Wondering about the best moisturizer for dry skin? Or, which eyeshadow or nail polish colors are in next season? You might ask a friend or family member. The next best thing is usually to take the advice of a social media influencer. 

All consumers (that’s right: 100%) have purchased a product based on a recommendation from another shopper that they’ve found online, according to a recent survey of nearly 9,000 global shoppers.

Our research continues to emphasize the power of everyday shoppers to influence each other. 53% of consumers say user-generated content (UGC), like photos from real shoppers or customer reviews, makes them feel more confident buying things online. The reason: these influencers present more authentic content than professional photos, expertly written copy, and traditional marketing messages. 

But before we delve further into the influencer research, there’s a question that needs answering.

What is an influencer?

In influencer, often known as a creator, is a person (or animal, to be honest) who has the ability to influence potential buyers of a product or service by promoting or recommending the items on their social media platform, predominantly TikTok or Instagram.

There’s five types of influencer, each with varying follower counts:

• Subject matter experts: Beauty gurus, fashionistas, chefs, DIY’ers, and stay-at-home moms. These influencers are experts in a specific subject, which they tend to exclusively, or primarily, post about. They often recommend, sell, or post sponsored content for products related to their subject matter 
• Celebrities: These accounts give you a behind the scenes look at those with extravagant lives who have become famous for something other than social media. They can be actors, reality TV stars, musicians, athletes, etc. They often promote/recommend products that fit in with their lifestyle/aesthetic, or that they’re selling themselves
• Social media stars: These are influencers who became famous solely because of their internet presence. They don’t necessarily have a subject matter they’re experts on. They maybe have a very pleasing aesthetic, or an ability to do internet trends well, like TikTok dances. Sometimes they became famous due to a viral moment, and the fame just never faded. Other times they’re just everyday people who post outfit of the day photos and naturally amassed a large following. They’re often paid to promote products or will promote something they are selling themselves
• Everyday social media users: Your friends, family members, peers, or people you’ve never met but are connected to. They simply share day-to-day content (ratings and reviews, photos and videos) that they’re genuinely interested in. They don’t have an agenda to promote or highlight certain products
• Creators: Anyone who creates entertaining or educational material to be expressed through any medium or channel

Influencer research report key takeaways 

As you develop and refine your influencer strategies, here’s the top trends and takeaways to know, as revealed by our research. 

1. Everyday social media users resonate most 

Influencers with massive social media followings and big-name celebrities don’t resonate with shoppers like they used to. These days, consumers prefer the opinions and advice of real people. 

Our research found that 82% of consumers are purchasing more or the same number of products from the recommendation of everyday social media users. Shoppers are more influenced by everyday social media users, who might not have a large number of followers, than brands, celebrities, social media influencers, and subject matter experts. 

Everyday social media users are viewed as more trustworthy. 33% of consumers say their trust in them has increased over the past five years, while 45% say it’s stayed the same. 

As you’re choosing influencers to work with, know that 64% of people want brands to partner with everyday social media users more than anyone else. 

2. Trust in subject matter experts is increasing

Subject matter experts, like a doctor, esthetician, or someone else with official credentials, are also perceived as trustworthy and authentic. 

26% of consumers are most influenced by the opinions of subject matter experts when purchasing products. 33% have actually purchased a product based on an expert’s recommendation. 

Over the past five years, 86% of consumers say their trust in subject matter experts has increased or stayed the same. So, having these experts try out or otherwise showcase your products on social media builds loyalty and drives purchases. 

3. Consumers are more conscious in the ‘de-influencing’ age 

You’ve probably seen reports of Gen Z consumers embracing “de-influencing,” which is where social media influencers tell their followers what not to buy. 

While this term has trended on social media channels, our survey found that it hasn’t actually had much of an impact on consumer perception or purchasing habits. 73% of survey respondents haven’t heard of the “de-influencing” trend, and 38% weren’t likely to participate in a #deinfluencing activity.

Among those who have heard of it, 50% say it’s made them more conscious of how they interact with social media influencers online who are promoting a product. 38% say it’s inspired them to conduct more product research before buying. 

4. Consumers rely on influencers for authenticity 

Even though “de-influencing” is playing a big role, consumers want truthful, authentic viewpoints on products. That’s why they see just as much value in negative reviews as positive ones. 

Social media is where people go for product inspiration and information, and to purchase items. Facebook (25%), Instagram (23%), and TikTok (22%) are most used for new product discovery, our survey revealed. 

Shoppers use Facebook (28%), Instagram (23%), and TikTok (18%) the most for purchasing. 

Featuring everyday social media users, subject matter experts, and other influencers on these platforms builds trust. “They give me their honest opinion” is the main quality that people are looking for in influencers, according to 42% of survey respondents. 

They also appreciate influencers because “they share new products I’ve never heard of,” “they have a specialist area they share content, products about,” and they share “fun, engaging content.”

5. Consumers are content creators 

Browsing and posting on social media is a favorite pastime for most people. 82% consider themselves everyday social users, and about 50% spend up to 10 hours a week creating social content. TikTok and Instagram are their favorite social platforms. 

Nearly 40% of people in our survey want to be full-fledged content creators in the future. 41% haven’t done it yet because they don’t know where to start. 

People enjoy posting about products and brands. 79% at least sometimes tag brands in their posts, mainly because they’re fans and want to share their content with their favorite brands. 

Among consumers who are content creators, 49% have partnered with brands on sponsored content, but they’re focused on ensuring that their content is authentic. 62% have turned down brand partnerships, because the partnership didn’t align with their values or the brand wasn’t a good fit.

To maintain authenticity and creative control, they only work with brands and products that they use (26%), give their complete and honest feedback about a product (28%), say when it’s a paid partnership (24%), and only work with brands and products that align with their values (21%). 

6. User-generated content is the biggest influencer on purchasing decisions

One of the big takeaways from our influencer research was that UGC, including ratings, photos, and videos from real shoppers, influences purchasing decisions. Even after seeing something on social media, most consumers visit a brand or retailer’s website to read reviews. 

When they seek out reviews, the factors that ultimately help them decide whether or not to purchase include: 

• “The review includes relevant attributes based on the product (i.e., scent description for a perfume)” (36%)
• “There is a photo with a review” (19%)
• “There is a video with a review” (18%)
• “It includes information about the reviewer, such as skin type, age, size,” (15%) 
• “Length of review” (12%)

When shoppers encounter visual UGC on a product page or social media channel, 47% want the photo to show “the product being used in the way it’s intended,” such as clothing on someone who wears their size or a piece of furniture in a small apartment like theirs. 

Use research to guide your influencer strategy 

If you’re a brand or retailer interested in incorporating influencers into your marketing strategy, you probably won’t have to pay the big bucks. Sending free products to everyday consumers through product sampling and asking them to post their thoughts about your product on social media in return, can pay off dividends.

Or you can follow global brands like kraft Heinz and Rimmel and tap into the Influenster community of over 7.5 million engaged, everyday consumers. All of whom are ready to create content for you. Learn more about it here.

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How to create an effective influencer marketing strategy

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Over the past five to 10 years, it’s almost become an innate behavior to announce “phone eats first!” before anyone can even touch their meal. I do it, and I’m sure you do too.

But we’ve since evolved from basic, static images of meals. Now, we’re in a world of lengthy wine review videos, fully dedicated food blogs on Instagram, and even “day in the life” TikToks from private chefs. Creators have found a way to carve their own niche and develop strong communities who genuinely care about their food content. 

@wishbonekitchen

Client’s birthday weekend = non-stop cooking kinda popped off with dinner tho ngl

♬ original sound – wishbonekitchen

However, how do brands and businesses fit into this world? How do they best leverage these food content creators and influencers to get their products out there to the masses? There’s arguably no industry more than food and beverage that needs such high brand loyalty and community. For example, it’s easy to replace a cereal brand when there’s 50 to choose from.

By partnering with content creators, food and beverage brands can differentiate themselves from their competitors in an authentic, engaging way. 

Our top 5 favorite food content creators

Check out these top food and beverage influencers crushing it in the social sphere.

1. Condimentclaire

Claire, otherwise known as @condimentclaire on TikTok, has made a name for herself for loving none other than – you guessed it – condiments! Her passion for all sorts of sauces, mixed with her deep knowledge of various cuisines and cultures, makes her content constantly fresh and exciting. Oftentimes, you’ll find food history lessons, day-in-the-life videos at her father’s Mill in France, and taste-test’s of niche foods and drinks. 

@condimentclaire

new condiment obsession unlocked

♬ original sound – Claire

Her TikTok stands out amongst the rest because no two videos are the same. Her long- and short-form videos really dive into all aspects of food and drink, unafraid to give her opinion or suggest a weird food combination.

And what’s her strategy? No strategy at all. She just posts what she likes, and that’s why her followers love her! You can always expect authenticity from @condimentclaire – she seems like the girl next door, and a rather cultured, interesting, well-traveled one at that. 

Also, her community trusts her knowledge and expertise because she has proven, time and time again, she knows what she’s talking about. 

2. Wishbone Kitchen

Meredith Hayden (@wishbonekitchen) is the private chef of all private chefs. Diving into a world never really explored before on social media, she opened her audience’s eyes to what it means to be a 21st century private chef. Mixing her high-brow job with her likable, relatable demeanour, she finds a way to meld these two worlds together and produce TikToks that any and all can enjoy.

One video, she might be cooking a giant surf-and-turf dinner for her millionaire clients, and the next, she’s enjoying a chicken sandwich and talking to her followers like they’re on Facetime. 

Yes, her job might signify something fancy and exclusive, but the girl works hard. Just take her day-in-the-life videos – it’s not all super glamorous and ritzy, especially when you’re lugging a cart of groceries on the subway in NYC. 

@wishbonekitchen I took a couple, you know I – took some time off to rest and now it’s game time b*tches #dayinmylife #privatechef ♬ Sunday – HNNY

That’s why her community enjoys her videos so much; she keeps it real, showing the high high’s and the low low’s of her profession. Not only is it fun to see what she’s cooking up, it’s also just rewarding to follow alongside someone’s passion. 

3. Drinks By Evie

Not a food content creator as such, but still an influencer in the food and beverage realm, is mixologist @drinksbyevie. Mixology isn’t something many people master, but you could definitely say Evie is a seasoned professional. Posting regular how-to videos and featuring multiple different alcohols/beverages on her page, she’s created a niche for herself on alcohol-Tok. 

Evie’s video production value is high because she knows that the drink can taste good, but if it doesn’t look gorgeous, it’s not going to get those clicks Especially when your followers can’t actually try the drink.

