3 ways brands can enhance trust with micro-influencers & UGC

• Micro-Influencers.
• User-generated content.
• Interruption free browsing and native ads.
• The statistics

Micro-influencers (Maheshwari 2018) are small social media marketers/ influencers, with a small follower count ranging from 1000 to 5000 followers. They connect with others online through interpersonal & para social relationships, where people feel connected through online personalities & the acts they do.

Organic content (Jones 2024) connects in-person relationships with other users online by creating a strong bond, a friendship, “you’re my friend and I want to provide the best experience”. One skin-care product buyer commented on being told their new skincare good is amazing. She described the experience similar to as if their friend was telling them the product was great, as if it was “happy hour”, expect it’s on social media, specifically Instagram (Maheshwari 2018). A majority of people use word-of-mouth recommendations by telling their friends or family about a new service they purchased. I would be more inclined to purchase an air-fryer from a brand a family member has used over one I have little knowledge on. If you’re a larger influencer, people might see you as less authentic, the macro influencer might not engage in UGC often. UGC (user-generated content) is powerful as they encourage users to interact with the company & product. One study by Stackla (Martin 2023), where they showed that buyers are highly impacted by UGC versus branded content, with 79% of customers seeing UGC as important & branded content is considered by 9%. People view actions such as online tutorials for using a specific product with a rating at the end as natural, you get to see product features & a personal review. I feel tutorials are as powerful as written testimonials as they combine visual video & verbal written content.

Interruption free browsing and native ads

Posts that blend into our everyday activities, are known as native ads. You’re exploring Facebook or Twitter browsing the latest nutritional shake & a video appears. It’s a person reviewing their favorite shakes for optimal taste and meeting nutritional goals such as carb levels. In the video description, their is a link below to purchase the specific brand they were using. Do you want a new pair of shoes though don’t want to go to the store? Snapchat’s got your back, you can see them on a real-life scale online.

Have the munchies watching a movie online? Oreo has the perfect pairing of rich milk & chocolate-filled cookies, with Oreos Game of Thrones (Martin 2023). The brand reenacts the opening scene of Game of Thrones, by featuring a throne made from Oreos. Netflix’s Stranger Things partners with Spotify to implement a a customized playlist filled with the 13 leads when entering “Stranger things Mode” (Martin 2023). Here you can be immersed into the “Upside Down”(Martin 2023), becoming inverted in the characters and their music. All this draws from your info; your music and your habits. How much time do you spend on Spotify a day? What song is the most listened to? Do you listen during the day or nighttime? The advertisements blend into our natural surroundings, instead of a pesky-pop up you might groan at for interrupting your experience, you barely notice these ones are there.

These advertisements appeal to the masses, whether you’re a die hard fan or new viewer, it’s a win-win for a new experience. If you love the show, then here’s an extra goodie to your mega collection. If you don’t know the show, here’s the perfect way to get you into the series. We connect with those who share the same interests as ourselves. 

The statistics

Organic posts offer low costs and high authenticity & work well with the algorithm. When you have an audience built, they will gather word-of-mouth marketing & actively engage with your brand. User-generated-content isn’t preferred by customers alone, brands enjoy them, with 79% marketers seeing increased brand awareness & exposure. One study by sharethrough (Sharethrough & Equativ 2015) found that 53% of consumers interact with native ads & garneted purchase intent by 18% over banner adverts.

Finally, they build meaningful relationships between brands & consumers. Whether it be gaining viewer trust through meaningful relationships through online reviews geared as friend to family recommendations towards people enjoying an interruption-free activity that has them in-stores the next day. Organic posts used with micro-influencers & user-generated content, is the perfect combo for low costs & high roi.

Works Cited

Maheshwari, S. (2018, November 12). The instagrammers next door, plugging brands for peanuts (or shampoo) – sfgate. The-Instagrammers-next-door-plugging-brands-for. https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/The-Instagrammers-next-door-plugging-brands-for-13385592.php

Jones, P. (2024, June 14). Why in-house content teams are the key to Authentic Brand Building. The Power of Organic Social Media. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/power-organic-social-media-why-in-house-content-teams-penri-jones-ewyze/

Martin, D. (2023, June 5). Native Advertising: 5 best examples in recent times. LinkDoctor. https://linkdoctor.io/native-advertising-examples-2/

Sharethrough, & Eqatuiv. (2015, April 20). Ad effectiveness study: Native ads vs Banner ads. Sharethrough. https://www.sharethrough.com/blog/ad-effectiveness-study-native-ads-vs-banner-ads

OREO COOKIE, Mondelez International, & Warner Bros Discovery. (2019, April 2). Oreo x Game of Thrones Title Sequence. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmf-6TYjGuQ&t=2s

Hobbs, R. (2021). Media Literacy in Action: Questioning the Media. Rowman & Littlefield.

Charello, Michelle (August 2023) Essentials of Social Media Marketing (Stukent Inc) URL: https://edifyapp.stukent.com/EFY-ESMM/CC-FF9C8E