The state of AI in influencer marketing (India's perspective)
Nidhi Rathi
Building@TLB | Helping Businesses achieve their marketing goals via Creator Economy | Content Marketing & Strategy |Part time Podcaster
?The world has seen a catastrophic rise in influencer marketing resources in the last few years, and the jump of AI to aid operations is no news. The Indian Landscape is catching up with the new developments and what AI is bringing to the table.?
The state of AI in influencer marketing is at a very creative turn point, and the advancements to come with it are revolutionary in every sense.?
The concept of metaverse and AI influencers has already been picked up in India, with virtual spokespersons as well as influencers operating in full swing with their algorithms to achieve success.
We connect all the dots that gather the perspective with which AI has been taking hold of the Indian market in the following respects-
The statistical landscape?
???The numbers speak their own truth while defining a phenomenon. The rise of influencers in the Indian market has been exponential, and AI has just made it better. Let’s take a look at some numbers-?
How are Influencer Marketing and AI blending together?
We fathom that it is feasible to believe the gigantic rise of influencer marketing has been impressive even before the onset of AI-powered marketing. Influencer marketing agencies have been pumping a lot of generativities in their ideas and grabbing eyeballs for creating out-of-the-box campaigns for brands.
Well, this is not the case as of now. The catastrophic rise of influencer marketing is projected through the numbers, with about $22.2 billion dollars worth of market projection as of 2025.
AI-powered tools have given the boon of countless ideas to be discovered, and the influencer marketing industry is not holding back. Within the last 2-3 years, many generative tools have sprung up, giving power to agencies and making them the best in the game. Some of the best influencer marketing platforms are now in a hurry to automate their operations and provide a seamless experience in onboarding and giving business to new clients.
The power of automation is a gift to influencer marketing resources, as it saves time to provides room for end-to-end operations.
Current Landscape of AI in influencer marketing- Indian Edition
Talking about the leading trend, it is AI- we all know it! Influencer marketing agencies in India are betting their horses to rope in one or themselves!
Turn to any leading news channel, and you will find a virtual spokesperson leading the rush hour news and displaying pictures of their fellow virtual creators in India being part of events around the country! -quite a progressive adaptation.
According to Nielsen’s Internet India Report 2023, more than 700 million active Internet users are registered in India, and expected to grow to 900 million by 2025.?
The consumption is ginormous—and creators are springing up to steal the limelight. Influencer marketing resources are now developed in huge quantities but only harnessed by a few in the subcontinent.?
Many social media platforms have made significant changes in their operating algorithms to adopt the AI revolution.
?We can see the budding virtual influencers from even local areas like Bengal, reaching a particular niche of audience and identifying their need for content.?
This new virtual influencer named Lisa is now a part of a famous local Bengali news channel, displaying the strengthening state of AI influencers in India.
Certain platforms have greatly established their dominance in the industry with AI integration to elevate their campaigning strategies.
Many influencers are now rising as a part of the algorithm that boosts their content with the help of predictive analysis and machine learning. Since these influencer marketing agencies need to cater to the ever-growing and diverse range of Indian demographics, AI has been a huge help.?
As one of the best influencer marketing platforms in India, our insights into AI integration favor the positive impact of its interaction with the industry.
Platforms like Confluence are leading the way with top-tier campaigns powered by their AI algorithms and a jacked team of influencers paving the way for AI marketing in India. Their influencer marketing resources are a power-packed mix of data-driven prediction and matching models that create a leveled field for creators and brands to connect.
Who would believe India is going to take the lead and update their game in the virtual world?
Kyra, a social media influencer (@kyraonig) is India’s first virtual influencer developed by Himanshu Goel, Top Social India. Her presence in the market transformed the digital industry to a great extent.?
The power and freedom that came with virtual influencers appealed to brands on a higher level, leading to the creation of creative social media campaigns with brands like BoAT, John Jacobs Eyewear, Amazon Prime, and many others.
Her maximum following comes from metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, etc., where the concept is getting picked up at an accelerated pace.
Not only Kyra, but another budding name is drawing all the attention these days. Another creation of the Top Social, Sravya is the next social media marketing strategy for reaching specific demographics.?
A polyglot, Sravya caters to the South Indian region and is also a manager for Kyra. Her origin story emerges from Palakkad in Kerela. “The craze of CGI in South Indian Industry inspired us to pursue this creation, and we’re looking forward to seeing its rise”, says Himanshu Goel, Business Head at Top Social India.
