The Chambers Group Is Flying High With The New Social Media Algorithms & AI

Social media may have never looked more chaotic with whistleblowers lifting the lid on how things really work on Instagram, Facebook/Meta, TikTok, Discord and other platforms, but the underlying truth is that the social media space continues to grow rapidly – and thousands of algorithms and AI on Facebook/Meta, Instagram and other platforms are also increasing exponentially.

The Chambers Group has developed a way to work within those algorithms and AI in order to thrive in the space and be able to take their clients' content and messages to the next level. We utilize our own proprietary testing process for the target demographic in order to know when they are on brand with their audience. Once we have this data we pass it along to the brand, celebrity, or influencer we are working with, and they utilize it to spike their traction and push their content out. The results speak for themselves with Eric Chambers and Branden running digital campaigns for Tim McGraw, Alessandra Ambrosio, Lionel Richie and Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin. "Eric Chambers and Branden helped grow our Instagram following from 200,000 to 2.6 million followers," confirms Tommy Chong, who has worked with the brothers for the past decade, and credits them with helping him make The Hollywood Reporter's prestigious Top Comedians chart, which ranks the most popular comedians on Facebook/Meta, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Google Plus. Right now, most people and companies are fighting the Al and algorithms of all social media platforms, yet The Chambers Group and their clients are riding the digital wave like pro-surfers.

The latest official data shows that 60% of adults that spend time online have an Instagram account, and that 500 million of the 800 million people on Instagram are active every single day. Those statistics might convince you that your business needs to be on Instagram, posting regularly, and building an organic following. Unfortunately, building an organic following on Instagram is becoming increasingly difficult. Just consider what's happening at Facebook/Meta, where organic growth potential decreases year over year – down from 16% in 2012 to 2.27% in 2015. Now it's below 1%. Given that Facebook/Meta owns Instagram, it's only a matter of time before your Instagram organic reach falls to zero. Why is that happening? Is Instagram just a bad place to grow your audience? Or are there ways to work around this trend? No, Instagram is not a bad place to grow an audience. And yes, companies like The Chambers Group have found ways to work around the rapid decline of organic social media growth.

In this article, I discuss these pain points and breakthroughs with brothers; Branden and Eric Chambers, co-founders of The Chambers Group, a powerhouse Los Angeles-based digital marketing firm. They represent a treasure trove of top brands, influencers, and celebrities with over one billion combined followers across all social platforms, so they are experts in understanding, facilitating, and surfing through the ever-changing AI and algorithms of all social platforms.

AI, Algorithms, and How Celebrities/Influencers Are Made

The dictionary definition of the word "celebrity" refers to people who have developed some notoriety in the fields of entertainment and sports. Social Media brings with it a new kind of fame in the form of social media celebrities or "influencers". However, the differentiating lines are somewhat blurred in how it plays out in real life.

Branden Chambers explains:

"In today's word of AI, it's much more difficult to become an influencer. Six years ago, the IG and FB algorithm would allow your content to reach 100% of your followers. Now it's less than 2%. To become an Influencer online is not an exact science, it's more like an art. Our constant research and the development of proprietary software allows us to navigate social media in a way that has made The Chambers Group one of the only digital marketing firms to be able to guarantee results and deliver. There are always two sides to becoming an influencer; there's the creativity of the content and how engaging it is; and there's also an understanding of the platform's algorithm. Creativity gets people interested in you, but the algorithm is what gets you before people in the first place."

Before social media, oftentimes there was a need to achieve some feat to become a true celebrity - be featured in a movie, signed to a label, drafted into the NBA, or win a Grammy. In the days of social media AI and algorithms, digital marketing firms like The Chambers Group have become necessary because they study what the algorithm needs; what message it prefers, what kinds of videos are promoted more and where to place them on the platform, etc. If you get these things right, you will most certainly be seen, but followership and engagement are tied more to how creative you are.

Eric Chambers reveals just how effective this dual approach has been in the industry:

"Branden and I have a background in film and TV production. We started off creating, producing, and directing TV shows and feature films for 20th Century Fox and Spike TV. We had a lot of success, but we never lost the fascination for marketing born from working as teenagers with our father, Keith Chambers, who started The Chambers Group in the 80's. Our film background taught us the art of entertainment and creativity. It helped us learn how to keep people interested in a person or a brand. When we became partners in The Chambers Group, this experience became, if you like, our secret weapon. The best firms in the industry are those who can marry cutting edge creativity with knowledge of Algorithm performance. That is how influencers and powerful new brands are born"

How Much of Today's Fame & Brand Recognition is A Product Of AI and Algorithms

To illustrate how AI and Algorithms keep changing the landscape, look no further than Instagram account @lilmiquela which has rapidly amassed three million followers. The kicker is that she is not a real teenage girl, she is an AI creation of Brud; an LA creative agency specializing in AI and robotics. Lil Miquela is just one fictional character or virtual influencers taking social media by storm. We see this a lot with people brands and AI creations like Lil Miquela who become a cool thing to be a part of and follow. On a creative level it's all about creating remarkability. @lilmiquela is remarkable because "she" is the face of a new and fun page that pushes us to go outside our normal social routine and interact online.

Aspiring influencers are rattled by this trend want to know if virtual influencers will take over the influencer space? And if it is easier for them to gain traction with the social media algorithms?

Branden reassures the real-life influencers: "Clearly, virtual influencers can compete favorably with regular influencers, but both still have to understand the algorithm and be very creative. The only edge they can have is from the knowledge of their designers. Digital Marketing Firms like The Chambers Group, are to their client base, what designers are to virtual influencers. So, yes everyone can compete, and it won't signal the death of regular influencers."
You just have to glance through their star-studded client roster to realize just what an impact their genius firm has on a celebrity's social media profile. "These guys are big wave surfers when it comes to using AI and algorithms to their client's advantage.," shares Tommy Chong.

Clearly, Algorithms have a lot of say in who gets famous these days, but Eric Chambers says this doesn't have to be a negative. "Algorithms are not set in stone, they change frequently. This is why a constant study of small changes in algorithm preferences is an integral part of our business model. We use algorithms to our advantage. Whenever they make a new algorithm we see it as an opportunity. We just accept that this is how it works now, and we embrace it.
We work with celebrities who have made their name in entertainment, and sports, but we also work with big brands, and I cannot say that our process of getting results for these groups is drastically different. Social Media has only redefined popularity to the extent that it has leveled the playing field"

There is no doubt that AI is the future of marketing. Algorithms would determine a lot of indices of exposure, but AI cannot engender human connections independently. What this means is that for aspiring celebrities, influencers, and brands is that excellence, authenticity, and creativity in their craft is still a paramount index of success in today's world. It's just not enough anymore. This means that fame is increasingly becoming a product of attentiveness to algorithmic trends. "Our father, Keith took brands from zero to hero with traditional marketing tools and we've built on that foundation to position our business to provide a unique, powerful and proven system to transform anyone into a social media star with millions of followers," Branden says.