UGC vs. Influencers: What are their differences and goals?
At a time when consumers are demanding more transparency and authenticity, brands must take their values into account to find new ways of communicating.
To communicate authentically and earn consumer trust, brands are increasingly turning to influencer marketing. Philipp Schmidt, Chief Transformation Officer at Prisma Media, emphasizes:
“There are thousands of brand messages every day. Consumers are very selective today — they’re communication pros, especially younger audiences who can clearly tell whether a brand is respectful and trustworthy: whether its actions and content align with the credibility they give it.”
Today, marketing strategies are shifting more and more from a Business-to-Consumer model to a Consumer-to-Consumer approach: brands want to place the consumer at the heart of their communication strategy.
User Generated Content (UGC) and influencers have become these new brand ambassadors. By contributing to a brand’s content strategy, they influence their audience’s purchasing decisions.
But do you really know the differences and similarities between UGC and influencers? And how to use their content wisely?
Consumers buy from brands they trust.
Consumer trust in a brand remains a key and lasting factor. When consumers believe a brand can keep its promises, they are 2.4 times more likely to become regular buyers.
(Deloitte, Insights 2021)
The common ground between UGC and influencer content: both generate more interest from consumers and potential customers than traditional commercial advertising.
Studies show that at least 30% of consumers would buy a product simply because it was promoted by their favorite influencer.
(The Role of Influencers in the Consumer Decision-Making Process, 2019)
As for UGC, 8 out of 10 consumers say that content created by other users strongly influences their purchase decisions. (TurnTo)
In a C-to-C model, the consumer’s sense of identification with either the influencer or the UGC is stronger than with brand content.
However, it’s important not to confuse these two types of ambassadors, as they serve different purposes.
Focus on UGC
Unlike influencer-created content, UGC is never commissioned by the brand — making it more inherently authentic.
Brand users spontaneously share their opinions on a product with their peers and communities.
In the realm of UGC, it’s also important to distinguish between content created by consumers and that created by a brand’s employees.
On one hand, there’s content from product users, which helps brands reach wider audiences. Encouraging UGC allows a brand to get closer to its customers, understand their language, and refine their knowledge of consumer personas.
Kantar goes even further by talking about User Generated Culture, as user-created content reaches a wide range of people — with users often being connected to multiple groups.
Not only do they create content, but they also carry a real culture within their micro-communities.
On the other hand, UGC can also take the form of EGC — Employee Generated Content.
The goal is to engage employees and turn them into brand ambassadors by encouraging them to create content.
This might include employees sharing information about their company, meeting rooms, team-building activities, or collaborative projects.
Each employee, through their relationships, personal experiences, and background, can influence their friends, colleagues, and professional network.
The different types of influencers and their objectives
An influencer is an individual who, due to their status or media exposure, can influence consumer behavior within a given domain (in this case, on social media — especially Instagram).
Today, there are five types of influencers:
1. Celebrities:
They often have several million, or even tens of millions, of followers. Their main objective is to increase a brand’s visibility, awareness, and public relations.
2. Macro-influencers:
Starting from 100k followers on social media, an influencer can be considered a “macro” influencer. They generally help bring visibility and brand awareness.
3. Niche influencers:
Not defined by their number of followers but primarily considered experts in their fields of interest, their followers turn to them for recommendations and product reviews (food, tech, beauty…).
4. Micro-influencers:
Micro-influencers have a significantly smaller number of followers than macro-influencers. The most commonly cited follower range for micro-influencers is between 10,000 and 100,000. More affordable for brands than macro-influencers, studies by the agency Markerly show that engagement rates on micro-influencer posts are, on average, higher than those seen on posts by social media celebrities.
5. Nano-influencers:
Nano-influencers have an even smaller sphere of influence than micro-influencers. Generally, they are considered to have between 1,000 and 5,000 followers.
While a nano-influencer might seem like the “everyday person” of influencer marketing, their content should not be confused with UGC. Nano-influencers still collaborate with brands, even if their compensation is lower than that of macro-influencers.
