_1.webp "Earning from virtual influencers") |
| Earning from virtual influencers |
For some time now, I have been following Kenza Laila, Morocco's first beauty queen, on Instagram, as well as Maya Zelo, a British personality with a bright outlook. Each of them has more than 150,000 followers. When I started searching the internet for their biographies, I was surprised to find that both of them are fictional characters, not real people.
When I looked back at each of their Instagram accounts, it was impossible to tell that they were fictional characters created entirely by artificial intelligence, and that this is a new and emerging field in the world of online profit: creating fictional influencers using artificial intelligence.
I have compiled all the possible ways to benefit from virtual influencers, whether by using them in e-commerce, selling them, or renting virtual influencers, in addition to the most important free ways to enter this field and the amount of profit that can be made from it.
What are virtual influencers?
The idea of a virtual influencer is a combination of digital art, marketing, and artificial intelligence. They are “unreal” characters designed by computer (CGI), but they have accounts on social media platforms, personalities, opinions, and huge fan bases just like humans.
How did the idea start?
The idea started from a desire to have complete control over the brand. Human influencers can make mistakes, get involved in scandals, or raise their prices, but digital influencers are completely obedient, never age, and can be in two places at once.
The roots of the idea go back to:
* Virtual singers (Vocaloids): such as “Hatsune Miku” in Japan, who started as a voice program and became a singer who fills stadiums using hologram technology.
* Video games: Advances in graphics have made people attach to digital characters as if they were real.
Who first came up with this idea?
This invention cannot be attributed to one person, but rather to the evolution of technology and graphic design companies. However, credit for turning it into a “marketing phenomenon” goes to a Los Angeles-based software company called Brud, which specializes in robotics and artificial intelligence, and launched the first virtual “model.”
Who was the first virtual influencer?
Lil Miquela is considered the first virtual influencer in the modern sense, with 2.3 million followers.
_1.webp "First virtual influencer Lil Miquela") |
| First virtual influencer Lil Miquela2 million followers |
Appearance: She first appeared on Instagram in April 2016.
* Her personality: She was designed to be a girl from Los Angeles, interested in fashion, advocating for social causes, and releasing songs on Spotify.
* Her success: She has collaborated with global brands such as Prada and Samsung, her annual profits reach millions of dollars, and she has millions of followers.
Other famous virtual personalities:
- Shudu: Known as the world's first “digital model,” she is characterized by her stunning African beauty (designed by photographer Cameron James James).
- Imma: A Japanese virtual influencer known for her short pink hair and focus on streetwear culture
The difference between traditional virtual influencers and modern AI-generated ones
- In the past (like Lil Miquela): She was backed by a team of designers and writers who needed days to design a single image or write a post.
- Now (the age of artificial intelligence): You can use tools such as Midjourney to create your own influencer in minutes and make them speak 50 languages using HeyGen.
The most famous Arab virtual influencers
Moroccan Kenza Laila is the first virtual influencer and veiled Moroccan woman to win the title of beauty queen. She has 170,000 followers and fans on Instagram.
Lilazagil is the first virtual influencer in Turkey, with 42,000 followers.
Maya Zelo is a virtual influencer who is not Arab but British, but she is one of the most prominent people who failed to distinguish that she is not human, as she is an influential personality with presence and charm.
How to use artificial intelligence to build a virtual influencer
Building a virtual influencer is now much easier thanks to artificial intelligence tools that save you weeks of graphic design work. Here is a list of the “holy grail” tools for creating a virtual influencer from scratch:
1. Character Creation)
Shape design and feature fixing (character creation)
Image creation tools
This is the most important step, because you need the influencer to appear with the same face in all photos.
Photo creation tools
Midjourney: The best in terms of image quality. You can use the --cref (Character Reference) feature to ensure that the character's face remains consistent across all poses and outfits.
* Leonardo.ai: An excellent and easy-to-use alternative, featuring “Image Guidance” to help you preserve facial details.
Character animation tools
Face and speech animation (Video Generation)
To convert a static image into a talking and moving video
* HeyGen: Currently the #1 tool. Provides very realistic lip-syncing and facial expressions.
* D-ID: An excellent and fast option for creating short videos for virtual influencers, especially for TikTok and Reels platforms.
