These two terms get used interchangeably, but they solve different problems.
Influencer marketing is about reach and trust — you're paying someone with an audience to talk about your product to the people who already follow them. The win is exposure and borrowed credibility.
UGC, on the other hand, is about creative supply. You're paying a creator (who may have zero followers) to produce raw, authentic-feeling footage that you then run as paid ads to audiences who've never heard of them.
The confusion happens because the same creator can do both jobs. A brand might pay someone to post on their own page (influencer marketing) and separately license a piece of content from them to run as an ad (UGC). Knowing which outcome you're paying for changes how you brief, negotiate usage rights, and measure success.
