Virtual influencers in the form of robots have entered the online job market and are already raking in millions of shillings. As the digital economy continues taking root, more companies are using influencers to push their products online and offline.
Social media networks were developed with the aim of allowing users to socialize digitally. However, the space has seen an evolution after corporate entities joined in and found ways of connecting with clients who are active in the digital space.
Influencers have traditionally been picked from celebrities or social media personalities with huge followings and a real influence over their followers. This has jump-started careers for many people whose only job is to stay active on social media and praise specific products. Locally, we have so many influencers spread out in Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and now, TikTok.
Read: Alibaba Seeking To Recruit 100,000 Influencers for Global Business
Robots have now landed this glamorous job and are already cashing in from product deals. A new report by Onbuy has revealed that robot influencers are making a lot of money.
“Virtual influencers’ – also known as robot or CGI influencers – are on the rise. They’re fictional computer generated ‘people’ who have the realistic characteristics, features, and personalities of humans.” Onbuy explained.
The robots have been assigned names, personalities and social media handles whee they share ordinary posts doing ordinary things just like humans.
“They are becoming a real force to be reckoned with in the influencer marketing industry, taking social media by storm. And with more and more emerging on Instagram every week, and brands queuing up to work with them, could this be the end for human influencers?” Onbuy adds.
Read: Facebook Reportedly Offering Money to TikTok Influencers in Anticipation of Reels Launch
One such robot goes by the handle Lil Miquela on Instagram. Using Influencer Marketing Hub’s Sponsored Post Money calculator, Onbuy were able to determine that with a 2.5 million following, Lil Miquela is the highest paid robot.
The team’s analysis shows that Lil Miquela earns about Sh926,000 per sponsored post on her Instagram account. This translates to about Sh1.3 billion annually.
Noonoouri, a robot created by graphic designer Joerg Zuber, comes in as the second best paid virtual influencer.
Noonoouri has worked with several big names including Dior and Kim Kardashian. The robot has 362,000 followers and earns about Sh195,541 per sponsored post translating to over Sh282 million annually.
Here’s a list of the highest paid virtual influencers:-
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