Imagine watching your brand's story unfold through authentic voices that naturally draw customers in.
By reading this comprehensive guide to UGC, you'll discover exactly how leading brands are utilizing user generated content to create meaningful connections that drive ROI.
While other brands struggle to keep up with AI-driven content and short-form video trends, you'll discover a proven framework that turns casual audiences into brand advocates.
By the time you finish reading our playbook, you'll know:
- How to harness UGC to create brand momentum
- Why traditional marketing falls short (and how UGC fills the gap)
- The benefits driving 3X higher engagement
- Which types of UGC naturally resonate with your target audience
Plus, you'll see real-world examples of brands who've driven successful UGC campaigns.
We’ll break down their strategies so you can adapt them for your own strategy.
Read on to see how your brand's authentic voice can cut through the noise.
What is User-Generated Content?
UGC is any form of authentic content — such as testimonials, videos, images, reviews, or social media posts — created by existing customers instead of the brands themselves.
In essence, it’s content generated by people who become brand advocates and often engage with your brand, showcasing everyday experiences and perspectives they have with your product.
💡Did you know? Research from 2025 shows that 85% of consumers trust UGC more than branded content, and 79% say UGC influences purchasing decisions.
Here are the key features of UGC:
- Authenticity: UGC provides real-life perspectives that resonate with audiences and foster trust.
- Variety: Formats now include immersive AR/VR content, interactive videos, and even AI-enhanced storytelling.
- Community-building: By encouraging users to create content, brands foster stronger connections and cultivate loyal communities.
Why is UGC so powerful?
It’s clear to see why: UGC’s magic lies in its ability to deliver authentic and relatable content, reflecting the genuine experiences of real people.
A thing audiences increasingly value, especially in 2025.
Here are a few trends to consider:
- Micro- and nano-influencers: Traditional influencers don’t have the same ‘influence’ as before. Now, smaller creators with niche audiences drive higher engagement rates.
- AI-powered curation: Automation helps brands curate UGC more efficiently by analyzing trends, user behavior, and engagement metrics to help them make better data-driven decisions.
- Metaverse integration: UGC breaks barriers. Now, you can also find it in virtual worlds, allowing users to create immersive experiences.
Drive sales with UGC ads
Insense, an all-in-one platform for user generated content, enables brands to seamlessly promote organic posts using TikTok Spark Ads.
According to author and marketing expert, Seth Godin:
“Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make, but about the stories you tell.”
Who better to tell those stories than your customers themselves?
This is something that companies have discovered to be of great benefit to them, with 93% of marketers saying that UGC performs significantly better than traditional branded content.
The reason isn’t far-fetched but simply a result of the several benefits that UGC brings.
Take Cava, for example. Its fast-casual restaurant chain enhanced its social media presence by inviting its fanbase to share their personalized bowl creations on TikTok.
The three best suggestions were featured as limited-time offerings on Cava’s digital menu.
While we don’t have the exact figures for Cava’s UGC engagement, it surely created a buzz around the company’s products.
It gave the restaurants a huge amount of exposure and boosted awareness of the brand.
And, of course, it put a little something in the hands of the three winners.
If you think about it, it’s a win-win situation for everyone involved. 😉
Now, let’s dive a little deeper into the world of UGC and see where it comes from.
Where Does UGC Come From?
User-generated content comes from your brand advocates, who are existing customers or creators sharing content for their own audience.
For example, a new emerging trend is using metaverse environments to create engagement.
Think of Roblox, where users build and share beautiful virtual worlds.
If brands collaborate with these talented creators, they can embed products into the gameplay, successfully turning digital experiences into UGC.
This helps brands raise more awareness through the power of word-of-mouth since they’re not promoting themselves.
They’re allowing others to create promotional content on their behalf.
A common practice for brands is to repost or share the UGC on their own social media channels.
The fact that a post has been created by members of their audiences makes the content feel more authentic and powerful to anyone who sees it.
Now, how do you find such creators? The easiest way to do this is through a trusted partner like Insense to help you find the right creators to collaborate with.
How Does UGC Work?
What happens when users share their experiences with a brand?
Whether through a TikTok dance challenge, an Instagram story showcasing a product, or a review on a retail site, UGC serves as an organic promotion.
Brands often repost this content, turning users into authentic brand ambassadors.
