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rands need fresh, innovative ways to appeal to new audiences while artfully retaining already hard-earned fans. Partnering with a virtual influencer is a proven strategy to accomplish this goal, giving brands new, direct access to younger generations as they age into the consumer market.
These ultramodern, digital creations consistently garner greater engagement and drive more actions than your average human ambassador. From total message control to guaranteed brand safety, the list of benefits goes on. Now, let's explore how to involve a virtual influencer in your brand strategy.
Here are three proven ways your brand can work with virtual influencers:
1. Sponsor a Virtual Influencer
Brands can recruit a virtual influencer to promote or appear in content for a short period of time, such as a partnered post. This instantaneous collaboration is an accessible way for brands to test how their audience interacts with virtual content. Sponsoring a virtual influencer is an easy way for brands to enter the world of virtual humans and align with the industry’s innovative culture.
2. Sign a Virtual Influencer
Brands can coordinate ongoing partnerships with virtual influencers, much like they do with celebrities or human influencers. “Signing” a virtual influencer is the perfect pre-requisite for a successful, extended PR strategy. Your brand’s fictional campaign story can span multiple posts as the virtual influencer uses and promotes your product in carefully curated ways. Considering the story unfolds over time, your brand enjoys consistent, repeated engagement from those drawn in by the campaign.
3. Create a Virtual Influencer
Companies are opting to create their own virtual influencers as a mascot or spokesperson for the brand. This avenue provides complete ownership and total control over the virtual influencer’s story arc, personality, brand affinity, vocation, and actions. Creating your own virtual gives your brand the opportunity to run an extended, far-reaching PR campaign and increase consumer engagement with your brand through curated, entertaining content that resonates with the demographic of your choosing.
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If you want to learn exactly how to work a virtual influencer into your brand strategy, reach out directly at christopher@virtualhumans.org with any and all questions. If you want to see ways other brands have worked with virtual influencers, I cover five stand-out examples here.
