Many Brands are turning to Social Media and utilizing UGC to improve their digital marketing strategy. Brands are using UGC to establish authenticity, generate awareness and drive conversions.

For many years, TV commercials were the only way a company could advertise their product or brand. When social media started to take over as the main marketing platform for companies, the only way they had of getting their message out was by paying for ads on Facebook or other networks. Now brands are turning to social media influencers who have built up a high-following on Instagram and YouTube by creating good content that resonates with their audience and leveraging these channels to market themselves.

The main reason for brands to leverage their UGC for influencer marketing is because of the cost effectiveness (For instance; Influencers such as The Martha Stewart Living, Rachael Ray, Kylie Jenner and DJ Khaled can reach millions of followers on their social media channels. These influencers are mostly paid advertising with a sponsored hashtag that’s displayed in their videos, but there are many ways to connect with them on other platforms like emailing or DMing them) and the realness (influencers are the closest they can get to product reviews and they engage followers in real-time.

UGC, for those who do not know is ‘User Generated Content’ and it is the ‘activities of users in producing content’. These can be blog posts, tweets, reviews, feedbacks, likes or comments on social media. Although there are many different types of UGC, the most important thing to remember about it is that it’s user-made content and not manufactured by the brand itself.

Influencers as a whole have gained a lot of popularity over the past few years but UGC influencers or micro-influencers specifically have seen a boom in recent times because companies are now realizing that they are cost effective and authentic.

The Following Three Social Media Influencers, in different product categories have created UGC and collaborated with Brands. 

1.  Beauty 

There are tons of social media influencers in the beauty/health and wellness space. Social Media in the Beauty and Wellness industry is currently dominated by beauty influencers. The top five beauty influencers are: Rosie for Moda, Laura K for Vero Moda, Victoria Lyn, Tiffany D. and Tammy Hembrow. They have large followings on social media so these brands are able to reach a massive audience through their platform. Influencer marketing can increase customer engagement as well as brand awareness because UGC creators often use hashtags that they know their audience will be interested in such as #trending_now or #momlife which drives more traffic to the page of the Brand they’re working with.This blog will highlight one social media influencer in particular, Victoria Lyn. Victoria Lyn has a solid social media presence with her UGC on UGC platforms such as YouTube, and TikTok, and Instagram. She has millions of followers (e.g., 13M viewers on YouTube, and 1.3M followers on Instagram) and has over 2,447 posts. She has a large following on TikTok and YouTube but she also has a large following on Instagram.

2. Fashion/Fashion Accessories 

Vero Moda is one of the most popular fashion brands in the world. The company has a strong social media presence and UGC influencers to boost brand awareness. They have collaborated with many influencers including, Rosie Tik Tok (140K Instagram followers), Laura K. (0.3M Instagram followers) and Halley (163K Instagram followers) in the past. The collaboration between these brands and social media influencers has helped them spread the word about their products and reinforce their brand’s image.

3. Technology & Tech Accessories 

Another popular fashion brand partnering with social media influencers is a technology company that produces accessories for mobile phones — Ringke. The brand has collaborated with a number of influencers including, Love Maegan (3.3M views on Instagram) and Tiffany Ackerman (9.7M views on Instagram) in the past. Ringke has also been able to reach new audiences by collaborating with these influencers to promote their products through UGC on YouTube and Instagram.

The idea behind leveraging UGC is to make content that will resonate with an audience and create awareness for a product or brand. Influencers are able to connect brands better than traditional ads because they have built up a strong trust with their audience which makes them authentic when it comes to endorsing products or brands.

Companies are imitating this strategy by collaborating with influencers to create the same type of content that an influencer creates. These campaigns have been very successful for many companies because social media influencers have a huge following and can reach a large amount of people, and they are able to create content that will resonate with their audience.

A “Social Media Influencer” is someone in any field who has a high level of influence over their target demographic/audience as well as a large social media following. Social Media Influencers can use this influence (especially on Instagram where UGC is more prevalent) to mobilize fans or followers to do something special for a brand; helping them sell products, share information or rally support.