💡Pro Tip: Ask for permission and credit the original creator when reposting UGC, to enhance authenticity.
2025 brings novelty to the UGC scene when it comes to formats:
- Short-form videos: Platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels are the latest UGC hotspots.
- Interactive content: Think AR filters or virtual storefront tours.
- Testimonials: You know what’s still a powerful trust builder? Written and video reviews.
- Gamified UGC: The best way to encourage user participation is through challenges, contests, or leaderboards.
Companies are pushing the boundaries of UGC-enhanced campaigns by integrating AI tools that analyze performance in real time.
This allows for dynamic, data-driven adjustments that optimize content effectiveness and audience engagement.
Take Samsung, for example. Its #TeamGalaxy campaign entailed partnering with influencers and encouraging users to share content showcasing Galaxy device features. Samsung used AI tools to:
- Identify high-performing UGC
- Optimize placement for social ads
- Generate insights for future campaigns
As you can see, you can’t ignore UGC any longer.
Key Benefits of User-Generated Content
To help you understand UGC, here are some of its major benefits:
- Cost-effectiveness: Brands can take advantage of it for little to no cost at all - Your followers produce UGC for free without being asked. You can ask them for permission to use it and incentivize them by offering perks.
- Measurable results: Engagement metrics are easily tracked and give you a good idea of your conversion rates. KPIs can be accessed either directly through a user’s account, or via a third-party tool like Insense.
- Time-efficient: Once you set up a UGC campaign and share it with your followers, all you have to do is wait for them to create content and share it on their platforms.
- Limited expertise required: A good UGC campaign can still be a challenge but if you know who your target audience is and have a good grasp of social media, then the process won’t be as difficult.
- Authenticity: According to studies, UGC influences 79% of people’s buying decisions.
While UGC isn’t the only golden marketing strategy out there, it does have some key elements that give it a good amount of credibility.
The examples we’ll share with you will speak for themselves.
4 Types of User Generated Content You Need to Know
So far, it’s clear that UGC marketing can work wonders for brands — when done right.
Since content created by users can differ, we thought it'd be helpful to list the main types so you have a better understanding of what they consist of.
Type #1: Social media content
Possibly the most common type of content is visual UGC shared on social networks.
Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and more recently TikTok, have all played a huge role in the growth of UGC over the years.
Even now, short-form video platforms like TikTok or Instagram are still highly popular.
Moreover, the emergence of AI-assisted UGC tools like Insense or Canva helps brands scale their campaigns efficiently and effectively.
Think of how many times you’ve seen an Instagram story from a friend showing the hotel they're staying at while on vacation.
While it’s only one of the countless examples we could talk about, it can be classified as UGC and the brand can take advantage by reposting it.
The great thing about social media is that you can find creators in any niche, such as travel, beauty, and lifestyle.
Overall, leveraging your social channels by sharing UGC is a no-brainer when it comes to raising brand awareness and attracting potential customers.
Type #2: Video content
According to a survey by Wyzowl, 89% of businesses use video as a marketing tool.
Plus, 88% of marketers say that video plays an important part in their overall strategy.
Those stats alone give you a good idea of how important video content is in today's market for expanding your brand recognition and raising engagement levels with your target audience.
It also enhances a brand’s credibility; imagine your customers filming their experiences shopping, traveling, eating, or just relaxing while using your product.
Others are more likely to judge that it’s safe doing business with you because of that.
Author’s Note: What many e-commerce brands do is collect their UGC — such as unboxing videos — and use it in paid ads campaigns. It’s a great way to promote your brand’s credibility to even more people.
Type #3: Testimonials
If there’s one thing that’ll make even the most skeptical buyers choose you, it has to be customer reviews.
According to BrightLocal, 50% of consumers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends and family.
Whether they’re third-party reviews on Yelp, your Facebook page, or Google, or direct reviews on your website, having your customers express how they feel about you is an excellent way to gain trust!
Recently, video testimonials have been more persuasive and relatable than written reviews because they allow potential customers to connect with people in a more authentic way.
Seeing a person speak about their experience creates a stronger emotional bond so the content feels more genuine.
What many brands do is encourage their users to publish their feedback by incentivizing them with gift cards, free trials, and more.
Digital payments company Square decided to not only use testimonials but also combine them with video content.
What it did was capture the stories of small businesses using its services and share them in a YouTube series called Square Stories.
