Nominations are open until July 29, 2018 for the Kenya Social Media Awards (SOMA) which recognizes individuals and organisations that use social networks to influence the society positively.
This year’s Awards themed “Promote Social Commerce” is aimed at encouraging the use of social media as a market place and highlighting the influence of brands and content creators in consumers’ decision making.
“We want to emphasize the need to track social media return on investment that is why we have redefined the process of winning a SOMA to not only reward merit but also measure influence,” Martin Muli, the founder and Director of SOMA said.
Since 2013, SOMA has been heavily involved in the adoption of social media in Kenya by directly empowering 615 content creators, brands and thought leaders as nominees.
It has engaged more than 1,800 agencies and brands representative, forged direct partnership with the ministry of ICT through ICTA and other government agencies, and directly engaged more than 160,000 Kenyans.
Muli said social media has grown in relevance and importance hence the need to continue building a vibrant ecosystem of influencers, agencies and brands to help them harness greater value from the digital networks.
The public is required to nominate preferred personalities and brands, then judges will review and shortlist the best top five nominees per category. The five nominees will be subjected to a public vote where the nominee with the highest number of votes will be declared the winner. One mobile number or email address will not be able to vote more than once.
Voting for the five nominees in every category will take place from August 21 to September 19, 2018 while the Awards ceremony will be held on September 21, 2018.
This year’s Awards has seen the introduction of new categories in line with the theme and the Big Four Agenda being pursued by the Government. They include Manufacturing, Health Care, Property & Housing, Agribusiness, Insurance and Entrepreneur Awards.
The previous winners include Bonfire Adventures, Safaricom, Jumia Kenya, KCB Group, Expeditions Masai Safaris, Equity Bank, BIDCO, University of Nairobi, Huduma Kenya, Propesa, Churchill, Joe Muchiri, Caroline Mutoko, Maggie Ireri, Xtian Dela, and Betty Kyallo.
Mr. Muli has also announced the creation of the SOMA Council, which will act as a social media hub of community managers designed to create a network that will enjoy regular training, information on industry trends and career growth opportunities among other things.
“The SOMA Council will exist alongside the SOMA Bigwigs, which is an initiative aimed at discovering micro influencers and empowering them with the right skills and networks to monetize their work,” said Muli.
The annual SOMA awards has rebranded to its generic name following the expiry of a five-year title sponsorship deal with Olx Kenya, which moved its offices from the local market early in the year.
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