New research shows that people continue to crave authenticity online. And, they want it from other people, not brands and not influencers.

Brands need to shift their time from creating their own content or getting influencers on board. Time is best spent getting your customers to talk about you.

Slackla surveyed 1590 consumers and 150 B2C marketers from the US, UK and Australia. Here’s what they found:

• 90% of consumers say authenticity is most important
• 51% of consumers say that less than half of the content brands create is authentic
• 79% say that user-generated content highly impacts their decisions (13% said brand content has an impact and just 3% said influencer content matters)
• 56% want user-generated photos and videos above all other types of content

The research showed that experiences with travel, dining and new car purchases are all highly likely to be shared on social media. Such posts are highly influential on the decisions of the people that see them.