Looking at both the consumer and marketer sides of the content equation, this survey uncovers the gaps between what consumers want and what marketers believe they’re providing in the age of digital influence.
We surveyed 1,590 consumers and 150 B2C marketers from the US, UK and Australia to understand the types of content consumers create, reference and are influenced by across an array of buying experiences — from travel and dining to automotive and consumer packaged goods (CPG) — while simultaneously exploring the viewpoint of marketers who create content experiences for consumers.
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Key Findings
- 90% of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding which brands they like and support
- Although 92% of marketers believe most or all of the content they create resonates as authentic with consumers, 51% of consumers say less than half of brands create content that resonates as authentic.
- Consumers are 2.4x more likely to say user-generated content is authentic compared to brand-created content, yet marketers are 2.1x more likely to say brand-created content is authentic compared to UGC.
- 79% of people say UGC highly impacts their purchasing decisions, yet only 13% said content from a brand is impactful and a mere 8% said influencer-created content would highly impact their purchasing decisions.
- Although consumers find UGC 9.8x more impactful than influencer content when making purchasing decisions, 49% of marketers are planning to increase their investment in influencer marketing in 2019.
- 67% of marketers say they plan to increase their use of brand-created visuals, but only 15% of consumers say that’s the type of content they most want to see from brands.
- 67% of consumers say it’s important for brands to provide them with personalized experiences, yet 55% of people either disagree or are ambivalent about whether the majority of brands today actually provide them with a personalized experience.

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