UGC or influencer marketing? The difference and when to choose which

1. In short: with UGC the company publishes the content as its own advertising, and in influencer marketing the creator publishes it on their own channels.

UGC and influencer marketing can look the same in the feed: an ordinary person showing a product on a phone camera. The difference lies in who publishes. In influencer marketing the creator publishes the post on their own channels, for their followers, in return for payment from a company [1]. With UGC, as the word is used in this guide, the company publishes the material on its own channels or in ads. It is then the company’s own marketing [2].

Who publishes decides who labels and how. The Marketing Act requires it to be clear that something is marketing, and who is responsible for it [3]. When the creator publishes, the post as a main rule needs an advertising label on the creator’s channel [4]. When the company publishes, the company is itself the sender, and the content must still be recognisable as advertising [3, 5].

The word UGC is also used for two different things: content that customers make of their own accord, and content that a company commissions and pays for. In both cases the company needs the right to use the material, because the copyright lies with whoever made it [6]. Which form fits depends on the goal. Neither is better in itself.

Section 2 sorts out what UGC means and section 3 what the law says about sender and labelling, with a comparison in Figure 1. Section 4 deals with customers’ content and with commissioned content that resembles customer reviews, section 5 with usage rights and section 6 with how to choose by the goal. Section 7 describes the sources and what the guide does not cover.

2. UGC means two different things: customers’ own content and content that a company commissions.

UGC stands for user-generated content. The word has no fixed definition. In 2007 the OECD proposed three marks: the content is published on the internet, it reflects a certain amount of creative effort of one’s own, and it is made outside professional routines, often with no commercial context [7]. Already then the OECD wrote that the last mark is getting harder to hold on to, because users are sometimes paid for their content [7].

In marketing the word is used in two ways today. One is content that customers make themselves, for example a video where someone shows a product they have bought. That matches the OECD’s description. The other is content that a company commissions from a creator in the same style, to publish on its own channels and in ads. Here we call the first customer content and the second commissioned UGC.

The word is used in other ways too. In a report on influencer marketing, Konsumentverket writes about “användargenererad reklam” (user-generated advertising) and means advertising that has not gone through the platforms’ ad process and therefore does not show in their ad libraries [8]. So check what an agreement or a source means by UGC.

One and the same assignment can produce both kinds. The Swedish Agency for the Media (Mediemyndigheten) describes a creator who after a trip edits around a hundred photos that the advertiser can then use on social media, in print and in email. The creator also publishes texts and pictures on her own blog and labels them as advertising posts [1]. In this guide’s words, the photos for the advertiser are commissioned UGC, and the blog posts are influencer marketing.

3. Whoever publishes is the sender, and that decides how it must be made clear that the content is advertising.

The Marketing Act covers advertising and other measures in business meant to promote the sale of products [3]. According to the Swedish Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket), a company’s posts about its products on social media are as a rule marketing, even when the company pays someone else, for example an influencer, to publish them [2]. So both UGC and paid posts on a creator’s account are marketing. What differs is who the sender is, and the law requires it to be clear who is responsible for the marketing [3].

When the creator publishes

According to the industry recommendation of January 2026, a post that an influencer publishes on their account is advertising when it is made in return for payment on behalf of a company and has commercial content linked to the company’s products or services. The recommendation starts from the point that the audience can find it hard to tell advertising from the creator’s own personal posts, and so as a main rule it requires an advertising label in the post [4]. The company that hired the creator carries the main responsibility, but the creator can share it [2]. On TikTok the creator must also switch on the platform’s commercial content setting when the post advertises another brand in return for payment [9].

When the company publishes

With UGC the company publishes the material on its own account or as an ad. The company is then the sender, and the law’s requirement that marketing be recognisable applies to the company’s own post [3]. The recommendation, which deals with influencers’ posts, notes that there is no absolute requirement for an explicit advertising label if it is otherwise immediately clear that something is advertising [4]. Our reading is that the sender is then often clear from the account, but no source we have read tests that. TikTok’s terms for businesses require the company’s promotional content to be instantly recognisable as commercial, using the features the platform provides [5].

If the company shows the material as a paid ad, the EU’s Digital Services Act also applies. Platforms that show ads must make sure the recipient can see clearly and in real time that it is an ad and on whose behalf it is shown [10]. That is the platform’s duty. According to the industry recommendation, the marketer is still responsible for making sure the platform’s label does its job [4].

The middle form: the creator’s post as the company’s ad

On TikTok a company can, with the creator’s authorisation, run the creator’s own post as an ad, known as Spark Ads [11]. The authorisation is given for 7, 30, 60 or 365 days, and the caption cannot be changed once the post has been authorised as an ad [12]. The post then stays on the creator’s channel and is shown at the same time as the company’s ad. Our judgement is that both sets of rules then need to be met: the creator’s label in the post and the platform’s ad label. Figure 1 sets the forms side by side.

4. Customers’ own content needs permission, and commissioned UGC must not be passed off as an ordinary customer’s review.

Customer content

Whoever makes a video or takes a photo holds the rights to it. Cinematographic and photographic works are protected by copyright. Even a simple picture or video recording is protected: whoever produced a photograph or a recording of moving images has the exclusive right to make copies of it and make it available to the public [6]. So the fact that a customer has published something on social media does not give the company the right to use it in its marketing.

