Instead of 'renting' influence from human creators, companies should build proprietary AI-generated virtual influencers. This AI persona becomes an ownable asset and a competitive moat, providing consistent and controllable brand representation without the high costs and risks of human influencers.
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The marketing dynamic is shifting from influencing human emotions to communicating clear, machine-readable value to consumers' personal AI agents, which will increasingly handle purchasing.
The long-term strategy for influencer marketing platform Stormy AI is not just to automate outreach to humans, but to create and deploy its own stable of AI-generated influencers. The founder believes AI UGC will become the norm, allowing brands to spin up armies of custom, AI-driven personas to create content at scale.
Creators will deploy AI avatars, or 'U-Bots,' trained on their personalities to engage in individual, long-term conversations with their entire audience. These bots will remember shared experiences, fostering a deep, personal connection with millions of fans simultaneously—a scale previously unattainable.
The debate over using AI avatars, like Databox CEO Peter Caputa's, isn't just about authenticity. It's forcing creators and brands to decide where human connection adds tangible value. As AI-generated content becomes commoditized, authentic human delivery will be positioned as a premium, high-value feature, creating a new market segmentation.
The influencer economy is facing its own disruption from AI. Brands will soon leverage completely fictional, AI-generated personalities for marketing, which is a natural evolution from human influencers taking brand deals away from traditional Hollywood celebrities.
Owning the intellectual property of a well-known historical figure is a powerful asset. Use generative AI to "bring them back" as a virtual influencer. This character can create new content and engage modern audiences, but with the massive head start of pre-existing fame, authority, and credibility.
Business owners and experts uncomfortable with content creation can now scale their presence. By cloning their voice (e.g., with 11labs) and pairing it with an AI video avatar (e.g., with HeyGen), they can produce high volumes of expert content without stepping in front of a camera, removing a major adoption barrier.
The next evolution of influencer marketing will be AI-generated personalities. These "fake people" will combine the durable appeal of intellectual property (like a Disney character) with the engagement model of a human influencer. This will create a new class of celebrity owned by companies and creators.
AI tools allow any creative individual to invent and market entire fictional personas. This isn't just a marketing tactic; it's an opportunity to create and own valuable intellectual property (IP), much like a modern-day Walt Disney or Vince McMahon.
While influencers offer access to underpriced attention, over-reliance creates a dangerous dependency. Businesses must prioritize building their own content creation capabilities to maintain leverage and control over their brand's destiny, ensuring they are never at the mercy of a third party.