TikTok Is Adding Digital Avatars To The Mix For Business Pages

TikTok is transforming digital marketing with its new “Symphony” marketing management platform, which includes an innovative feature that allows brands to send virtual influencers to promote their products on the app.

Meet TikTok’s Digital Avatars

TikTok’s virtual influencers program will let brands choose from a library of digital characters that can sell products 24/7 via TikTok live streams. According to TikTok:

“To help creators and brands reach global audiences and deliver messages in a more immersive and authentic way, we’re introducing Symphony Digital Avatars. Digital Avatars bring branded content to life with generative A.I. avatars of real people and will open up new ways to scale creative strategies on TikTok.”

These digital avatars come in two flavors:

• Stock Avatars: Pre-built characters created with paid actors licensed for commercial use.
• Custom Avatars: Brands and creators can generate their avatars in their image with multi-language support.

Already Proven in China

While this sounds like science fiction, similar digital avatars have already worked in China’s version of TikTok, Douyin; AI hosts in China have become super popular, and these simulated characters can stream 24/7 and sell thousands of dollars worth of products daily. And they’re getting cheaper.

According to MIT Technology Review: “Since 2022, a bunch of Chinese startups and big tech companies have been offering the service of creating deepfake avatars for e-commerce livestreaming. With just a few minutes of sample video and $1,000, brands can clone a human streamer to work 24/7.”

These AI clones read from advertiser scripts, and companies use AI to generate those scripts. Advanced versions of this technology can even respond to live comments and change marketing strategies based on viewer engagement.

The Future of Marketing on TikTok

This feature is coming to TikTok, and brands will be able to engage with the TikTok community through ads and live streams in a whole new way. With creation made simple, brands can now pitch products using these digital influencers.

Other platforms are testing similar tech, too. Instagram is letting creators build their own AI chatbots, for example. Virtual characters for marketing could be revolutionary for digital marketing. It won’t change everything overnight, but it’s a big step as AI gets more accurate.