Virtual Influencers VS Real Influencers

What/Who are the virtual influencers?

If we were to define what a virtual influencer is, or as they are also called, “CGI influencers “, they are fictional computer generated ‘people’ who have the realistic characteristics, features and personalities of humans with brands and creative creators controlling them

They are becoming a big force to be taken into consideration in the influencer marketing industry, with more of them emerging on Instagram weekly and more brands racing and gathering up to be involved with this futuristic means of marketing.

Pros and cons of Real Influencers

When compared to virtual influencers, Some weaknesses can stand out, but also some strengths. we’ll try to help you by highlighting the main pros and cons

The Pros:

-Trust worthy: People tend to trust real influencers more than ones who maybe controlled by brands, even though real influencers can be paid by brands but the thought of a human being with integrity and his own mind is somehow comforting

-Dedicated fanbase: Unlike virtual creations, real people can have a dedicated fanbase with shared love, loyalty and connection between them, a fanbase who is automatically a fanbase of your brand once the influencer mentions you due to the shared trust and emotional bond between them.

The Cons:

-You can’t control what they do in their free time: When you hire an influencer, you have control over what that person posts regarding your brand. You can state that out in the contract. However, you can’t control what that person does in his personal life, and as human beings, mistakes are expected and those actions can damage your brand.

-High risk involved: If the influencer lacks the skills needed to subtly promote other brands’ products, for example by spreading wrong or misleading information this can lead to bad representation. if an influencer is willing to hype up any brand that pays then people will surely not believe him promoting your product.

Pros and cons of Virtual Influencers

Still having trouble understanding the concept of a virtual influencer? maybe following some will help you get the idea
some of the most successful are: Lil Miquela, Guggimon, Lu do Magalu and Thalasya.

The Pros:

-Less risk: Not getting into the fact that they are a cool, shiny marketing approach, virtual influencers offer inherent advantages over humans. Because they are specifically built for a purpose, virtual influencers offer brands more control over messaging. They can send and share specific looks or values to give a more accurate representation of the brand, . Whereas influencers have the risk to do or publish something controversial and gain backlash or get cancelled, every move of a virtual influencer is controlled and calculated by the programmer or the brand.

-Less money more influence : When it comes to price for value, Virtual influencers CRUSHES normal influencers in this criteria, not only do they charge less, as Lil Miquela charges around US$8,000 to promote to her 3 million followers, while the going rate for an influencer with a million followers would be about US$250,000 per post. But they also have more influence, In a study published by social media analytics firm HypeAuditor, it revealed that “virtual influencers have almost three times the engagement of real influencers” and that “real influencers should make almost four times more Instagram posts to gain the same number of followers as virtual influencers”.

The Cons:

-Creating emotional bond : The biggest challenge in creating a virtual influencer is a very human one—to make people care about their existence. “Relatable character development is extremely challenging and important. How do we design a sense of growth for the audience? How do we tell stories of love and hate? How do VIs represent consistent values yet stay relevant with fast moving culture? Rather than saying we maintain a VI, it can feel more like we are guiding a young adult through life.” -PRWeek