@drinksbyevie

This clarified tomato cocktail will go down in history as one of my favorite drinks to date!! The flavor is so savory and unique and delicious especially if you’re a tomato lovaaaa • 1 oz cherry tomato juice • ¼ oz simple syrup • ½ oz lemon juice • 4 drops white balsamic vinegar • 2 cracks black pepper + pinch of salt • 2½ oz parmesan rind infused vodka • 1 oz whole milk • garnish: olive oil + cherry tomato Muddle a handful of cherry tomatoes and strain it through a fine mesh strainer to extract 1 ounce of tomato juice. Add the juice, simple syrup, lemon juice, white balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and vodka, to a jar and give it a quick stir. Slowly add the ounce of whole milk and let the mixture sit for about an hour or two in the refrigerator. Line a fine mesh strainer with a damp coffee filter and strain the entire mixture into another jar. Be mindful not to mix or force the liquid to drain, let gravity do its work!! Give it a quick stir with ice to chill it down, and then strain it into a chilled stemmed glass (or drink it over ice!). Garnish with a few drops of olive oil and a cherry tomato.

♬ Samurai Champloo – FaRe ‘N’ HiTe

She’ll make the classics – margaritas, hot toddies, low ABV drinks – but she’s also willing to spice it up and throw unexpected ingredients into her beverages. Ever tried a matcha martini before? Well, if you haven’t and want to, Evie will teach you how. (Editor’s note: they’re delicious).

Also, who doesn’t love some good alcohol education? Learn about glassware and when to use certain glasses, and even dive into her various TikTok playlists according to what your alcohol of choice is. 

4. Alex Delany

A previous Bon Appetit employee, Alex Delany is quite the renaissance man. Known for his “Trying everything on the menu” video series with Bon Appetit, he’s made a name for himself in the NYC food and beverage content creator scene.

Since leaving the magazine, he’s been developing his own personal brand on Instagram and frequently posting about his assorted interests – music, podcasting, wine, and most importantly, eating. He also now consults for food and beverage businesses.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alex Delany (@alex_delany)

Although he stays quite niche (considering most of his content revolves around the NYC restaurant scene), he makes sure to give different foods and drinks a fair shake. You can always find a wine review or his new favorite coffee brand on his Instagram stories, which helps satiate his non-NYC followers. 

His large following began at Bon Appetit, but it didn’t end after his departure. People have stuck around because this man is truly dedicated to his craft. There really isn’t a day that goes by where he hasn’t eaten out at least once. That’s truly impressive (and FOMO-inducing) and is a testament to his love for all things food and drink. 

5. Molly Baz

Another ex-Bon Appetit-turned-food content creator, Molly Baz is a fun-loving chef and has taken Youtube by storm. Although food  content creators and influencers have primarily found great success with short-form TikToks and Reels, YouTube has also been great for those looking to really dive deeper into cooking.

As a trained, professional chef, it makes sense why Molly would take to YouTube so well. With multiple cookbooks under her belt, she needed a platform where she could walk step-by-step through her delicious creations (her chocolate chip cookie recipe is worth a try).

Scrolling through all her delicious recipes provides instant inspiration for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Molly’s known for her “just have fun in the kitchen” vibe and is never taking herself too seriously, which shows up on camera in a natural, welcoming way. Although seasoned chefs could be enjoying any of her recipes, that’s not really the audience she is trying to target. Instead, Molly’s focused on regular people who are just trying to elevate their basic daily meals. 

Her content could really thrive on any destination of social media, but YouTube really suits her go-with-the-flow nature and cooking style. Followers can return to these videos, time and time again, and feel like they are chef’ing up a meal alongside a legit chef. Who wouldn’t want to do that!?

How brands can partner with food and beverage content creators

Now comes the fun part – building a strategy around leveraging these industry-leading food influencers to promote your brand.

Influencers and creators are changing the way people interact with and perceive brands on social media. On top of that, they have a growing amount of power and influence over their following, which means they can, for instance, send more than 10k people to buy a product they recommend. 

For food and beverage brands specifically, customers want to know that trusted influencers like the food, restaurant, or drink beforehand. Nowadays, more than ever before, those trusted individuals are content creators. 

Luckily, too, these types of creators are growing on all platforms, which means they are getting more and more specific with the content they post. There aren’t just professional chefs anymore. Now, if your business sells wine, there’s everyday creators who solely post about and review wine. That way, you can identify a partner that aligns with your brand, your brand message, and your audience. But how do you find them?

How to find food and beverage content creators to work with

If you’ve been inspired by the above creators but you’re struggling to find food (or any industry) influencers on your own, look into search engines that cook up suggested creators using your pre-existing following and content theme. It takes the work off your plate and allows you to manage them directly in one place.

Or better yet, level up your creator strategy by tapping into an existing creator community like the Influenster App. Influenster is an end-to-end marketing platform powered by a community of over 7.5 million everyday content creators, where you can take advantage of authentic product content and connect with your own brand advocates in one fell swoop.

@influenster Allow us to reintroduce ourselves #greenscreenvideo ♬ Chrysanthemum Tea – Prod. By Rose

People are already creating content about your industry — photos, TikToks, or even just product reviews — you just need to tap into it. For example, when global beauty brand Rimmel wanted to raise sales of a certain eyeliner, they took content created by Influenster members and displayed it across their site and social channels, leading to a 44% sales lift.

The Influenster community represents trusted voices within their industry and can amplify your brand message to their highly-engaged, niche audiences. What more could you ask for? Learn more about it here or get in touch below.

ON-DEMAND MASTERCLASS

How to find and build quality content with creators

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Chapters:

1. What is a UGC creator?
2. Why should brands work with UGC creators?
3. How to find and connect with UGC creators
4. How to build strong relationships with UGC creators
5. Make UGC creators your biggest brand champions

In the ever-growing world of social commerce, user-generated content (UGC) is the future of advertising. According to our recent Shopper Experience Index, more shoppers find confidence in user-generated images than branded images when it comes to their purchasing decisions. Brands agree, ranking reviews and customer-created visuals as “the most influential elements of their sales and advertising efforts.” 

UGC is any type of content — from reviews and testimonials to images and videos — created by real people, often fans of your brand or paid UGC creators, for your social channels, website, and promotional materials. It’s authentic, inspirational, and relatable.

Working with UGC content creators helps brands put out targeted content brimming with authenticity, which builds trust with shoppers and keeps them on the cutting edge of social commerce. 

What is a UGC creator?

A UGC creator is an individual who independently creates original images, videos, and other forms of media.

There’s three types of UGC creator: UGC creators, influencers, and true UGC makers, aka your customers.. All three types of creators share similarities because they generate content specifically for your brand — however, they’re not the same. 

• Influencers create branded social media content for their own channels. They often have large followings, although nano-influencers are quickly surpassing mega-influencers in terms of engagement rates. Still, influencers create content to influence their followers, whether it’s to buy your product, participate in a competition, or subscribe to your service. Influencer content can sometimes look authentic, but it tends to be more styled and rehearsed. Typically, influencer-generated content is compensated or gifted 

• True UGC comes straight from your customers in the form of social posts, reviews, and unboxing videos. This type of UGC isn’t created based on a partnership or a brand request but purely on the customer’s opinion. True UGC can be solicited through post-purchase emails or hashtag challenges on social media, but brands have very little sway over what information the content contains. True UGC varies in terms of image and video quality and whether the brand is portrayed in a positive or negative light. Compensation isn’t standard in true UGC, but product samples are often used to gather feedback 

• UGC creators produce authentic content specifically meant for the brand’s social media channels or website. While UGC creators sometimes re-post branded content, the ultimate goal isn’t to influence their followers; it’s to target the brand’s followers. UGC is meant to look authentic, unrehearsed, and honest, which is why product reviews and tutorials are popular forms of UGC content. UGC content creators are also given more flexibility than influencers in the kind of content they create. The compensation varies across the industry with a mix of high and low budgets, as well as gifted partnerships

UGC creators have emerged as a unique source of content because they combine the quality and structure of influencer-created content with the authentic and natural look of true UGC. Content created by UGC creators gives brands creative control while producing highly engaging visuals that customers crave. 

Why should brands work with UGC creators?

Branded content is a high-production endeavor. It’s meant to look styled and polished. UGC creators flip the script and create content that evokes feelings of true excitement and love for a brand’s product, inspiring others to connect with (and shop!) the brand. 

Share authentic and relatable content

Social media and e-commerce are experiencing an authenticity movement. Consumers trust real people more than celebrities and influencers because they expect them to be honest about their opinions. Only about 9% of shoppers trust large influencers enough to act on their product recommendations. 

UGC creators often have smaller followings and look like real people, not styled influencers. Although they produce high-quality content, it also has a lower production value than branded or influencer content, adding to the authenticity of the message. 

@nike @notchristiana_ inspiring us to lace up different pairs to compliment the headwear, and to never forget snacks. #nikefitcheck ♬ Nike Fit Check – Nike

Nike’s social media feeds consist of a mix of branded, influencer, and UGC content — and it’s easy to tell the difference. Its branded and influencer content has a high production value (think professional lighting, camera crews, and tons of editing), but Nike’s UGC posts resemble content anyone can make in their living room. Nike fans can easily relate to these posts and take inspiration from them to create their own versions of styled outfits or reviews of new products. 

Build trust and strong relationships with consumers

A solid foundation of trust and sincere relationships with consumers nurtures loyalty. In one study from Sprout Social, 57% of consumers claimed they would spend more if they felt connected to a brand, and 76% would choose that brand over a competitor. One way to build that connection is to showcase how important your customers are to your brand. 

Fast-fashion retailer American Eagle fuses UGC into all of its social media channels and websites. Its landing page features a Style Gallery that displays UGC created by customers using the #AEJeans hashtag, while its social media channels highlight Reels and images from UGC creators. 

Putting the spotlight on real people is a key component of American Eagle’s marketing strategy. After a significant re-brand in 2017, the company shifted its focus towards inclusivity and diversity, which drastically changed its marketing efforts.

The re-brand achieved its goal of building an inclusive community and instilling trust in consumers, with the company announcing increased revenue and an expanding customer base over the past few years. 

Create brand-specific targeted content

Content generated by UGC creators has one key advantage over true UGC — it’s targeted and specific. True UGC is organic and spontaneous. It comes directly from the opinions of your customers. With UGC creators, brands have much more room to elicit a specific response that aligns with their marketing goals or overall strategy. 

At the time of writing, there’s currently 43,427,547 posts under the #apple hashtag on Instagram — that’s an overwhelming amount of UGC. But technology giant Apple uses UGC creators to gather specific, targeted UGC that falls in line with its marketing strategy and Instagram brand aesthetic. Every unique image and video on its Instagram feed is shot on an iPhone to highlight the quality and professionalism of the product. 

UGC creators hoping to work with the brand know the quality standards expected of them in order to earn a coveted post on Apple’s feed, so the content they create naturally forms a cohesive aesthetic. Brands can also steer UGC creators toward desirable content by encouraging them to use specific hashtags, products, or themes when creating visuals. 