UGC: A More Authentic Form of Content
Imperfection as a Sign of Authenticity
UGC is a real form of social proof. Unlike content created by influencers, everyday consumer reviews are not always perfect—and it’s often this imperfection that helps us recognize true UGC.
According to Kantar (TGI Survey 2020), 20% of respondents said that celebrities influence their purchasing decisions, while 40% said they are more influenced by other internet users.
Let’s take the example of content produced on TikTok: video formats are often imperfect and not especially aesthetic, but the end result feels “real.”
Whereas influencers are briefed on brand identity and have access to brand assets to prepare their content, UGC creators are not.
And that’s the strength of UGC: the more it feels authentic, the more it benefits the brand.
In the eyes of the public, UGC often feels more sincere than influencer-sponsored content.
Content Diversity
User-generated content is unique and reflects the individual experiences of each person. This diversity of opinions is what gives UGC its richness.
Users are not briefed by the brand and are not influenced by potential compensation: they describe their experiences using their own words, photos, or videos.
The variety of content and perspectives shared by users makes UGC incredibly valuable.
Higher Engagement Rates for UGC
Even though UGC creators may not have the impressions or reach of influencers (who can reach audiences in the thousands or millions), the numbers show that UGC often generates better engagement rates than influencer content.
In fact, users with fewer than 1,000 Instagram followers generate an average engagement rate of 7.2%, compared to a rate of just 1.1% for accounts with more than 100,000 followers. (Source: HubSpot)
UGC: Engaging Content at Lower Cost
Unlike influencer content, which is always compensated—either through payment or product gifting—UGC is spontaneous and not commissioned by the brand.
Identify Your Next Brand Ambassadors Among UGC Creators
Your consumers are your future ambassadors, and you can identify them through the UGC they publish.
To an ambassador, a brand is more than just a logo—it represents a philosophy, a mindset, or a lifestyle.
By successfully identifying their most loyal consumers, brands can build long-lasting relationships with them.
What Motivates UGC Creators?
1. Social Identification
Nowadays, when a consumer fully connects with a brand, they may want to belong to the brand’s community and proudly claim that association.
This is especially true on social media, where brand-centered communities are increasingly common. It’s a way for fans to express their identity.
According to the New York Times Customer Insight Group, 68% of people share content online to give others a better sense of who they are and what they care about.
2. Freely Sharing a Point of View
One of the main reasons that motivate consumers to create UGC is simply the desire to share their opinion with others.
“We share MORE content. From MORE sources. With MORE people. MORE often. MORE quickly.”
— concludes the New York Times study.
And consumers have their reasons for doing so. Here are a few examples:
- To provide relevant and entertaining content to their community
- To express their individuality to others
- To raise awareness about causes or brands they care about
3. Being Spotted by Brands to Become a Nano-Influencer
To become a nano-influencer, you first need to get noticed as a UGC (User-Generated Content) creator.
If a user publishes quality content related to a brand—content that resonates with their audience and adds value to the brand—the brand will likely want to encourage them to continue sharing high-quality posts with their community.
To do this, brands typically thank the user with gifts or event invitations. This is the step that allows a UGC creator to evolve into a nano-influencer.
UGC: A More Authentic Form of Influencer Content
The objectivity and impartiality of an influencer can be questioned when it’s known they are promoting a product in exchange for payment.
“The audience of influencers is becoming less and less naive about the concept of influence.
They are aware of the partnerships brands engage in and are becoming increasingly demanding when it comes to ethics,”
— explains Christophe Manceau, Strategic Planning Director at Kantar.
Faced with this growing skepticism, UGC helps reassure consumers thanks to its strong authenticity and credibility.
Since users are never commissioned by the brand to promote content, their honest opinions help build trust with consumers and foster a more transparent style of communication.
In response to this demand for trust and authenticity in C-to-C marketing, will influencers start adopting more of the UGC codes?