This is a great example of how real-life testimonials can be repurposed into different content types to strengthen your brand’s trustworthiness.
Type #4: Blog posts
Blogging is one of the best ways to combine authentic content with organic exposure, which is why so many marketers take advantage of it.
Don’t think of it as just text — make sure to enrich it with visual content and other elements to make it more engaging for your users.
For instance, up until recently, SEO company MOZ had a posting community where its members could write and upload their own blog posts.
Similar to how Reddit works, other members could upvote or downvote each post and the most popular pieces of content would be uploaded to the company’s main blog.
In our opinion, this is a great strategy that makes the most of UGC and also cultivates an online community of internet users.
All in all, UGC can come in many shapes and sizes; whether a certain type works for you is for you to decide.
Based on your niche, target audience, and the social platforms you use, you can test which forms of content are best for generating positive results.
Chapter #1: Why is UGC so Important?
UGC is an essential pillar of online interaction and community building, especially in niche or decentralized social platforms.
Why? Because it fosters a sense of belonging and shared purpose among members AND prioritizes authenticity, user ownership, and meaningful engagement.
For instance, Web3 technology gives users control over their content, which incentivizes them to share UGC content without fear of exploitation.
So, UGC is important to brands for several reasons.
To begin with, it allows customers to become a part of your brand’s growth.
They get to create content that potential customers can see, which will help them make purchasing decisions.
Chapter #2: Pros + Cons of UGC
We’ve already established that UGC is great but in order to be unbiased, let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of this content format.
UGC Pros
- Voice-search optimization: AI automatically adapts UGC for voice search by analyzing and tagging natural language patterns, which makes products easier to discover.
- AI-driven metrics: With advanced AI metrics, brands can measure the performance of UGC in real time and identify high-performing content.
- Personalization at scale: When paired with AI-drive customization, UGC can create cost-effective personalized marketing experiences based on preferences and purchase history.
UGC Cons
- Credibility: There’ll sometimes be the question of whether the people producing content are experts or even know what they’re talking about.
Recommendation: Use an AI fact-checking tool like Google Fact Check Explorer to scan UGC for accuracy and flag potential misinformation.
- Negativity: There’ll also be cases of users putting out content that might be damaging to your brand.
Recommendation: Establish clear community rules and enforce them with an AI-driven moderation solution.
- Legality: You might need to get permission from users before you can use their content for your marketing campaign.
Recommendation: AI-powered systems like Copytrack can identify copyrighted material in UGC and ensure compliance.
Chapter #3: UGC Statistics
With many consumers losing trust in brands and mainstream media, brands must look for alternative ways to gain their trust. One such way is using UGC.
Does it work? Let’s share some statistics that answer that question:
- 90% of consumers no longer trust influencers and rely on UGC.
- Posts featuring UGC had 6.9x more engagement than posts with brand-generated content.
- 93% of marketers say consumers trust content produced by other consumers.
- 75% of marketers say they’re aware that UGC makes branded content more authentic.
Chapter #4: UGC Examples
In this section, we’re going to cover some examples of companies that have found true value by using UGC from a wide variety of sectors - so you can get an all-around understanding of how you can adapt when using Insense.
Example #1: Nike
Nike launched a #YouCantStopUs campaign on TikTok, which involved users sharing their workouts or athletic achievements.
The goal? Promoting resilience and strength.
The campaign went viral, gaining millions of views and engagement from fitness enthusiasts.
This was mostly due to live-streamed workouts or personal stories people shared, which helped amplify the message.
Example #2: Gucci
Lately, Gucci — the Italian luxury brand — incorporated augmented reality (AR) into its marketing strategy.
This means you can virtually try on shoes and accessories through the Gucci app and see how they look on you.
Mind blown! 🤯
Gucci reported an increase in online engagement, as well as in sales, especially among younger audiences on Instagram.
Example #3: Teddy Blake
Our next example is from Teddy Blake; a company that’s been offering hand-made Italian handbags since 1958.
This luxury brand wanted to use authentic UGC and use it in paid advertising campaigns.
This was made possible with the help of Insense, where the right creators were identified and prompted to create high-quality and engaging content.
The results?
2x ROAS (return on advertising spend) by running ads with content the creators generated. Also, huge organic exposure for the brand, thanks to the content’s reach.