Voice Cloning
The influencer needs a human voice that is far from annoying robot voices:
* ElevenLabs: Allows you to create a unique voice for your character. You can choose the tone of voice (enthusiastic for sales, or calm for advice) and in different languages and accents (including classical and colloquial Arabic).
Position change tools and virtual clothing effects
Changing clothes and faces (Advanced Editing)
* Focus / ReActor (in Stable Diffusion): Very powerful tools for superimposing your influencer's face onto images of real models (Face Swap). This is very useful in dropshipping to showcase clothing.
* Adobe Firefly: Amazing at changing clothes or backgrounds with the click of a button via “Generative Fill.”
Editing tools
Montage: Use CapCut to add subtitles and trending music
Using virtual influencers in e-commerce
How you can leverage this technology to increase profits and reduce costs:
The use of virtual influencers in dropshipping and affiliate marketing is one of the smartest current trends, especially with the development of artificial intelligence tools.
Why is a virtual influencer ideal for dropshipping?
* Low cost: Instead of paying huge sums to a human influencer or sending free samples that may get lost, you can create a virtual character that promotes your product for free.
* Full control: You can choose the appearance, language, tone, and even the surrounding environment (e.g., a character promoting sportswear in a tropical forest or a futuristic gym).
* Continuity: Virtual influencers work 24/7, don't get sick, and don't get involved in issues that could damage your brand.
How to use it in affiliate marketing
You can build an Instagram or TikTok account for a personality working in a specific niche, such as:
* Beauty and fashion niche: a personality who reviews clothes from the Amazon Influencer Program.
* Tech niche: A character who explains the features of AI applications or tools and puts a referral link in their bio.
* Educational content: A character who gives financial or health advice and promotes courses or dietary supplements.
The tools you need to get started
No complex programming skills are required. You can use:
* Midjourney / Leonardo.ai: to design the character's appearance and set their features.
* HeyGen / D-ID: to animate the character and make them talk (very useful for review videos).
* CapCut: to edit videos and add voiceovers.
* ElevenLabs: to create a very natural human voice for your influencer.
Golden tip💡:
The secret to success as a virtual influencer is “realism.” Try not to make the character seem too “robotic”; add some simple human flaws in the design or speech style to make them more relatable to the audience.
Why are they successful in marketing?
* Mystery: People are drawn to finding out “who is behind this character?”
* Visual perfection: The photos are always perfect, the lighting is great, and the product is shown in the best possible light.
* Interaction: With the advent of artificial intelligence, these characters can respond to comments and chat with followers immediately.
.Using virtual influencers in creating videos
Profit from creating virtual influencers for others
It is currently one of the most profitable areas in the digital services sector, as it combines digital art and marketing consulting.
Find out how much you can earn and what services you can offer:
1. Types of services and approximate prices
Prices vary based on the level of “realism” and complexity:
* Character creation only (Static AI Model):
* Designing a static face and visual identity (Style Guide).
* Price: ranges from $300 to $1,000 per character.
* Production of videos of the influencer talking or reviewing products.
* Price: $100 to $500 per video (depending on length and quality).
* Building a complete influencer “system” for companies:
* Character design + account management + monthly content production.
* Price: Monthly contracts starting at $1,500 and going up to $5,000+ per month.
2. Business models (how do you make money?)
There are three main ways to profit from providing this service to others:
Freelancing Selling the service as a “package” (character design + 5 videos).
Start-up e-stores, YouTube channel owners.
Agency Build and fully manage a virtual influencer for the company.
Medium and large companies, beauty and technology brands.
Rent out your influencer If you have a virtual influencer with followers, you earn a commission for each promotional post.
Why do companies pay large sums of money to create virtual influencers?
When you sell this service, you are not selling an “image,” but rather strategic solutions:
* Cost savings: The company will pay you once instead of paying ongoing fees to human influencers, photographers, and lighting equipment.
* Control: The company ensures that the “influencer” will not say anything that could damage the brand and will not suddenly leave the job.
* Global reach: You can offer to create an influencer who speaks five languages fluently, saving them the cost of translation and dubbing.
Tips for increasing profits 💡
To get high profits, don't market yourself as an “AI image designer,” but rather as a “virtual identity developer”:
* Storytelling: Don't just design a look, build a history and hobbies for it (this is what makes people follow it).
