TL;DR
- Artificial intelligence is significantly transforming influencer marketing by enhancing content creation, improving discovery processes, and providing advanced metrics for campaign analysis.
- According to Ogilvy’s “2024 Influence Trends You Should Care About” report, hyperpersonalization, where AI tailors content to individual users, is a key trend for 2024, leading to more personalized and engaging influencer interactions.
- The introduction of AI-generated virtual influencers, such as Meta’s AI Personas, marks a shift towards personalized, one-to-one interactions between influencers and fans, using digital replicas of celebrities.
- Despite the benefits, there’s a growing concern about maintaining authenticity in influencer marketing as AI becomes more prevalent. The challenge lies in leveraging AI without losing the genuine connection that audiences value.
- Experts argue for a balanced approach to using AI in influencer marketing, emphasizing the importance of not letting AI overshadow the creativity and authenticity that are central to successful influencer campaigns.
READ MORE: 2024 Influence Trends You Should Care About (Ogilvy On)
In the ever-evolving landscape of influencer marketing, one of the biggest key trends to watch for in 2024 is the increasing use of artificial intelligence. From the integration of AI technology in content creation to enhanced metrics and personalization, AI’s integration into influencer marketing is reshaping how content is created, how audiences are engaged, and how campaigns are measured for success.
Over the past year, discovery has gotten a boost with the development of AI-powered tools that analyze vast amounts of social media data to identify potential influencers who best match a brand’s values and target audience. AI can also predict the potential success of an influencer marketing campaign by analyzing historical data. In addition, AI-driven platforms can assist influencers in generating content by suggesting captions, hashtags, and even optimizing image and video quality.
AI tools can segment an influencer’s audience based on various criteria, enabling brands to effectively tailor their messaging to specific demographics. AI can additionally provide real-time analytics and performance insights, allowing brands to track the success of their influencer campaigns. Finally, AI algorithms can also help identify fake followers and engagement, a critical concern that goes well beyond the influencer marketing industry.
“None of us can be sure of all the ways AI will impact the influencer marketing industry, but it’s a safe bet to say more influencers will be using AI next year,” Danielle Wiley, founder and CEO of influencer marketing agency Sway Group, writes at Forbes.
“AI can help with all sorts of content creation tasks, from writing captions to editing photos and videos,” she notes. “AI can also help influencers (and brands) figure out what their followers like by analyzing comments and likes to suggest what kind of content should be posted next. Tools that utilize AI will make it easier for influencers to quickly create high-quality content, keeping their followers engaged.”
In 2024, the influencer marketing industry is poised at an exciting intersection of technology and human creativity. The brands and influencers who navigate this intersection skillfully, using AI as an ally to enhance their authentic voice, are likely to emerge as the frontrunners in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Hyperpersonalization is the Next Big Thing
AI will extend its reach even further into influencer marketing in 2024, industry experts agree. Hylerpersonalization, which tailors content to each individual follower’s specific preferences and behaviors, is one of the biggest AI trends to watch out for this year, according to a report from Ogilvy, “2024 Influence Trends You Should Care About.”
“In 2024, expect to see a more hyperpersonalized form of engagement with influencers as the interplay between influence and AI enters a new era,” the powerhouse agency predicts.
John Harding-Easson, Ogilvy’s head of influence for EMEA, discussed the increasing use of AI in influencer marketing during a video presentation of the report. “It’s been a really big year for AI, particularly in influence,” he said. “It’s expanding at a rapid rate.”
While AI was already firmly on Ogilvy’s radar in its 2023 report, Harding-Easson said, “I think we were quite surprised at just how much space has advanced.”
Looking at next year, he continued, “What we’re expecting in 2024 is AI influence to enter a new chapter, one that will see a pivot to more hyperpersonalized engagement with influencers.”
As influence continues down this hyperpersonalized path, “we’re seeing that personalization with an influencer isn’t just the feature,” he added. “It can be the foundation of a campaign.”
Virtual Celebrity Influencers
Companies already tapping the power of virtual influencers for hyperpersonalization include Meta, which is poised to capitalize on the trend, per Ogilvy’s report.
“Meta’s AI Personas, introduced in late 2023 and fully deployed in 2024, signal a significant shift from broad-reaching influence to personalized, one-to-one interactions that maintain a sense of authenticity,” it reads.
First introduced at Meta Connect 2023 as AI chatbots that have “personality, opinions, and interests, and are a bit more fun to interact with,” Meta Personas employs AI replicas of celebrity influencers to attract engagement, as Fortune’s Alexandra Sternlicht reports.
“Developed in partnerships with stars such as Charli D’Amelio, Tom Brady, and Kendall Jenner, the bots use the magic of generative AI to create animated digital replicas of the celebrities. Users of Meta’s WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger, can have one-on-one interactions with the bots, asking them questions, confiding in them, and laughing together at their jokes.”