Example #4: Just BARE
Just BARE is a Colorado-based poultry company with an emphasis on sustainability and providing products that are healthy and organic.
The brand wanted to attract potential buyers through the right use of UGC but had some criteria:
- Creators should be food lovers.
- They should be relevant to the brand’s niche.
- Their audience should be in the central USA.
- They should be able to share a chicken recipe through an engaging story.
Simple customer photos and videos weren’t enough; the right amount of attention had to be given to both the persona and the demographics.
Those criteria were fulfilled with the help of Insense’s platform, where the right types of creators were identified to create a campaign for the holiday season.
It's a time of year on which brands sharply focus much of their marketing.
Just BARE chose a great time of the year to use UGC and managed to collect videos of its users sharing their favorite recipes with the company’s products.
This is a great example of how video content can be successfully integrated into a brand’s content marketing strategy.
Chapter #5: UGC Best Practices
To some extent, it’s easy to source UGC for your marketing strategy.
The tactical part is ensuring you have a successful campaign when using it.
How can you make that happen?
Here are some best practices to follow:
- Always have a goal:
Whatever your intentions are, use the SMART framework to ensure your campaign is successful.
- Be open to using different UGC types: Think of different ways to collect UGC for your campaign.
Asking your customers or reposting is one way.
You can also create a hashtag trend so people can get creative. Using different types of UGC will help you increase your brand’s reach.
- Ask for permission to share: Remember to ask your customers for permission before posting their content. Guide your audience: Be specific with your guidelines when telling people what you want.
Chapter #6: How to Create UGC
As you know, brands can’t just produce UGC. What they can do is ask or incentivize customers and creators to create it.
They can also partner with creators long-term to produce UGC at scale for their campaign.
When creating the UGC, creators must:
- Study and follow the brand’s creative brief.
- Understand the brand, its product, and the audience.
- Ensure they’re in the same niche as the brand or can relate to them.
- Have used the product or service.
- Be creative so the audience can enjoy and relate to their content through storytellingBe natural and authentic when producing content.
Chapter #7: How to Measure UGC
To know if your UGC campaign has succeeded, you can measure your ROAS by tracking KPIs like these:
- Engagement in metaverse environments: As brands expand in virtual worlds, measuring the engagement people get from these environments becomes critical. Think interaction rate, virtual foot traffic, or time spent.
- Sentiment analysis: How do consumers feel about your product or brand? Use AI-powered sentiment analysis to analyze positive or negative sentiments.
- AR engagement: Product try-ons, virtual filters, or other AR interactive experiences must be measured to gain valuable insights into customer behavior.
- Voice search engagement: With the growth of smart speakers and AI assistants, measuring engagement through voice-based interactions becomes vital.
But first, you need to have a set of objectives so you know what KPIs you need to measure.
If your goal is to increase engagement on your website, for example, the KPIs you need to track are the time users spend on your site, along with bounce rate, clicks, and views.
Other objectives are:
- Conversions: You want to track the number of clicks on your website or social media pages, cost of acquisition, conversion rate retargeting, and cost per click (use tools like Google Analytics 4 or HubSpot).
- Brand awareness: Now you should be looking at hashtag usage, shares, likes, click-through rate to your website/store, retweets, and comments.
Chapter #8: UGC vs. Influencer Marketing
The main difference between UGC and influencer marketing is that UGC is produced by customers who’ve used and enjoyed your product while influencer marketing involves partnering with influencers and creators to create content where your product is featured.
The two terms are actually quite similar.
In influencer marketing, influencers and creators who are social media users with a large follower count in a particular niche create content that you can use for your marketing campaign.
You’ll be leveraging the popularity and ‘influence’ of the influencers to your benefit, for a price, of course.
UGC, meanwhile, takes its cue from influencer marketing, butcustomers are the ones producing the content and they’re doing so because they found your product useful.
This is something they do on their own from time to time, occasionally in response to a brand’s request.
In UGC marketing campaigns, your customers become your brand ambassadors, spreading the good news about your product or service.
There’s also a third way; using both methods, you can maximize your reach and authenticity, taking the strengths of both to maintain a relatable brand narrative.
How it works: you partner with an influencer and they encourage followers to share their own content in response to a challenge or a hashtag.
Not only does the UGC feel more natural, but it also drives higher engagement because people’s favorite influencer is involved.