* Consistency: Show the client that you can produce 100 images with exactly the same face (this is the most difficult technical part, and companies pay well for it).
* Smart interaction: Offer to connect the influencer to an AI chatbot to respond to customer comments in character.
Tip for getting started:
Start by building a portfolio that includes virtual influencers in different fields (one for fashion, one for technology, one for real estate). Showing real models and high-quality videos is what will attract customers who are willing to pay large sums of money.
Profit from renting virtual influencers and the most important platforms
The market for selling and renting virtual influencers is booming, and specialized platforms are emerging to act as intermediaries between character creators (like you) and companies looking for digital advertising faces.
Platforms specializing in virtual characters
* Glambase: Currently one of the most popular platforms, it allows you to design a virtual influencer, build their personality, and then monetize through interaction with followers or content sales. It is a platform that focuses on turning digital influencers into a direct source of income.
* VirtualHumans.org: It is the largest reference for virtual influencers in the world. Although it is not a “store” in the traditional sense, it is the platform that global brands (such as Prada and Samsung) turn to in order to discover new influencers to contract with. You can register your influencer there to increase their visibility to companies.
* Hypeo AI: An up-and-coming platform that helps companies find virtual influencers or develop their own characters. You can connect with them as a “Creator” to offer your character design services to their clients.
"The best platforms and methods for selling or marketing your virtual influencer:
. If you want to sell “influencer” as a one-time service:
* Fiverr & Upwork: You can open a service called “I will create a consistent AI Influencer for your brand.” Companies are looking for people to design for them (fixed face + talking videos) to use in their ads.
* Etsy: There is a growing market on Etsy
3. Virtual influencer agencies (direct sale)
There are agencies that act as “managers” for digital influencers. You can offer your influencer to them to buy or add to their portfolio:
* Brud: The company that created “Lil Miquela,” which is always looking for innovations in this field.
How do you make an “influencer” sellable at a high price?
Companies don't buy a “pretty picture,” they buy a “commercial asset.” To sell your influencer at a high price, you must present them as a “complete package” (Brand Kit) that includes:
* Face Consistency: Proof that you can produce 50 images of the character in different poses without changing the shape of the face (this is what professionals do using LoRA or IP-Adapter).
* Backstory: A file explaining who the influencer is, what their values are, and who their target audience is.
* Social accounts: An influencer with 10,000 real followers on TikTok is much more valuable than just a design on your device.
Using virtual influencers in UGC
is the next big thing in digital marketing, as companies are always looking for ways to reduce the costs of filming and human models.
Here's how you can do it and the platforms that will pay you for these videos:
1. Why do companies request “virtual” UGC videos?
* Speed of editing: If a company wants to change a sentence in a video, you can do so with the click of a button using artificial intelligence, whereas with a human influencer, you would need to reshoot.
* Cost: Instead of renting a studio and lighting, you do everything on your device.
* Diversity: You can provide a video of a character with European features and another with Gulf features for the same product, which helps the company target different markets.
How do you sell these videos?
There are two main ways to sell:
A. Selling through freelance platforms:
* Fiverr: Create a service titled: “I will create a professional UGC video for your product using a virtual influencer” or “I will create a realistic AI spokesperson for your brand.”
* Upwork: Apply for marketing projects that require content creators for TikTok and Reels videos.
B. Marketplaces specializing in UGC:
Conclusion
The use of artificial intelligence is no longer limited to conversations with ChatGPT or creating images, but has evolved to become a primary source of income for anyone who wants to profit from the internet using artificial intelligence, especially in the field of virtual influencers, because profits in this field start from writing commands to create a character, to using it in e-commerce, selling it, or even using it to create UGC videos in this field. You win-win and can make a huge fortune in a short time. Read more and you will renting them out, or even using them to create UGC videos. In this field, you are a winner and can make a huge fortune in a short time. Read more and learn about the most important platforms and tools and how to create a virtual influencer. I have written about this topic in other articles in some detail. What do you think of this conclusion to an article that talks about profiting from virtual
influencers?
Topics:
#VirtualInfluencers
#AI_Marketing
#OnlineProfit
#Midjourney
#HeyGen
#DigitalMarketing
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_1.webp "First virtual influencer Lil Miquela")
