In a world where brands struggle to cut through the noise, creating a bank of engaging, authentic, and personalized content is a must.
But, the traditional content creation process of booking a studio or location and hiring models, designers, and photographers requires a huge commitment of resource, time and money. And, even after all of that, the resulting content is often not as authentic as it needs to be — lacking the creativity and personalization to really connect with your customers.
The solution? Influencer-generated content of course. Influencer-generated content (or IGC) is high-performing and highly-engaging content created by influencers and content creators. Because they have relevant audiences who represent your ideal customer profile, they are experts at crafting authentic and entertaining content that appeals directly to your target customers.
Even better? IGC comes at a much lower cost than content produced in a professional studio, leading to improved campaign effectiveness and greater efficiencies right across the marketing funnel. In fact, brands like Icon Fitness generated 10x content ROI while also saving over $10K on content creation costs, simply by tapping into influencer-generated content.
Here are the top 5 ways to leverage high-performing influencer-generated content
1. Brand-Owned Social Media
Social media has become a key channel for companies to showcase their brand personalities, connect authentically with customers and even build powerful brand communities. What better way to do that than by sharing authentic influencer-generated content on branded channels?
Familiar with seeing IGC on their feeds, users are much more likely to engage with these branded posts as they would with organic content, consequently building brand trust and encouraging engagement directly with the brand. And with 76% of customers admitting to purchasing something after seeing it in a brand's social media post, it can be a great driver of shorter-term sales too!
2. Your Website
When looking to buy products and services online, customers want to feel confident that their purchase will meet their expectations. A key way people do this is by looking to others – they may ask their friends and family, browse online reviews and testimonials, or, you guessed it, look to influencers. In fact, 56% of customers have purchased a product after seeing it used by influencers, and an impressive 40% rely on influencers to make a purchase.
You can see then why it would be beneficial to bring IGC to the place where customers are primed and ready to make a purchase. Adding IGC to your website is also a powerful way to bring more diversity to your channels, showcasing your products on different skintones and body types, and being used by people from different backgrounds, genders, and ethnicities.
Learn more about the role influencers play in fostering social proof →
3. Paid Ads
And if you thought influencer-generated content was powerful on owned branded channels, just wait till you see it perform for paid. Recent Meta research has shown that using IGC to power paid ads can increase purchase outcomes by 82%, while creating a 4x improvement in brand lift.
Much like seeing IGC on brand social media accounts, customers are much more likely to interact with IGC-powered paid ads like they do organic content. And the ability to pair this highly-engaging content with super specific audience targeting – it's a win-win for your performance teams!
Learn more about using IGC to power your performance channels →
4. Email
So we've covered using IGC to expand your community and reach new customers, but what about your existing fanbase?
Well, the good news is that IGC is a great fit for email activity too. Perhaps you're promoting a new product launch, shouting about an in-store promotion, or even announcing a giveaway. Harnessing IGC is a great way to add extra authenticity to these announcements, not to mention bringing a satisfying amount of consistency to your brand messaging and imagery.
5. Out-of-home
While IGC is a powerhouse for online channels, rest assured, it's just as effective for offline marketing too. Use it to create vibrant ads for out-of-home (OOH) activations, such as magazines, newsletters, billboards, and even in-store advertisements that really capture attention.
To learn more about partnering with influencers and content creators to create on-brand IGC, check out our guide.
