When looking into the landscape today, we can really see a difference in how social media trends have amplified and are being created with the help of AI.
Whether utilizing AI for writing, video editing, content creation, or scheduling ideas, people are now able to halve their time with the help of these tools making a good amount of money in the process.
Some people are even going faceless and creating their very own AI virtual influencers to be in the spotlight instead of themselves.
In this article, we will be breaking down various areas in which AI is having an impact and how the virtual influence market is changing the landscape of social media so that you can adapt and position yourself in the space accordingly.
What are virtual influencers?
In its essence, it’s exactly as it sounds, a virtual influencer is an AI-Generated character that is able to be “programmed” to talk and sound the way you want it to. Their personality and character traits are unique and can be tuned to play to your target audience.
That’s why the virtual influencer can reach such a vast audience and be more effective when it comes to engagement and capturing the attention of the viewers. In a lot of ways, it amplifies the overall experience for patrons in a way that traditional influencer marketing cannot.
One of the advantages of using an AI virtual influencer is that it can come up with a really good brand story that will resonate with the target audience. When a brand can personalize a story that viewers can relate to, it opens up the door to build strong trust between the company and the potential client, this in turn will help to create conversations and increase engagement as a whole.
All that aside, the other reason that these types of virtual influencers are seeing a rise in popularity is not just because of the bigger reach or the more diverse audience. Now you can reach people in various countries in multiple languages without the need for speaking the language yourself.
Lastly, the main reason is due to the fact that some people don’t enjoy being on camera, but still want to share content with the world. They can now do so without needing to be the face of the company.
How AI is powering virtual influencers?
There are a lot of ways in which AI is assisting the advancement of virtual Influencers. And with new programs consistently being launched and improved it makes the influencer workload a lot more streamlined.
With the ability to schedule out content and come up with various strategies for your brand behind the scenes. AI is also able to create ads, come up with your script, edit videos, and even edit audio – making the entire content creation process a dream.
In fact, any task related to social media management and marketing can be done by an AI. And with the right programming, prompts, and know-how outsourcing menial tasks to an artificial intelligence bot has never been easier.
Do brands work with virtual influencers?
You may be asking yourself “What one might expect when hiring a virtual influencer?”, and that’s a legitimate question.
In the current landscape, as AI advances and developers improve their ability to perform, we can fully expect these trends to continue to grow in the social media space. Not only will they become more user-friendly moving forward, but they will also become more complex and sophisticated, being able to comprehend the consumer’s behavior and preferences in order to come up with the appropriate response in real-time.
With time, we’re predicted to see the widespread adoption and utilization of virtual influencer marketing by brands around the world.
These new and innovative ways of reaching new and existing demographics are just too creative to not utilize at this point and will ultimately help drive up the popularity of virtual influencer marketing as a whole.
Below are some notable partnerships in which brands have collaborated with virtual influencers:
Samsung partnered with virtual influencer Lil Miquela for their global #TeamGalaxy campaign.
This virtual influencer has an incredible reach, with over 2 million active followers. Samsung stated that the campaign was a success thanks to the great tech-savvy messaging.
When dealing with tech and AI there are always a few pitfalls that need to be considered.
The first thing many people are voicing their concerns about is the ethics and morality behind using virtual influencers, as they are in a gray area between both reality and fiction, making it slightly controversial. This is why when using a virtual influencer, it’s important to be as transparent as possible so that consumers don’t feel like they are being misled.
Many people then believe that it may be difficult to have an emotional connection with a virtual influencer the same way you would a real person on social media because it’s not as if they are actually doing the activities in the world the way we do, which means the moments in which they are captured are only generated and not actual feelings created from the experience, which comes across less genuine. This lack of impact can potentially affect brand building due to the lessened trust consumers may experience once they discover the influencer is virtual.
That being said virtual influencers are still a relatively new trend and it’s going to need some more time to develop to the levels that may be necessary for mass adoption and acceptance. How this can be expedited is through brands making a point to educate and explain the reasons behind their decision to use a virtual influencer along with full transparency. This will help virtual influencers and the brands that use them become more credible moving forward.
Even with all of these various obstacles, the market will ultimately dictate whether or not virtual influencers are here to stay. Moving forward, as AI becomes more advanced and the technology behind these virtual influencer improves, we can fully expect to see these types of marketing strategies used to market for brands worldwide moving forward.
Conclusion
The relationship between AI and virtual marketing is running in the direction of change and is rapidly evolving in the space daily. With new applications being launched and then paired with strategies that have never been tried, people at the forefront of virtual influencers and AI are poised to shape the world and social media as we know it.
With the ability to better understand an audience and fine-tune strategy with algorithms, influencer marketing is going to get a whole lot more interesting moving forward. As with anything though, it’s important to consult with experts and do your due diligence before introducing this new and useful tool to your viewers and consumers.
David Adler is an entrepreneur and freelance blog post writer who enjoys writing about business, entrepreneurship, travel and the influencer marketing space.
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When looking into the landscape today, we can really see a difference in how social media trends have amplified and are being created with the help of AI.
Whether utilizing AI for writing, video editing, content creation, or scheduling ideas, people are now able to halve their time with the help of these tools making a good amount of money in the process.
