Netinfluencer will discuss the key findings in the Virtual Creators 2022 Report by NeoReach.

As the influencer marketing industry continues to expand, a new form of virtual influencers has managed to emerge. These are computer-generated characters that are able to communicate with their audiences on social media as well as sway their purchasing decisions in a plethora of different markets.

Who Conducted the Survey?

The Virtual Creators 2022 Report was conducted by NeoReach, a company that offers a wealth of influencer marketing solutions to a series of leading brands. This business provides an assortment of useful tools such as paid media features and detailed analytics to help brands complete a successful influencer marketing campaign. 

Previously, NeoReach has collaborated with brands such as Macy’s to help them to launch their latest store. This campaign achieved an ROI of 1.6x and received over 2,000 comments overall. 

Survey Methodology

This report pulls upon a variety of comprehensive sources to help build a very critical analysis of this developing niche. It was developed in partnership with Offbeat Media Group, which provided access to their platform Virtual Humans to first organize a list of the most popular creators on Instagram and TikTok. 

NeoReach then utilized Tensor Social to help them build a detailed report on the success of each creator. These reports were used to express key metrics such as engagement, views, and follower count.

This data was also compared against a collection of real-life creators to give a detailed overview of the entire industry. 

Three Key Takeaways

The Virtual Creators 2022 Report offers a range of useful findings, three of which are described below. 

1. TikTok is home to the most popular virtual creators as seen by their follower count and average views. 
2. Instagram’s most successful virtual creators usually operate in the fashion, food, and entertainment niches. 
3. Overall, virtual creators get the most views across a majority of social media platforms compared to their virtual counterparts. 

What Does This Mean for Influencer Marketing?

The first finding within this report signifies the most popular platform for virtual influencers. TikTok’s addictive short-form content has made it a key force within the social media industry and it seems that virtual influencers are reaping the same level of success. NeoReach also informs us that these influencers have an average engagement rate of 1.40% and an average viewership of 2.1 million. Thus, we can assume that the platform’s wide range of creative features has the potential to amplify and extend the work of virtual influencers. 

The virtual creators on Instagram seem to operate in three key niches, highlighting their prevalence in a selection of profitable fields. With a large majority working in the fashion niche, we are led to believe that virtual creators enjoy experimenting with different animation styles and showing off their outfits to their engaged audience. This also shows that virtual influencers can promote products in a wealth of popular industries, just the same as real-life creators. 

The final finding shows us that virtual creators still have a long way to go before they are able to fully dominate this industry. The data states that real-life creators gain 2,870,136 views, whereas virtual influencers only gain 1,407,787 views. Thus, this exemplifies the industry’s preference for real-life creators but does not struggle to highlight the immense power of their virtual peers. 

Link to the Report

The Virtual Creators 2022 Report can be found on NeoReach’s website, along with more of its case studies and insightful reports.