The power of user-generated content (UGC) is undeniable, which is why it has become a fast-growing trend in digital marketing.
However, with so many UGC software innovations constantly popping up, keeping up with the trends can be difficult.
Moreover, simply being aware of these technologies won’t do you much good.
To enjoy their outstanding benefits, you must also learn how they work and how to integrate them into your marketing strategy.
Join us as we explore the latest trends, what to expect in the near future, and some of the best UGC software to consider for your campaigns.
Let’s delve in!
Top 10 UGC Software Trends to Expect in 2025
From what we’ve seen so far, there’s a growing number of UGC software trends taking over the digital marketing landscape.
However, we’ll focus on the top ten that are here to stay.
Note that all these solutions are constantly evolving, so you should keep an eye out for new developments in the near future.
1. AR + VR UGC Campaigns
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are the new kids on the block that everyone wants to get to know.
These technologies help you engage your audience at a whole new level and create immersive experiences for them.
AR UGC campaigns allow users to create and interact with content that adds digital elements to the real world through smartphones or AR glasses.
For instance, consumers can use special effects to create and share UGC visuals of your products.
Video source: Instagram
Likewise, VR UGC campaigns let users create and interact with content in immersive 3D digital environments.
For example, you can invite your audience on a virtual tour to show them parts of your manufacturing or packing process.
2. Video Content Maintains Dominance
While UGC videos have been around for a while now, they’re not going anywhere anytime soon.
In fact, short-form videos, like Instagram reels and TikTok videos, have taken center stage and users can’t get enough of them.
According to the CrowdRiff 2024 Trends Report, 91% of active users watch Instagram videos every week and 49% of Gen Zers use Instagram Stories to find new products and services.
Video source: TikTok
These short videos grab your audience’s attention, quickly convey your message without wasting the user’s precious time, and are easily shareable.
It’s a win-win scenario!
3. The Rise of Micro-Influencers
In the not-so-distant past, working with celebrities and macro-influencers was the key to successful marketing.
However, things have changed.
More and more marketers are beginning to realize that nano- and micro-influencers are generating much better results, at a fraction of the cost.
According to the HyperAuditor findings, as cited by Shopify, nano-influencers have the highest engagement rates (2.53%), while celebrities have the lowest (0.92%).
The reason is simple: micro-influencers engage with their followers on a more personal level and are more relatable and trustworthy.
If you want to pursue this trend, working with a micro-influencer marketing platform like Insense will simplify the process.
4. Community-driven UGC
Creating a strong community around your brand is essential for building trust and loyalty.
According to The State of Community-Powered Marketing 2024, as cited by inBeat, 84% of Gen Z consumers trust brands more when they see actual customers in ads.
Video source: TikTok
Therefore, you should put your engaged audience to good use and encourage them to work together to create authentic user-generated content.
Use crowdsourcing to gain access to your customers’ different perspectives and skills, allowing them to generate unique UGC for your brand.
For instance, you can ask your community to create a collaborative video series for your new product launch to generate more buzz.
5. AI-powered Content Creation + Moderation
Not so long ago, Artificial Intelligence (AI) was a technology we only saw in sci-fi movies.
Now, it has become a reality, and it’s quickly gaining terrain across industries.
More and more UGC platforms are integrating AI tools for content creation and moderation. One such example is Feefo, but we’ll talk more about it later.
While we still believe that adding a human touch to content generation is the best approach, we can’t deny the practicality of using AI for UGC moderation.
After all, AI-powered tools can help you identify and filter relevant content faster than any human ever could.
6. UGC Experience Personalization
According to a Stackla report, 70% of consumers say it’s important for brands to provide them with a personalized experience.
When it comes to UGC, personalization means offering content tailored to each individual’s preferences, behaviors, and demographics.
Just think about the social media ads you see in your feed, which are personalized based on your personal information, likes, shares, and searches.
Likewise, UGC platforms are beginning to offer tools, templates, and features that allow users to create content that reflects their personal style or interests.
