One area of digital marketing that has been dramatically affected by deepfakes is influencer marketing. On one hand, these AI-powered personas can capture the public's attention, making them perfect for creating viral campaigns. Since deepfakes and AI avatars on social media break the norm, they can help brands increase awareness and visibility.

However, deepfakes have a negative side, as it's common to see videos of influencers promoting scams. This article will examine the impact of deepfakes on influencer marketing trends and discuss their ethics and risks.

What Are Deepfakes?

Deepfakes refer to pieces of digitally altered media that clone another persona. These are made using deep learning AI technology that can replicate a person's likeness and make them look exactly like another. A good example is the TikTok account @deeptomcruise, which shows a person resembling Tom Cruise doing various things, such as playing golf, dancing, and performing magic tricks.

While many may confuse the person as Tom Cruise, the reality is that the person behind the camera is an impersonator named Mles Fisher, and his image is manipulated using deepfake technology. Deepfakes videos have been used in negative ways. The first deepfake videos featured celebrities whose faces were swapped with those of porn stars. In the recent past, deepfake has also been used to spread fake news. However, there are still some legitimate ways of using deepfakes, such as influencer marketing.

How Deepfakes Can Be Used in Influencer Marketing

One of the areas to be greatly impacted by deepfakes is influencer marketing. Here are ways in which deepfakes can be used positively for influencer marketing:

Cloning Influencers for Different Markets

While influencer marketing is one of the most effective social media marketing strategies, it also has limitations. For instance, a human influencer may be unable to reach audiences in different markets using different languages. However, deepfake technology can enable brands to create influencer marketing on a great scale or even revive historical figures. They can make several influencer marketing campaigns in different markets at an affordable rate.

Marketing Purposes

If you are a camera-shy person who feels shy on camera, you can use deepfakes to create social media marketing content. Like AR filters, marketers can use deepfakes to show how new fashion styles may look in different body types. The technology can be used to repurpose and distribute content and provide a personalized experience for consumers. 

Better Influencer Collaborations

When original content is replaced with deepfakes, collaborations with other influencers around the globe can be easier. This can also eliminate videography and photography costs, as well as travel and operating expenses.

Virtual Assistance

Deepfakes can give chat boxes and virtual influencers a human face. This can create the impression that the customer is speaking with a real human.

Risk and Ethical Concerns of Using Deepfakes 

While Deepfakes can be an effective tool for influencer marketing on Instagram, they also come with challenges. These include:

• Loss of trust. Once your customers know that you are using deepfakes of celebrities in your marketing, they will question the authenticity of your human influencer videos. Once they lack faith in your brand, they can lose faith in your product. That will hurt brand authenticity and destroy all the efforts you spent trying to build it.
• Brand reputation. Let's assume your brand is collaborating with an influencer whose persona has been cloned by others. This can negatively impact your brand's reputation, especially if the Deepfake videos show influencers doing the wrong thing. People might have the idea that your brand supports those negative things.
• Misinformation. Deepfakes are commonly used to spread misinformation, which can confuse customers.
• Legal challenges. Deepfakes can also result in legal challenges for your brand if you or your influencer use someone's voice or image without their permission. This can be expensive for both the brand and the influencer.

How to Overcome the Risk of Using Deepfakes

Here are ways brands and influencers can tackle the risks of using deepfakes:

• Customer education. You can overcome the challenges that come with deepfakes by educating users about them. This can be especially important for influencers whose followers are confused by their deepfake personas. They should take the time to explain to users that not everything they see online is real.  
• Use of technologies. Influencers and brands can use technology to identify deepfake videos and images. 
• Community building. Influencers need to build strong communities with audiences. Their followers will trust them when they create such a genuine and authentic relationship. One way they can do that is by creating authentic and relatable content. They can also collaborate with other influencers to improve their brand image and have an engaged community.

In Conclusion

There is no doubt that the era of deepfakes is here and will impact influencer marketing. This technology can improve many areas, from personalized campaigns in different marketing to content for camera-shy influencers. However, before you start using it, you need to know the common risks and ethical concerns that come with it.