What is the difference between influencer marketing and customer marketing?

Influencer marketing leverages individuals with large social media followings to promote products, while customer marketing focuses on real-life customers sharing authentic experiences. Influencer marketing offers broad reach and targeted audiences, whereas customer marketing builds trust, authenticity, and long-term loyalty.

What are the benefits of user-generated content (UGC) in marketing?

User-generated content offers several benefits: it provides social proof, increases engagement by inviting customers to participate in brand conversations, and offers relatable, authentic content that feels more trustworthy to consumers. UGC is also often more cost-effective than traditional influencer marketing.

Why are brands shifting towards customer marketing and UGC?

Brands are shifting towards customer marketing and UGC because consumers have become savvier at recognising paid promotions, leading to decreased trust in influencer content. Additionally, brands are prioritising long-term customer loyalty over viral moments, and customer marketing helps build a more engaged and loyal customer base that becomes brand advocates.

Influencer marketing vs customer marketing

It isn’t surprising that 80% of consumers have made purchases in direct response to social media posts. Nor is it a shock that 37% of consumers trust social media influencers, with 28% discovering new brands and products through influencer marketing.¹

But as the digital landscape evolves, brands are rethinking their approach to building relationships and brand loyalty. Influencer marketing, the dominant force in social media marketing trends, is being reevaluated.

The focus is shifting towards customer marketing, which prioritises real-life customers over paid influencers. This shift is driven by consumers' demanding authenticity, loyalty, and trust.

Now, this doesn’t mean influencer marketing will be replaced – it’s still incredibly successful, as the numbers prove. But it does mean that companies need to rethink their priorities.

Let's explore how these two approaches differ and why customer marketing, combined with user-generated content (UGC), is becoming a game changer in today's marketing campaigns.

Influencer marketing: A quick overview

Influencer marketing is all about the sale. It leverages individuals with large followings on social media platforms to promote products or services. These influencers, from major celebrities to micro-influencers, are chosen for their ability to reach and engage a specific target audience. The key advantages include:

Broad reach: Influencers can introduce brands to large, engaged audiences, often across multiple platforms.
Content creation: They typically create high-quality, visually appealing content that aligns with their personal brand, which can help increase product visibility.
Targeted niche audiences: Brands can work with influencers who’ve established credibility within specific industries or topics, ensuring the right message reaches the right people.

However, as influencer marketing becomes more saturated, its effectiveness is being questioned. Consumers are becoming wary of overly polished, sponsored content that can feel disingenuous.

This shift stems from the evolution of sponsored content guidelines in recent years. New rules and regulations now require influencers to tag posts as 'ad' or 'sponsored', to ensure transparency. While intended to protect consumers, this increased disclosure has led many to view sponsored content as less authentic. Consequently, it has given rise to a more organic alternative: customer, or user-generated, marketing.

The rise of customer marketing: Authenticity and loyalty

User-generated marketing taps into the power of real-life users with genuine connections with the product or service. Rather than relying on paid influencers, brands turn to loyal customers who can share their experiences naturally.

Customer-marketing benefits include:

Trust and authenticity: Unlike influencers, who are typically paid for their endorsements, real-life customer testimonials are authentic. User-generated content (UGC) fosters trust – potential buyers see real users validating the product based on their actual experiences.
Loyalty building: A UGC campaign not only promotes authenticity but also builds customer loyalty. When customers are recognised as brand advocates, they feel more connected and valued, turning them into long-term supporters.
Lower costs: User-generated content is usually more cost-effective. While influencer collaborations often require substantial fees, engaging customers as brand ambassadors can be done with minimal investment, often through incentives, rewards programs or modest fees.

User-generated content: The midpoint between influencers and existing customers

As a significant driver of platforms like TikTok, user-generated content has become the bridge between influencer and customer marketing. A UGC marketing campaign includes any content – photos, videos, reviews – created by customers themselves and shared publicly. This content type blends the authenticity of customer marketing with the reach of influencer marketing.

Here’s why user-generated content is so powerful:

Social proof: UGC serves as a form of social proof. It's especially influential on platforms like TikTok, where short, authentic, and relatable content thrives. TikTok user-generated content lets potential buyers see products being used and recommended by their peers in creative and entertaining ways.
Increased engagement: The UGC marketing strategy invites customers to participate in brand conversations. This builds a sense of community. For instance, social media marketing trends include hashtag challenges, which often prompt users to create content, expanding brand visibility organically.
Relatability: Unlike influencers, who may have professional setups, UGC content feels real and unfiltered. This makes it more relatable and trustworthy to everyday consumers.

User-generated content creator vs. influencer marketing

While both produce content featuring products, their roles and distribution methods differ significantly.

UGC creators produce specific videos or photos about products for brands to use across their own marketing channels. These creators sometimes charge around £180 for a 60-second video, granting the brand full rights to redistribute the content. Importantly, UGC creators don't post this content on their personal social media feeds. Instead, they provide the material directly to the brand for its use.

Influencers, on the other hand, are compensated to create and share product content on their own social media channels. Their agreements usually specify the number and types of posts (e.g., Reels, stories, posts ) they'll publish for the brand. Some influencers allow brands to repurpose this content for their own channels, but this isn't typical.

The key distinction lies in the distribution: UGC creators focus solely on content creation, while influencers leverage their personal following for content distribution.

Both types of creators aim to produce authentic, relatable content that resonates with consumers, moving away from overly polished presentations to more genuine, informative, and entertaining portrayals of products.

Ultimately, both UGC creators and influencers play valuable roles, offering brands different avenues to connect with potential customers.

Why the shift to real-life customer testimonials?

It’s all about believability, loyalty, and evolving consumer expectations.

Customers are savvy

Consumers have grown more adept at recognising marketing strategies. They can quickly spot paid promotions and inauthentic influencer content. This increased awareness has shifted their focus toward authentic experiences and sincere opinions from other customers, rather than relying on celebrity endorsements. People now prioritise transparency and authenticity, often seeking out relatable, real-world product experiences instead of highly polished influencer content.

Customers are losing trust

This shift in trust is largely due to the perceived authenticity gap between influencer content and real customer experiences. Consumers are more likely to believe and act on recommendations from peers who have no vested interest in promoting a product, as opposed to influencers motivated by financial gain.

Brands value loyalty over virality

While influencer marketing can generate awareness and viral moments, brands are increasingly prioritising long-term customer loyalty. Real customers who genuinely enjoy and consistently use a product are more likely to generate lasting brand love and advocacy.

These authentic supporters tend to share their experiences organically, creating a ripple effect of positive word-of-mouth marketing. Brands recognise that building a loyal customer base through genuine experiences and satisfaction is more sustainable and valuable in the long run than chasing viral moments or temporary spikes in interest generated by influencer campaigns.

Using a UGC marketing strategy to build a community of social media users

The shift also reflects a broader change in marketing strategies. Brands are focusing more on building communities and fostering relationships with their customers.

Customer marketing benefits include; a more engaged and loyal customer base that not only purchases products but also becomes brand advocates. This approach often leads to more authentic content creation, increased customer retention, and a stronger overall brand reputation in the marketplace.

Final thoughts

While influencer marketing can still increase brand awareness, customer marketing and UGC offer deeper connections with audiences. User-generated content, in particular, has emerged as a sweet spot – combining the organic, authentic nature of customer marketing with the scalable reach we often associate with influencers.

If you’d like to explore developing a social media marketing strategy for your business, let’s talk. Find out more about our social media services or get in touch today.