All you need to know about Virtual Influencers
In the sneak of Instagram, Lil Miquela, Knox Frost & Imma gram are regular Insta accounts. Pretty usual stuff like selfies, travel updates & Collaborates with brands to promote their products. But despite all these humane in all their pictures & videos, he/she only ever appears as CGI across his social media accounts. They aren't actually real. Welcome to the world of Virtual influencer who creates real content!
Long gone are the fears of Robots taking over the world (rooted in the sci-fi movies earlier, thanks to the blockbusters such as iRobot & Terminator series); now, with the radical developments in science, engineering & artificial intelligence, we humans (real) have a better understanding of potential reality.
Still, we have a long run from walking down the street with a humanoid robot. Social media is one location where human and virtual being interactions are rapidly evolving. For example, hundreds of millions of people use Instagram to follow and interact with a new breed of online celebrities known as virtual influencers.
Who (What) are Virtual Influencers?
A virtual influencer, sometimes known as a computer-generated influencer, is a digital persona built with computer graphics software. This fictional CG character is given realistic characteristics, features and personalities of humans.
They're quickly becoming a game-changer within the influencer marketing industry, with more and more companies lined up to engage in this cutting-edge form of advertising every week.
"Virtual influencers, in fact, may provide roughly three times the engagement rates of real-world influencers."
Let us see, how they Work?
Anonymous creators - brands and people with a strong interest in technology - are behind each of them. For example, Laserbolt, a 23-year-old digital human who is a well-known gaming celebrity on YouTube. He is a content developer in the real world and works for GamerFuzion, a gaming news and review organisation.
His value is created fiction, yet he has a sizable social media following, with over 250,000 YouTube subscribers. Similarly, these new-age content creators are in charge of growing their virtual influencer Instagram profiles and changing these virtual personas into the globally recognised influencers that they are rapidly becoming.
Credit to the creators
The makers have complete control over their appearance, dress, and act. On Instagram, they also choose who they hang out with, date, fight with, and cooperate with. As you guessed, these creators get to retain the money that these influencers earn from their business partnerships.
The influences are then edited into whichever backdrops the makers choose. So, if they've developed a travel-loving influencer, all they need is a high-res backdrop image of a far-flung place, and the virtual influencer can cross it off their bucket list.
How Do Brands Benefit?
As a matter of fact, Influencer marketing as an industry grows at such a tremendous pace. Therefore, the brands need to be more aware of virtual influencers trends than anyone else, which helps them be ahead in their game and reach a whole new audience.
Virtual Influencers, to name a few Lu do Magalu, Lil Miquela, Imma gram, Guggimon, Knox Frost crossed well over the million follower milestone as people worldwide continue to be infatuated with their 'lives.'
"In fact, virtual beings seem more appealing to 54 percent of all UK customers on some level."
Eventually, Brands saw them like 'human influencers.' Many who choose to collaborate with these virtual faces will be opened up to huge audiences and a whole range of benefits. But, a collab with a virtual influencer has much more than that. Think of a correction you need to make after making it with a real influencer, tedious, time-consuming & expensive. But virtual influencer mistakes can be completed within minutes.
Many brands have already tested and reached a new set of audiences.
For example, Renault, a global automotive brand, has their own virtual influencer, Liv, as a brand ambassador, trending after their latest television advert - a pioneering move that many are sure to replicate themselves soon.
Miquela Sousa, or famously called Lil Miquela, this virtual model, has worked with multiple top fashion brands like Calvin Klein, Prada & Dior (yes, she wears them with the help of CG).
Brud, a Los Angeles-based firm, developed this Brazilian-American beauty. She has over 27,000 Twitter followers and almost 3 million Instagram followers, nicknamed "Miquelites." She also has 2.5 million TikTok followers.
Imma is a virtual social media Influencer that makes content on Japanese art, culture and film. She has over 355k followers on Instagram. Brands hire her for their influencer marketing campaigns too. Recently Lenovo Japan collaborated with Imma to do a virtual campaign. And not just Lenovo, IKEA japan did one too, where they showed a day in the life of Imma. Brands can go real crazy when it comes to marketing.
Virtual Influencers are real!
Now that you've learned about virtual influencers and how they may help companies, the next step is to see whether they can be integrated into your marketing strategy in any form. That’s where the Influencer marketplace, PickMyAd helps you save time and cost. Check out how this platform tends to change the influencer marketing landscape forever!
