The goal of any good influencer marketing campaign is to engage audiences in a creative way by partnering with those who do it best: creators. And while fostering these relationships is undoubtedly an art, the process can use a little help from science, too.
AI is proliferating across industries, from operating robotic arms on factory floors to enhancing diagnostics in healthcare with predictive analytics. But an area that has largely been considered untouchable by AI is one that is innately human: creativity.
While it remains accurate that true creativity can’t yet be replicated by AI, the technology can help strengthen and maximize it through tools and data. In influencer marketing, AI is an essential creative partner to both brands and creators—empowering them to generate more impactful content that drives engagements and conversions.
Before setting goals, developing campaigns, and tapping creators, the best influencer marketing campaigns have a clear understanding of the audience demographics most likely to engage with their content. And that’s where AI comes in.
Audience clustering, an AI tool that analyzes purchasing behavior and past user interactions, can provide a detailed snapshot of what audience engagement looks like with different types of content on online platforms. In the process, AI reveals what demographics make up a brand’s target audience so that brands get the most impact out of their campaign.
Take Blendjet for example. The company initially looked to the fitness community as a primary audience for its new line of blenders. Thanks to AI’s ability to take a fresh look at the data, the team discovered that lifestyle and family audiences were a better target for its product launch. Brands can also use AI to keep campaigns feeling fresh: finding new audiences, recommending high-performing topics, and more.
Powering data-driven campaigns—and thinking outside the box
The same process applies to identifying the right creators to partner with: Once the team has aligned around the right demographics, AI can use past campaign performance, creator profiles, and other sources of information to match with creators who are most likely to deliver results—even some matches that might be unexpected.
AI is also a critical teammate for brands in the creative process because it can help to remove some of the biggest deterrents to the creative process: uncertainty and doubt.
Even with the most promising match, brands may be hesitant to take a leap of faith with a new creator-partner. But AI algorithms can be used to vet creator accounts to ensure both a strong match and brand safety. For example, if a YouTube creator is known for posting snarky comedic videos, they won’t be a fit for a financial planning firm that has a serious brand voice. The AI can also suss out the verified creators with real followers from the bots.
Moreover, AI tools can offer predictive insight into how a campaign will perform. By using data from past activations and former campaigns, AI can provide reliable insight into what viewership, engagement, and conversion metrics will look like for each and every brand-creator collaboration. This information, in turn, can guide brands and creators to success.
Forging powerful creator partnerships—with brand safety as a top priority
Once a campaign is set up for success, brands can comfortably let master creatives themselves work their magic. But AI is still a critical part of the team. Imagine if Monet, in addition to painting, had to post his art on social media, create thumbnails, repurpose his work for multiple channels, and manage his followers’ feedback. That would be a major waste of time—and talent.
The same goes for creators, our modern day artists. AI helps ensure creators dedicate more time and energy to doing what they do best. By using AI to handle the administrative tasks that clutter their to-do lists, they’re free to focus on strategizing and developing engaging content for their followers—ensuring a high-quality end product for brands, creators and their audiences alike.