Equip shoppers with valuable information

Authentic UGC content like how-to videos, product guides, and reviews provide essential information for consumers, simplifying their shopping journey and inspiring confidence in purchase decisions. Due to the digital nature of e-commerce, testing products out before buying them is virtually impossible. Shoppers have to take a risk when purchasing online, especially when it comes to the formula, materials, and quality of a product. 

Sure, a brand can say we have the best formula in the industry, but seeing a real person test the product inspires more trust and confidence in shoppers. In the beauty industry, shoppers often rely on social media for authentic product reviews to see how the formula looks on different skin types and tones, as well as how well it holds up through a day of wear. 

Beauty brand Glossier often uses natural-looking UGC to showcase how its products look on different people. The images are genuinely raw and real — complete with skin texture and imperfections, which act as a type of social proof. Glossier’s followers can see themselves in these realistic images, which inspires them to try out new products.

Increase conversions and revenue

UGC strongly impacts crucial metrics like conversion rate, time on site, and average order value. Based on data gathered from 11,500 sources within the Bazaarvoice Network, brands can expect an average lift of 144% in conversion rate, as well as a 162% increase in revenue per visitor. 

Visual and social tools, like Bazaarvoice Galleries, bring UGC to your website, transforming product pages and landing pages into authentic and engaging shopping experiences. 

When U.K.-based lifestyle brand Oliver Bonas implemented UGC on its landing page and product pages with Bazaarvoice Galleries, the company saw shoppers spending 176% more time on the website compared to non-UGC pages. It also saw a 188% conversion lift and an average order value increase of 26%. 

How to find and connect with UGC creators

The hashtag #ugccreator has more than 140,000 posts on Instagram and over 660 million views on TikTok. There’s a world of opportunity on social media when it comes to connecting with UGC creators. Find the perfect fit for your brand with a bit of market research and a few helpful tools.  

Comb through social media 

UGC creators want to be found, so it’s common to see UGC creator tagged in their bios or user names. Start by using your chosen social media platform’s search function to find UGC creators or get more specific by searching for your niche — for example, “lifestyle UGC.” Connect with potential creators by following them, commenting on their work, and sending a DM expressing your interest in working with them.

You should also pay attention to what your competition is doing. UGC creators often work in specific niches, like beauty or apparel, which makes finding amazing creators through competing brands in your industry easy. Check out what your competitors are posting, focusing on the reception their UGC posts are getting. If a particular creator gets the comments and likes flowing, it’s also a good idea to get in touch with them.  

Most platforms also have resource centers dedicated to connecting creators and brands. TikTok’s Creative Center allows you to explore trends by hashtag, audio, creator, and videos. While the landing page always displays top creators with huge followings, you can filter the results by audience region and follower count. It also allows you to search by key terms, like UGC or UGC creator, if you’re looking for creators who only work in the UGC sphere. 

Instagram’s creator marketplace works in a similar way. Business accounts can access the marketplace and gain access to creator portfolios, insights, and recommendations. The marketplace also features a search function and a database of creators who have tagged your brand in their posts, making it easy to find real people who are already fans of your brand. 

Encourage employees to create UGC

Employee-generated content (EGC) is an impactful source of genuine content because employees are often your closest brand ambassadors. Your employees know your brand well — which products sell best, how to use them effectively, and what your brand voice sounds like. This makes them an invaluable part of your UGC strategy. 

EGC also encourages stronger connections because it lends personality and realness to your brand. Imagine a luxury fashion brand switches up its influencer and branded content with behind-the-scenes stories of its marketing intern’s life on the job. Social media users are more likely to connect with this type of content because it’s realistic and relatable. 

@subway Always a job to do here #vibing #boredatwork #fyp ♬ Lo-fi hip hop – NAO-K

Fast-food franchise Subway consistently uses employee-generated UGC on its TikTok channel to showcase its sandwich artists. The company’s posts often embrace humor and trending content on TikTok, driving views and encouraging comments from fans. With over 574,000 followers and almost 6.5 million likes, Subway’s TikTok page makes it clear that social media users love seeing employees promoting their brand. 

If you want to encourage people on your team to become UGC creators, seek out employees who are genuinely passionate about your company and want to spread your message. Establish your goals, including what kind of content and storytelling narrative fits your brand best, but give them the freedom to get creative. 

Use an influencer marketing platform

Influencer marketing platforms connect brands with potential brand ambassadors, which encompasses UGC creators, influencers, and sampling communities. Bazaarvoice’s Influenster App is a rich source of UGC, with over seven million members adding 50,000 pieces of UGC every day. Brands can use the platform in several ways, including:

• Browsing and utilizing existing organic content already present on the platform 
• Finding hyper-targeted audience segments based on location, age, interests, and more 
• Connecting with members to establish partnerships
• Running sampling campaigns to gather fresh UGC

British cosmetics brand Rimmel used Bazaarvoice’s Influenster App to run a sampling campaign for a new product — the Wonder Ombre Holographic eyeliner. 

Bazaarvoice sent out custom samples of the product to 2,000 creators, who were encouraged to sample and share their opinions across different social media platforms. Rimmel saw a 44% sales lift for the new product and a 69% sales lift within the product category thanks to the 2,400 social posts, 15.7 million impressions, and over 1,200 reviews the marketing campaign gathered. 

How to build strong relationships with UGC creators

Like any business partnership, working with creators starts with respect, communication, and trust. UGC creators might be working with hundreds of different brands, so it’s essential to build strong relationships from the start and ensure they want to promote your brand. 

Follow, engage, and reach out

Engagement is vital if you’re searching for UGC creators through social media. Follow them to show you’re serious about working with them, and reach out via DM or email. Brands will also often comment on UGC posts expressing their interest and asking for permission to use the content on their own social channels and website. Following, commenting, and liking posts puts your brand on their radar and contributes to laying the foundation for your partnership. 

Be clear with brand messaging and goals

Although UGC is meant to look organic and spontaneous, working with UGC creators requires establishing your goals and clearly defining your brand narrative. There’s nothing more frustrating for content creators than receiving little direction and needing to make major changes after filming.

When establishing your partnership with a UGC creator, make sure you cover the following elements:

• Goals: Are you looking for more views or followers? Is your goal to get viewers to your website? Do you want to begin a conversation about the product? Clarifying your goals will direct the content.
• Tone: If your brand is known for humorous content, encourage creators to be funny in their delivery. If your style steers more toward educational videos, ensure creators have the information they need to create such content. Make sure the creator is familiar with your tone of voice 
• Content type: What content do you plan on using — Reels, Stories, TikTok videos, or images? Your choice will define key elements like length, size, and style. Establish what type of content you want from the beginning 

Some brands offer UGC creators more freedom and flexibility, allowing them to choose which products they showcase or the type of content they create. Others have specific standards creators must follow and set goals they want to achieve.

Whatever the case, being clear about your guidelines up front communicates respect for the creator’s time and talent. 

Offer compensation or gifted partnerships

UGC creators often expect compensation or gifted partnerships, much like influencers. Just because the content looks authentic and organic, like true UGC, it doesn’t mean it’ll be free. Payment often depends on various factors, like the size of their following, their rates, and how extensive the content needs to be. 

Typically, creators with smaller followings are more likely to accept lower budgets or gifted partnerships, but that’s not always the case. UGC creators might also list their rates on freelance websites, and prices widely range from $30/hour to over $100/hour. Build a strong relationship by establishing compensation guidelines when reaching out to creators through social media.

@jenahfir HAPPY FRIDAY Y’ALL!! My best week yet #ugccreator #ugcjourney #ugccommunity #ugctips #gettingpaid #salarytransparency #sidehustleideas ♬ Benny and Chiquitita – reymifasol

Alternatively, you can find and connect with UGC creators through sampling programs. Sampling campaigns don’t require compensation and are based on providing product samples to target audiences in exchange for their honest feedback in the form of reviews and social posts. Although sampling campaigns are a low-cost option, it’s less likely that you’ll end up with the exact type of content you want because the sampling community is given much more flexibility on how they express their opinions.

(Stop,) Collaborate and listen

Collaborating with UGC creators and taking their ideas into account is mutually beneficial. Creators feel respected, and brands get access to a fresh perspective they might be missing out on. Depending on the type of UGC creator you work with, there may be a contract involved.

Use the contract to set your non-negotiables, like compensation and guidelines, but give creators the freedom to infuse their personality into the content. After all, UGC is meant to look natural, organic, and spontaneous — like talking to a friend.

Give credit to creators

Unlike influencers who post brand-related content on their own pages to drive engagement, UGC creators typically won’t showcase your UGC content on their personal channels. This means that the content they’ve created for you lives only in your social media space, which is why giving credit is essential to building relationships and trust with creators. 

@adobe Could this be more iconic? @laurelcharleston ♬ original sound – Adobe

Content creation is a form of art and deserves recognition. A simple tag giving the creator a shoutout is usually enough, but a small expression of praise is often appreciated. Popular design software brand Adobe consistently gives its UGC creators credit for creating amazing artwork, like in the above example, and encourages them to continue experimenting with its products.

This enhances the trust UGC creators have in the brand because they feel confident that their work will be credited when shared with Adobe’s 384,000 followers. 

Make UGC creators your biggest brand champions

Nothing compares to the power of UGC when it comes to advocating for your brand, building solid consumer relationships, and showcasing authentic excitement for your products.

Learn how to leverage Bazaarvoice’s Influenster App to connect with creators, generate organic content, and easily monitor the success of your UGC strategy. 

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Masterclass: How to find and build quality content with creators

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To guide our article, we surveyed 14,000 global members of our Influenster community with the aim of finding out consumer attitudes to social shopping. Here’s what we found.

Chapters:

1. Why should I be selling on social media?
2. What’s the best social platform for selling?
3. How to sell on social media
4. Best products to sell on social media
5. Platform-specific tips for selling on social media
6. Why only selling on social isn’t enough

Shopping has always been a social experience. Remember the mall meet-ups of the 1980s and ’90s? Consumers may not be spending their whole Saturdays at their local malls hopping from store to store anymore. But, they still crave a social shopping experience. This experience still exists — it’s just moved online. 

Worldwide e-commerce sales are projected to reach $5.5 trillion in the next year, accounting for more than 20% of all retail sales, according to eMarketer. That’s not exactly pocket change. And the fastest-growing segment of this is social commerce, where brands sell products on social media platforms directly to consumers, providing them with inspiring content in the process.

Last year, about half of U.S. adults purchased something on social media. So selling on social media offers a tremendous opportunity for you to not only drive purchases, but also connect with consumers on a deeper, emotional level. 

Here’s a look at why selling on social should be a crucial part of your marketing strategy, and how to decide which social platforms are the best fit for you and your shoppers. 

Why should I be selling on social media?

Social commerce sales in the U.S. alone are expected to reach $45.7 billion this year, according to eMarketer. By 2025, social commerce will hit nearly $80 billion. Again, hardly numbers to scoff at.

It’s not really surprising either, given people are spending more time online than ever before, and scrolling through social media is a big part of that. 