Chapter #9: UGC vs. Stock Photography
The difference between UGC and stock photography is simple: UGC is authentic while stock photography screams ‘traditional ads’ which we know consumers no longer fancy.
Here’s a comparative table between the two so you can see the differences better:
Stock photos are images, graphics, or even videos created by professional photographers with no specific intent in mind.
They’re usually created in the hope that people will pay for a license to use them.
While stock photography might be easy or cheap to get, you want to avoid it because it’s not always relatable to your audience like UGC.
In short, UGC is produced with strong intent, so that anyone who sees it knows the exact reason it was created.
Chapter #10: UGC Video Content
UGC videos are video clips produced by actual customers rather than influencers.
Like most UGC types, video clips can make your customers feel more connected to your brand than other media forms.
The clip could be someone showing their friends the best makeup kit they’ve ever used or their experience since they started drinking a particular protein shake.
When potential customers see videos like this, it gives them a unique take on your product that regular branded content might not.
You can curate UGC videos for your website or social media profiles.
Chapter #11: UGC in Ads
UGC is equally effective if you want to run paid ads. Potential customers at different stages of the marketing journey can relate to it.
Let’s look at reasons why UGC should be a part of your paid marketing campaigns:
- Serves as social proof to potential customers
- Increases engagement with your campaign
- Can be used as the ad creative for different types of campaigns
- Deepens relationship between customers and brands
- Efficient for creative testing
- Costs less to acquire UGC compared to influencer marketing
- Easy to get content at scale
So, how can you source UGC for your campaigns?
- Ask your current customers
- Collaborate with an agency, like Insense
- Find creators to work with in a creator marketplace
You could combine the different ways if you want. The first step could be matched with step 3 for example.
Chapter #12: UGC + Contests
Running contests is another way to source UGC.
It’s an opportunity to increase your brand exposure and engagement and grow your community.
Add gamification elements into the mix and you’ll hook your audience with even more immersive, interactive, and rewarding experiences.
Not only does it enhance brand visibility but it also makes the content more enjoyable and competitive. .
Here’s how to run a contest to gather UGC:
- Choose what type of UGC you want (testimonials, reviews, videos showing product in use, etc.)
- Decide on what the reward will be (cash, shoutouts, giveaway entry, product bundle, gift card, or merch)
- Provide clear instructions to guide people through the contest
- Announce and promote the contest, preferably on social media
- Collect entries and draw winners
- Announce the winners and runners-up
Author’s Note: Remember to obtain permission before using the content you collected, to avoid copyright issues.
Chapter #13: UGC + Email Marketing
With UGC and email marketing, you’ll be combining two of the top marketing strategies to your advantage.
If you’d like to try it, you can follow the process below:
- Source the UGC (we’ve shown you how 😏).
- Use it in your newsletter. You can use images of reviews or testimonials produced by customers.
- Use AI-driven tools to segment your email list based on behavior, history, or interaction. You can discover customers who have shown interest in certain products or services and give them more — users love some personalization.
- Incorporate it into your marketing funnels.
Chapter #14: UGC on TikTok
Videos on TikTok have been known to go viral within a short time and that’s because the TikTok platform was made for UGC.
The average user spends around 58 minutes and 24 seconds on TikTok each day because the videos are engaging.
Let’s show you different types of UGC you can create on TikTok:
- Reaction: This video shows people reacting to your product being used.
- Before & after: A video showing what your customers have experienced before they used your product and afterward.
- Us vs. them: A comparison between your product and that of your competitors.
- How to: An explainer video showing how to use your product.
- 3 Reasons why: A bullet list highlighting several things customers love about your brand or product.
Chapter #15: UGC on Instagram
Instagram is another platform that supports UGC.
Again, you wouldn’t have to create it — just source it, ask for permission, and use it for your campaign.
When it’s used for your IG campaign, you’ll have:
- A regular supply of content
- More people engaging with your brand
- Potential customers seeing your brand from a customer’s point of view
Here’s how to start using UGC on Instagram:
- Gather UGC by creating a branded hashtag, running contests, or encouraging other IG users to share content.
- Select UGC that matches your brand and its message.
- Ask your customers’ permission and share it to your Instagram Feed, Stories, or Reels.
You can also use Instagram’s newly introduced features, such as:
- Trial reels: See how people react to your Instagram reels before you settle on one option.