Some people are even going faceless and creating their very own AI virtual influencers to be in the spotlight instead of themselves.
In this article, we will be breaking down various areas in which AI is having an impact and how the virtual influence market is changing the landscape of social media so that you can adapt and position yourself in the space accordingly.
What are virtual influencers?
In its essence, it’s exactly as it sounds, a virtual influencer is an AI-Generated character that is able to be “programmed” to talk and sound the way you want it to. Their personality and character traits are unique and can be tuned to play to your target audience.
That’s why the virtual influencer can reach such a vast audience and be more effective when it comes to engagement and capturing the attention of the viewers. In a lot of ways, it amplifies the overall experience for patrons in a way that traditional influencer marketing cannot.
One of the advantages of using an AI virtual influencer is that it can come up with a really good brand story that will resonate with the target audience. When a brand can personalize a story that viewers can relate to, it opens up the door to build strong trust between the company and the potential client, this in turn will help to create conversations and increase engagement as a whole.
All that aside, the other reason that these types of virtual influencers are seeing a rise in popularity is not just because of the bigger reach or the more diverse audience. Now you can reach people in various countries in multiple languages without the need for speaking the language yourself.
Lastly, the main reason is due to the fact that some people don’t enjoy being on camera, but still want to share content with the world. They can now do so without needing to be the face of the company.
How AI is powering virtual influencers?
There are a lot of ways in which AI is assisting the advancement of virtual Influencers. And with new programs consistently being launched and improved it makes the influencer workload a lot more streamlined.
With the ability to schedule out content and come up with various strategies for your brand behind the scenes. AI is also able to create ads, come up with your script, edit videos, and even edit audio – making the entire content creation process a dream.
In fact, any task related to social media management and marketing can be done by an AI. And with the right programming, prompts, and know-how outsourcing menial tasks to an artificial intelligence bot has never been easier.
Do brands work with virtual influencers?
You may be asking yourself “What one might expect when hiring a virtual influencer?”, and that’s a legitimate question.
In the current landscape, as AI advances and developers improve their ability to perform, we can fully expect these trends to continue to grow in the social media space. Not only will they become more user-friendly moving forward, but they will also become more complex and sophisticated, being able to comprehend the consumer’s behavior and preferences in order to come up with the appropriate response in real-time.
With time, we’re predicted to see the widespread adoption and utilization of virtual influencer marketing by brands around the world.
These new and innovative ways of reaching new and existing demographics are just too creative to not utilize at this point and will ultimately help drive up the popularity of virtual influencer marketing as a whole.
Below are some notable partnerships in which brands have collaborated with virtual influencers:
Samsung partnered with virtual influencer Lil Miquela for their global #TeamGalaxy campaign.
This virtual influencer has an incredible reach, with over 2 million active followers. Samsung stated that the campaign was a success thanks to the great tech-savvy messaging.
Noonoouri is the next virtual influencer on our roundup. This particular character was created with fashion in mind.
She’s worked with a long list of brands, including Vogue China, Tommy Hilfiger, Balenciaga, and even Kim K.
Noonoouri has a little over 400 thousand followers on Instagram and continues to sign strong partnerships with globally recognized brands.
Lastly, we’ve got Shudu Gram a virtual influencer with 238 thousand followers who has been famously coined “The World’s First Digital Supermodel”.
The star rose to fame in 2018, after the French luxury fashion house Balmain launched a campaign in which Shudu took center stage.
What Are The Potential Drawbacks?
When dealing with tech and AI there are always a few pitfalls that need to be considered.
The first thing many people are voicing their concerns about is the ethics and morality behind using virtual influencers, as they are in a gray area between both reality and fiction, making it slightly controversial. This is why when using a virtual influencer, it’s important to be as transparent as possible so that consumers don’t feel like they are being misled.
Many people then believe that it may be difficult to have an emotional connection with a virtual influencer the same way you would a real person on social media because it’s not as if they are actually doing the activities in the world the way we do, which means the moments in which they are captured are only generated and not actual feelings created from the experience, which comes across less genuine. This lack of impact can potentially affect brand building due to the lessened trust consumers may experience once they discover the influencer is virtual.
That being said virtual influencers are still a relatively new trend and it’s going to need some more time to develop to the levels that may be necessary for mass adoption and acceptance. How this can be expedited is through brands making a point to educate and explain the reasons behind their decision to use a virtual influencer along with full transparency. This will help virtual influencers and the brands that use them become more credible moving forward.
Even with all of these various obstacles, the market will ultimately dictate whether or not virtual influencers are here to stay. Moving forward, as AI becomes more advanced and the technology behind these virtual influencer improves, we can fully expect to see these types of marketing strategies used to market for brands worldwide moving forward.
Conclusion
The relationship between AI and virtual marketing is running in the direction of change and is rapidly evolving in the space daily. With new applications being launched and then paired with strategies that have never been tried, people at the forefront of virtual influencers and AI are poised to shape the world and social media as we know it.
With the ability to better understand an audience and fine-tune strategy with algorithms, influencer marketing is going to get a whole lot more interesting moving forward. As with anything though, it’s important to consult with experts and do your due diligence before introducing this new and useful tool to your viewers and consumers.