80% of our survey respondents said their time on social media has increased significantly over the last year, and 76% are “very influenced” to shop via social media.

Capturing these social media users who are so compelled to shop as they scroll involves much more than simply directing them to your website. To capitalize on these shoppers, you need to create a social commerce strategy that includes:

• Enabling in-app purchases on social media platforms
• Featuring organic shoppable posts
• Displaying testimonial ads, influencer content, videos, and other images that are shoppable

Social content should spark inspiration and make it easy for a shopper to make a purchase in the moment. Let shoppers check out directly from the social platform, or if you’re driving them to your website, make the purchase process as seamless as possible.

The more frictionless the social shopping experience, the more sales you’ll drive. People want to shop from anywhere at any time. So, help them out. 

Which social media platform is best for selling products?

It all depends! People use each social media platform differently. So, you need to discover which platform your customers use the most, and how they use it. Our research found that the top platforms for shopping are:

1. Instagram
2. Facebook
3. TikTok

73% of consumers shop from social media across their full shopping journey — from gathering information about products to seeking inspiration to actually buying something. 

Most of the shopping that occurs on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter comes from users stumbling upon something in their feeds or stories. Consumers more often use YouTube and Pinterest for shopping inspiration. 

Shoppers enjoy following and interacting with their favorite tried-and-true brands on social media, but they’re also open to discovering something new. According to our survey, 60% of consumers say they’re “sometimes” influenced to buy from a new and unknown brand on social media, and 12% are influenced “all the time.” 

50% of respondents said they shop via links from paid or professional influencers, including subject-matter experts, celebrities, and social media stars. 69% said they “sometimes” shop from influencers, and 18% shop with influencers “all the time.”

How to sell on social media

Each platform offers a unique opportunity for selling on social media. We’ve found that shoppers use social media for three main reasons:

1. Stumbling across something in-feed
2. Shopping inspiration
3. Information gathering 

53% of social media users have shopped via a live-streaming event such as Instagram Live or Facebook, while 42% have shopped via a digital publisher (Buzzfeed or Refinery 29) our social shopping survey found. About 20% have used augmented reality tools, like virtual product try-ons. 

A separate research peak we ran of 10,000 global shoppers revealed a similar sentiment, with live shopping being what shoppers are most excited about.

Across all social media platforms, shoppers want unique experiences that feel personal. As one of our survey respondents put it, “Make it personal, like we have a connection to the brand, rather than just products. Give us people and their opinions and personal lives.” 

Best products to sell on social media

When it comes to it, any product is great for selling on social media. But when we asked our survey respondents, certain products/industries did stand out more than others. Beauty, apparel, and home particularly stood out because shoppers crave seeing these products in action.

They want to see how a specific lipstick shade looks. Or what good is buying a sofa if you can’t see how it looks in use in the real world. This is the beauty of user-generated content (UGC) — authentic images and other content created and posted by real shoppers — because it shows real products in use by real people. It’s what convinces other shoppers to make a purchase.

UGC works for every product, everywhere in the shopper journey, but it’s especially prevalent in the above industries because they’re home to most influencers. As for the other best products to sell on social media, our survey respondents said they shop:

Platform-specific tips for selling on social media

There’s a number of social media platforms now, all great in their own right for selling on. Some will be more suited to your brand, target audience, or social strategy than others. Here’s what you need to know about selling on the different social media platforms.

1. Selling on Facebook
2. Selling on Instagram
3. Selling on TikTok
4. Selling on YouTube
5. Selling on Pinterest

Selling on Facebook

Facebook boasts nearly 3 billion monthly active users worldwide, and it’s popular with shoppers who use the platform to find inspiration and see what their friends and family recommend. FOMO is a powerful emotion in social commerce. 

Along with the sheer number of users, Facebook is an optimal platform for social selling because users are accustomed to shopping on the platform — Facebook launched its social commerce offerings back in 2007. But, it’s since added new features to help you make the experience more exciting and streamlined for consumers. 

In 2020, Facebook Shops debuted, giving brands a chance to create an online storefront where consumers can browse, discover new products, save and share them, and purchase directly from Facebook and Instagram. You can customize the shops to feature specific products or feature testimonials from customers using your products in real life.

Shops can be accessed from your Facebook page, Instagram profile, Instagram ads with product tags, or shoppable posts in your feed, stories, Live, and Reels. 

Heightening the social aspect, Facebook Shops lets you reach out directly to shoppers using Messenger and Instagram Direct. Shoppers can ask you questions, track orders, and contact customer support.

Selling on Instagram

Beautiful tablescapes, colorful makeup looks, or the latest fashion trends — Instagram is where people go for inspiration. 80% of Instagram users use the platform to inform their shopping decisions. Pairing the striking visuals with seamless shopping experiences lets you grab consumers’ attention as they scroll through their feeds or stories. 

Instagram shoppable posts let you tag products in posts, reels, IGTV videos, guides, live broadcasts, and stories. When shoppers click on a product tag, they’re directed to your e-commerce site to complete the purchase. To keep them from having to leave the platform, you can add Instagram Checkout, enabling them to buy the item right then and there. Instagram will even save the shopper’s shipping and payment details, so it’s easier for them to buy next time. Here’s how Crate & Barrel do it:

Instagram is also a great place to display influencer content and other UGC, which heighten the effects of social proof. 60% of consumers from our social shopping survey said they shop from influencer links and recommendations. 

Visual UGC has the same effect. Shoppers want to see how the new trendy cut of jeans fits real people, not models. UGC such as reviews or customer photos and videos, can increase conversion rates by 31% and revenue per visit by 45%. 

Take fashion brand Quiz, for example. The brand partnered with Bazaarvoice to create shoppable social content, and has since seen conversion rates jump 154%, average order values increase 23%, and time on site soar 276%.

Selling on TikTok

Though it’s new to the social commerce space, TikTok is one of the hottest apps around and key to selling on social media, especially if you hope to reach younger consumers. TikTok boasts over 700 million monthly active users worldwide, and about half of U.S. users range in age between 10 and 29. 

People flock to TikTok to giggle at the memes and funny videos and dabble in the latest trends. They also use the social platform to discover new products and brands — most TikTokkers follow brands on the app. 

Shoppers buy products that they stumble across in their feeds, but also look up information and videos of products that they’re interested in. 

TikTok is the place for brands to get creative by developing unique short-form videos of a couple of minutes, along with fun, branded video effects and filters. Audio trends are particularly popular on TikTok.

Brands like Glossier use the platform to debut new items and offer behind-the-scenes glimpses, such as via unboxing videos. 

@glossier Introducing: The Lip Trio in Cranberry It’s three different lips in one festive Cranberry shade that’s only here for the holidays (!!!) #glossier ♬ original sound – Glossier

TikTok also lets you feature “shop now” buttons on video ads to drive e-commerce business. The app partners with Shopify on shoppable video ads and TikTok Shopping, where consumers can click links within the social media site. Shoppers are then directed to the brand’s site to complete the purchase, which is powered by Shopify. 

Brands are using LIVE Shopping on TikTok, too. These live-streaming events help with social selling because you can engage consumers in the moment. When Walmart hosted a live event, their following grew by 25%, and they had a 7x larger audience than expected. 

Selling on YouTube

Social media users share videos twice as much as other forms of content. 84% of shoppers say a brand’s videos inspire them to purchase a product or service. 

Short-form video and video-centric social platforms like YouTube are central to selling products on social media. YouTube sees 1.7 billion unique visitors every month, making it one of the most-used social platforms worldwide. Viewers spend about 19 minutes a day watching videos there. 

Our social shopping survey showed that about half of YouTube users are at least “sometimes” browsing for products. Consumers use the platform for shopping inspiration, product information gathering, and for paid influencer recommendations. 

One respondent said they would appreciate an, “ability to see high-quality videos of products being in use with detailed explanations about texture and feel.” They also said they’d like to have, “a customer adviser present to answer any queries through live chat or a quick call.” 

More than 50% of consumers like seeing videos from brands, more so than any other type of content. Most shoppers are also more likely to buy products that feature videos from real customers — they appreciate when the content feels authentic and informative. 

How-to videos and behind-the-scenes content especially resonate with consumers. Partnering with influencers to cross-promote their videos about your products or generate unique content for your brand will increase viewership and drive conversions. 

Featuring UGC on YouTube also inspires purchases. UGC boosts conversion and engagement rates by about 30%. Ask shoppers to create their own videos featuring your products, and share them on your YouTube page and e-commerce site. 

When you’re selling on YouTube, be sure to include a call to action with links to make purchases easy. 

Selling on Pinterest

When you think of Pinterest you probably think of pretty pictures and mood boards. But Pinterest is secretly a social selling behemoth. Over 430 million consumers use Pinterest each month to find inspiration, and for many users, that results in a purchase. 

The good news for you is that most Pinners (one who uses Pinterest) aren’t always looking for anything brand-specific, and most visit the social platform with a mission to find something to buy. That means Pinterest is wide open for you to grab users’ attention. 

The best way to encourage purchases is to make pins shoppable. Set up Pinterest catalogs where you can add products from your website and turn them into Product Pins. This grants Pinterest’s massive shopper base access to your online store. 

Shop tabs let you consolidate Product Pins into one place on your brand’s Pinterest page, making shopping more convenient. You can categorize products and optimize them for searches using keywords and hashtags.

Bazaarvoice customer The Container Store is considered as one of the top brands on Pinterest. It embraces content organization, strong branding, and custom content. The retailer lets Pinners browse its catalog, which is organized by category, and click to purchase instantly. 

Pinterest is a top platform for encouraging UGC, which drives purchases and instills confidence in shoppers. Pinners are more likely to interact with your brand and discover your products when you feature UGC on social media. 

Host Pinterest contests that encourage users to submit UGC with a branded hashtag and pin them to a special board. Then, give out prizes or discounts. Repinning customers’ content to your brand’s boards or cross-promoting their UGC also sparks interest and increases engagement. 

You can feature some of the UGC from Pinterest on your e-commerce site, too. Bazaarvoice Galleries lets you display these images stylishly across your product pages, landing pages, and other social media platforms. 

Clothing brand River Island has built a community of customers who eagerly share photos wearing the brand’s outfits and has seen a 184% lift in conversions with this social content. The brand sources UGC from its social channels and displays it using Bazaarvoice Galleries as shoppable images on its homepage. River Island’s strategy helps shoppers discover new items and find inspiration. 

Another way to boost Pinterest social commerce is to showcase reviews for top-rated products by creating custom pins. Reviews are crucial for social commerce, as they show customer sentiment, influence purchases, heighten brand trust, and get people talking about you.

Your social media selling strategy should also include adding “save” and “follow” buttons on your website to make it pinnable. 

Why selling on social media isn’t enough 

Social commerce is growing as consumers continue to look for new ways to engage with brands. Social media is where shoppers go to get ideas with the hope of discovering something new that they want to buy. 

