Virtual influencers are gaining a steady foothold in marketing. Computer-generated personalities are growing followings just like their human counterparts and convincing others to comment, share, and buy. And they’re doing it with a level of control and precision that human influencers often lack.
Working with an influencer who doesn’t exist sounds wild. Until you see the numbers.
For instance, digital influencer Miquela Sousa is raking in about $2 million a year and has a net worth of about $10 million.
Virtual influencers can do just about everything human influencers can. Here’s a closer look at why these influencers are carving a new niche in marketing.
Contents
What Are Virtual Influencers?
How Do Virtual Influencers Work?
Why Are Brands Using Virtual Influencers?
Examples of Leading Virtual Influencers
What Are the Pros and Cons of Virtual Influencers?
How Do Virtual Influencers Compare to Human Influencers?
What Is the Future of AI Virtual Influencers?
Final Thoughts: Should Brands Use Virtual Influencers?
FAQs: Virtual Influencers
What Are Virtual Influencers?
Virtual influencers are digital personas that create content, share posts, promote products, and interact with followers. You might also hear them called AI virtual influencers or CGI influencers.
Source: Instagram
There are slight nuances between AI virtual influencers and CGI influencers, though marketers often interchange the names.
- CGI influencers are completely scripted and controlled by humans; they don’t think or act on their own.
- AI-powered virtual influencers learn, adapt, and respond in real time, and can generate their own content based on audience feedback.
Think of “virtual influencers” as the umbrella term for this niche of influencer marketing.
How Do Virtual Influencers Work?
Technology and creativity power virtual influencers, whether you’re using AI, CGI, or a mix of the two. Though you won’t see a real person on camera, a great detail of thought and detail go into each post or promotion.
The content creation process
Users create virtual influencers using CGI, generative AI, and motion capture tools. These influencers can take on human-like characteristics, or they could be animated animals or objects, like cupcakes. Many appear as 3D models, while others are 2D.
Behind the scenes, human creators develop the persona’s backstory and personality — quirks, values, humor, drama, appearance, preferences, and anything else that brings the digital influencer to life. They’re forming relationships with brands, building collaborations, and managing content calendars.
Once created, virtual influencers will act like human influencers by posting content, such as images, audio clips, or videos. Creators carefully curate every detail to reflect the digital influencer’s brand.
Engaging via AI
Some virtual influencers take things further by integrating AI. This allows digital influencers to analyze what their audience is doing, how they’re thinking and feeling, and what’s working and what isn’t.
The influencers can use this data to adjust their strategy without human intervention. For example, they might adjust their content formats based on past engagements. Or if a post about sustainability gained traction, they might focus more on eco-conscious messaging.
Tracking and adjusting
Transparency and relatability are crucial. A virtual influence strategy only works if the audience believes the story being told.
Behind the influencer, human teams can use audience sentiment and trust signals to decide if their virtual influencer strategy works. Success ultimately depends on how real people feel about these digital personalities.
Why Are Brands Using Virtual Influencers?
Virtual influencing is a new-ish concept. While some brands remain skeptical, others — like Prada, Red Bull, and LiquidIV — are embracing the digital influencer movement and its intended benefits.
Source: Instagram
- Total creative control: Brands have total control over content, can avoid scheduling conflicts, and don’t have to worry about influencer controversies or off-brand statements.
- The ability to scale campaigns globally: Digital influencers can speak any language and appear in any setting without geographic restrictions.
- Cost-effectiveness: Initial design costs can be high, but brands can ultimately save money since virtual influencers don’t require travel expenses, wardrobe budgets, or massive overhead.
- Novelty and buzz: The futuristic charm of virtual influencers spark curiosity and conversation, and their “new” factor gives brands something different to experiment with.
These influencers are heavily engineered. Everything they say and do is designed to drive engagement and specific actions. This level of control gives brands a potential edge in the market, allowing them to (hopefully) reach their goals.
Examples of Leading Virtual Influencers
Given the novelty of digital influencer marketing, it can be tough to visualize how it works and what it brings to your business. These examples of virtual influencers put the concept into context.
Lil Miquela
Source: Instagram
The “OG” of virtual influencers, Lil Miquela posts content to nearly 2.5 million Instagram followers. This digital model has worked with global fashion brands like Prada and Calvin Klein and has even released her own music.
Recognizable by her freckles, blunt bangs, and quirky photos, Lil Miquela set a high bar for what virtual influencing can be and its impact on brands and businesses.
Shudu
Source: Instagram
High-fashion virtual influencer Shudu was created by a London-based fashion photographer. The influencer is often called the world’s first virtual supermodel and mirrors characteristics of other well-known Black models like Naomi Campbell and Alex Wek.
The digital influencer mostly works with fashion brands and high-end publications, such as Elle and Vogue. Instagram posts feature the model in fashionable outfits, with a je ne sais quoi that’s both consistent and inspiring.
Imma
Source: Instagram
Virtual influencer Imma has over 387K followers on Instagram and has earned the title of the first AI model in Japan. Her pink bob gives her instant recognition among followers.
Imma has collaborated with brands like Adidas and IKEA, and was invited to be a virtual speaker at a TED talk. She was also designated an ambassador in Rage World Challenge, an e-sports event in Bangkok.
FN Meka
Source: Instagram
Robot rapper FN Meka is a popular yet somewhat controversial AI virtual influencer. Created in 2019, he earned a contract with Capitol Records in 2022, where the rapper faced backlash for racist stereotypes in his lyrics.
Still, the influencer continues to dominate social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, with over 10 million followers and billions of views.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Virtual Influencers?