7. Enhanced Collaboration Capabilities
Real-time collaboration is essential for creating and launching effective UGC campaigns.
That’s why UGC software is starting to integrate advanced collaboration tools and features.
For instance, you should be able to keep in touch with your UGC creators at all times, to provide suggestions and feedback on their work.
However, communicating with multiple creators through private messages across different platforms is difficult.
To simplify this process, we developed the Direct Chat feature, which lets you reach out to your collaborators in real time, inside the Insense platform.
8. Voice + Audio-based UGC
Voice and audio-based UGC, like podcasts, is gaining momentum.
Consumers love podcasts because they promote more personal conversations, which humanize brands.
Sephora’s #LIPSTORIES podcast, featuring the personal stories of inspiring women, is a prime example.
You just need to find a relevant topic and invite creators or your audience to share their insights and personal experiences.
To this end, UGC software is expected to integrate voice commands to facilitate the content creation process.
9. Focus on Data Privacy, Security + Ethics
UGC platforms collect large volumes of user data, which is why ensuring data privacy and security has become a top priority.
This is a question of ethics and legality since new laws and regulations are emerging to protect such sensitive data.
Moreover, UGC software often includes built-in features that simplify requesting usage rights and signing agreements with creators.
For instance, our Creative Brief serves as a legal contract between your brand and the creator.
So, you no longer need to negotiate terms and conditions with each collaborator before closing the deal.
Furthermore, you’ll automatically receive full digital usage rights to any content you commission on Insense.
10. Creator Monetization Opportunities
Given the rise of user-generated content, the monetization opportunities for creators are becoming more diverse.
Besides product seeding and affiliate programs, UGC platforms, like Insense, also provide automatic creator payments.
This payment system guarantees you receive the content you commission and the creators get paid for their work.
Likewise, it is expected that UGC creators will also be able to tokenize their content through NFTs in the future.
Next, we’ll look at some social media predictions.
What Can We Expect From Social Platforms?
People love spending time on social media, which is why these platforms have become the ultimate marketing tool.
According to Statista, in 2023, there were around five billion social media users worldwide.
Of course, social platforms also need to evolve to keep users engaged and offer new marketing opportunities for brands.
So, here’s what you can expect from these platforms in the near future.
Facebook (Metaverse)
The Metaverse merges the digital and physical worlds, offering a mix of online and offline experiences.
Users can interact in 3D virtual spaces by playing games with friends or exploring museums through virtual reality (VR).
It also allows brands to create digital storefronts and sell NFTs.
The Meta Horizon Worlds, a social VR platform, represents the early Metaverse vision. It allows US users to create avatars and explore or build virtual worlds.
Over the next 10-15 years, the advancements in technology, regulations, and connectivity will shape the Metaverse’s evolution.
Instagram is already promoting community-driven UGC through its Close Friends lists and broadcast channels.
These features allow brands and creators to engage their audience on a more personal level, strengthening their bonds.
At the same time, AR is becoming an integral part of Instagram UGC creation.
Users can access AR filters, effects, and overlays to personalize their content.
TikTok
TikTok already offers a powerful AR tool called the Effects House, which allows users to create high-quality augmented effects for their user-generated content.
Therefore, we can expect additional AR integrations from this platform.
And let’s not forget about TikTok’s amazing recommendation algorithm that suggests new content to users.
With advances in AI technology, the platform will likely improve its algorithm, offering even more personalized recommendations.
YouTube
To keep up with its competitors, YouTube must continue to focus on short-form videos and offer users the necessary tools.
After all, according to Sprout Social, consumers find short-form videos to be 2.5 times more engaging than long-form videos.
These short videos will also open up the doors to social commerce, where creators will be able to create engaging, shoppable content.
Coming up next, we’ll give you a rundown of the top five UGC software tools to consider for your brand.
5 Best UGC Software Solutions to Future-proof Your Campaigns?
Now that you’re up-to-date with the latest trends, it’s time to discover some of the best UGC software you can use to future-proof your campaigns.
