There was a time when buying something online was relatively straightforward.

You saw an advert.

You clicked it.

You visited a website.

You bought the product.

Today, the journey is far messier.

A consumer might discover a product through a TikTok video, search for reviews on YouTube, check Instagram comments, ask friends on WhatsApp, compare prices on an online marketplace, and finally make the purchase through a link shared by a creator.

The traditional marketing funnel has become less of a funnel and more of a social maze.

And creators are increasingly sitting at the centre of it.

For African consumers in particular, creators are becoming more than sources of entertainment. They are becoming discovery engines, product educators, trusted recommenders and, increasingly, points of transaction.

That is changing how brands need to think about marketing.

The consumer journey is no longer linear

The traditional customer journey looked something like this:

Awareness → Consideration → Purchase → Loyalty

The brand controlled most of the journey.

It created the advertising, controlled the messaging and determined where consumers encountered the product.

Social media disrupted that model.

Now the journey can look like:

Creator content → Comment → Search → Review → WhatsApp conversation → Creator recommendation → Purchase → Creator follow-up

The consumer is moving between platforms, people and communities.

And the creator can influence several of those steps.

PwC’s Africa Entertainment and Media Outlook 2025–2029 shows just how quickly the environment is changing. Kenya’s internet advertising market is projected to grow at a 16% CAGR through 2029, the fastest growth rate globally according to the report. Nigeria is expected to reach 84% digital advertising spend by 2029, while Kenya and South Africa are projected to reach 64% and 74% respectively.

This isn’t simply an advertising shift.

It is a consumer behaviour shift.

Creators are becoming the new product discovery layer

Think about how people discover products today.

A person may not wake up thinking:

“Let me go and find a new skincare product.”

Instead, they encounter someone they already follow talking about skincare.

A creator demonstrates a product.

They explain how they use it.

They answer questions.

Someone in the comments asks:

“Where can I get this?”

Another person asks:

“Does it work for oily skin?”

Suddenly, a piece of content has become a product discovery experience.

That is powerful because the consumer did not necessarily go looking for an advertisement.

The advertisement came looking for the consumer, disguised as content.

And when it is done well, it doesn’t feel like an interruption.

It feels like a recommendation.

Trust is becoming part of the marketing infrastructure

This is where creators have an advantage over traditional advertising.

Consumers know that an advert is designed to sell something.

They expect persuasion.

But a creator can provide something advertising struggles to manufacture: context.

A creator can say:

“This is what I bought.”

“This is how I used it.”

“This is what I liked.”

“This is what I didn’t like.”

“This is who I think it is for.”

That creates a more complete picture of the product.

And the creator’s credibility becomes part of the product experience.

This doesn’t mean every creator is trustworthy.

Far from it.

The creator economy has plenty of people promoting products they clearly wouldn’t use themselves if the camera were off.

That is why transparency matters.

Africa’s creators already have significant influence over information

A recent UNESCO study on digital content creators in Kenya found that 58% of consumers regularly pay attention to digital creators and influencers on social and video networks, compared with 34% who regularly focus on traditional news brands and journalists.

That finding shows that creators have become part of the information environment through which people understand the world around them.

If people trust creators to explain news, culture, technology, money or lifestyle decisions, it isn’t much of a leap for them to trust creators when considering products.

The commercial implications are obvious.

The creator can influence every stage of the journey

1. Discovery

The consumer first encounters the product.

A creator introduces it through a reel or a video.

The objective here is attention.

But attention is only the beginning.

2. Education

The consumer wants to know more.

What does the product do? How does it work? Is it worth the money? Who is it for? How is it different?

Creators are particularly useful here because they can explain products in ordinary language that is much easier to understand.

3. Validation

This is where comments and communities become incredibly important.

People don’t only listen to the creator.

They listen to everyone around the creator.

Comments become mini-review sections.

Followers ask questions.

Other customers share experiences.

The audience becomes part of the persuasion process.

This is one reason the creator economy is moving from an audience model to a community model.

4. Consideration

The consumer now begins comparing options.

They might search reviews, prices, competitors, testimonials etc.

Creators can influence this stage through comparison content, reviews and demonstrations.

And this is where niche creators can outperform celebrity creators.

The audience doesn’t just need to be large. It needs to be relevant.

5. Conversion

This is where creator marketing becomes creator commerce.

The consumer sees: “Link in bio.”

Or: “Use my code.”

Or: “Shop through my storefront.”

The creator isn’t simply generating awareness anymore.

They are helping facilitate the transaction.

Twiva Commerce is built around this exact intersection between influence and commerce, giving creators digital storefronts and opportunities to promote products and earn from successful sales.

That is a significant evolution.

The creator becomes part of the sales channel.

The rise of social commerce is changing the role of creators

The creator economy and social commerce are increasingly merging.

Research and Markets’ 2026 Creator Economy Market Report describes a market increasingly shaped by creator monetisation platforms, product sales, affiliate marketing, subscriptions and personalised audience engagement. It projects the global creator economy to grow from $255.66 billion in 2025 to $323.48 billion in 2026.

But the interesting part isn’t simply the size.

It is the direction.

Creators are moving closer to transactions.

And brands are following them.

Instead of:

Brand → Agency → Advertisement → Consumer

we are increasingly seeing:

Brand → Creator → Community → Consumer

The creator is simultaneously the media channel, creative producer, community manager and product recommender.

Africa’s mobile-first environment makes this even more important

Africa’s consumer journey is heavily shaped by mobile connectivity.

People can: Watch → Click → Chat → Pay without ever touching a traditional desktop shopping experience.

In markets where mobile money is deeply integrated into everyday transactions, this creates an especially interesting opportunity.

The gap between seeing a product and buying it can become incredibly small.

Creators are becoming part of the product experience

This may be the biggest shift.

Traditionally, marketing existed outside the product.

An advert told you about the product.

The product experience happened later.

Creator marketing collapses that distinction.

A creator can show:

• What the product looks like.
• How it works.
• How to use it.
• What it feels like.
• Whether it is worth buying.

The content itself becomes part of the customer experience.

What this means for brands

Brands need to rethink how they work with creators.

They should ask which creator can move their target customer from discovery to action.

This is a very different way of buying influence.

What this means for creators

Creators should also recognise what is happening.

Your content isn’t just content.

They need to understand audiences, pricing, analytics, contracts, disclosure and commerce.

Twiva Academy is designed around this broader creator journey, combining skills development, real-world projects, brand briefs and practical tools to help creators move from content creation toward sustainable professional careers.

The buying journey is becoming creator-led

The brands that understand this early will have an advantage.

Because the creator isn’t simply helping them get attention.

The creator is helping them earn trust, explain value, and move consumers toward action.

That is why the future of marketing won’t simply be about advertising to consumers.

It will increasingly be about building with the people consumers already listen to.