What does that mean for you? There’s a major opportunity to not just sell “on” social media but to sell “with” social media:

• Use social content to highlight products and drive purchases across your marketing channels 
• Create a digital marketplace where shoppers can interact with you, easily discover new and exciting things, and purchase their new treasures instantly
• Showcase the content from your most loyal customers to make them feel seen and appreciated 

It’s a win-win for everyone. You’ll drive sales, increase your following, and build brand trust. Shoppers will discover new items that they love and tell their friends and family. 

But selling on social media is just step one. If you really want to get ahead on social, you need yo sell with conversion on the mind. Check out these 14 ways to optimize your social media conversion rate and get ahead on your social selling journey.

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A practical guide for social media professionals to drive commerce

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The more loyalty you show, the more you’ll receive. This definitely translates to the brand-customer relationship. Give consumers what they need to be inspired and informed, and they’ll keep buying your products. 

The trick to brand loyalty is knowing what consumers actually want. We know you’re not a mind reader, though, so we conducted our own brand loyalty research to help you. Bazaarvoice is uniquely positioned in that we can tap into our Influenster community of engaged shoppers, who are always on hand to provide feedback and insights.

We surveyed 1,000 members of our Influenster community in January 2023 to research and discover their brand loyalty sentiments. 

We found that shoppers continue to value user-generated content (UGC), like product ratings, reviews, and customer photos. 62% of respondents said they always look at reviews when shopping on a retailer’s website. And most consumers want to see UGC on social media too. 

As retailers and brands like you are grappling with inflation and shrinking shopping budgets, brand loyalty is more important than ever. You’re about 70% more likely to sell to a previous customer than a new one, and existing customers usually spend more. 

Brand loyalty research results

Here’s a deeper look at what our brand loyalty research revealed, including insights from other research peaks, to help you enhance your customer loyalty strategy. 

UGC makes you seem more authentic 

Experiences tend to influence customer purchases, even more so than price in many instances. Shoppers look to brands’ social media pages for something unique, like new products and inspiration for how to use them. 

And, when they find UGC on your social media channels, it can heighten brand loyalty. Consumers most notice a brand’s content from other users on Instagram (78%) followed by TikTok (55%).

UGC matters most to shoppers looking for skincare, haircare, and cosmetics. Influenster community members listed the brands that stand out in their use of UGC on social media as Fenty Beauty, Rare Beauty, Charlotte Tilbury, Dior, Kylie Cosmetics, The Ordinary, Lululemon, and Skims. 

A recent Bazaarvoice research peak revealed commerce is in the midst of an authenticity movement, and our brand loyalty research has only confirmed this. What shoppers like most about UGC is that it’s authentic. And that helps brands build trust and loyalty.

Shoppers want to see, “pictures of people using the products, how they use it, and people talking about real experiences, pros and cons,” according to our survey. One survey respondent offered an important suggestion for winning over shoppers with UGC.

Use real people (all body sizes, skin tones, skin texture). I want to relate — not compare against!” 

An Influenster survey respondent

Content should be quality over quantity 

Almost all members of the Influenster community say they look at star ratings and reviews on retailer websites, like Target.com or Walmart.com. 72% say they leave a star rating or review for a product they buy very or somewhat often. 

Ensuring that products have reviews is crucial for driving customer loyalty. But, the quality of those reviews resonates more than the quantity. Among the brand loyalty research survey respondents: 

• 90% would rather buy something with 50 reviews and a 4-star rating than a product with 200 reviews and 3 stars 
• 90% would rather buy products with both negative and positive reviews than something with no reviews 
• 70% would buy a more expensive product with higher ratings and reviews than a less expensive item with no reviews 

Visual UGC increases purchases, too. Three out of five respondents said they’d rather buy an item with 10 reviews that also has images from fellow shoppers than a product with 200 reviews and no images.

Shoppers expect incentives  

When you take steps to delight consumers by offering them something, they’ll reward you with their loyalty. That’s especially important today, as shopping budgets are stretched. But consumers will still remain loyal to brands if you: 

• Offer incentives, like sales and promotions (85%)
• Are transparent on product ingredients and materials (70%)
• Have strong brand values (55%)
• Provide great social content from other users (5%) 

Creating a loyalty program is a great way to track and incentivize shopping and reward customer loyalty. The more they spend and engage with you, the more they get in return. You benefit, too. 80% of consumers have spent more with brands to unlock a reward. 

Celebrity brands don’t always resonate with shoppers

Consumers often have a complex relationship with celebrity brands. Think: Kylie Cosmetics by Kylie Jenner, Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty, Honest Company by Jessica Alba, or Kate Hudson’s Fabletics. 

Our brand loyalty research revealed that 73% of Influenster members said they buy products from celebrity brands. The reason? 

• The products are new and interesting (27%)
• They want to see what the hype is about (24%)
• A friend or family member recommended the item (17%)

But, it’s not all good news for celebs. Over 25% of shoppers don’t purchase celebrity brands, and it’s because they don’t follow celebrities or don’t trust them. Many consumers perceive celebrity products as lower quality or as a “money-grab” for the celeb.

This is amplified by a separate Influenster research peak we undertook, looking at what influence influencers have.

Consumers prefer content from everyday social media users (aka UGC) because it’s authentic. One respondent from our brand loyalty research said they’re most interested in brands created by people who are passionate, knowledgeable, and experienced about their product or industry. 

They noted, “Celebrities are not educated experts creating products inspired by many years of hard-earned experience. They are slapping their image on someone else’s very hard work.” 

Shoppers want UGC for private label brands 

With just about everything getting more expensive lately, 78% of consumers are purchasing more store brands or private labels, according to Reach 3 Insights. 

Consumers no longer view private label brands as generic or less desirable than name brands. Many private label brands, like Target’s Good and Gather or Walmart’s Great Value, are now considered on par or even better than national brands. 

Store brands increase revenue for retailers and can enhance customer loyalty. But, how can you motivate shoppers to buy them? 

One way is to collect and feature UGC for these products. Shoppers want to see reviews, videos, and images to get a sense of how the product works and can meet their needs in real life. And potentially how it compares to name brands they know. 

“Seeing people use the products on TikTok, showing their results, and then reading the comments of people that give their honest opinion and experience with the product,” reported one Influenster community member.

Boost brand loyalty with UGC 

Loyalty is a two-way street. Consumers expect you to provide information that helps them make better purchasing decisions and discover new, exciting things. When you meet those expectations, consumers will become loyal followers. 

As our research shows, UGC can help you drive brand loyalty. It’s a way to provide authentic, realistic content that informs and entertains shoppers. UGC also leads to better engagement and repeat visits to your e-commerce site. Ready to create a UGC strategy?

Use our free UGC Value Calculator tool to see the impact UGC can have on your brand.

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• Nano-influencers (1K–10K followers)
• Micro-influencers (10K–100K followers)
• Macro-influencers (100K–1M followers)
• Mega or celebrity influencers (1M+ followers)

This listicle features influencer marketing examples from across the spectrum, to help you decide on the right influencer strategy for your brand.

Chapters:

1. What is influencer marketing?
2. The best influencer marketing examples from 2022
3. Thrive in 2023 with influencer marketing campaigns

Think of the brands that captured your attention — and maybe your e-wallet — this year. Chances are, you remember the influencer marketing examples that got you to notice those brands in the first place.

From solopreneurs and startups to decades-old enterprises, companies have embraced influencers as brand partners. By the end of 2022, businesses in the U.S. spent a total of $5 billion on influencer marketing, according to Insider Intelligence. And they’ll spend another cool $6.16 billion next year.

What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing is a type of digital or social media marketing that uses endorsements and product placements from influencers — individuals who have a large social media following or are experts within a niche. A few trends are driving the rise of influencer marketing.

• More brands now aim to attract Gen Z — the digital-native generation that’s entering the workforce and gaining more spending power — and millennials
• Nano- and micro-influencers have proven they can engage audiences and deliver high ROI, allowing businesses with smaller budgets to run influencer marketing campaigns
• Shoppers either buy online or are researching online before purchasing in person
• Tech like shoppable content has made it easier to tie influencer posts to sales

Influencer marketing is no longer a fad, it’s here to stay. And as we move deeper into the creator based economy, its value is only going to rise. But don’t worry, it’s never too late to get started.

The best influencer marketing examples from the year

Take a look at these examples of how brands used these trends (and more), to inspire your influencer marketing strategy for 2023.

1. Samsonite urges people to take their PTO and disconnect from work

In the summer of 2022, Samsonite launched its “Take What’s Yours” campaign after learning that 72% of U.S. adults had used less than half of their annual vacation days. The brand created videos that transformed vacation responder emails into manifestos to encourage people to take their paid time off (PTO). The manifesto videos, which showed people traveling with Samsonite luggage, got more than 3.4 million views on YouTube. 

Dozens of TikTok and Instagram influencers created content for the campaign. Some creators satirized PTO discussions between employees and bosses, while others gave pep talks. They encouraged viewers to take their PTO and claim their right to unplug while on vacation. 

Corporate Natalie, a creator of corporate comedy skits, created an all too relatable video where she passive-aggressively reminded her boss and colleagues that she wasn’t going to be working while on PTO. To date, it’s had over 66,000 views.

The influencers’ content featured Samsonite luggage and the hashtag #TakeWhatsYours. Audiences really engaged with the videos — comment sections showed viewers relating to the content and asking about the featured luggage. 

@corporatenatalie It appears the team is struggling to allow me to unplug. Take what’s yours this summer and set that OOO, log off and enjoy your PTO with @samsoniteusa #samsonitepartner #takewhatsyours #corporate #pto ♬ original sound – CorporateNatalie

During the campaign, the number of new users visiting shop.samsonite.com rose by 97% and branded searches for Samsonite increased by 78%. Samsonite also gained 35,000 new followers on TikTok.

In its earnings report for Q3 2022, Samsonite said that sales for its luggage and for the company’s other brands like Tumi surpassed pre-pandemic sales (Q3 2019) for the first time. The strong sales reflected people’s eagerness to travel again, as well as the success of Samsonite’s marketing efforts during the quarter, including the “Take What’s Yours” campaign.

Lesson learned: Encourage audiences to make a positive change with stories and sass

Samsonite’s campaign didn’t directly ask customers to buy luggage. Instead, the brand and its influencers encouraged people to do something good for themselves by taking the PTO they already own. The message was related to a cause — not a radical one, but one that improves people’s mental well-being. Even though the tone was motivational and light-hearted, the campaign sought to change the status quo of not taking enough time off.

This is movement marketing in action, a rising trend where brands fuel action among their customers to change things for the better. To inspire a movement, brands must evoke emotion and encourage audience involvement, according to Deloitte analysts. Marketers who focus on purpose and movements must be clear about the problem, the desired change, the brand’s stand, and the action they want to inspire.

