O
ver 467 million people in India use social media, and one of them is especially unique: Kyra the virtual influencer.
Kyra is a 21 year old woman from Delhi who has already amassed 100,000 followers since her launch in January 2022. Created by TopSocial India with Himanshu Goel leading the project, Kyra was originally launched in 2021 under a different appearance and has since undergone an upgrade and makeover for her new 2022 debut.
Her following so far is 90% local to India with an engagement rate of 10%, making Kyra a strong candidate for any brands or businesses looking to tap into the Indian market in an innovative way.
At the moment, Kyra mainly lives on Instagram while hosting a smaller YouTube presence on the side. Because she’s based in India, Kyra doesn’t have access to TikTok, so she instead reposts short videos to her YouTube to show off her video abilities. Check one of those out here:
We caught up with Goel, Kyra's creator, to learn more about the inspiration behind Kyra and how she has been received so far by her audience on Instagram:
What inspired you to create India’s first virtual influencer?
[Goel] We have been in the Influencer Marketing space for the past two years. We could see our international counterparts make great progress with virtual influencers. We believe there is tremendous opportunity in India for someone like Kyra and we decided in 2021 to work on India's first Virtual Influencer.
Kyra has gained over 100k followers since her launch in January—why do you think her account has grown so quickly?
[Goel] We found that people were not only engaging with Kyra's profile but also sharing her posts and videos to their friends and in their stories. That word of mouth, especially on her short videos, helped us gain 100,000 followers so quickly.
How have Indian social media users reacted to Kyra so far?
[Goel] We are delighted by the response so far. A lot of people already understand the concept and are engaging with her. Her first Instagram Reel received over a million views. There's a small percentage of users who participate in online harassment and trolling—it is something regular influencers face and it is sad to see. We hope Kyra can be someone who raises awareness about this issue.
So far, the only other virtual influencer with Indian heritage is Zeevah, a model based in London with only 1,500 followers. While Kyra has yet to officially collaborated with a brand, Goel told us that an exciting project is expected to launch in late June. Stay tuned to see what's next!
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