- Advanced analytics: Instagram introduced even more advanced analytics tools to better explain how your UGC is performing.
- UGC management tools: You now have tools to help brands find and collaborate with influencers and manage this content.
Chapter #16: Visual UGC
Visual UGC specifically means UGC in video, photo, or image format; anything visually appealing.
Why is visual UGC important?
- It ensures new customers have personalized shopping experiences.
- It provides a good understanding of the product.
- It makes your ad look authentic.
- It shows that your product matches customers’ needs.
- It serves as social proof.
- It shows how your product works.
- It increases engagement and conversions.
Chapter #17: UGC + E-commerce
If you run an e-commerce business, you should consider using UGC for your marketing campaigns.
It can help you attract customers and get them to take actions that can improve your conversion rate.
And that’s because you’ll be using content produced by existing customers that new customers can relate to.
UGC in e-commerce will show audiences:
- How your product works
- Why they should use it
- The changes they’ll experience and more
So, potential customers will have all the information they need to make a decision.
Plus, with the rise of voice-activated devices, UGC plays an important role in optimizing content for voice search as AI can easily analyze the language used in reviews and social media posts.
This useful because it helps brands optimize their content for voice queries and make it more likely to appear in voice search results.
In short, brands can personalize the user’s shopping experience and make them more likely to return for another purchase.
Chapter #18: UGC in Fashion
Fashion brands are also able to use UGC as part of their campaigns.
ASOS, a fashion brand, posts a lot of UGC on its social media profile, showing its products ‘as seen on’ its customers.
Here’s a screenshot of one of its posts:
How can you source for UGC?
- Ask people who’ve featured your product in their posts for permission to use them.
- Ask customers to leave a review on your store or website.
- Collaborate with creators to produce UGC.
So, if a customer shares a video of them wearing your latest footwear, that’s UGC in fashion.
Chapter #19: UGC and SEO
Combining UGC and SEO produces what is known as, “useful content”.
Google, in a recent update, stated that its search algorithm will favor results (i.e., content) that are valuable.
According to the company, it aims to reduce low-quality, unoriginal content by 45% and focus entirely on promoting content that offers genuine value.
By valuable, they mean content that was produced with people in mind instead of content created just to rank high on the search engine results page (SERP).
UGC fits the description of what Google terms ‘useful content’ as it is:
- Useful to people
- Deemed trustworthy
- High-quality content
- Appealing, authentic, and engaging
Making UGC a part of your marketing strategy will help optimize your website or social media profile and make it visible on search engines.
Chapter #20: UGC for Retail
Retail store owners, we haven’t forgotten about you.
It’s also possible to use UGC for retail stores considering people look up reviews before visiting a store or shopping online in today's world.
Here’s how:
- Ask customers to leave ratings or reviews if your store is registered on Google.
- If you have a social media presence, partner with creators, preferably those who’ve visited your store, to produce UGC.
Then, you can feature the UGC on your website to make it more appealing to visitors.
Chapter #21: UGC for B2B
Business-to-business (B2B) brands will also find UGC helpful as the social proof it brings can make potential customers (other businesses in this case) see why they should buy your product or use your service.
Using UGC for your B2B brand can help you:
- Build credibility with your audience
- Strengthen your relationship and customer loyalty
- Widen your brand reach and increase engagement
B2B brands can get UGC by asking customers for permission to use their content.
Enterprises have effectively leveraged UGC in their marketing strategy, from white papers to product demos to webinars.
Chapter #22: UGC and the Metaverse
The metaverse is a new term that’s become popular in recent times.
It refers to the hypothetical and visual iteration of a virtual world where people can go about their daily activities without doing them physically.
It’s a world where people will be on the internet.
Now, UGC is already a core building block in the Metaverse. It’s what makes the virtual world a place where people can interact, learn, and evolve.
Similar to the UGC we have on the web, it might seem mundane or not important in a way but it’s what the Metaverse needs if it’s to be an interactive platform.
How to Get Started with UGC for Your Brand
Even though some of the world’s biggest brands like Samsung use UGC, it’s not restricted to them.
Businesses of any size and industry can take advantage of it to raise awareness and increase sales.
Getting started with UGC doesn’t need to be challenging.
With a structured plan and the right tools, you can launch a successful UGC campaign in 2025.
