User-generated content is starting to compete with influencer marketing. But why is this? And what difference can this make to brand image and trust?

While some have traced the practice of using celebrities to sell products as far back as 105 BC, when popular Roman gladiators would tout oil or wine, influencer marketing as we know it today truly started to flourish in 2010 with the age of social media.

Now a $16.4 billion (£14.3 billion) growing market, the strategy of combining the newfound reach of social media with the personality of individual users helped to grow brand awareness, increase conversions, and attract new audiences.

But beneath the successful veneer, “the influencer” is experiencing an identity crisis: a crisis of inauthenticity. Whereas previously these celebrities were lauded for leading an aspirational lifestyle, the negative effects of social media and disingenuous perfectionism on mental health> soon became apparent.

Filters, picture-perfect meals, and undisclosed advertising deals have led to severe distrust; over half of British shoppers trust neither mega (57%) nor micro (51%) influencers – that is, those with over one million, or between 10,000 and 100,000 followers respectively.

It seems the market has reached saturation point, with one in three UK residents ‘never’ trusting that paid promoters actually believe in the content they advertise, while 21% ‘rarely’ do.

Record-high inflation has added fuel to the fire. With three quarters of consumers looking to trade down for Christmas gifts this winter, most don’t believe that mega influencers are able to understand or relate to these financial pressures.

Instead of curated perfection, internet users want reliable, authentic images. So when it comes to the types of content consumers are searching for to inform their purchasing decisions, or simply find inspiration, many are turning to a different kind of product review: 85% of consumers would prefer to see real, satisfied customers, which they consider more trustworthy than paid influencers.

Businesses that successfully feature user-generated content (UGC) can increase searchability, promote their brand authentically and organically, and build a loyal following by sharing photos of happy (and real) customers.

At the same time, this constant interaction with their consumer base – a finger on the pulse of the community – cultivates a deeper understanding of the audience.

Maintaining consistency and quality

This disconnect and distrust between influencers and consumers is such that major advertiser Ogilvy UK has pledged to stop working with influencers who edit their photos, and the government is considering a bill to make labeling digitally altered photos that include people mandatory. With users more than twice as likely to trust the authenticity of UGC, it can be a great opportunity for brands to reconnect with their audiences.

However, a UGC strategy equally comes with its own challenges and responsibilities. Dependence on this strategy alone, while generally improving consumer trust, can also be tricky. Whether a brand is just starting out or has already built up worldwide recognition, maintaining consistency can be difficult.

In the first instance, a steady flow of content that is consistent in quality, tone, and style is key to brand growth, credibility, and trust. If a brand does not have the traction to generate enough content from its existing audience, prospective buyers may question why there aren’t more satisfied consumers willing to share their experience.

On the other hand, brands with an extensive community base risk crowding their audience feeds with too many images if they share everything, contributing to an already saturated social media space.

Keeping this balance as a business evolves might be a complicated affair, but not an impossible one. Companies might choose to work with specific brand ambassadors – great for ensuring stable, constant, and reliable content – but transparency and authenticity must stay a priority.

Younger generations and Gen Z who have driven the migration away from Facebook and Instagram towards TikTok – and more recently BeReal – to escape the over-stylized, polished images of perfection, are heading the search for genuine, unfiltered, and most importantly, relatable photos. Any company that chooses to work with brand ambassadors should therefore regularly review their partnerships to ensure values, interests, and styles are still aligned.

Ensuring brand safety

When brands wield hashtags and campaigns successfully, a UGC marketing strategy can quickly boost brand awareness and reputation.

When Aldi and M&S clashed over the caterpillar controversy, Aldi’s successful use and management of the #freecuthbert hashtag turned into a veritable social campaign, growing its Twitter following by 30%, reaching over 35 million people on Facebook, and achieving a 15% engagement rate on social media – roughly £5m worth of media spend.

However, once a business has the scale and reach to successfully call upon its audience for content, there is also the potential for misinterpretation or malicious posts.

Marketing teams haven’t always been able to forecast how their message, campaign, or brief may be interpreted, and a few big names have been burned this way. >Waitrose>, Kia, and Starbucks> are some famous instances where appeals to the internet went awry. 

