How do AI Influencers make money?

AI Influencers are gaining immense recognition globally, resulting in more and more tech companies and startups getting involved in creating their personalized virtual influencers. Looking at the excellent audience reach of AI influencers among the audience, one common question that occurs in everyone’s mind is how AI Influencers make money. 

Well, surprisingly AI Influencers can make money the same way as human influencers. This includes Brand Promotions, Content licensing, Merchandise Sales, Attending Virtual Events, and more. Read our guide about creating an AI influencer before you think about making money with them.

In this article, we are going to discuss different ways through which AI influencers make money. 

1. Brand Collaborations

One of the most common ways through which AI Influencers make money is via brand collaborations. Virtual influencers with good followers are often approached by brands for “Paid partnership” deals to promote their products and services online through images or video posts.

AI influencers can generate various high-volume content tailored to promote a product or service of a brand. The kind of content that can be generated by digital influencers can include tutorial videos, AR shopping experiences, product videos, and more. 

For example, an AI Influencer can showcase different makeup products of a brand by creating different looks and guiding viewers regarding its benefits. AI Influencers receive payment in the form of sponsorship, where they promote or endorse a particular product or service by featuring the brand offering and highlighting unique features and advantages of the product in their content. Below we have mentioned some of the AI Influencers who perform brand collaborations: 

• Lil Miquela: This 20-year-old AI Influencer has been enlisted by Ugg, a California-based footwear label for its month-long 40th anniversary campaign. 
• Noonoouri: Noonoouri is another virtual influencer who collaborated with numerous high-fashion brands such as Thierry Mugler, Dior, Iris van Herpen, and Viktor & Rolf. 

2. Virtual Event appearances and conference participation 

Most brands and organizations hire popular AI Influencers to their virtual events, gatherings, conferences, etc to spread the word about the brand by leveraging influencers’ reach. Brands and businesses often invite AI Influencers from certain demographics or niche interests that align with their target audience to create hype about their product or services. 

The idea of Virtual events went viral during the global pandemic encouraging more and more brands around the world to attract an audience digitally. 

One of the prime examples of Digital Influencers’ impact on Virtual Events was seen in 2021, when Balenciaga, one of the most popular fashion houses in the world partnered with Fortnite, a prominent gaming platform for a high-fashion event.

Various AI Influencers were hired. This was the first major event where audiences witnessed the impact of AI Influencers. Apart from this, In 2018, Lil Miquela also generated good buzz about her attendance in Prada’s fashion.

Lil Miquela is a well-known virtual influencer who currently has 2.6 million followers on Instagram. She posted multiple behind-the-scenes videos and images of herself along with numerous sneak peeks of the latest collection to create a buzz regarding the fashion event. 

3. NFT Artwork

A beneficial way of earning money as an AI Influencer is through NFT Artwork. If the AI Influencer is focused on any creative activity such as visual arts, photography, fashion, or any other art. Then, NFTs (non-fungible tokens) can be a beneficial method to sell your creations and earn good verifiable digital assets. Multiple AI Influencers with artistic appeal have obtained good profits through this method. Here are some examples: 

• The debut NFT of virtual influencer Lil Miquela, an inspiration through mythology, was released by transmedia studio Brud in November and sold for 159.5 ETH equivalent to $82,361.
• Inspired by space travel, Aya Stellar released an NFT collection of 11 digital artworks. The NFT named “Inhale Love Exhale Gratitude” was sold for 2.81 ETH—$10,999—on OpenSea.
• Another Top AI influencer, Rae from Singapore, introduced her first NFT series named “Take A Byte,” and the artwork was released in July 2021. It was sold for a total of 0.630125 ETH—or $2,463—on Mintable. 

4. Merchandise Sales 

Many AI influencers earn a good fortune by selling various merchandise such as Clothing, Accessories, Digital products, and more. Qai Qai, created by Invisible Universe, is inspired by Serena Williams’s daughter’s favorite doll. Fans of the same can purchase a physical doll version of Qai Qai on Amazon users can also read her book. Another virtual influencer, Noodle and Bun, also sells their stuffed animals online. This way, AI Influencers can earn a good amount through the sales of their own merchandise. 

5. Monetizing Social Media Audiences

Virtual Influencers with a good number of followers on various social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube gain access to various built-in monetization features. So, the larger their followers list the higher the potential to earn good money. 

For example, AI Influencers with 1 million followers on TikTok have the potential to earn $1,500 for every sponsored post. Popular AI Influencer Lil Miquela from LA earns about $8000 per sponsored post online. Here is a breakdown of various ways through which AI Influencers can earn on social media platforms: 

• Ad Revenue Sharing: Virtual influencers can earn through ad earnings shared by YouTube with channels based on the views obtained by the creator. Influencers with Popular channels who gain a good number of views earn a steady revenue. 
• Virtual Gifting: AI Influencers can receive virtual gifting forms from fans during their live streams on TikTok while interacting with the users. 
• Content Subscriptions: Social Media platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, Instagram, and more offer a channel subscription through which users or fans can pay a significant amount to access exclusive content generated by the virtual creator.

6. Content licensing

Another effective method through which AI Influencers can earn money is through “Content Licensing.” Virtual Influencers that generate unique and attractive content online can license their content, such as videos, images, music, artwork, etc, to multiple platforms, brands, businesses, and media outlets.

This way, AI Influencers can provide permission to users and brands to use their copyrighted material, and in return, AI Influencers can earn revenue for their content from users by providing high-quality content for their projects or brands. 

Conclusion 

For now, there is a vast range of commercial opportunities available to AI Influencers through which they earn a good fortune by simply posting content, attending virtual events, collaborating with brands, and more.

Based on the current scenario, the opportunity for AI Influencers to generate money is expected to continue in the coming years with the potential for more opportunities in the future. We hope this article was helpful for you in understanding how virtual influencers make money along with opportunities available for them in the market.