From influencers to UGC creators: the mindset shift brands are making in 2026

For years, influencer marketing was the easy answer for brands: more followers = more impact.

But something has changed. And in 2026, it’s obvious.

Brands aren’t stopping investing in content. They’re stopping paying for what no longer works.

Today, more and more marketing teams are making the same shift: moving from influencers to UGC creators. In many cases, significantly reducing their use of influencers.

Not because it’s trendy. Because of the results. Because of the return on investment.

Influencer marketing isn’t “dead”. But it is poorly planned in many cases.

For years, many brands confused visibility with real impact. If it doesn’t sell, they disguise it as “branding” with metrics of questionable value…

Because if you want 100k views on a video, you might as well spend €200 promoting good content (hello, UGC) instead of €1,500 on the influencer.

• Profiles with thousands of followers
• Occasional posts
• Unconvincing, highly promotional messages
• Zero content control

In an environment saturated with ads, users have learned to spot advertising in half a second and that’s what the vast majority of influencers continue to do. And when users spot it, they switch off.

Because that cream {whatever it is} the influencer is promoting (the fourth brand of the week) is getting tiresome. No matter how much of a backstory they tell me… That €1,500 for a story hasn’t paid for itself.

There are three key changes that explain this shift:

• First: users no longer trust perfect pitches. They trust real people, experiences and imperfections.
• Second: platforms prioritise content that feels native, not corporate. Videos recorded on a phone, a natural pace, simple storytelling. Well, platforms and users who stop to watch a video that doesn’t initially look like an ad.
• Third: brands need consistent content, not one-off campaigns.

This is where UGC comes in.

And yes, UGC is much more than a social media trend. It’s strategy.

A UGC creator isn’t a small influencer. It’s not someone with few followers who gets paid less.

A UGC creator is someone who:

• Knows how to film, script and edit
• Understands how to communicate for brands
• Conveys trust in front of the camera
• Creates content designed for the brand’s channels, not their own (although it can be published on their channels)

The key difference is this: the influencer lends their audience; the UGC creator lends their image and ability to communicate

HICARI is more than your UGC platform; it’s a UGC content creation agency tailored to your business. Ideal for creating ads and content for social media, websites… Get in touch!

The reasons come up time and time again among marketing teams:

1. More control over the message. Content is created according to a brief, with the necessary brand design guidelines, style directions, tone of voice, etc.
2. More scalability. You can produce 10, 20 or 50 videos a month without depending on egos or crazy prices (at least with HICARI).
3. More reuse. The same video works for ads, websites, social media, email or landing pages.
4. More conversions. Because the content feels like a real recommendation, not an ad.

This is where many brands get it wrong. This is relevant to you: UGC VS influencers.

UGC does not replace influencer marketing. They serve different purposes.

Burn this into your memory!

• If you want reach, awareness and new audiences → influencers
• If you want credibility, conversion and reusable content → UGC

In 2026, the most mature brands (you know, the ones that don’t recklessly burn through money and measure what works) no longer ask: “How many followers do they have?”

They ask:

• Does this content feel authentic?
• Can I use it in my ads?
• Does it fit my brand?
• Will it help me sell or build trust?
• What is the expected ROI?

HICARI was born precisely from this need: connecting brands with creators who know how to create content, not audiences.

UGC creators who:

• Work from a brief
• Deliver ready-to-use content (and publish it on their profile if necessary)
• Understand brand objectives
• Don’t need followers to add value

1. Launch a brief on HICARI.
2. In the brief, select that the creator publishes on their Instagram or TikTok profile, or both.
3. Chat with the creator so you can coordinate the promotion of the video.
4. Promote their reel, making it much more natural and organic than if it came from your brand.

Here are real examples of how brands are using UGC creators on HICARI:

Initial situation: ecommerce brand producing highly polished creatives, professional production, corporate messaging and image-based campaigns.

Results before:

• Average CTR on paid social: 0,8%
• CPA: 42 €
• Creative fatigue after 2–3 weeks

What they changed: they replaced some of the creatives with UGC videos recorded by 5 different creators:

• Mobile-shot footage
• Different scripts
• Real product use cases, product benefits and need generation

Results after:

• CTR: 1,9%
• CPA: 27 €
• Active creative lifespan: +6 weeks

“It was the first time the content felt like a recommendation rather than an ad.” — Project Marketing Manager

Initial situation: B2C SaaS with a good product but low conversion on its landing page and paid campaigns.

What they did: they used UGC creators to record videos explaining:

• What problem they had
• Why they tried the tool
• How they use it in their day-to-day lives

The videos were not published on the creator’s social media profiles. They were used in:

• Acquisition campaigns on Google Ads and Meta
• Retargeting on Google Ads

Results:

• +22% landing page conversion
• -18% cost per lead
• +35% average time on page

This is relevant to you—we discussed it on the podcast:

Initial situation: they relied on occasional influencer campaigns to generate visibility spikes, while campaign creatives were made using static images.

What they changed: they implemented a monthly UGC creation system, reducing their investment in influencers and increasing UGC:

• 8–12 videos per month
• Different profiles and styles
• Content designed for reuse in campaigns and organically on social media

Results after 3 months:

• +40% reusable content in paid media
• +60% organic posts without internal production
• Less dependence on “hero campaigns”

Initial situation: they needed to launch a campaign that required explanation, so they turned to UGC to explain it through real people.

What they did: using UGC, they tested:

• They produced the assets in under 48 hours
• Different hooks
• Different profiles
• Multiple versions of the same message

Results:

• They identified the 3 creators and messages that converted best
• They scaled only what worked

All with HICARI’s full-service management: TotalEnergies success story with HICARI.

Initial situation: a musical theatre production company with significant investment in influencers to promote premieres and seasons. Large profiles, carefully crafted posts, clear sponsored messages.

The problem: although reach was high, engagement fell campaign after campaign.

• Generic comments
• Little real conversation
• Low purchase intent

What they changed: they drastically reduced their use of influencers and turned to UGC creators to tell the experience, not the show.

They created content with real people:

• Musical attendees sharing their experience with genuine emotion
• Authentic reactions after leaving the theatre
• Personal stories (“I came with my mother”, “it was my first musical”)
• High-quality videos recorded on a mobile phone, without a rigid script
• Different scripts, some filmed at home

It was not published from the creator’s profile. The content was used in:

• Owned channels
• Paid campaigns

Results after 2 months:

• +45% engagement on owned channels
• +30% average time on page
• More organic conversation in comments
• Stronger brand recall associated with the experience

Here you can see more HICARI clients and projects.

Brands are not abandoning people-based marketing. They are abandoning marketing that fails to create impact. The future is not about shouting louder. It is about seeming more human. That is why the focus is no longer on who publishes the content. It is on how someone feels when they see it.