Here are our top five candidates:
1. Insense
Insense is a creator marketing platform that helps you discover vetted creators, obtain high-quality content, and manage your UGC campaigns.
Our UGC creators specialize in beauty, wellness, fashion, lifestyle, travel, food, and more. If you can’t find collaborators in your niche, seek help from our team of scouts.
Key features:
- Creator Marketplace gives you access to over 20K micro-influencers and helps you find the right match through advanced search filters.
You can search by industry, creator and audience demographics, and engagement rate to identify the best-suited collaborator for the job.
- Creative Brief lets you specify what you’re looking for in terms of content type and creator requirements.
Then, the platform finds the best collaborators for your needs.
The creators who apply will automatically agree to the terms and conditions of your campaign, without the need for further negotiation.
- Direct Chat provides you with an in-app message center where you can effectively collaborate with creators in real time.
- Managed Service allows you to entrust your UGC campaigns to our capable hands.
Your account manager will conceive, execute, and manage your campaigns, handling the creator operations and reporting the outcomes.
- If you opt for our Managed Service, you can benefit from our Ready-to-Use UGC Video Ads.
We’ll handle the concept creation and creator briefing, and we’ll deliver up to 18 videos monthly.
2. inBeat
inBeat is UGC software that allows you to search for Instagram and TikTok creators.
Once you find potential collaborators for your brand, you can access their handle, profile URL, email, follower count, engagement rate, topics, and website.
Key features:
- Influencer Search Engine helps you identify the right creators by language, location, sex, engagement rate, follower count, etc.
- Automated Similar Profile Searches identify similar influencer profiles based on your examples.
- UGC Platform is a managed service that handles the creator discovery and content gathering for you.
3. Taggbox
Taggbox is an AI-powered platform that helps you identify your best-performing social media UGC.
Then, you can use the software’s tools to integrate the social assets into your website, email campaigns, and print media.
Key features:
- Taggbox Widget helps you search, filter, and gather the best social media UGC, and then embed it into your website, ads, or email campaigns.
- Social Wall allows you to create social media walls and showcase them across various offline channels.
4. Feefo
Feefo is a platform designed to collect reliable and constructive consumer reviews and ratings.
Hence, this software is well suited for community-driven UGC, which you can then incorporate into your ads and website.
Key features:
- Invite allows you to reach out to customers at any stage of their purchasing journey and send them feedback requests.
- Collect helps you obtain, organize, and display customer reviews.
- Manage offers an AI moderation tool that identifies unsuitable content, like offensive language.
5. UGC SHOP
UGC SHOP is a platform specializing in producing UGC videos and photos for e-commerce brands.
This UGC software lets you order the type of content you need and delivers it within 10-12 business days without requiring a software subscription.
Key features:
- Videos allow you to order TikTok videos and Instagram reels showcasing product testimonials.
- Product Shots provides you with high-quality UGC images of your products.
Over To You!
As you can see, you can try plenty of cool UGC software innovations.
But you should always watch for new developments in this fast-paced digital landscape.
For now, choose one of the best UGC software solutions and try it.
If you want to learn more about our Insense, just book a demo.
Best UGC Software - FAQs
Here are some of the questions our clients frequently ask.
How will future UGC software impact content creators' workflows?
Future UGC software will simplify content creators’ workflows with AI tools, increased automation, and real-time collaboration.
These features will allow creators to focus more on the creative process and less on editing, increasing productivity and UGC quality.
What advancements are being made in UGC software analytics + insights?
Advancements in UGC software analytics and insights include real-time content-performance tracking, predictive insights, and AI tools for more in-depth customer behavior analysis.
All these features will help brands optimize their UGC campaigns to connect and engage with consumers on a deeper level.
What are the potential limitations of AI-driven UGC platforms?
AI-driven UGC platforms may need more support with issues like over-reliance on automation, having less creative control, and using biased algorithms.
Likewise, there are some concerns regarding data privacy and security and misinformation.