According to the reports from Influencer Marketing Factory, 58% of surveyors followed at least one virtual influencer and 35% of consumers followed their campaigns to purchase the advertised product/service.? (4)
Vishal S Nicholas, Executive Vice President and Head of Brand strategy at Dentsu Creative India said “Virtual characters will be made afresh or as a reform of previous chatbots that are quite popular in the community. We can expect popular brand mascots to turn virtual in the future and interact with their audience in real time!
?High-end brands in India are pursuing these creators to defend their interests and generate trends of their own. Brands like BoAT, John Jacobs Eyewear, and Amazon have actively introduced social media campaigns featuring virtual influencer Kyra.?
Their impact, after all, is majestic in every sense. As per Preetham Venky, Chief Digital Officer DDB Mudra Group, “AI-assisted or AI-generated content has the same impact as real-life content creators that lie in the top 1%”. (5)
If you are an avid follower of the famous MTV Hustle, its 2.0 version was debuted by a GPT-3 supported virtual rapper named ‘Bot Hard’, introduced by the DDB Mudra group.
This campaign was a tech innovation that offered a great insight into the world of growing AI possibilities and the upgraded level of consumer engagement experience.
Impact of AI Influencers on the Indian Market
Indian markets have come to adapt to the wave of AI in a very positive way. Influencer marketing companies have not stayed behind in pushing this trend to become a mainstream idea.
They drive innovation, expand the horizons, and generate ideas for various industries to pursue in a new light.
These influencers are altering the face of the creator economy with significant impact in the healthcare, fashion, finance, manufacturing & and service sectors. Enhancing consumer experience and optimizing end-to-end operations is AI’s strong suit.
The agenda although; is not something ‘only’ pursued by private agencies and industries. The Indian Government is also promoting AI integration with the National AI portal (Include link), which aims to increase the efficiency and utility of AI across different sectors.
Such initiatives are critical for driving growth and inspiring influencers to draw innovative solutions, integrating them into their social media marketing strategy.
Case Study
DOMINOS INDIA
This campaign conducted by Kofleunce (an AI-powered Indian Influencer marketing agency) is a great example of how brands can use AI to target the right audience and demographic segment. Reaching the peak of engagements and impressions, this is a subtle example for more to be explored with AI.
AI played its role well in identifying many aspects of the campaign that might have missed the human eye, and the close connection with predictive analysis in the algorithms is what made this campaign a huge success.
Utilizing regional creators, the algorithms identified the best targets to be achieved and the performance metrics to be tracked. The topic of festivities made fun with Dominos was a sure shot success with-?
Content- 3000+ creators generated content
Reach- 50M+
Impressions- 30M+
Challenges and Opportunities in the way
Challenges- The biggest challenge in the way of AI is the lack of curious and talented resources that are ready to engage it on a large scale.?
There are a ton of influencer marketing platforms, but only some of them are able to capture its essence and deliver it the right way in the Indian market. Even without its intervention, we all have seen campaigns go horribly wrong. Regulatory frameworks could prove useful in many ways.
Opportunities- It’s not all in the wrong for AI! The state of AI in influencer marketing is in power, where the demands for AI-based solutions can be seen rising at a steady pace. Fundings and opportunities are available from both private and government sources to pursue and grow its potential in the Indian Subcontinent.
Conclusion
Reading from the quite recent examples above, we can assure you that the path of AI is quite clear- in terms of influencer marketing as well as marketing in general.
It is already changing paradigms of every major sector in existence, let alone influencer marketing. The subtle seamlessness of it is sheerly astonishing.
The Indian market can expect to see an astonishing rise in creator tools, optimizing resources, and paving the way for operational integration. The rise of meta-influencers in the region indicates a positive trend, with categorized customizations being made to attract viewers.
The ethical and ideational freedom that AI brings is phenomenal in many respects. The advent of virtual influencers in the Indian market has already seen many successful campaigns with known brands.?
Although AI has received a positive response in many aspects, it holds its own set of challenges and opportunities that need resolutions in the coming time. Influencer marketing although, has started this process actively.
To discover the power of the best influencer marketing platforms in India, we’ll help you dive in and discover the ways of the industry only at the hub of influencers!