A brief overview of how AI is reshaping influencer marketing and some of the implications and potential outcomes that accompany it.

1. A I A N D
I N F L U E N C E R
M A R K E T I N G
Maria Morales
2023SEP SOM-7020-MB900
Current Trends and Future Implications

2. I N T R O D U C T I O N
PEOPLE PREFER TO
BUY FROM THOSE
THEY TRUST (ADOBE,
2021).
INFLUENCERS
PRODUCE CONTENT
THAT BUILDS TRUST
AND PROVIDES
“SOCIAL PROOF”
(PINKERTON, 2022).
BRANDS CAN
LEVERAGE THAT
TRUST WHILE
ACCESSING LARGE
FAN OR FOLLOWER
BASES WHEN THEY
PARTNER WITH
INFLUENCERS FOR
MARKETING
CAMPAIGNS.
GENERATIVE AI CAN
MAKE CONTENT
CREATION MORE
ACCESSIBLE SO MORE
PEOPLE CAN BECOME
INFLUENCERS AND
MARKETERS CAN
CREATE CONTENT
THEMSELVES (ANISIN,
2023).
THE IMPACTS OF
GENERATIVE AI ON
THE INFLUENCER
MARKET ARE STILL
UNFOLDING.

3. D E F I N I T I O N S
Influencer marketing: Collaboration between popular users on social media and brands to promote their products
or services (McKinsey & Company, 2023).
Generative AI: Learning models trained on sets of data to produce new content such as text, images, and more
(Martineau, 2021).
Social proof: A psychological concept describing the way people will conform to the behavior of others because it
provides guidance in ambiguous circumstances; in marketing, it refers to evidence that customers have positive
experiences with a product or service to assure potential customers that they will too (The Decision Lab, 2023).
Scraping: The process through which data is extracted from typically publicly available sources and compiled for
specific applications (Ot, 2023).
Virtual influencers: Characters created to act as influencers, typically with a computer-generated avatar to
represent them as a “person” (Bringé, 2022).

4. I M P O R TA N C E O F T H E T R E N D
THE USE OF AI IS ON THE RISE IN 2023
(U. S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY
OFFICE, 2023).
FIRMS CAN REDUCE COSTS BY
REDIRECTING THE USE OF SKILLED
LABOR AND UNLOCK CREATIVE
POTENTIAL AND CAPACITY (DEVEAU ET
AL., 2023).
INDIVIDUALS CAN MORE EASILY
CREATE CONTENT THAT CAN BE
MONETIZED (TIFFANY, 2023).

5. B A C K G R O U N D
• In 1893, British actress Lillie Langtry
endorsed a Pears Soap product, allowing
her image to appear on the packaging to
show her approval (Antipodean Books,
Maps & Prints, 2023)
• The first case of social media influencer
marketing is debatable, but in 2012 the
FTC created a “Mommy-Blogger Law”
acknowledging social media influencers as
celebrity endorsers who are required to
disclose when they are compensated for
their opinion and promotion (Suciu, 2020).
• Social media algorithms are a form of AI
that prioritize content to maximize certain
metrics, such as engagement. They
influence what users are exposed to,
which shapes online culture (Golino,
2021).

6. S H A P I N G P O I N T S
Advancing AI tools for content creation (Chat GPT, DALL-E)
Algorithms impacting the reach of posts and consequent social shaping
The emergence of virtual influencers
AI-driven tools for analytics and decision-making
Ethical considerations

7. A I ’ S R O L E I N S O C I A L M E D I A
Algorithms are an earlier form of AI that play a large role in what we, the users, are
exposed to when we use social media.
It’s important to note that algorithms can be biased due to inherited bias from
programmers and “poisoned” data. They can also prioritize inflammatory content or
content specifically designed to generate controversy (Hao, 2021).
Now, generative AI is enabling more people to try content creation.
AI is also used to match brands to influencers with the biggest potential for successful
partnerships (Darbinyan, 2023).

8. P R O S A N D C O N S
Pros
• Efficient content creation
• Targeted content
distribution
• Data-backed influencer
selection
Cons
• Loss of authenticity and
humanity
• Algorithmic biases
limiting reach
• Oversaturation and
homogenization of
content

9. G E N E R A T I V E
A I
I N F L U E N C E R S
Some influencers use generative AI to help them create content for
Instagram
Some influencers are created by generative AI, and are known as virtual
influencers
Virtual influencers are fictional characters designed to amass a following
through a curated personality that can promote products and services
Some virtual influencers have millions of followers and have brand deals
that generate millions for their creators (Jones, 2023).
Screenshots from the social media of imma, a virtual influencer (right)
and lilmiquela (below) (imma, 2023) (Miquela, 2023)

10. A I - A S S I S T E D
I N F L U E N C E R
M A R K E T I N G
There are now AI tools that help marketers
analyze influencers’ data to determine
whether they are a good match based on
following size, demographics, and interests
(Mileva, 2023).
Software such as Brandwatch (left) uses AI
to assess conversations to explain data
points and trends and even compare to
competitors’ insights to determine what is
driving success and for whom
(Brandwatch, 2023).

