UGC (User Generated Content) is content created by the users of each brand.
As consumers, we trust the recommendation of a friend about a product or service more than what the brand itself might say. Why does this happen?
❌ Brand communication works in many ways, but users clearly recognize the commercial intent. This is even more evident today with all the advertising impressions we receive and the amount of content we consume in all imaginable formats.
✅ With UGC, brands get their own buyer persona to become an advocate for the products or services they sell. When the content is created well, the thought we generate in the target audience is: <<If this person, who is similar to me in many ways, finds this effective, it’s likely to work for me too.>>
Types of UGC According to Content Format
Now that you know the essence of UGC, let’s look at the types of user-generated content you can create:
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- Reviews and Testimonials: These can be in the form of text, images, or videos posted on your website (or ecommerce), social media, and even in your email marketing.
- Unboxing and Product Demonstration Videos: GoPro was the first brand to capitalize on video content from its users to make YouTube its strong point. If you also believe video is the king of content, you know what to do.
- Photos Showing Products and Consumption Moments: Airbnb is another brand that makes great use of UGC in photo format. Sometimes, an image is worth a thousand words, requires less investment than a video, and delivers better results.
What type of UGC will you create? The key is not to try everything, but to study what works best for your brand based on your strategy, budget, and the type of product or service you offer.
“92% of consumers believe that word of mouth and brand recommendations are the most influential factors in their purchasing decisions.” Nielsen
Ways to Publish UGC
Saying that you can publish User Generated Content (UGC) either organically or through paid ads is an understatement. Here are all the variables you can work with:
- Whitelisting: The creator posts a photo or video organically on their account, and the brand boosts it through Meta Ads Manager or Spark Ads on TikTok.
- Darkpost: The creator sends the content to the brand, which promotes it without it appearing in the feed. One of the advantages is that it helps avoid saturating the feed with messages that are 100% paid.
- Paid Ad: Ads that the brand creates with the aim of driving traffic to its website or improving brand awareness among its audience.
- Organic Content: Brands often use UGC to humanize their presence on social media and share content created by the community they target. If your brand is short on brand ambassadors, posting your UGC organically will help make the user experience feel more authentic and less like a catalog.
UGC Examples to Inspire You
At Alteraction, we work daily with content creators, brands, and marketing agencies. In other words, we are highly specialized in UGC.
Let’s see if the brands in the examples we’re sharing sound familiar to you:
3 Reasons to Incorporate UGC into Your Brand Strategy
1.- Less Stock Material, More Authenticity
The holy grail of content is virality, and you can’t achieve that with stock photos and videos.
When digital media was in its early days and advertising investment wasn’t even considered, this type of material may have gone unnoticed. But you know very well that today, it doesn’t.
Moreover, it’s very hard to generate content that drives sales or grabs attention if it hasn’t been created specifically for the brand. This is where UGC has a huge advantage.
2.- If They Trust You, They’ll Buy
Word of mouth has worked for ages for a reason: we trust what people in our circle say more than what brands communicate.
UGC breaks the traditional one-way communication from brand -> consumer. It opens up conversations among consumers themselves, bringing the sale closer to the brand, which takes a secondary role.
3.- Social Proof at Every Level
The final big benefit of UGC is that it can be present at all stages of your brand’s sales funnel:
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- At the first level (awareness and interest) with the content that’s advertised (or launched organically).
- At the second level (consideration and conversion) with reviews or product demonstrations on the ecommerce site itself.
- At the third level (retention) by sharing stories of satisfaction with the brand, aiming to reactivate existing customers and attract new ones.
Do You Want Alteraction to Be Your UGC Agency?
You now understand what UGC is, the types of UGC you can create, the different ways to upload content, and the major benefits of this global trend. Plus, you’ve seen examples from our portfolio. What more can we tell you? If you search online, you’ll find many UGC platforms selling bulk user-generated video packages. These “bulk” UGC services can’t compare to the handcrafted and strategic work that Alteraction delivers. Consider what you truly need and get in touch with us if you want Alteraction’s UGC.