Virtual Influencers: What are They?
How far will these AI-powered influencers’ influence go?
We’ve heard a lot of hype around virtual influencers. Whenever the term raised though, we have to admit, our mind went straight to the Japanese virtual pop star Hatsune Miku, which were introduced to the world back in 2007.
While the concept and idea are generally the same — a virtual character created through AI-technology — but when it’s integrated to influencer marketing, you have what the modern world knows as virtual influencers.
What are Virtual Influencers?
Basically, they are digital avatars designed to attract followers and collect likes on social media platforms.
The two main reasons for their exploding popularity is the rise of artificial intelligence technology that becomes more accessible to companies today as well as the increasing popularity of visual platforms such as Instagram.
Virtual influencers by nature are visual creatures. They are created in such a way via graphics technology to look just like their human counterparts and could easily fool the unwary customers. They are the more sophisticated and advanced version of fictional brand characters or mannequins in shop windows that suddenly look more real.
More than ever, they provide businesses with an exciting alternative to traditional influencer marketing, which become more saturated at each passing time. Added to the equation is the increasing pressure for brands to resonate with the most important economic demographic in the future, the Gen Z, who are more susceptible to the appeal of these virtual influencers.
Virtual Influencers: The Benefits
There are several reasons why brands are looking into the possibility of investing in developing their own virtual influencers.
1. Optimization of influencer budget.
The obvious upside of virtual influencers is their lower operational cost compared to when brands partnering with human influencers. Unlike humans, virtual influencers never have to have an off day and will always look perfect in every shot.
Naturally, developing your own influencer chatbot cost quite a lot initially but in the long run, with the help of a growing number of softwares, brands will be able to optimize their influencer marketing budget and overall social media cost better.
2. More creative freedom.
Virtual influencers are also easily managed and shaped to suit whatever objectives a company is looking to achieve in their campaign. This means more creative freedom over influencer marketing design and concepts for brands and hence, making the campaigns more aligned with their overall strategies and brand image.
When brands collaborate with human influencers, they are more prone to branding mistakes, such as influencers end up antagonizing potential customers by making rash comments. However with virtual influencers, brands have full control of the type of content produced and make personalized recommendations using AI.
3. Automated engagement.
Though the number of virtual influencers are still low, but it’s not impossible to imagine that in the future they would be able to interact on a personal level with all of their followers at the same time (Read more the importance of automation in marketing here). As such, brands could effectively create meaningful connections that can turn followers into buyers.
Brands can also combine chatbots with virtual influencers to maximize conversation opportunities with their audience beyond traditional social media posts. These interactions would be possible thanks to AI’s ability to process massive amounts of data and analyze market insights to improve customer experience.
4. Establishment of a new community.
The world of marketing is extremely vulnerable to changes. Modern consumers are used to skip sponsored messages, even posted by famous influencers. However, with virtual influencers, brands are giving the audience an exciting, new medium to interact with, while still delivering targeted and tailored messages.
Besides, virtual influencers give brands the opportunity to establish a virtual community with their audiences. With a strategic approach, virtual influencers can be tailored to become ‘relatable’ despite their lack of human characteristics.
Virtual Influencers: The Challenges
It’s obvious that there are challenges surrounding a consumer’s ability to distinguish between a virtual influencer and a real-life one.
Virtual influencers have the potential to harm consumer-brand relationships over time. For example, if consumers believe that virtual influencers are human influencers who provide a certain opinion about a product or a brand and consumers are swayed by their beliefs not knowing that the virtual influencers are not real, this could damage the existing trust established between brands and consumers.
Another issue is the human element of influencer marketing. While it’s true that more brands are creating compelling stories around the virtual influencers to make them increasingly relatable to their audiences, but one thing is still certain: they are not human. It is the human aspect of influencers that forms a genuine connection with the audience. When their storyline fizzled out, it’s debatable how long these virtual influencers can remain relevant.
Final Thoughts
There’s no surprise that AI and robots have become more popular in today’s digital society.
Virtual influencers are only one of the new marketing tools that brands can leverage to bring fresh excitement to their consumers.
Viral Access believes that virtual influencers indeed have the potential to become more prevalent, but marketers and consumers still need to approach the strategy with full transparency and caution.
What’s your take on virtual influencers?
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Viral Access is an AI and data-driven social communication company — we help you tell your story through social media. We pair your brand with relevant micro and nano influencers that help you increase awareness, engagement and conversion. We have the systems and team in place to support large scale communications throughout Asia.
For business inquiries, contact us at: info@viralaccess.asia.