The platform’s terms do not change that. Under TikTok’s terms of service for the EEA, TikTok does not own the user’s content. Other users get a licence to use the content through the platform’s features for entertainment purposes, for example to share it or include it in their own videos [14]. Our reading is that the licence does not cover a company downloading a customer’s video and using it in an ad or on other channels. That needs the customer’s permission.

If a person appears in the content, the Names and Images in Advertising Act also applies. A trader may not use another person’s name or image in marketing without consent. Anyone who breaks that rule must pay reasonable compensation, and anyone who does so intentionally or through gross negligence can be fined [13]. Our judgement is that permission to use a customer’s video should therefore cover everyone who appears in it.

Commissioned UGC that resembles customer reviews

Commissioned UGC can be made to look like an ordinary customer’s video. The style itself is not forbidden in the sources we have read, but misleading people about who is behind it is. The EU’s black list, which applies as law in Sweden, always treats as unfair falsely giving the impression of not acting for one’s business, or falsely presenting oneself as a consumer. The same goes for posting, or commissioning someone to post, false consumer reviews or endorsements, and for giving a misleading picture of them on social media to advertise [3, 15].

Our reading is that a commissioned video that the company presents as a review from an ordinary customer can fall under those points. The company also answers for what is said in the material. According to Konsumentverket, even claims that a contractor makes on their own initiative can be judged misleading marketing [2].

5. In an agreement for commissioned UGC, the usage rights decide where, for how long and in what form the company may use the material.

Paying for a video is not the same as getting the copyright in it. Copyright can be transferred in whole or in part, but transferring a copy does not transfer the copyright. Unless otherwise agreed, the person who has received the right may not change the work or pass the right on [6]. So the agreement needs to say what the company may do, also for material from an influencer collaboration that is to be used outside the creator’s channel.

The law also gives the creator rights that an agreement can only partly change. The author must be named to the extent good practice requires, and the work may not be changed in a way that harms the author’s reputation or individuality. Those rights can only be waived for a use limited in kind and scope. An author who licenses or transfers their copyright to someone who will use it in business is entitled to reasonable remuneration, and contract terms that restrict that right are void [6].

What the agreement should state

Our judgement is that an agreement for commissioned UGC should state where the material may be used, for example on the company’s own accounts, in paid ads, on the website or in print. It should state how long the right lasts and what happens to ads that are still running when it ends. It should also say whether the company may re-edit, caption or combine the material, whether the creator is to be credited, and which people appear and have consented. We have found no independent Swedish source on how long usage periods usually are, so the guide gives none.

The platforms set limits of their own that the agreement needs to take into account. TikTok’s terms for businesses require a business account to use TikTok’s commercial music library or to clear the rights to the music in its content itself [5]. A post running as a Spark Ad must be removed as an ad before it can be deleted from the creator’s account [11]. Brand Marketing Sweden published an agreement template for collaborations with influencers in February 2026. It requires membership, and we have not read it [16].

6. Choose the form by what you want to achieve: the creator’s audience, material for your own channels or customers’ own voices.

We have found no independent Swedish source that compares how well the forms work, so the guide does not rank them. What follows is our judgement, and Figure 2 sums it up.

The creator’s audience

Influencer marketing fits when the goal is to reach an audience that already follows a particular creator. Mediemyndigheten describes how the creator uses their channels to influence their followers, and how the creator often gets to adapt the content to their own tone so that it comes across as credible [1]. In return, the company has less control over exactly how the post turns out, and the post must be labelled as advertising on the creator’s channel [4].

Material for your own channels

Commissioned UGC fits when the company needs material to publish itself, on its own accounts or in ads. The company then decides where and when the material is shown, within the scope of the usage rights. The audience sees the company as the sender, not the creator, and the creator’s followers are not reached through the use itself.

Customers’ own voices

Customer content cannot be commissioned. Paid content is not an ordinary customer’s review, and the EU’s black list forbids giving a misleading picture of consumer endorsements [15]. The company can, however, ask for permission to use what customers have already published, with consent from everyone who appears [6, 13].

7. About this article: a strong basis in statute and authorities, thin on how common the forms are and how well they work.

The guide was compiled in October 2026 from published sources, read on 15 October 2026. We have mainly used statute, Swedish authorities, EU law, the OECD and the industry’s own recommendation on advertising labels. Every source is tagged by what it is. “Independent” marks laws, authorities, international organisations and industry bodies. “TikTok” marks TikTok’s own terms and help pages.

What is not covered

The guide shows no prices and says nothing about how common the forms are or which works best, because we have found no independent Swedish sources on that. It does not cover data protection for people who appear in content, tax, employees’ posts or special rules for children. Meta’s terms for Instagram and Facebook could not be read when the guide was written, so the platform terms described are TikTok’s.

Limitations

We have not measured how many people search for the topic. The OECD’s definition is from 2007, and we read an archived copy because the original link no longer works. The EU’s black list has been amended by later EU law, and the points in the guide are given in the wording the government announced in 2022. What is marked “our reading” or “our judgement” is our interpretation, not a source’s. The description of the law is not legal advice, and a single case can be judged differently.

We will review the guide again when Konsumentverket or the industry changes its guidance, or when TikTok changes the terms described here.