🔍 User-Generated Content vs. Influencers

Hey, it's Alex. This email comes from deep in the Umpqua National Forest in Oregon, where wifi doesn't exist, and where I should've packed hiking boots but instead, I'm slipping down every trail in my sneakers.

BUT...

Remember Apple’s #ShotOniPhone hashtag that everyone - creator or not - used when they posted from an iPhone? That was actually one of the earliest and most successful  UGC campaigns of all time (and still going, the hashtag has 23.7 million posts on Instagram) it was literally turned into billboards!

There are four categories influencers fall into:

• Organic
• Celebrities
• Micro
• Macro

The bigger the influencer the harder it is to manage them.

Which causes these pain points:

• How to find and engage with influencers
• How to manage them
• Understanding which influencers to work with

So, we’re going to help you navigate those waters.

Impact.com put together the all-you-need-to-know guide on how to work with each type of influencer, manage them, and crush your campaign.

You can get it for free here.

It's not a new strategy, but it is now becoming a popular one. A report by Stackla claims that 90% of consumers say that authenticity matters when choosing brands to support - they want to see content that comes from the audience instead of paid professionals, and that is why UGC is stealing the show.

So can anyone leverage UGC? Let’s talk about it.

The creator economy is thriving like never before, and every brand or business wants to integrate it into its content strategy.

Is there a difference between a UGC creator and an influencer?

Yes.

A UGC creator specializes in creating engaging content for brands to leverage across the customer journey via their marketing channels. 

While an influencer (other than charging more) creates content that is distributed on their channels and aligns with their personal brand as well as their audience, which will have overlap with the brand.

Why does this master?

76% of consumers have purchased a product because of someone else’s recommendation. 

That is why UGC creators are on a meteoric rise because they are considered more authentic.

Alo Yoga’s mission is to bring yoga to the world, and they do it in the most authentic way a brand can - using UGC and real customer stories. Alo Yoga has increased returning customers to their online shop by 293%, time spent on their website by 60%, and improved their average order value by 107%  by using a UGC marketing platform that helped them do more with the existing traffic and brand fans. 

They have a whole section on their landing page dedicated to sharing how the consumers (or UGC creators) are wearing their apparel. This has created an entirely new category called ‘Fan Faves’ which has an authentic appeal resulting in high conversion rates after adding to cart. 

“To be able to implement applicable UGC into our emails is going to allow us to have more options for a customer to actually purchase when they get an email,” says Chris Moynihan, Director of Digital Marketing at Alo Yoga.

Another great example is the Sweat fitness app. Global fitness icon, Kayla Itsines, built a 400-million-dollar brand and business on the pillars of UGC. 

As a personal trainer, she created a program specifically for women, and instead of posting her abs, she would constantly repost her customers’ progress photos. Soon, everyone in Australia knew Itsines and wanted to work out with her because they saw real people posting real results instead of a polished, chiseled trainer. 

This was relatable, measurable, and backed by social proof. The by-product of this was a strong community, and many consumers turned into brand ambassadors as well as full-time fitness creators!

UGC’s key selling point, you can use it across all marketing channels and really fill the gap in the conversion funnel by creating specific content for your customer journey. 

It goes beyond social media and lets you acquire and reach new audience sets.

Both! Influencers and UGC creators now exist on a spectrum with a massive community and conversion value between the two.

“UGC creators’ value lies less on their personal brand and more in the inherent power of their content,” says Kyle Wong, CE O of Pixlee. “While studio-produced content remains a critical part of the content mix, brands are increasingly seeking new ways to scale and source authentic content.”

Use UGC Creators for testimonials and feedback - their strong suit - which can be repurposed to address consumer pain points throughout your marketing funnel. 

Use Influencers to create awareness about the brand and find existing audience sets that align with your consumer persona.

If you are an established brand, awareness is not your issue, but staying relevant might be. Tap into UGC creators to increase your touchpoints across various marketing channels.

Example, Sephora now has an “As Seen On TikTok” shelf in their stores which speaks to the power of testimonials and has led to higher conversions. In a case like this, influencers are best used to promote activations or create professional content as collaborations.

Another great example is Farrow&Ball - a home decor company that showcases images from their customers as authentic design inspiration on their website!

A brand’s costumes are its best marketers, and if you are a service, that is a way to showcase user-generated content. VSCO uses its socials to showcase the personalities of its many consumers from around the world - the photos don’t promote the brand but showcase how easily people use the social media tool. It also keeps the brand name consistent when you look at social listening data.

UGC’s primary purpose is to create a sense of trust and social credibility through small creators without relying on their personal brand. It helps even out the marketing funnels, resulting in more conversions than a highly produced ad, and can expand your community organically. 

Think of it as outsourcing content production to your consumers, making them the hero of your brand’s story and forming a relationship with your community.

• The power of vulnerability by Brene Brown
• How to ACTUALLY build a business as a creator
• The User-generated marketing stats you need to know in 2023
• Amazon prime took the meaning of native creatives to another level on TikTok
• A site with email inspos
• Sephora debuts TikTok training program for emerging beauty brands

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If you've ever wanted to visit Oregon then I highly recommend visiting the Umpqua National Forest. My fiance and I come here every year now (four years running). It's 10/10.

Here are some pics.

Happy Tuesday,

Alex