Virtual influencers are proving their place in digital marketing, but not all brands are sold on the idea. Regardless of what other brands in your industry are doing, it’s wise to look at virtual influencers from all angles and understand the benefits and risks they can bring.
Here’s a quick rundown to help you compare:
How Do Virtual Influencers Compare to Human Influencers?
Virtual influencers can do most of the same things human influencers do, sometimes even better and faster. However, AI influencers don’t always hold the advantage.
Choosing the type of influencer you need depends on what you want to achieve. The differences matter:
Authenticity and control
Human influencers represent authenticity. They have real experiences, emotions, and opinions that make followers trust them. This can lead to stronger loyalty, but it can also come with unpredictability. Humans can make mistakes, which may lead to off-brand content or scandals.
Virtual influencers offer total control, which can diminish the possibility of off-brand content. Humans control every facial expression, opinion, and post to align with brand messaging. However, this can often come off as fake and struggle to connect with audiences on an emotional level.
Engagement differences
Followers comment on human influencers’ posts because they find them relatable. Users engage with these lived experiences and see themselves in the influencer’s story. Influencers shape their posts based on moods, tone, and life events.
Virtual influencers take a more precise and direct approach. They use data-driven personalization to tailor their interactions, essentially telling the audience what they want to hear. This approach can spark engagement, but the novelty may wear off quickly as users start craving more personable insights.
Costs
Human influencers can vary in cost depending on reach and niche. Every collaboration comes with negotiation, such as rates, travel fees, and product testing.
Virtual influencers have higher upfront costs during development. But once they’re established, they can generate content at a fraction of the cost as human influencers. There’s also less overhead involved, like travel fees, so they may offer a better ROI for brands.
What Is the Future of AI Virtual Influencers?
Using AI virtual influencers in influencer marketing still feels like the wild west, where brands are constantly testing approaches and making new discoveries. This trend will continue in the coming months and years, and a few key developments will likely emerge.
Growth in brand adoption
A-list brands like Red Bull, Cosmopolitan, and Samsung are exploring how to use virtual influencers in marketing. This flings the door wide open for other brands to follow suit or risk getting left behind.
As technology costs drop and more data about the impact of AI virtual influencers becomes available, more brands are likely to adopt this method of marketing, or at least experiment with it.
Advances in AI-driven interaction
AI is evolving quickly, allowing AI influencers to become more than beautifully crafted avatars. There’s high potential for these personas to become digital interactive beings, using natural language processing, emotion recognition, and generative AI.
These characters may hold two-way conversations, interact with followers in real time, and drive a consistent flow of content with little human involvement. They may eventually be able to recommend products tailored to each follower and react with human-like empathy.
Ethical and regulatory considerations
AI has experienced its share of legal and ethical questions, and these are likely to persist as brands find new ways to use AI tools, such as virtual influencers.
For instance:
- Who is responsible when an AI influencer spreads misinformation?
- Should brands tell audiences explicitly when a “person” isn’t real?
- Who bears the fallout when an influencer offends cultural norms?
Transparent requirements and labeling rules are already emerging and will continue to do so as AI’s involvement in marketing grows. It will be up to brands to stay in tune with changes in how to use AI legally and ethically.
Final Thoughts: Should Brands Use Virtual Influencers?
Virtual influencers bring innovation, scalability, and control to influencer marketing. However, lasting success will depend on finding the right balance between human authenticity and digital creativity.
Meltwater’s Influencer Marketing Platform helps brands identify opportunities and measure ROI across both real and virtual influencers. Users gain the data they need to accurately analyze audience sentiment and perceptions of authenticity, ensuring campaigns strengthen brand trust while embracing innovation.
FAQs: Virtual Influencers
Frequently asked questions about virtual influencers.
Are virtual influencers real people?
Virtual influencers are not real people. They are digitally created characters designed to look and behave like humans. Virtual influencers are typically developed by creative studios using 3D modeling, animation and, increasingly, AI-driven tools. A human team is in charge of managing their personality, content, and partnerships. Think of them as branded digital personas rather than individuals.
Do people trust virtual influencers?
Trust in virtual influencers depends heavily on transparency and execution. Research suggests that audiences can trust virtual influencers when their digital nature is clearly disclosed and their messaging feels consistent and authentic. However, credibility drops and trust is eroded when audiences feel they are being misled or manipulated.
Are followers aware they’re not real?
In most cases, yes, followers are aware if an influencer is virtual and not real. This is especially true for well-known virtual influencers whose digital identity is part of their brand. Clear visual cues, storytelling, and disclosure on the part of brands help followers understand when they are engaging with a virtual character.
Do virtual influencers disclose that they’re virtual?
Reputable virtual influencers and brands typically disclose when an influencer is virtual, either in bios, content descriptions, or press materials. Disclosure is increasingly considered best practice — transparency helps avoid accusations of deception and aligns with standard influencer marketing guidelines.
Can anyone create a virtual influencer?
Technically, yes. Anyone can create a virtual influencer, but the level of sophistication varies widely. Simple avatars can be made using accessible low-cost or free tools, while high-end virtual influencers require significant investment in design, storytelling, and ongoing content production. Success depends less on technology and more on having a clear brand strategy and purpose.
Will AI influencers replace human influencers?
AI and virtual influencers are unlikely to fully replace human influencers in the near future. Instead, they serve as a complementary option, offering brands greater control, scalability, and creative flexibility. Human influencers still bring lived experience, emotional nuance, and cultural credibility that virtual characters can’t fully replicate.