Companies typically embark on movement marketing for three main reasons. When a cause,

1. Matters to their audience
2. Reflects their brand values
3. Gives their brand visibility

If you tick those boxes, consider rallying your audience to take steps towards a positive change — one they can achieve with your product’s help. 

Amplify the message by hiring outspoken influencers, especially those with a history of advocating for similar causes. Give them creative freedom to transform your message into content that’s consistent with their style and tailored to their audience’s tastes. 

Maintain an even tone when you deliver your rallying cry. A study of thousands of influencer marketing examples on Chinese platform Weibo showed that brands maximize the ROI of influencer marketing when they express a medium level of positivity, among other strategies. Samsonite hit the mark with its influencers’ mix of sarcasm, humor, and inspiration.

(The researchers chose to study a platform in China because the country has one of the world’s most sophisticated influencer industries).

2. Petco makes livestream shopping events fun and educational

For Halloween this year, Petco, a retailer of pet products, promoted its Bootique collection with a livestream shopping event on YouTube. The half-hour event took on a TV show format. Host Antoni Porowski — whom you might know from Queer Eye — met animals that needed adopting, interviewed a vet, took viewers behind the scenes of a pet photo shoot, and even paused for a commercial break. 

The event was both entertaining and educational. Porowski and his ‘guests’ shared tips on keeping pets safe and comfortable when out trick or treating, choosing costumes for animals, and picking out Halloween treats for your furry pals. Whenever Porowski showed a product for sale, a shoppable link popped up on the video and in the sidebar, and Petco’s team shared product links on the live chat.

Lesson learned: Experiment with livestream shopping formats to keep audiences engaged

Livestream shopping doesn’t have to be all about hard selling. Petco uses livestream shopping events as a chance to entertain, educate, and inspire customers, said Jay Altschuler, Vice President of Media Transformation at Petco, in an interview with Total Retail. 

When considering these events’ format, Petco looks at how they function as, “more than just a single moment in time. We engage pet parents and create excitement for our brand in the live event, then extend the experience to even more pet parents through a mix of organic, paid, commerce, and influencer marketing,” added Altschuler.

And consumers are here for it. In our survey of over 10,000 global shoppers, we found that 51% are most excited about livestream shopping compared to digital shopping experiences fuelled by AR, VR, and the metaverse. Revenue from livestream e-commerce in the U.S. alone is projected to grow from $20 billion in 2022 to $57 billion in 2025.

With many brands hawking products on livestream, you can stand out by experimenting with content forms. Add elements like stories, music, games, comedy, and live event coverage. Choose a format that clicks with your audience and showcases your products’ features.

Having a beloved influencer as a host will help build up hype for the event and promote it to a larger audience. For example, choosing an influencer with knowledge and enthusiasm will when marketing your products. Petco, for example, chose Antoni Porowski not just for his celebrity but also for his influence among the pet parent community. His rescue dog (Neon) has appeared on Queer Eye and has almost 100,000 followers on Instagram! That’s 99,435 more than I have.

Lastly, place shoppable links in several parts of the screen to make it easier for viewers to view product details and place orders during the live event. Viewers can also reserve items through live chat. Our 2022 Shopper Experience Index shows that 54% of consumers are more likely to shop on social media if they can click on a post and get product info without leaving the platform. 

3. Pegai reveals the secrets of its trade

If you’re a founder or solopreneur, your business is likely built on your skill or craft. That makes you a subject-matter expert in your industry. 

The same is true for Volkan Yilmaz, owner of Pegai, a leather goods company. Volkan goes by the name Tanner Leatherstein on social media. He posted his first TikTok video in August 2021 and has since gained over 530,000 followers.

In his videos, Volkan discusses the quality of leather and the craftsmanship that goes into making leather goods. He gained fame when he started literally dissecting leather bags on camera, including products by luxury brands, to find out how much they were worth. Viewers loved the honesty.

@tanner.leatherstein Feeling is the secret! -> -> -> = #leathermonk #shares #secrets #leathercrafts #leathergoods #feelit #quality #natureleather #smartshopping ♬ Feel It – Michele Morrone

Volkan has also used his channel to promote Pegai products. One premium product line, a bag made from three kinds of leather, sold out fast after he showed it to his followers. They’ve repeatedly asked him to launch a new batch. 

When Volkan promotes his own goods, he treats them with the same transparency as he does when inspecting other brands’ leather products. He tells you the types of leather he uses and how much the raw materials and labor cost. In July this year, Volkan moved Pegai into an 8,000-sq-ft warehouse to expand the business.

Lesson learned: Be your own influencer

For Pegai, educational videos work as a marketing tool because the brand needs to teach shoppers to see beyond trendy designs and recognize quality materials and craftsmanship. As Volkan said when he appeared on The E-Comm Show podcast, “Eventually people understand if you’re really trying to help them, then they come back to your brand, they trust you, they buy your stuff.”

If you have little budget for influencer marketing or need to educate your target market about your goods or services, try being your brand’s own influencer by sharing your knowledge as an example. In doing so, you build trust with your target market. Our survey of 9,000 global shoppers revealed that 39% of respondents trust influencers who are subject-matter experts (like Volkan) for their authentic content and product reviews. And 35% will buy products based on those influencers’ recommendations. 

You don’t need much equipment to start — you only need your phone’s camera and space to demonstrate your craft and knowledge. Your followers crave transparency and info, and overproducing the videos will achieve the opposite effect. 

Take it from Andrea Cheong, a TikToker with a searingly honest take on the relationship between fashion and sustainability. Andrea visits stores to check out clothing tags and educate her viewers on the quality and sustainability of the materials. As a journalist who used to work in the fashion industry, she knows what to look for.

In most of her content, Andrea simply holds her phone in front of herself, talks to the camera, and shows videos of clothing tags and details. But that doesn’t matter to audiences — it’s her opinions, knowledge, and advice that count, judging by her number of followers (222,000 on TikTok).

4. Chipotle finds a true fan in Corn Kid

In August, Recess Therapy, an Instagram-based show for kids, featured a boy who gushed about his love for corn. The clip of the seven-year-old kid, Tariq, went viral, and brands joined the conversation by creating memes about the Corn Kid — even though some didn’t have corn in their products. 

Chipotle didn’t want to jump on the bandwagon with yet another meme reaction. They reached out to Tariq and his mom and learned that he visited Chipotle weekly to get a rice bowl with roasted chili corn salsa, among other toppings. Chipotle had found a true fan who happened to be the star of the hour. The resulting ad was a fun but natural segue in the Corn Kid saga.

Wait for it pic.twitter.com/4ivkt8YJMy

— Chipotle (@ChipotleTweets) August 27, 2022

When Chipotle released the ad, it became the company’s highest-performing Instagram post ever. On TikTok, the video has now been shared over 265,000 times and liked by 9.2 million people, and is the brand’s most popular organic video. The ad also earned Chipotle over 1.7 billion PR impressions.

Lesson learned: Work with influencers who are true fans of your brand

Reactions to a meme and a trending hashtag give your brand visibility. But if you force the angle, your content can backfire. Neiv Toledano, the Social Media Manager at Chipotle, explained in an interview, “There has to be an ownable angle for your brand when working with viral influencers. The content must be authentic and provide real value to the creator’s and the brand’s fanbases.”

Make your reaction post relevant by getting to know the person at the center of the meme. Look for shared interests or aligned values to insert your brand into the conversation organically. One great way to find true fans is to search through influencer communities like Influenster. These communities already contain true fans of your brand, ready to create authentic content for you. Ask community managers for help with identifying your ideal brand partners.

5. Hugo Boss wins over millennials with the help of a TikTok superstar

At the start of 2022, Hugo Boss embarked on a high-stakes campaign to refresh its image in the eyes of younger consumers. It positioned its Boss brand for millennials and Hugo for Gen Z, and enlisted the help of over 200 celebrities and influencers — including Khaby Lame, a TikTok comedian with 152.4 million followers. The talents for Boss wore the signature Boss hoodie. Almost all 60,000 hoodies were sold during the campaign, making the item the best-selling single style in the company’s history. Global traffic to hugoboss.com more than doubled.

Every post is worth more than a Super Bowl ad in terms of impressions

Khaby stood out to Hugo Boss executives with his impact. Miah Sullivan, Senior VP of Global Marketing and Brand Communications, told Vogue Business, “When [Khaby] linked from his Instagram Reels to a post on Boss’s own Instagram, it received over 10 million views, which the brand didn’t pay to boost or promote. … Every post is worth more than a Super Bowl ad in terms of impressions.”

@boss @khaby.lame coming through: all doors open to this BOSS of style #BeYourOwnBOSS ♬ original sound – BOSS

As a result, Boss took their partnership further by launching a capsule collection with Khaby in June. They celebrated with a launch party in a nightclub in Milan so fans could meet him IRL. One item, a varsity jacket with an etched drawing of Khaby’s face priced at $645, almost sold out within a week of being released globally.

Lesson learned: Attract a large audience with an organic influencer superstar

If you want to introduce your brand to a new market and attract a large audience, work with an influencer who already has a massive following across your target demographic, inspires good vibes and affinity, and tackles a broad category of trending topics. An influencer like that can combine the network effects of fame and virality while maintaining the aura of a regular person who uses and loves your product.

Khaby’s rise to fame was organic because people got his content. They shared his exasperation with overproduced social media videos while enjoying his silent comedy. This common sentiment, his quick reactions to viral trends, and the fact that his content isn’t confined to niche topics made him one of TikTok’s biggest — but still relatable — stars.

The scale of his celebrity hasn’t diminished his ability to engage viewers, either. On TikTok, mega influencers have slightly higher engagement rates (13.7%) than all other tiers of influencers. HypeAuditor, an AI-powered influencer analytics tool, estimates Khaby’s average engagement rate to be 11.47%. He gets 29.1 million views per post on average.

Hiring a mega-influencer is expensive, so choose strategically. A study of over 5,000 influencer posts showed that brands maximize influencer marketing ROI when they work with influencers who have a high follower count, post frequently but not daily, and create plenty of original content. Khaby fits the bill.

6. Casetify co-creates with celebrities and influencers of varied scales

Casetify is a hugely successful company selling tech accessories — think protective cases for smartphones, laptops, and earphone pods. The brand first became famous for letting customers personalize their phone cases. The cases appeared on many bloggers’ mirror selfies and proved their durability in recorded drop tests by vloggers. 

Over the years, Casetify has co-created capsule collections with celebrities, brands, and studios. The products attract long waitlists and sell out fast in their first release.

In 2022, Casetify also worked with smaller-scale creators like Vivian Ho, an emerging artist from Hong Kong with 33,000 Instagram followers, and Jayme, a digital art business owner from Canada who goes by the name Sleepydaze and has 28,200 YouTube subscribers and 112,000 TikTok followers. (Each has more followers than the average micro-influencer but is still considered a small-scale influencer compared to many of Casetify’s collaborators.)

