Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of Instagram ads that use creator content as the ad creative. One of those ads is from a cookware brand that sponsors creators to use their products and demonstrate how to use them. The creators will put together delicious recipes and add creative twists to traditional dishes—all while explaining why the product is better than what’s in the market.
Converse even served me an ad featuring content from an influencer I actually follow—content that I’d organically seen in my regular feed a couple of weeks earlier. How cool is that?
I find these ads to be so much more engaging than a basic ad that simply lists the benefits of a product or shows high-definition images of the product. And many consumers are like me. They want to see content from real people showing how the products work or look in real life. This is the type of digital content that gets people to engage and ultimately convert.
In this post, I take a closer look at how creator content drives social proof and conversions for brands. I also provide you with examples of major brands like Amazon, Sephora, and ASOS using creator content to drive sales. Let’s get started.
To start with, let’s look into the why and explore the impact that creator content has in boosting trust and credibility—two very important factors that drive buying decisions.
A recent TikTok report shows that ads that feature creator-led content clearly outperform branded creative:
Additionally, 58% of consumers (aged over 18 years) have also bought something because of an influencer endorsement. And 79% of consumers aged 18 to 29 years have bought a product after seeing an influencer using it.
These numbers prove that social proof content, like creator-generated content, can potentially drive more engagement and purchases than branded content. But why?
Social proof content, even if it’s created through a paid influencer partnership, shows what the product really looks like beyond the perfectly polished branded photos. It gives people a better idea of how the product might look in real life, as they gauge the size, color, and overall appearance from the content.
The experiences and reviews shared by real people further enhance trust, especially if it’s authentic. So buyers get the confidence to go through with their purchases.
From how to style a pair of shoes to what dishes to cook using a cast iron skillet, social proof content provides inspiration. It shows people all the different ways the product could be used and how it could add value to their lives.
And when they have ideas to really use a product, they’re more inclined to go through with a purchase.
They may be sold on the benefits of a cast iron skillet. But if they’ve never used it before or don’t know what to cook with it, it’s easier to put off buying it. Present them with five easy weekday dinner ideas for exhausted professionals, and suddenly, the skillet becomes a “must-have” item to make their lives easier.
Some of the biggest brands know just how impactful social proof digital content can be for driving conversions. And they’re already using creators to scale content creation, with a focus on the type of content that converts. Let’s look at some of the best examples.
As the global leader in retail, Amazon also leads with digital content that gets people to make impulse purchases. The brand has a sophisticated content strategy that heavily focuses on creators through its always-on #AmazonFinds program. This involves creators of all sizes producing content to showcase their “Amazon finds.”
Creators will choose the product they want to promote, create content with it, and show their audience just how big a difference it makes in their lives.
The best part about this program is that creators have a say over which products to promote. Amazon isn’t pushing them to create content about one specific product. This adds authenticity to the content, as each creator focuses on a product that specifically speaks to them—whether it’s a slushie machine to make hosting more effortless or a drilling toy to keep your kids busy.
So creators who are a part of the program will get to curate the products that most align with their niche, interest, content style, and audience preferences.
Sephora works with its “Sephora Squad” to create informative and engaging content that highlights the quality of the products on its shelves. The company focuses on creators who have a strong knowledge of beauty and makeup to ensure relevance and authority. These creators are in a position to share their expertise and reviews with audiences who are also interested in beauty and makeup.
So their content effectively reaches a relevant audience while providing them with information, ideas, and/or instructions to guide their buying decisions.
For instance, creators will demonstrate just how effective a particular makeup remover is. Or they’ll swatch different shades of a lipstick to show how it looks on them. They might even create a makeup look to showcase the quality of a certain brand’s beauty products. This gives their audience the confidence and inspiration to buy a product.
There was a time our Instagram feeds were filled with influencers and everyday users alike serving looks straight out of ASOS. Their posts would be tagged with the #AsSeenOnMe hashtag that we all associate with the company even today. ASOS heavily relied on user-generated content to drive purchases through social proof and outfit inspiration.
Now the company is taking a more organized and sophisticated approach to digital content creation with creator campaigns that achieve the same purpose.
