Nano-Influencers, Viral Trends and Superfans: Marketers Explain the New Face of UGC

When Nathan Apodaca recorded himself for TikTok skateboarding to work one day singing along to Fleetwood Mac’s megahit Dreams, he didn’t know he would impact the brand identity of Ocean Spray, the beverage he chose to hold on his ride. The video was so viral that not only did OceanSpray incorporate it into its marketing, it became part of TikTok’s pitch to advertisers at the 2020 Digital Content NewFronts. Moments like these are becoming the new face of user-generated content (UGC), an amorphous term that has been around since the advent of social media. Marketers say that in its latest evolution, UGC has become an alternative, rather than a synonym, for influencer marketing—a term itself that now feels staid—in addition to a mechanism for engaging with a brand’s fanbase. “It’s definitely evolved,” said Paige Leidig, CMO of NetBase Quid, an analytics firm that provides social-listening services. “Five years ago, seven years ago, UGC was primarily through paid influencers … and then it transitioned into consumers posting content.” How a Viral TikTok Led to the Transformation of Ocean Spray’s Business UGC's evolution is twinned with the rise in the expansion of the creator economy and the improved tech underlining it. The pandemic-driven constraints on advertising production have given marketers a reason to give UGC a fresh look, abandoning connotations of junky low-fi content. As TikTok reached 1 billion monthly active users late in 2021, marketers increasingly need to speak the platform's lingua franca—user-generated videos. "An essential component of marketing on TikTok is encouraging average users to participate in a marketing campaign by uploading their own versions of challenges," wrote Insider Intelligence principal analyst Debra Williamson in a report on short-video marketing and UGC. And it can be effective. UGC platform Stackla found that 58% of Gen Z survey respondents in the U.S., U.K. and Australia in June 2021 bought beauty, health or wellness products as a result of UGC. Marketers share how to capitalize on the evolving UGC ecosystem, including broadening the scope of creators and deputizing fans. Not only influencers The “users” UGC now refers to micro-influencers with small but engaged followings to regular people creating viral content to everyday fans and consumers of the product. Part of the evolution in UGC strategy is driven by “influencer fatigue,” as consumers become savvier, said Harley Block, co-founder and CEO of Gen Z-focused consultancy IF7. “I believe that influencer fatigue is concentrated at that very upper echelon [mega-influencer] that seems to be working with a different brand every day,” Block said, who advises brands to also work with up-and-coming micro-influencers. “They have smaller audiences but they’re way more engaged,” Block added. Research on the creators with lower follower counts reveals a mixed picture. On Instagram, lower follower count translated to higher engagement rates, with so-called nano influencers, or those with 1000-5000 followers, commanding the highest rate of likes and comments to followers, according to a report published this week by influencer-marketing analytics firm HypeAuditor. On TikTok, influencers with over 1 million followers had the highest engagement rates in 2021, which HypeAuditor calculated by adding likes, comments and shares and dividing by views. When choosing socially-native talent to work, creative agency Dagger looks for creators instead of influencers. “The world [influencers] grew up on can feel a bit more forced, [full of] promoting and advertising, whereas creators can give you more of a natural way into consumers especially if they have niche audiences,” said group director of content strategy at Dagger Jessica Tinetti. Finding viral content The OceanSpray example represents another use case for UGC: Brands latching onto viral content. Block said combing through content, often with the help of technology, should be a daily exercise for brands. Brands can look for moments where their product is being highlighted incidentally—say Coca-Cola highlights a video where a can of soda sits in the background, Block said. They can also look for more subtle ways to tap into brand identity. Tinetti noted Dagger is working on a social strategy for Aflac that incorporates UGC of ducks, Aflac’s mascot. Of course, there have been times when brands try to tap into a viral moment and it backfires. But Tinetti said participating is often more worth it than not. “The thing about social is it’s so short lived,” Tinetti said. "The news cycle moves really fast. It’s more beneficial for brands to be trying things in the space while taking the basic precautions.” Deputizing fans UGC marketing often includes seeking out what people are saying about the brand on social media, even those without any sort of following, and harnessing these customers into mini marketers. This was the approach taken by convenience store Circle K, which incentivized customers to post content about the brand, with the help of UGC software EnTribe. With this tactic, Circle K had an array of promotional content to choose from to post on social media. EnTribe CEO Adam Dornbusch said before taking this approach Circle K’s social media presence was laden with negative comments. “The cashier behind the desk is mean to me,” he said, giving an example. “The best content they had was a Slurpee cup inside a dirty bathroom.” After harnessing UGC, CircleK’s engagement improved, Dornbusch said. Harnessing fans can be a cost-effective approach to UGC. “Superfans can be more of an organic strategy versus a paid one, especially if you don’t have a big media budget,” Tinetti said. Ultimately, the goal of UGC marketing, like all advertising, is for a brand to be part of culture rather than sit as a spectator. “The ultimate goal is to have the user generate their own content,” about the brand, Block said. How Agencies Are Confronting the Influencer Pay Gap