February 13, 2025
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At our latest roundtable event we delved into the worlds of UGC (User-Generated Content) and Influencer Marketing. Join us now as we explore this discussion, and cover everything from the importance of budgeting correctly for UGC and Influencer Marketing, to the perils of “Big Agency Syndrome.”
The topics we’ll look at include:
1. Aligning Paid and Organic Social for Greater Impact
2. The Role of Ambassadors vs. Influencers
3. Creating Content that Encourages Organic UGC
4. The “Big Agency Syndrome” and High-Production Content Trap
5. The Difference Between Affiliates and Influencers
6. Setting the Right Success Metrics for Influencer Marketing
7. Budgeting for Influencer and UGC Content
A common mistake brands make is treating paid social and organic social as separate entities. Integrating these approaches results in a more consistent and effective marketing approach, with each approach complementing the other, driving better results for both.
Using influencers as a connector between the two allows brands to repurpose organic influencer content into paid campaigns, maintaining familiarity and authenticity with audiences, while maximising the value of the content.
Licensing UGC for paid social can increase engagement and reduce the reliance on high-cost, polished brand ads.
To get the most from brand ambassadors and influencers, it is important for brands to understand the key differences between them. This helps promote a better understanding of what they can bring to your brand, and enables you to set realistic expectations around key metrics.
Brand ambassadors
Brand ambassadors act as the embodiment of brand values. They will often be high-profile celebrities where budget allows, or respected figures in the fintech world.
Influencers
Influencers, on the other hand, provide authenticity and direct engagement with target audiences. They are trusted by their audiences to champion their needs and understand their pain points. They offer real solutions through relatable content.
Successful strategies involve finding a middle ground between the two—leveraging ambassadors for credibility while using influencers for grass-roots engagement.
The crypto niche is a good example of this, where firms and trading platforms have used trusted figures as ambassadors to “wash away” industry scepticism, while also relying on influencers for consumer trust and engagement.
While organic UGC is a very powerful marketing tool, brands can’t force users to create content. This is especially true in industries like fintech and financial services, where the customer journey is often more complex, involving app sign-ups and other technical hurdles.
The best approach to UGC is to design events, campaigns, or causes that make users want to create and share content. A genuinely motivated content creator also brings the added bonus of being likely to create better, more authentic content for your brand.
Experiential marketing (spectacles, events, and causes) can unify brand ambassadors, influencers, and customers, generating organic buzz and engagement.
There is a tendency among many large brands to overspend on big agencies that push highly produced content. The thinking goes that the more budget spent on content, the better it will perform. But this is a misguided calculation, and often leads to a lack of agility, with an over-reliance on polished ads that don’t perform as well as authentic influencer content.
Micro-influencers and UGC creators can generate high-quality content at scale, and provide an alternative to expensive agency-produced content. This alternative is not only easier on budgets, but can often result in ads and campaigns that perform better than their more expensive, but less resonant counterparts.
Many brands mistakenly treat influencers like affiliates, expecting direct conversions rather than long-term brand equity. While influencers can be part of an affiliate model, they should be measured differently.
The relationship between a brand and its affiliates is transactional. Affiliate marketers are sales driven, and operate with a direct-response approach, where a sale is usually the only conversion by which their success is measured.
Influencers however will promote brand awareness, trust-building, and community engagement. They foster reassurance, and promote longer-term engagement.
Influencer content focuses on building credibility and reducing CPA across other marketing channels, while affiliates drive direct sales. Both are valuable for business growth.
Many brands mistakenly measure influencer marketing solely on direct conversions (e.g., sign-ups, or purchases). A more accurate way to track success includes:
Influencer marketing is closer to TV advertising than performance marketing. It builds trust and credibility over time.
Should influencer and UGC budgets fall under brand or performance marketing? This is one of the biggest questions businesses wrestle with when forecasting their spending.
While the best fit is under brand, businesses should take a more blended approach, ensuring influencer and UGC content supports both performance and brand goals.
Ideally, brands should stop over-segmenting budgets, and instead focus on how influencer content enhances the entire marketing mix. A joined-up approach between brand and performance marketing is often the key to short and long-term success.
TLDR? No problem, here’s the bite-size version of our 7 key takeaways.
✅ Integrate paid and organic social by leveraging influencers to create consistency.
✅ Understand the difference between ambassadors and influencers—both have unique roles.
✅ Encourage UGC through experiences and causes, rather than forcing content creation.
✅ Avoid the “big agency” trap—micro-influencers and UGC can provide more cost-effective, high-performing content.
✅ Separate influencer marketing from affiliate marketing—they serve different purposes.
✅ Measure influencer success beyond direct conversions—focus on brand equity and CPA efficiency.
✅ Think holistically about budgeting—stop segmenting influencer and UGC budgets too strictly.
Influencer and UGC marketing is an incredibly powerful tool. When it’s applied correctly, brands can enjoy massive, sustained growth. The key to its application lies in understanding the purpose of each element, setting expectations based on this understanding, and ensuring that content – whichever type of creator is producing it – is maximised for efficiency, consistency, and familiarity.
At Growth Gorilla, we only do fintech. We create and execute strategies to help fintechs go to market, grow, and master market entry. Our team of experts has already helped grow over 40 fintechs. With Growth Gorilla at your side, there’s no confusion or wasted time. You stay flexible, slash acquisition costs, and stop worrying about what to do next.
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