ASOS is partnering with fashion creators on TikTok to share outfit hauls and ideas that show the extensive range of clothing items available on the website. The content often has a seasonal theme (spring dresses, summer style, etc.) to inspire purchases that are on-trend and encourage seasonal wardrobe changes.
Traditionally, influencer campaigns were mostly focused on social output. Whatever content influencers generated for brands didn’t reach beyond social media. Now that’s changing, as brands start to see the value of turning creator content into commerce assets.
Here are some helpful tips on how to scale your digital content creation efforts with creator content that converts.
Content production has mostly been associated with marketing and influencer campaigns. Now you need to incorporate it into your ecommerce planning process instead of limiting it to your campaign planning.
Think of your overall ecommerce strategy:
Then plan your influencer content production efforts to align with this strategy. This will help you know what types of creators to partner with, where to share the content, how to time your production, and more.
For instance, you could have parent influencers create shoppable TikTok posts featuring their back-to-school essentials around mid-July.
If driving conversions is the goal, you have to rethink influencer selection beyond awareness. It’s not about the following size or the product placement anymore. Instead, you want to ask: Who’s good at convincing people to buy something?
Some influencers may be great at engaging their audience, but are those audiences actually convinced to buy the products?
Look at their past content and brand partnerships, as well as how people are responding to it. Are they asking more questions with the intent to buy? Are they showing an interest in what the influencer is promoting? This will give you a better sense of which creators are ideal for driving sales.
Trust is an important factor that influences people’s buying decisions. You wouldn’t buy everything an influencer recommends just because they have plenty of followers. Instead, people are more likely to buy from influencers who are relatable, honest, and authentic.
So you want to make sure creators are transparent about their partnerships. They need to disclose whether they’re getting something out of the promotion.
At the same time, they should also be honest about any opinion or experience. Encourage them to point out any room for improvement or highlight the features they truly love instead of embellishing details.
Additionally, the content should align with their typical style and niche, so they remain authentic to their true selves and the content doesn’t look out of place. A review video for a skincare product would work best coming from someone who usually does in-depth video product reviews and has talked about skincare before.
Comedy sketches may be great at entertaining viewers and driving engagement. But they may not necessarily drive conversions.
After all, you’d rather make buying decisions informed by a review video than by a comedy sketch. Unless the creator is extremely adept at weaving in essential product info into their comedy content, you want them to focus on the type of digital content that can drive sales.
It’s vital that you clearly highlight these expectations during the influencer briefing process. In fact, you need to guide creators to create more commerce-friendly digital content. Explain what content formats and approaches work best to improve product understanding and guide buying decisions. For instance, product reviews, demo videos, carousels, etc.
Make sure creators also highlight the most important product information, like ingredients, features, benefits, etc. These are the details that people often look for before they go through with a purchase.
Additionally, you could have them tag products in their posts. Instagram now allows creators to add product tags in their content. TikTok even lets influencers sell directly through shoppable posts, so they can easily earn commissions from their sales.
Think beyond social when using creator content to drive conversions. You could repurpose it as marketing assets across multiple placements.
For instance, influencer-generated content could serve as creative for your ads (and not just on social media) and landing pages. It could also serve as social proof in your marketing emails and product description pages. Test different placements to maximize conversions.
ColourPop Cosmetics has a “trending on social” section on their website, which shows a curated selection of popular creator videos from social media. When you click on a video to watch it, you get a shoppable product link to instantly buy the item that’s featured in the video.
Wondering which influencer content to amplify through paid channels? Or what formats drive the most conversions? Track post-specific performance data to figure out what works. Then make data-backed decisions to plan your paid advertising campaigns and optimize your influencer briefing.
This could mean using top-performing influencer posts as ad creative instead of amplifying every piece of content through paid channels, for instance. So you can keep your costs low while driving conversions from your ads.
Creator-generated content adds an element of authenticity and social proof that drives trust and conversions. Make the most of the tips and best practices I shared above to boost conversions through high-quality influencer content.
Content that converts is convincing and persuasive, often making people feel a desire to take an action, such as downloading something, signing up for something, or buying something.
Product demos, honest reviews, before and after content, educational content, and problem-solution content are the top types of influencer content that convert.
Social proof content gives buyers the confidence to take action because it shows them what the product actually looks like and how it benefits others.
An example of social proof content is a content creator sharing an honest review and demonstration of a new product.