Influencers are a popular business partner for many marketers. These are the lifestyle bloggers, Instagrammers, and minor celebrities who have a loyal fanbase that they can share your brand with. However, in recent trends, we’re beginning to see more and more “faceless influencers.”

This may seem counterintuitive to the nature of influencers, who often make content based on who they are as a personality. But times and preferences change, and faceless influencers are having their day come on social media platforms these days. Let’s dive into exactly what a faceless influencer is, some examples, and why they’re effective.

What Is a Faceless Influencer?

A “faceless” influencer is exactly what the name implies: an influencer who creates content without showing their face. They may provide voiceover, or they may simply use templates and aesthetics to get their point across. These influencers may want to maintain their privacy and anonymity, something that is becoming increasingly harder on social media. They may just prefer more aesthetic content to talking to a camera.

These are the videos you may find on Instagram Reels or Tik Tok that use aesthetic images, filters, and atmospheric music to set the vibe of their post. Some ASMR influencers are also faceless. There is a fear that, because these influencers have to pull imagery and music from many of the same sources, all of the content will become too same-y. But there have been some influencers who have pulled ahead of the usual faceless crowd.

Examples of Faceless Influencers

Some examples of faceless influencers who have found success include:

• Gibi – an ASMR artist who revealed her face only once she had built a substantial audience on her ASMR content alone
• Practical Wisdom – an educational YouTube channel “sharing knowledge and wisdom on the internet.”
• @TheSocialMedia.CEO – a social media management resource Instagram account that uses reels to share templates and memes.
• Men With the Pot – a Twitch stream and YouTube channel run by Slawek Kalkrut and Kryzstof Szymanski all about woodland cooking.

Many well-known bloggers are also faceless influencers, focusing on the content rather than their personality.

Why Faceless Influencers Are Effective

The most important question remains: are faceless influencers effective? Like all other influencers, it mainly depends on how well they do their jobs. Some faceless influencers create generic content that blends into the background, but others have honed their talent. Here are a few ways that faceless influencers can be effective for marketers.

• A focus on high quality content. A faceless influencer has to put out high quality content to be successful. They can’t get by on charisma or looks. Their content essentially serves as their “face.” Thus the bulk of their skills and effort are dedicated to creating valuable content that stands out and catches the attention of their audience.
• Nothing to distract from your brand. If you work with a faceless influencer to review a new product or service, their video will be focused on that product or service. Most of the video will be centered around that. You don’t have to worry that relevant content will only be a footnote, because that will likely be the entire point of the video or content.
• A built in audience. Like influencer personalities, faceless influencers still typically come with a strong loyal following. These followers may not know the face of the influencer, but they have an attachment to their content. So when that content endorses or collaborates with your brand, their audience is likely to pay attention.
• Relatable content to your audience. Most lifestyle influencers tend to display lives that their audience wants to have, rather than lives that they feel actually relate to them. But faceless influencers tend to post more relatable content — from jokes and memes to videos with useful but accessible tips. This can be particularly effective in understanding your audience. 
• More creative approaches to influencer collaboration. Because faceless influencers have to face the camera away from themselves, they have to be more creative in the way they approach their content. If you worry that your target audience is tired of seeing the same old content over and over, a collaboration with a faceless influencer could be a refreshing change of pace. Just take a look at their content first to see if their creativity is in line with your marketing strategy.

Faceless influencers are building up strong and dedicated audiences as the trends continue to move their way. If you need something new for your marketing, collaboration with a faceless influencer may be the way to go.