11. I M P L I C AT I O N S
Copyright law is becoming more complicated as people argue over who
deserves the rights to generative works
Traditional creators may be hesitant to share their work out of fear that it will
be scraped by AI and imitated
There is a possibility that content quality will decline as generative works are
scraped to inform new generative works in a feedback loop
The above issues may result in lower quality influencers, making influencer
marketing less effective
Social media marketing is becoming a more complicated field that may require
experts who specialize in various aspects

12. V I S U A L I Z I N G T H E F U T U R E
Departure from social media marketing
departments and an increase in
outsourcing an increasingly complicated
issue to industrial experts
Virtual influencers will gain popularity due
to novelty, but will be short-lived due to the
lack of human authenticity
An increased demand for transparency in
the use of generative AI as well as
protections for traditional creators that will
limit oversaturation of content and
influencers

13. • Social media marketing may be at a branching
point
• The rise of AI and its influence is creating an
environment where multiple paths are growing
in different directions
• While we are seeing new possibilities created
by AI, many of the traditional principles will still
apply
• Human connection is ultimately the key to
effective marketing, so the challenge is
leveraging the power of an inhuman
intelligence without being overtaken by it
• Note: This graphic was generated using
DALL-E 3, which was prompted to create a
graphic that incorporated the above points
C O N C L U S I O N

14. R E F E R E N C E S
Adobe. (2021, November 4). 7 in 10 Customers Will Buy More from Brands They Trust; Abandon Those They Don’t. Adobe Experience Cloud Blog.
https://business.adobe.com/uk/blog/perspectives/7-in-10-customers-will-buy-more-from-brands-they-trust-uk
Anisin, A. (2023, August 17). Generative AI For Content Creation: How Marketers Can Use It. Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2023/08/17/generative-ai-for-content-creation-how-marketers-can-use-it/
Antipodean Books, Maps & Prints. (2023). Lillie Langtry albumen portrait, Pears’ Soap advertising. Antipodean Books, Maps & Prints.
https://www.antipodean.com/pages/books/20125/lillie-langtry/lillie-langtry-albumen-portrait-pears-soap-advertising-i-prefer-pears-soap-to-any-
other?soldItem=true
Brandwatch. (2023). Solutions—Consumer Intelligence. Brandwatch. https://www.brandwatch.com/suite/consumer-intelligence/
Bringé, A. (2022, October 18). The Rise Of Virtual Influencers And What It Means For Brands. Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2022/10/18/the-rise-of-virtual-influencers-and-what-it-means-for-brands/
Darbinyan, R. (2023, March 16). How AI Transforms Social Media. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/03/16/how-ai-
transforms-social-media/
Deveau, R., Griffin, S. J., & Reis, S. (2023, May 11). Marketing and sales soar with generative AI. McKinsey & Company.
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/ai-powered-marketing-and-sales-reach-new-heights-with-
generative-ai

15. R E F E R E N C E S C O N T I N U E D
Golino, M. A. (2021, April 24). Algorithms in Social Media Platforms. Institute for Internet and the Just Society.
https://www.internetjustsociety.org/algorithms-in-social-media-platforms
Hao, K. (2021, October 5). The Facebook whistleblower says its algorithms are dangerous. Here’s why. MIT Technology
Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/10/05/1036519/facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-algorithms/
imma. (2023, October 12). Imma (@imma.gram). Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/imma.gram/
Jones, J. (2023, August 2). Could AI disclaimers on Instagram help you spot AI-generated influencers? ZDNET.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/could-ai-disclaimers-on-instagram-help-you-spot-ai-generated-influencers/
Martineau, K. (2021, February 9). What is generative AI? IBM Research Blog. https://research.ibm.com/blog/what-is-
generative-AI
Mileva, G. (2023, March 9). Top 9 AI-Powered Influencer Marketing Platforms for Brands & Agencies. Influencer Marketing
Hub. https://influencermarketinghub.com/ai-influencer-marketing-platforms/
Miquela. (2023, October 12). Miquela (@lilmiquela). Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/lilmiquela/

16. R E F E R E N C E S C O N T I N U E D 2
Ot, A. (2023, September 11). What is Data Scraping? Definition & How to Use it. Datamation.
https://www.datamation.com/big-data/data-scraping/
Pinkerton, L. A. (2022, March). The Power of Influencer Marketing. PRSA. https://www.prsa.org/article/the-power-of-
influencer-marketing
Suciu, P. (2020, December 7). History Of Influencer Marketing Predates Social Media By Centuries – But Is There Enough
Transparency In The 21st Century? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2020/12/07/history-of-influencer-
marketing-predates-social-media-by-centuries--but-is-there-enough-transparency-in-the-21st-century/
The Decision Lab. (2023). Social Proof. The Decision Lab. https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/psychology/social-
proof
Tiffany, K. (2023, June 15). AI-Generated Junk Is Flooding Etsy. The Atlantic.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/06/ai-chatgpt-side-hustle/674415/
U. S. Government Accountability Office. (2023, September 6). Artificial Intelligence’s Use and Rapid Growth Highlight Its
Possibilities and Perils. https://www.gao.gov/blog/artificial-intelligences-use-and-rapid-growth-highlight-its-possibilities-and-
perils