In one notable example of how quickly such a call for content can turn, the >McDonald’s> #MeetTheFarmers campaign rapidly went from benign to belligerent when the fast-food chain introduced its next hashtag #McDStories. Instead of positive anecdotes, users flooded social networks criticizing and mocking the corporation.

In addition to this, business leaders need to prepare for internet trolls – that is, individuals who initiate and engage in inflammatory and provocative behavior online. The potential for damage to brand reputation, as well as to the employees who stand within the immediate firing range to deal with the harassment, is real, so much so that Channel 4 launched the #TogetherAgainstHate campaign with Nationwide, Mars, and McCain to take a stand against online abuse. 

Every brand needs a crisis plan in place to deal with negative comments and teach its employees how to discern legitimate grievances from bad behavior. When it comes to dealing with trolls, ignoring or blocking them may well be your best option. However, if you’re dealing with a dissatisfied customer, engaging in conversation and addressing their issues can turn a negative experience into a positive one.

As we have seen, finding the best UGC comes with multiple challenges. It can expose a brand to vulnerabilities, and at times highlight customer dissatisfaction (which is only really a problem if not addressed properly). But when all goes well, UGC can be a great asset. 

What makes great UGC? 

A quality user-generated photo that aligns with the brand values and voice, responds to the hashtag or campaign brief accurately, and celebrates a particular product or service, can be a gold mine for brands. Beyond that, a quality image looks >good> – and makes a brand look good by proxy.

If, on the other hand, the photo is overly dark, blurry, or shaky, or does not truthfully represent the product or service, it can reflect badly on the business. 

But as brands such as IKEA and Apple proved with their UGC campaigns, getting your audience to create and share great photos is possible. The Ikea At Mine campaign achieved 27% higher reach than brand content, together with 3.54% higher conversion rates and 2.7x higher engagement rates. Meanwhile, Apple’s #ShotOnIphone campaign received 24,000 mentions, 95% positive comments on social media, and 6.5 billion impressions.

What’s important to remember is that when a brand wants to circulate a user-generated image, they need to consider >copyright>, as with any other photo or document. So long as no other paperwork declares otherwise, the image does not belong to the brand; neither a hashtag nor tag equals permission for reuse.

A great customer experience extends beyond purchasing and into how a company engages with, and treats, its followers in any scenario. Brands who want to use UGC need to be transparent about >where >the content will be shared and seek permission from the creators themselves. Beyond legality, this kind of open communication is simply best practice; crediting your customers demonstrates that you both acknowledge and value their contribution and commitment.

Lastly, if a brand shares UGC, it should take on the responsibility for what happens to the image. One follower may be willing to share their photos on their own platform with limited followers, or with their own friends and family, but once a brand uses the same image on their platform, this image will be seen by countless others. 

To protect customers from an image being stolen or tampered with, brands can use image streaming to host this (and any other) kind of content. Image-streaming technology prevents image theft by thwarting screenshot attempts, right-click saves, and drag-and-drop actions, which means the image cannot be copied and redistributed without consent. Brands can then embed all the necessary details in the image in the form of uneditable metadata to ensure that the image creator will never go uncredited. 

Image streaming also lets brands go one step further when it comes to image quality. As the image is streamed from a central server, it can be viewed in the highest possible quality without slowing down a webpage, adapting itself to the user’s device and allowing viewers zoom in and view it in full screen, should they want to see more detail. This same technology also enables image analytics, which allows brands to measure how well individual images perform in terms of engagement.

As seen in …

UGC can be a treasure chest for brands. Through the hashtag #AsSeenOnMe, ASOS has created a whole feed of free advertising, giving shoppers inspiration for outfits as well as an idea of what these clothes look like in daily activities. The marketing campaign started in 2014 – and it’s still going strong.

With UGC, brands can demonstrate their authenticity – 93% of marketers agree that UGC inspires more trust in their audiences – and involve their communities in their stories, making them part of their success. Indeed, this strategy helps brands make their customers the star of the show, all the while building customer loyalty and brand awareness.

This level of interactivity, however, comes with responsibility. Brands need to respect their content creators, protect their work, and treat them fairly, lest they lose the trust that is so hard to gain – and maintain – nowadays.