READ MORE: Parents and therapists worried about teen social media addiction say Meta’s lifelike, celebrity AI bots are exactly what you would design to keep kids hooked (Fortune)
“Meta Personas really does signal a shift in the dynamic between influencers and their fans,” Harding-Easson emphasizes. “The ability to chat with your favorite influencer, your favorite celebrity is an experience that was previously unimaginable to fans and it’s really just going to change what we expect from our influencers as well.”
As with any technology still in its infancy, however, “some of the experiences are quite clunky at the moment,” he acknowledges. “Some of the conversations feel forced, but this is only round one.”
Virtual celebrity influencers are “just the first new form of personalized communication and content discovery,” Harding-Easson adds, noting that Meta has also announced plans to allow users to create their own AI replicas later this year. “So scaling interactions with AI influencers is really ripe with opportunities.”
Alex Dahan, founder and CEO of global creator marketing company Open Influence, discussed the implications of AI influencers for advertisers with Marketing Drive. “These virtual personalities, created using advanced AI technologies, can offer brands new and innovative ways to engage with audiences, especially in the realms of fashion, technology, and entertainment,” he said.
READ MORE: Inside the creator marketing trends expected to go viral in 2024 (Marketing Dive)
Retaining Authenticity in the Age of AI
However, the reliance on AI influencers comes with its own set of challenges. One key concern is maintaining the authenticity that is the hallmark of successful influencer marketing. There’s a delicate balance to be struck: leveraging AI for enhancing creativity and efficiency, while ensuring that the content remains genuine and relatable. Overuse of AI risks creating a disconnect, as audiences tend to value content that resonates with real-life experiences.
“With AI, it’s all about finding the right balance — using advanced tools to enhance creativity and efficiency, while keeping authenticity and ethical considerations at the forefront.” says Wiley.
Perhaps anticipating the advent of AI in influencer marketing, last year Ogilvy called for an industry-wide AI Accountability Act that would mandate disclosure around the use of AI influencers, Harding-Easson said. Meta, he says, is already moving in this direction, deploying watermarks on its AI Personas to help users clearly distinguish the virtual from the real.
READ MORE: Ogilvy launches AI Accountability Act as part of inclusive influence commitment (Marketing Interactive)
According to Rafa Titus, global head of influence at Ogilvy, “32% of people already can’t tell a human face from an AI face, and that’s going to go up.” The Accountability Act, Titus says, is aimed at “really making sure that marketers are disclosing their use of AI influencers so that that trust that we have in the space doesn’t go away.”
Lead retail & e-commerce analyst Claire Tassin at Morning Consult predicts that generative AI will not replace influencers.
“As the industry tries to get ahead of the next phase of the creator economy, naturally many are looking to artificial intelligence. They’re not necessarily creating AI influencers a la Lil Miquela, but offering product imagery that can supplant influencer-styled photo shoots and more personalized product recommendations via chat bots,” Tassin observes.
The promise of generative AI does have some overlapping value with what influencers provide, she says. “And yet, while GAI tools like ChatGPT took the world by storm this year and captured the imagination of retail industry leaders, consumer trust in AI didn’t necessarily follow the hype.”
The exciting potential of customer-facing generative AI for e-commerce brands won’t be realized in 2024, Tassin predicts. “Retailers should resist chasing shiny objects and look to consumer adoption of other types of retail tech for signals of the adoption curve,” she warns. “If GAI tools follow patterns similar to that of AR product visualization and size measurement tools, widespread adoption of customer-facing GAI is a long way away from replacing the human faces and expertise that influencers provide. Instead, retailers should ensure their influencer relationships are in sync with best practices based on what actually drives purchases on social media.”
READ MORE: Generative AI Will Not Replace Influencers (Morning Consult)
Wiley agrees that influencers and their partnered brands should be cautious about an over-reliance on AI “While AI tools are great for streamlining tasks, using them too much can make posts seem artificial or overly polished, risking the loss of that genuine, real-life connection with followers,” she says. “There’s a risk of influencers becoming too dependent on AI for content ideas, which might lead to a disconnect with what their audience truly values. Lastly, there are ethical concerns. For instance, if an AI tool creates too artificial of a scene, it could mislead followers, causing trust issues.”
READ MORE: 6 Influencer Marketing Trends To Watch In 2024 (Forbes)
Adweek’s Adam Rossow also argues that influencers won’t necessarily look to AI for content creation. “While brands and agencies will tap into AI to help guide their choice of influencers, analyze campaigns and brainstorm on their creative briefs, we will see far less reliance on AI from the influencers themselves,” he writes.
“Leaning on AI takes away from their pride of creative ownership and has some fearing plagiaristic repercussions. However, what will ultimately drive influencers to eschew AI in formulating creative is the one thing they hang their hats on: authenticity.”
“Without authenticity, the relationship between an influencer and their followers is tarnished, if not completely broken. The lure of saving precious time and creative energy is not great enough for influencers to risk augmenting their voice or coming off as even remotely synthetic. AI will make influencer marketing more approachable, streamlined and measurable, but it won’t be embraced as an easy button for influencers and creators.”
READ MORE: Influencing Without AI: How Creator Marketing Will Be (Re)Shaped in 2024 (Adweek)
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