UGC creators are a great way to create content for your brand but marketing budgets aren’t unlimited. When working with UGC creators or implementing an influencer strategy, it’s important to know how to maximise said budget.
So, do you go for all in with one macro-influencer or spread the budget with multiple UGC creators?
To any marketing leader, it’s important to maintain a high ROI, conversion and audience engagement. In this blog, we’ll help shed some light on which medium will perform best on these metrics.
Reach vs. Relevance: Which UGC Gets People to Purchase?
Macro-influencers have massive reach, with millions of followers, global visibility and some amazing campaigns. But with all this, there is a big question: Are the followers actually listening and engaging? More importantly, will they also convert?
According to the data:
- The average conversion rate for macro-influencers with more than 500K followers is just 1.62%. On the other end of the scale, micro-influencers with 10K to 50K followers have a higher conversion rate of 3.62%.
- UGC content gets 8.7x higher impact than traditional influencer or branded content.
- 79% of people say UGC highly influences their purchasing decisions.
Depending on your marketing goals, Macro-influencers are great for brand awareness but for a real connection with engagement and authenticity, small UGC creators can deliver exceptionally well.
Budget Breakdown: Influencer and UGC Content Creator Costs
Macro-influencers can charge anywhere from £8k – £80k per post, while a UGC creator charges £150 – £400 per post. For the same budget, you can have more than 50 creators sharing your brand instead of just one influencer.
That’s 50 UGC creators creating 50 unique pieces of content, maximising your impact and reaching multiple audiences with their own interests. As for influencers, they are most likely posting daily, maximising their earnings throughout the week, so your post could just get buried in their content.
With UGC content, let’s not forget how reusable the content is too. It can be incorporated into ads (or used for the whole ad) on social media and search engines. It doesn’t just stop there, either. You can use it in your emails and squeeze every penny spent to increase your initial ROI further. With an influencer, there will more than likely be restrictions are repurposing their content.
Building Trust is What Makes UGC the Winner
People are starting to lose trust in huge influencers, from blatant fake and forced videos to paid partnerships that create a disconnected relationship between the consumers. Additionally, a change in influencers’ views or opinions can even affect their public perception, with one simple comment creating negativity around those who are associated with them.
- 90% of consumers say authenticity matters when choosing brands to support.
- Consumers are 2.4 times more likely to trust UGC over content from brands or influencers.
Consumers prefer to trust real, authentic opinions and videos. These days, most influencer content is sponsored or scripted without allowing freedom of opinion. UGC creators, on the other hand, are more relatable to the average consumer due to the way they interact with their followers and create reviews or videos that they can trust.
Building trust for a brand is important, especially in an age when AI-created is filling consumers’ feeds. Trust and authenticity can set you apart.
Case Study: UGC vs. Macro-Influencer in Action
A skincare brand collaborated with 20 micro-influencers, each with approximately 50,000 followers, for a new product launch.
The campaign details were as follows:
- Total Reach: 1 million followers
- Average Engagement Rate: 5.7%
- Total Engagements: 57,000
- Conversion Rate: 2.5%
- Total Conversions: 1,425
- Cost per Influencer: $300
- Total Campaign Cost: $6,000
- Revenue Generated (assuming $50 per product): $71,250
- Return on Investment (ROI): 1,087%
Case Study: Macro-Influencer Campaign
The same skincare brand engaged a single macro-influencer with 2 million followers for a similar product launch:
- Total Reach: 2 million followers
- Average Engagement Rate: 1.8%
- Total Engagements: 36,000
- Conversion Rate: 1.2%
- Total Conversions: 432
- Campaign Cost: $15,000
- Revenue Generated (assuming $50 per product): $21,600
- Return on Investment (ROI): 44%
The macro-influencer campaign reached a larger audience but when the brand used UGC creators, the campaign yielded higher conversion rates and engagement.
Source: Webenvo
Which One Should You Choose?
This depends on your needs. If you want to get mass exposure, quickly, that will last for a limited amount of time, then a macro-influencer is perfect for you. If you wish for higher engagement, more conversions and customer trust, then UGC Creator is your solution. Your investment will also go further as you will benefit the following:
- Maxmisied budget use with more content to use in other campaigns
- Higher engagement and conversion rates
- Authenticity which helps build trust
- Long-term value from repurposed content assisting with better ad performance
Let’s Make UGC Work for You:
We’re proud of the success we have had with UGC and influencer marketing campaigns, with EMILY Snacks benefiting from our strategic planning and influencer network as one example. We were able to create impactful connections that raised conversion and awareness for them and we could do it for you, too.
If you want assistance with creating an influencer or UGC campaign that smashes your engagement and impacts your sales, let’s talk further.
What will we do for you?
- Understand what you need from us and how we can help
- Assess your previous campaigns
- Find the right content creators for you
- Plan, brief, manage and optimise the campaign
Contact us today and let’s start planning a successful campaign together.
