media influencers enable brands to reach their customers in a more authentic way. With a lower cost and more authentic engagement, comes a higher return-on-investment – making influencer marketing a strategy that more telcos are sure to prioritise going forward. ![Request a demo](https://hubspot-no-cache-eu1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/25676464/interactive-91269028805.png) --- ###### [View full report library](https://dataeq.com/reports) --- Label your data with confidence and safety ![ISO IEC 270012022 Logo-1](https://dataeq.com/hubfs/ISO%20IEC%20270012022%20Logo-1.png) ![gdpr-logo](https://dataeq.com/hubfs/gdpr-logo.svg) ![popia-logo](https://dataeq.com/hubfs/popia-logo.svg) ![pdpl-logo](https://dataeq.com/hubfs/pdpl-logo.svg) ***About us*** [Our company](https://dataeq.com/about-us) [Contact us](https://dataeq.com/contact-us) ***More info*** [Careers](https://dataeq.com/careers) [News](https://dataeq.com/resources/news) ***Privacy*** [Privacy policy](https://dataeq.com/privacy) [Privacy policy UK](https://dataeq.com/privacy-uk) [Terms & conditions](https://dataeq.com/terms-and-conditions) ***Let's connect*** [contact@dataeq.com](mailto:contact@dataeq.com) ***Login*** [Analyse](https://analyse.dataeq.com/api/login) [Engage](https://engage.dataeq.com/) [![DataEQ\_Logo\_FOR USE ON LIGHT BACKGROUND.png (1)-1](https://dataeq.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DataEQ_Logo_FOR%20USE%20ON%20LIGHT%20BACKGROUND.png%20(1)-1.png?width=100&height=35&name=DataEQ_Logo_FOR%20USE%20ON%20LIGHT%20BACKGROUND.png%20(1)-1.png "DataEQ_Logo_FOR USE ON LIGHT BACKGROUND.png (1)-1")](https://dataeq.com/) Copyright © 2026, DataEQ