With the quick rise of user-generated content (UGC) and UGC creators, you may be unsure about how to differentiate this from influencer marketing and how it would benefit your business.
We’re here to break down the differences between each of them to help you choose what’s best for your brand.
UGC, on the other hand, is unsponsored product content that is created by users of the product that works to encourage customer engagement, promote the brand and boost its search engine optimization (SEO).
Both of these marketing tactics are used by various businesses to further elevate their brand.
Influencer marketing involves a lot of planning and regulation on the business’ end. In most cases, a business researches the type of influencer to best promote their product, contacts the influencer or their management team, then strikes a deal on how much they pay the influencer for how many posts over what duration of time.
Further, most brands create some sort of list or script of key phrases and words the influencer should include in their sponsored post. Finally, the business must look over the sponsored post(s), suggest edits and only then can the post can go out to the influencers’ audience. This whole process can take months.
This is where UGC could be a better alternative as it doesn’t require extensive planning. The majority of UGC is created without the brand having to do anything as it comes in the form of reviews on social media or social media posts of customers utilizing the product in their day-to-day life.
You could browse social media for UGC of your own brand, ask the UGC creators for permission to use their photos, and repost on your brand accounts as this shows potential customers that your products do satisfy your existing customers. Alternatively, you could sign on with digital asset platforms that offer UGC consumables as options.
In fact, UGC is so useful that many businesses use methods such as hashtag competitions to encourage the generation of even more UGC.
Price is a crucial deciding factor when it comes to marketing decisions, especially with new, up-and-coming businesses. You must note that Instagram influencer content can cost anywhere between $10 to $10000 and that of TikTok influencer content is $800-$7000 depending on the scale of influencer you are working with. The average asking price of a UGC creator is $212 which, in most cases, is considerably less than the price of influencer-sponsored content.
Never underestimate the importance of brand authenticity.
80% of consumers are more likely to make purchases if the brands offer personalized customer experiences. With the sheer amount of sponsored content we are exposed to through social media nowadays, it is now easy for a consumer to recognise when an influencer is just reading off a script for their paid sponsored post.
These types of posts don’t seem genuine and can therefore make consumers skeptical of whether the product is actually worth their money. This is why it’s crucial that brands present themselves as sincere with their content. UGC is the way to do this.
93% of marketers agreeing that consumers trust content created by customers more than content created by brands. Customers do not completely trust the clean-cut shots from the studio – it helps if they can visualize a regular person like them utilizing your product in their daily life.
Integrating UGC into your brand image helps potential customers believe in your products and encourages them to click the ‘Add To Cart’ button. Visual assets and creative platforms like KittyKat are AAI-engineered to create data-driven visuals that are versatile to be used across all platforms. This saves the brand owner time, money and guesswork when booking the next product shoot!
