Congratulations to ‘Miss AI’ Kenza Layli, an activist from Morocco!

Except she’s AI, so she’s not from Morocco, not an activist, and can’t be excited to win this honor.

Doesn’t it feel like the drumbeat of virtual influencers is getting louder and faster every day, with dull tones of crass commercialism?

Even this pageant was brought to you by Fanvue, an OnlyFans competitor that has found success monetizing ‘relationships’ with virtual creators.

Does that mean the creator reps of the world have to start creating their own Kenza’s or be left behind?

Let’s get into it.

NEWS:

OMG, Miss AI is SO fake!

Major press outlets from CNN to TIME have a new top-trending topic: Miss AI has been ‘crowned’.

Fanvue, the company that sponsored the competition, appears to have gotten a steal for their $20,000 prize on earned media value alone.

Kenza Layli’s face is everywhere.

Social media-focused AI promises near-limitless content from talent that never ages, always delivers brand deals on time, and is constantly camera-ready.

But unlike a human creator, AI influencers’ fans must make a mental leap to actually care about the creator.

In a time when engagement and community-building are essential for growth, it seems AI may be at a disadvantage.

Social media has been linked to loneliness and depression. AI optimists believe humanlike chatbots can solve these problems, but if that were true, wouldn’t social media fandom have the opposite effect on users and make them feel more connected?

So, creator reps, should you all be signing up for Midjourney and building your roster literally, or do humans have a place in the future of the creator economy?

My point of view: start learning AI like your career depends on it.

Because it does.

Virtual creators and AI-created content will swallow content consumption's more ‘viral’ parts.

Like Buzzfeed content didn’t need to build communities or any real touch of humanity to grab attention, AI-generated content will dominate dopamine-optimized content.

News, how-tos, edutainment, trivia/quizzes, listicles, kid’s content, food porn, and, yes, actual porn.

AI will even have a place in chat when it’s either informational or purely novelty, which is an oft-overlooked primary use case for ChatGPT (let me play around and see what this thing can do!)

But if you’re a creator or a creator rep who wants to future-proof against an AI future, the only path is to develop real relationships with your audience by letting them into your actual, human life.

Talk about relationship problems, tap into the zeitgeist, do all of the stuff AI can’t replicate as easily.

AI won’t solve loneliness for lonely people seeking true human connections in the way actual human creators can. Creators should work hard to connect with their biggest fans and have their biggest fans connect with each other.

Then, you AI to uplevel your content with new editing tools, better B-roll, cooler musical beds, and community moderation and management.

Check out platforms already doing cool AI work with creators in super fan monetization (Vibely, STXT, TwinTone), editing (Opus Clip, Riverside.fm), Captions, scripting (ChatGPT), and original content (Midjourney, Sora).

Long story short: Learn AI immediately and build some virtual influencers if you have the time and desire. You can optimize your creators as soon as possible to keep up with the new normal of more robust content creation workflows.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES:

Let AI Help You Get Stuff Done

Hey, talent reps! Talent management is time management!

I’m sure everyone who has ever worked with me is sick of that saying, but it’s true.

Every minute of your day is precious. That minute could be providing content advice to a creator, reaching out to a new potential sign, calling a brand, or answering your e-mails (ANSWER YOUR E-MAILS, REPS!!!)

If you’ve tried task management software but thought, “Can’t a robot help?” you’re in luck!

Taskade is free task management software that can provide AI automation for task prioritization, documentation, and even outreach and due date automation.

You can enter your task once and let AI get you as far along as possible before you have to do actual human work.

So, if you’re one of the many talent managers or agents who don’t have a well-defined system for documenting, prioritizing, and completing tasks, let Taskade’s AI point you in the right direction.

SOCIAL OPTIMIZATION:

The ABCs of A/B Testing

It’s Christmas for social media wonks!

YouTube launched its ‘Test & Compare’ tool, which allows creators to upload and test multiple thumbnails to determine which are more effective at grabbing and holding attention.

Every serious creator on YouTube should use the heck out of this or other thumbnail-testing features like Oona.

But how should you use this?

My opinion: upload multiple thumbnails that are vastly different takes to start.

Once you find a clear winner, upload more thumbnails matching the composition but changing elements individually.

Repeat until you have the perfect thumbnail.

Use those learnings for future thumbnails so your CTR is going up and to the right.

And that’s it! Never stop testing.

Almost every creator spends too much time on their content and too little time on their metadata, but their content won’t be seen if they don’t nail the audience funnel!

INDUSTRY HIRING:

Toy Box Brands seeks a Manager, Affiliate and Influencer Marketing to get those creams and colors into TikTok Shop dollars.

Golin needs a VP, Influencer to prove that everything is bigger in Texas including the brand campaigns.

NBC Universal wants a Director, Influencer Engagement to finally pitch and launch Law & Order: DMCA Claims.

MEME ZONE:

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this edition, give it a share and if you get someone to sign up, I’ll send you my ‘10 Rep-Friendly Ways to Monetize Today!’ deck!

Until next time, protect yo rep.