Opinions expressed by Digital Journal contributors are their own.
Country music singer and BILI influencer Jessica Lynn and her rescue dog Audrey have delivered a very special message by way of Facebook and Instagram.
“Hey Friends! As a pet lover, I am excited to share with you the amazing products available at my BILI e-commerce store! #ad ” read a message from Jessica regarding the Because I Love It social commerce platform.
“One of my personal favorites is the Simply Pets Bacon Minis, which are a healthy and delicious treat for your furry friends. Use my promo code JESSICA200FF to get a 20% discount on your purchase at my store: https://store.becauseiloveit.com/JessicaLynnMusic. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to spoil your pets with high-quality products! #BecauseILoveIt #SimplyPets #HealthyTreats #PetLover”
The social media posts and accompanying video reveal plenty about the power BILI has to give influencers and brands momentum across social commerce channels.
But this particular post has even more to reveal.
Jessica’s message was written by Generative AI and represents a strategic move by the BILI team to harness this emerging technology and remain out in front of a trend that is sweeping the tech world. And guess what? In the tests run by BILI, the AI posts performed 28% better in terms of greater audience engagement!
Generative AI, including ChatGPT, has enormous potential as BILI pushes forward with its core mission—to help micro-and-macro influencers become their own retailers.
“We started experimenting with Generative AI in 2022 as soon as Chat GPT was released publicly. We used it to send out newsletters to our creators and to our brands, that sort of thing,” said BILI co-founder and CEO Adrian Capobianco.
“I was shocked at how quickly and effectively we were able to generate new content. It was very efficient and very effective and that fits with our model of helping creators be efficient and effective as they connect with brands. And it fits with helping brands be efficient and effective as they connect with creators. My co-founder Howard He and I started to brainstorm with our team about how we could leverage this technology.”
Generative AI will expand the value of BILI, a performance-based platform that enables influencers to earn a fee for selling products directly to social shoppers. As its database of 10,000+ influencers reaches more than 200-300 million social commerce consumers daily, BILI eliminates intermediaries and in the process provides revenue for the influencer and a bigger piece of the pie for the brand.
The bottom line is that BILI with Generative AI is streamlining its process for connecting influencers and brands, and then connecting with social shoppers.
BILI with its embrace of Generative AI is strengthening its foothold in the influencer and social commerce sectors. The startup has already raised more than a million dollars through seed and bridge rounds; and doubled the valuation of its company since launching a year ago.
Generative AI, including ChatGPT, will also be amplifying BILI’s influencer-brand-consumer dynamic by providing assistance to influencers who may not have built out an entire team. The AI for now is taking one thing off an influencer’s to-do list—writing social media content.
And this fits in perfectly with BILI’s influencer demographic.
BILI targets mid-to-macro influencers, with 50,000 to 500,000 followers respectively. These influencers stand in stark contrast to mega celebrity influencers whose followers number in the millions.
But influencers with fewer followers come with benefits. These influencers are typically more specialized and tend to have a more engaged audience. Data shows influencers with fewer followers have engagement rates that are two-to-three times higher than mega-influencers.
Overall, Generative AI represents the next step in social commerce storytelling, and illustrates how BILI’s focus on the influencer is helping to drive the conversation in an industry that is shifting.
Looking ahead, using AI to generate text is just the tip of the iceberg for BILI.
Given the visual nature of social media, taking AI to the next step with the creation of visual content is a natural progression for the startup. With developments in technology, influencers could create authentic visual and video content without the need for actual products on hand. This would solve barriers that arise with the cost of brands sending many samples to influencers and could streamline the process for influencers and brands alike.
“Right now, we’re playing with words,” Adrian said. “But there will be a time, soon, when visuals will also be in the mix, which is very exciting.”
Visit BecauseILoveIt.com to learn more.