On TikTok, video results for the search “Casetify Sleepydaze”, including content made by people who bought the cases, have amassed 1.3 billion views to date.

Lesson learned: Attract diverse audiences by co-creating products with influencers of all scales

Casetify already has a large customer base — the company has sold over 15 million cases since 2011 and is on track to earn $300 million in revenue this year. To find new audiences, they collaborate with influencers of all scales. 

Micro- and nano-influencers may not have massive reach, but they share specific interests with their audiences. They tend to have meaningful engagement on their social media accounts. And so large brands like Casetify can’t ignore them if they want to find new paths to growth. On YouTube, accounts with less than 15,000 followers have the highest engagement rates. While on Instagram, when we analyzed the performance of 516 of our clients, we found nano influencers have the best engagement rate.

When you co-create products with influencers, you gain new ideas, unearth the interests of your target buyers, and discover segments of your existing market that you’ve underserved. You also give influencers a more significant stake in the success of your campaigns, and they naturally want to tell their followers about the new product.

For example, give influencers the support they need to create and promote marketing collaborations with you. Casetify has an app where customers can sign up for waitlists for limited-edition collections. App users can also apply for priority access and join lucky draws for special editions of phone case designs. They can buy phone cases directly on the app, too.

Amplify the collections on social media and your website, especially if they were co-created by influencers with smaller audiences. Drive sales by making content shoppable on the platforms where you promote it.

As en example of turning an influencer marketing example into a strategy, Urban Barn, a furniture brand, inserts “Shop The Look” widgets at the bottom of webpages featuring influencer collaborations. The brand also makes images shoppable — a price tag symbol appears over furniture pieces in a single photo, and provides a pop-up with a link to product details when you click on the tag.

Urban Barn’s shoppable content

Thrive in 2024 with influencer marketing campaigns

Amid the chaos of 2023, brands have continued to sell, grow, and compete. That’s partly thanks to influencers’ help. Make the most of your marketing budget in 2024 by taking inspiration from these influencer marketing examples and the many invaluable lessons they’ve taught us. 

To get started, work with Influenster, Bazaarvoice’s global community of 7.5 million everyday shoppers who have built small but engaged audiences on social media. These shoppers provide authentic reviews, create FOMO for your events, and amplify your brand message to help you reach your ideal consumers. Learn more about this unique end-to-end influencer marketing platform here.

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What is Influenster?

Influenster is an end-to-end influencer and creator marketing platform, powered by everyday consumers. You might know of Influenster from their coveted VoxBoxes. Who better to explain it than Influenster themselves:

@influenster Allow us to reintroduce ourselves #greenscreenvideo ♬ Chrysanthemum Tea – Prod. By Rose

The Influenster community’s love for product discovery has led to over 55 million product reviews, growing on average by a million each month. This makes the Influenster App second only to Amazon in the online product review space. And with 98% of that content added organically and non-incentivized, Influenster App members are genuinely passionate about sharing the brands and products they love. 

The Influenster App empowers everyday shoppers to be influential for your brand. By tapping into the Influenster community your brand can build a solid, transparent relationship with the shoppers that matter most and empower them to become your biggest advocates.

Influenster App benefits for brands

Here’s a few ways your brand can utilize the Influenster App and connect with the everyday shoppers who are actively raising their hands to engage with brands, and empower your future customers to buy with confidence. 

Take advantage of existing, organic content 

Influenster’s wealth of user-generated content (UGC) includes shopper reviews, photos, videos, discussions, polls, and more — across a variety of product categories from beauty to baby to food and beverage.

Whether sharing their opinions on a new eye shadow purchase or finding the best organic pet food for their beloved cat, members are using the Influenster App to research and review products that make up their daily lives. 

Over 50,000 pieces of UGC are added to Influenster everyday but this activity doesn’t have to be siloed to just the Influenster App. What makes Influenster unique is the ability to take this content and syndicate it across different channels that inform their customer’s next purchase. 

For example, Pacifica Beauty used the Influenster App to supply 12 retailers with thousands of new, high-quality reviews. Within just months of leveraging existing UGC, Pacifica gained over 2,000 reviews across nearly 200 products.

Capturing UGC organically can be a challenge, but the Influenster community is highly engaged, and we saw this as a good way to drive purchase intent.

Michael Kremer, Chief Marketing Officer, Pacifica Beauty

Those organic reviews were distributed to become more than 10,000 syndicated reviews with a 4.5 average rating across 12 retail sites such as Target and Bed Bath & Beyond.

Find and connect with your brand advocates

The Influenster App provides an easy way for brands to foster advocacy through the ability to activate hyper-targeted audiences and form one-to-one connections that can be scaled across social and onto your product pages.

Members don’t pay to be a part of Influenster. Instead, by filling out a profile of age, interests and shopping habits, linking their social channels and reviewed products, they’re connected to the brands that matter most to them.

Brands can leverage this hyper-targeted network that stretches across a variety of categories to segment the exact shopper they are looking to reach. Using over 900 data points per member, brands can activate both loyalists and competitive users, members who shop at key retailers or those with specific dietary or skincare needs, to test their products and share their feedback. 

By connecting your products with the exact, desired audience your brand has top of mind you will not only bolster your UGC strategy with authentic content, but will build life-long brand fans. 

Activate the Influenster community with product sampling

Consumer trust in influencers has dwindled over the years. A study from Bazaarvoice reported that 47% of customers are tired of influencer content that appears inauthentic. And according to our recent survey of 10,000 shoppers, it’s actually the every day social media user, like you and I, that reigns supreme.

In today’s market authenticity is key. Shoppers are turning to social media to inspire their purchases but are much more likely to trust recommendations that come from voices like their own.

Hyper-targeted sampling solutions help brands connect with their ideal consumer and lets these engaged Influenster members build brand awareness for them. Not only do these turnkey solutions drive social content and reviews, but through a post-campaign survey, brand’s can get a look into their target consumer shopping behavior and preferences.

Product Sampling is customizable for brand OKRs, whether you’re sending product to their doorstep in a dedicated box or scoring valuable space in a non-competitive shared campaign.

In addition to building up brand trust, sampling helps create a strong relationship with your target consumer. Since the majority of members are everyday shoppers, they aren’t receiving PR packages or getting paid to review products.

When members receive your product at their doorstep, they’re engaged and excited to share their opinions. Creating this branded experience helps build relationships that last long after the program’s end. 

For example, L’Oreal brand Redken wanted to generate buzz and authentic word-of-mouth for a new hair care product. So they activated Influenster members via the app to target a specific audience, including women ages 20 to 46, who have oil-prone hair, frequently hit the gym, or have busy schedules. 

Redken sent out over 2,5000 boxes to these everyday influencers, and in return generated:

• 7.7 million impressions
• 1,700 organic reviews
• 84,000 posts, shares, and likes

But most notably, the campaign generated $567,000 in earned media value. “We didn’t spend that much, so the performance was incredible,” said Monique Salas, Director of Marketing for Redken at L’Oreal.

Better understand shopper preferences through data

Customer ratings and reviews are a crucial component of the shopping experience, impacting everything from sales to SEO. But, unlocking the meaning and trends behind UGC is often time-consuming and labor extensive. In fact, according to Bazaarvoice research, half (49%) of brands and retailers report that they don’t have the resources or tools to collect insights from their UGC.

With 50 million product reviews, Influenster can source robust first-party insights on brand and products. From an in-depth review analysis that helps brands better understand their target audience to custom surveys that help fill in data gaps, insights can help guide and improve brand strategy and inform product innovation.  

Shopper data from the Influenster App can also help inform and enhance ad campaigns and marketing efforts. Brands can leverage post sampling campaign insights to create testimonials and claims that bolster brand credibility.

Also, brands can leverage Influenster’s robust targeting capabilities and high-quality member content to power their paid media strategy. ReviewSource turns their top reviews and UGC into highly-targeted digital and social ad units, bolstering brand reach, and credibility. 

The Influenster App: Your next favourite thing

For brands not yet utilizing the Influenster App, there’s a goldmine of engagement and data waiting for them to take their business to the next level.

The ability to hyper-target consumers based on behaviors and other characteristics beyond typical demographics was a key benefit in choosing Influenster

Elizabeth Northrup, Associate Brand Manager, Kraft Heinz

Bazaarvoice can help you create and customize targeted campaigns that connect with the right audience of shoppers to build brand awareness, generate authentic UGC, and create lasting brand loyalty. Learn more about the Influenster App here. Or get in touch below to get started.

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These avenues have become the next best things to replace in-person discovery and shopping experiences.

In this new retail landscape, consumer-to-consumer marketing reigns supreme, and consumer communities are key, because that’s where trusted recommendations are made. According to our research, 78% of shoppers say user-generated content (UGC) such as ratings, reviews, and photos and videos from fellow consumers, is the type of content used by brands or retailers that they find most influential.

To help enable that exchange, we’re pleased to announce the launch of our new Influenster app, which serves as the online home to our global shopper community of over 7 million members!

The new Influenster app offers members a personalized experience, with more products to try and more brands to discover. An enhanced UX and proprietary personalization algorithm make discovery delightfully simple. Members share their honest opinions with the community and learn from other shoppers. On Influenster, the voices of the marketplace are heard.

For our brand and retail partners, the new Influenster app offers even greater connectivity to find the right shoppers to power their content strategies. Partners can activate targeted segments, hear their opinions on products, and generate authentic UGC at a scale, made possible by a highly engaged global community of 7+ million shopping enthusiasts.

We’re creating a global space for people from all walks of life to share their thoughts on, questions about, and experiences, pictures, and videos of their favorite products and brands. 

It’s a community like no other, where consumers go to discover their next favorite thing.

How do we know? Because Bazaarvoice (that’s us) just surveyed 4,000 members of our Influenster community. Specifically with the aim of discovering what consumers actually want to see from brands during Pride Month. Spoiler alert: It’s a lot more than simply changing your brand’s logo to a rainbow logo.

These consumer sentiments likely stem from this year’s Pride Month following a trail of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the country, including Florida’s “don’t say gay” law and bills targeting the transgender community. So it’s more important than ever for Pride campaigns to be genuine and not come across as trying to profit off of the movement. 

Brands resonate most when they, “consistently feature LGBTQ+ people in advertising, hire them within their company, support them from within, donate to LGBTQ+ organizations, and publicly show their support,” according to one of the survey respondents.

With 77% of consumers planning to celebrate Pride Month, as our survey revealed, brands have an opportunity to connect with them in authentic ways. Especially as 91% of respondents said they’re more likely to choose or try a brand that supports the LGBTQ+ community over one that doesn’t.

Here’s a look at what our survey revealed about what consumers want to see from brands during Pride Month. 

Pride Month celebrations should go beyond merchandise

People plan to show their support for Pride Month in a variety of ways this year:

• 59% will create a social media post or change their profile photo to support Pride
• 57% will attend a local community Pride event.
• 59% planning to purchase or wear Pride merchandise. 

