Table of Contents
Influencer marketing can be a highly profitable, and as of late, trendy strategy. But in recent months, the pendulum has swung back to the favor of customers themselves having the greatest influence over other customers.
When influencer marketing began, it thrived due to consumer distrust of traditional advertising and viewed influencers as more relatable and trustworthy. And according to Forbes, the influencer economy has risen to $250 billion.
However, that trust is shrinking.
According to a 2024 survey of 1,000 participants, 53% of consumers don’t trust influencer content.
One sign of rising distrust is increasing criticism of lavish influencer perks, including extravagant brand influencer trips, which have become cautionary tales for marketers. Even influencers are growing weary of the regalia, calling out how it contradicts consumers’ desire for authenticity, transparency, and support of social causes from brands.
On the other hand, some companies, like Waterboy, are early to notice the growing disillusionment and focus on rewarding real customers. We think they’re onto something—let’s dive into why.
The Rise of Customer-Centric Influence
This disconnect comes at a time when experts say our society is in the middle of a ‘belonging crisis’ and economic pessimism is growing. These societal shifts charted a path for real customers to hold more sway over potential buyers.
Related Reading: Changing Tides: 5 Cultural Shifts That Will Define Marketing in 2025
To put this into perspective, think back to one of TV’s most memorable moments, forever embossed through memes: Oprah awarding everyone in her audience a new car.
Now, ask yourself, would that moment have been so impactful, so historic in pop culture, had the live audience been full of wealthy, famous influencers?
Consumers could see themselves in that live audience. (But not so much on influencer trips to Bora Bora.) The answer comes back to authenticity, something 70% of consumers say makes them more likely to spend money on a brand.
Related Reading: Don’t React to Audience Trends. Predict Them.
Why Customers Are Viewed as More Authentic
Personal recommendations have always been one of the most trusted forms of advertising, with 90% of consumers trusting word-of-mouth recommendations.
Brand influencers were once part of this circle of trust but are seeing trust erode. Why?
The closer influencers reach celebrity status, the less relatable they feel. And the less relatable, the less likely someone will take up their recommendation. In contrast, everyday customers are perceived as more relatable because they have less to gain for their participation or recommendation.
This relatability is so important because it satisfies a need for belonging—a key element in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In marketing, this sense of belonging translates to social proof. (Think testimonials, reviews, and user-generated content.)
Rachel Botsman touches on this idea in her TED talk, explaining how shifts in consumer trust have elevated the importance of peer reviews, like those on Airbnb and Uber, in shaping purchasing decisions.
One caveat: This isn’t necessarily the case for nano (10,000 or fewer followers) and micro-influencers (100,000 or fewer followers). These groups generally see high engagement and likely continue to feel approachable to consumers.
5 Customer Engagement Strategies to Try
Start seeing your customers as your greatest influencers, and use these five ideas to get you started.
1. User-Generated Content (UGC)
User-generated content, where brands highlight content from real customers, isn’t a new strategy, but we expect to see more brands doing it.
UGC is a great way to build trust and engagement and is a strategy used by retail brands like Crocs, tech companies like Adobe, and even Broadway musicals.
Data shows UGC is 8.7x more impactful than influencer content.
In Practice
Heinz’s recent UGC campaign was based on finding a sailor who took the world by storm. After being rescued from being lost at sea, the sailor told the media he survived 24 days on a ketchup bottle. Ketchup! Heinz wanted to reward the sailor, Elvis Francois, but couldn’t find him. The obvious course of action for the ketchup brand was to launch a virtual search party, inviting internet sleuths and Heinz fans worldwide.
Heinz eventually found Elvis through the viral campaign that generated 2,500+ press headlines and over 3.7 billion earned media impressions, and a happy ending ensued. (And yielded a 100% sentiment score; now how’s that for trust.)
2. Customer Advocacy Programs
Customer advocacy is all about encouraging your customers to promote your brand because they genuinely love the product or service. According to Gartner, this can look like case studies, referrals, product reviews, and customer advisory boards.
To engage advocates, Gartner suggests a four-step process:
-
Identify advocates
-
Create opportunities for advocates
-
Mobilize advocates
-
Reward advocates
In Practice
The dbt Community, dbt Labs customer group, is a prime example of customer advocacy. With 25,000+ members, this community drives 80% of the B2B software company’s revenue and has grown by 10% monthly since launching in 2018. Composed of data professionals who use dbt, the community provides a space for members to ask questions, share insights, support one another, and build connections.
3. Employee-Generated Content (EGC)
Employee-generated content isn’t just great for employer branding. According to Forbes, EGC is a great way to improve brand reputation among consumers, and brands are increasingly tapping into their employees to represent their brands across digital channels. Some B2B companies have even implemented employee advocacy programs, and data reveals that these initiatives have helped shorten sales cycles for 27% of high-growth companies that have adopted them.
Related Reading: How to Empower Your Employees to Become LinkedIn Brand Ambassadors
In Practice
Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) invited its members and alums to submit video snapshots of their day as a part of a campaign to help garner donations for its third annual Give Day. The result was a powerful, authentic collection of a day in the life of the OHSU community, including surgeons, nurses, and students.
OHSU not only exceeded its fundraising goal and garnered tens of thousands of impressions with the campaign, but it also built trust and awareness by using members of its organization.
4. Community Management
Consumers crave community, and brands that don’t welcome loyal fans and customers to engage on social media miss opportunities for connection. It’s not enough to be on the platform; brands must actively engage with followers, especially if you want to avoid getting ghosted on socials. And to make a real impression, consider creating conversations over responding to comments.
In Practice
Though TikTok is known for being a platform dominated by Gen Z, one brand that has an award-winning presence and community management strategy is AARP.
AARP leans into a witty brand voice that embodies its audience, Gen X, and exudes ’80s and ’90s culture. They use TikTok features to invite their community to participate. To show their audience they’re listening, they developed two content series—Gen X ASMR and Craig Explains the 80s—fueled by requests from their comments section. AARP is also quick to engage with its audience of 480,000+ followers.
5. Surprise & Delight
Surprise and delight your most loyal fans. Consider rewarding your customers with activations like invitations to exclusive events, timely offers via SMS, partnering with other brands for giveaways, or hosting social media contests. (Fun fact: only 2% of marketers run regular contests on Instagram, marking it as a missed opportunity.)
In Practice
In 2022, We Are Teachers partnered with Lysol to clear the Amazon wish lists of 100 teachers during the back-to-school season. From July to October, 25 teachers were chosen each month to receive a $200 Amazon gift card, helping them clear their classroom wish lists. The giveaway attracted a record number of entrants to its site and, most importantly, helped its primary audience prepare for a stellar school year.
View this post on Instagram
Empowering your Everyday Customer
The good news is you don’t have to send all of your customers to Bora Bora. But you do need to create customer-centric content and opportunities that promote trust, show authenticity, and make people feel like they are a part of something.
The truth is you’ve had this incredible group of brand influencers right at your fingertips all along, and you don’t need to slide into their DMs with yacht trips to get them to advocate for you. When you look at your current base with this lens, you might just see how truly influential your customers can be.
What’s the next big trend in marketing? Hear where Square’s Mallory Russell and studioID’s Travis Gonzalez are placing their bets.