Pride merchandise and logos may be a key part of celebrations, but brands are expected to take it a step further. As one survey respondent noted, “I don’t look for brands that slap rainbows on products and call it ‘support.’” 

56% of consumers view Pride merchandise as “authentic only if they’re consistent with their support.” 19% consider it “supportive of the LGBTQ+ community,” but 10% still think it’s just a way to make money. 

Several brands, including Fenty and Skittles, are responding by donating to LGBTQ+ organizations and supporting creators. Skittles partnered with LGBTQ+ artists to design its “splash of color” Pride packages, which features QR codes for consumers to scan to learn more about the artists’ work. The candy brand is also donating proceeds from sales to GLAAD.

Savage x Fenty debuted a Pride lingerie collection and will also donate to GLAAD as well as For the Gwols, an organization supporting Black transgender people.  

Shoppers expect brands to be authentic LGBTQ+ allies 

At Bazaarvoice, our brand promise is to champion authentic voices of the marketplace. We know full well the importance of authenticity, because we increasingly see consumers demanding more authenticity from the brands they support. It’s no different when it comes to Pride Month.

Almost all respondents from our survey considered themselves to be an ally of the LGBTQ+ community:

• 55% said they have a family or friend who’s LGBTQ+
• 24% are a member of the community themselves
• 20% are supportive despite having no direct relationship to the community

These consumers expect brands to be an ally, too. 

Being an ally means brands do things, “without always announcing it for their own reward or payback, but speaking up in a meaningful way,” one survey respondent wrote. “It’s not only supporting the LGBTQ+ community with merchandise and advertising but talking about the struggles and triumphs the community has faced, honoring the rich history,” another said. 

Brands can follow consumers’ lead when it comes to supporting the LGBTQ+ community in an authentic way. 90% of consumers say they show support by “being a role model of kindness,” 66% by purchasing from LGBTQ+-owned brands, and 57% by sharing resources to create safe spaces for the community. Others attend LGBTQ+ events and donate to LGBTQ+ organizations and causes. 

Many consumers believe brands have the power to drive social and cultural change and that they have enough clout to raise awareness about important issues, especially when they speak out on social media. Apple, Disney, Fenty, MAC, Morphe, Target, TomboyX, and Wildfang are the brands our survey respondents considered most respected among the LGBTQ+ community. 

LGBTQ+ support should be year-round, not just during Pride Month 

This is important, and a belief that extends wider than our survey. It’s true that Pride merchandise, social media campaigns, and marketing strategies are crucial for winning over customers. But consumers think LGBTQ+ allyship should extend beyond the month of June every year. And there’s no reason why it can’t, or shouldn’t.

GLAAD chief communications officer Rich Ferraro told CNBC last year, “There’s power in brands participating in Pride Month, and it’s important for their employees and their consumers to see support for the community during Pride Month. But it can’t just be during Pride Month.” 

Instead, brands need a year-round LGBTQ+ inclusion strategy, which Ferraro said should take priority over a “one-off Pride campaign.” Brands must work on showing support for the LGBTQ+ community all the time. This is a crucial move for reaching Gen Z consumers, who seek more diversity and inclusion from brands. And one in six Gen Zers identify as LGBTQ+. 

Our survey included mostly Gen Z and millennials, and of those who said they were part of the LGBTQ+ community, most were fully comfortable being themselves around friends, family, and co-workers. 

Rainbow-washing: When a business shows support for the LGBTQ+ community publicly, but privately engages in practices that harm the community.

88% of consumers say the best way for brands to show support for the LGBTQ+ community is by supporting their LGBTQ+ employees. 77% believe it’s by partnering with community leaders to highlight LGBTQ+ voices, while 72% suggest donating to causes and organizations that support the cause. 74% suggest brands avoid “rainbow-washing.” 

Consumers want more LGBTQ+-inclusive advertising 

A key part of showing your LGBTQ+ support all year is by making your marketing more inclusive. 81% of consumers want year-round inclusivity in advertising, including featuring LGBTQ+ individuals and families. 

Again, authenticity matters here. Nearly 60% of consumers surveyed said most representation of gender fluidity in the beauty and apparel industries is inaccurate. 

Working with influencers and tapping into user-generated content (UGC) are methods for increasing authenticity and showcasing more LGBTQ+ voices. Consumers view content from real people, whether it’s an everyday social media user, social media star, celebrity, or subject matter expert, as more trustworthy and genuine than traditional advertising. 

Feature UGC from your LGBTQ+ shoppers to show that you value their support. Consumers appreciate seeing your products in real-life situations and modeled by real people. Our data shows that brands often see a 144% lift in conversions when brands engage with UGC, like written reviews and customer images. 

Paying attention to what shoppers expect when it comes to supporting the LGBTQ+ community and celebrating Pride is helpful in creating strategies that will resonate most. 

The key takeaway is that consumers still enjoy Pride merchandise and Pride Month campaigns, but they want brands to be more authentic and show their support year-round.   

Check out our Research page for more consumer data, industry trends, and insights.

In recent years, we’ve seen that ‘convenience’ and ‘product benefits’ have replaced ‘brand name’ more and more as a driving decision factor. In fact, in our most recent survey — research of consumer packaged goods (CPG) in North America — we found that less than a tenth (only 8%) of respondents listed ‘brand name’ as an important attribute for new CPG purchases, so we were curious when doing the survey how shoppers were choosing their CPG products, and why. 

CPG research key takeaways

The research of nearly 12,500 members of our Influenster community across North America explores the latest habits, attitudes, and sentiments for CPG products including food, beverages, baby products, pet products, household products, makeup, and skin care products.

What did we find?

1. Social responsibility: consumers are paying attention 

We’ve seen a noticeable increase in consumers taking the environment into consideration when purchasing products across a variety of industries. We’ve seen glimpses of this in apparel, DIY & home, and we even just put together a whole piece on sustainability’s part in retail success. Clearly it’s an emerging trend. 

And sustainability is a key factor when it comes to what CPG brands consumers will buy too. Here, though, it goes beyond just environmental issues and encompasses social and ethical issues as well. Of those we surveyed:

• 77% said it’s very/somewhat important for them that CPG brands source their products responsibly and ethically

• 76% said it’s very/somewhat important for them to see that CPG brands are taking initiatives to reduce their carbon footprint and embrace sustainability

• 75% said that it’s very/somewhat important for them that the packaging of the product is eco-friendly or recyclable

• 68% of respondents say that it’s very/somewhat important to them that the ingredients in the cleaning products they buy are natural and/or eco-friendly

As the above stats show, the majority of respondents state that being sustainable, recyclable and ethically-sourced are all key drivers when it comes to purchasing CPG products, which proves the environmentally-minded attitude of today’s consumers.

2. Ingredient labels are influencing purchase decisions

It’s not just what the product is, though, it’s what’s in the product that’s driving consumer purchasing decisions nowadays too. For example, 74% of our CPG research respondents who are parents said that it’s very/somewhat important to them that the ingredients in their baby food & drinks are natural and/or organic, while 81% said that it’s very/somewhat important to them that the ingredients in their baby body care products are ‘clean’ and/or ‘paraben free.’

Ingredient labels are, perhaps unsurprisingly, especially considered when it comes to purchasing food products:

• 56% said that it’s very/somewhat important to them that the ingredients they use for cooking and baking are organic

• 48% said that it’s very/somewhat important to them that the ingredients they use for cooking and baking are gluten-free

• 44% of consumers say that it’s very/somewhat important to them that the ingredients they use for cooking and baking are plant based

This partly ties in to the environmental attitude of today’s consumers, as plant-based and organic tend to be greener, but on top of that it shows that consumers really care about their own health as much as the planet’s health.

In fact, 67% of the surveyed consumers want to see recipes from brands for cooking or baking that show alternatives, such as gluten free and organic products. This tells us that consumers are research dietary needs and health benefits when it comes to purchasing CPG products.

Consumers also care as much about their external health as they do their inner health, as the following table shows. We asked our members what they look for when it comes to choosing skin/hair care products & cosmetics, and here’s what they said:

The responses from our community members clearly show that the majority look to avoid products like parabens and sulphates, which have long been considered to be harmful for the skin/hair.

3. Are consumers still shopping?

Yes, they are. But what are they buying, and when?

• Consumers are more likely to purchase snacks & drinks – daily
• Consumers are more likely to purchase frozen food – weekly
• Consumers are more likely to purchase canned food, household products, pet products, skin/hair care products and cosmetics – monthly

A full breakdown of how frequently consumers are buying specific products looks like this:

There’s no surprises here really. Low-cost products intended for instant consumption, like snacks, tend to be bought daily. Whereas your pricier products, and those with longer shelf lives like cosmetics, are bought monthly. But the real question is where are consumers purchasing these products?

4. In-store vs online

Somewhat surprising, given the change in consumer buying habits, but in-store shopping is still the go-to when it comes to purchasing CPG products. While shoppers still research online, a huge 82% of the surveyed respondents said they prefer buying CPG products in-store at retailers (Target, Walmart), while 49% prefer buying online via retailers (Target, Walmart) and another 58% prefer buying online from Amazon. 

The results are slightly different when it comes to groceries specifically. 72% of those surveyed prefer buying groceries in-store at local grocery stores (Kroger, Stop & Shop) and 59% buy in-store at retailers (Target, Walmart), while only 30% of consumers prefer buying at retailers online. 

The results swing much more toward in-store groceries, likely because people like to see/hold the produce they’re buying, and not to mention they were one of the few types of store kept open during lockdowns.

Speaking of in-store purchasing, 66% of consumers are more likely to try a new product from shopping in-store (vs. only 34% who said online) which leads on to the final main takeaway from the survey.

5. What influences a consumer’s decision to try a NEW product?

We already know that reviews matter (particularly the recency of reviews.) Our own research has told us this. But do they matter when it comes to purchasing CPG goods? Yes, they do. When researching a new CPG product, the top three drivers for purchase are product reviews (82%) followed by family & friend recommendations (51%) then ‘best types of products’ lists (50%).

But when asked to select only one driver, the vast majority (64%) said they read customer reviews, as the following table shows:

Reviews on social media specifically also play a large part, with 83% of respondents saying they’re very/somewhat likely to purchase a new product advertised on social media with photos and reviews from other shoppers. Another 82% would share their honest opinion about a new product by writing a review and posting on social media. 

Turn CPG market research into actionable results

As our CPG market research shows, there’s multiple attitudes and habits that consumers take into account when it comes to making CPG purchasing decisions. And clearly ‘brand name’ isn’t one of them. But if you’re wondering how your retail brand can win over these consumers, the trends are easy to spot. 

Make sure your brand is socially responsible, your products are friendly to both people and the planet (and clearly labelled so), and that you utilize customer ratings and reviews for other potential consumers to use, and you’ll have consumers won over in no time at all.

For more research, marketing strategies, and ways to stand out on the digital shelf, see our CPG industry page.