Start by using a UGC campaign planner or a downloadable template to create your briefs, which detail your campaign’s steps.
Here’s a quick checklist of the steps you need to take:
✅ Identify target channels
✅ Set measurable objectives
✅ Collaborate with creators
✅ Incentivize contributors
✅ Track performance metrics
Future Trends
Before you get started, here are some trends you need to consider when crafting your 2025 UGC campaign:
- Artificial intelligence: Stay ahead of the game by using AI tools to get content suggestions and easily optimize types, captions, or visuals.
- Interactive storytelling: As virtual spaces grow, UGC will become more and more about immersive experiences and using VR-ready content or 3D design.
To align these tech advancements with UGC, using a UGC campaign planner or a downloadable template to make it easier is a good idea.
Not only does it keep you organized but also ensures you follow all the steps.
Step #1: Identify target channels
The first step is to make sure you've identified the right channels for your UGC strategy.
This is vitally important since it’ll determine the effectiveness of your campaign from the very beginning.
Author’s Note: Choose channels based on your target demographics and platform trends, as well as those that align with your brand voice.
If you’re present on social media and want to establish yourself as an authority in your field, then using UGC through social networks is one of the best ways to do so.
💡Pro Tip: Use analytics tools to discover where your audience is.
Platforms like BeReal, Threads, or AR-integrated apps might surprise you.
Your focus shouldn’t only be on where you have a presence already but where your target audience is.
Instagram is often the go-to for UGC, with over 2 billion monthly active users and visual content at the forefront.
An emerging platform that’s starting to take chunks of market share and viewing hours is TikTok, where short videos keep users engaged and are perfect for generating content and cultivating a community.
Other options include Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube, but we recommend choosing your channels wisely based on where your audience has the largest presence and how capable you are of integrating your content with them.
Step #2: Set measurable objectives
Every campaign should have an end goal by which you can determine whether it was successful or not.
In short, try to define measurable goals for your campaigns, such as:
- Increasing engagement rates by 10% within three months using AR-based UGC.
- Generating 50 pieces of UGC content for a new product launch.
- Using AI-driven personalization metrics to optimize your strategy, such as click-through rates.
- Boosting engagement rates in immersive environments like virtual storefronts.
Ideally, you can follow the SMART rule when setting your objectives, which makes sure your goals are:
- Specific: They should be clear and well-defined
- Measurable: They should have criteria for measuring their progress
- Achievable: They should be realistic
- Relevant: There should be a key benefit attached
- Time-bound: They should have a deadline
Social media UGC is heavily measured by impressions, likes, shares, and engagement rates, while in blog posts, the key metric is social and organic traffic.
Whatever the platform, your content strategy needs specific goals and guidelines to be successful.
Step #3: Collaborate with creators
After you’ve set up your campaign’s structure, it’s time to reach out to your audience.
Here’s how to get started: use AI-powered creator marketplaces like Insense to find creators and influencers whose style and audience align with your brand.
With it, you can find the perfect match for your brand by suggesting creators based on engagement history and tone.
You can either do this directly through your social media accounts or via a trusted creator marketplace like Insense.
What you need to remember is that you need to incentivize your audience to create content for you.
For example, you can collaborate with a nano-influencer to create product tutorials or immersive reviews using your product and invite people to use it and share their experiences.
Overall, remember to be clear and transparent with your audience when it comes to requesting content from them.
Step #4: Incentivize contributors
Everyone likes free stuff and your audience is no exception. In exchange for authentic user generated content, offer meaningful rewards that resonate with them.
Think outside the box: NFTs, gamified prizes like leaderboard shoutouts, or access to branded AR experiences.
For example, let’s say you’re a travel company that runs a ‘Best Vacation Photo’ contest. Participants have to share their travel photos using a hashtag for a chance to win a free trip.
Exciting, no? 🤩
Or you can run a virtual scavenger hunt where users create content in exchange for exclusive perks.
These bonuses can be a discount on their next purchase or points to redeem products for free.
Step #5: Track performance metrics
After setting up your UGC campaign, only thing left is measuring its performance to know how well it went.
This step is tightly correlated with the second one since you need to have your objectives in mind when measuring your results.
To make sense of the data and keep track of it, use AI-driven dashboards that provide insights into sentiment, ROI, and virality potential.
But you should also pay attention to KPIs such as likes, impressions, and engagement rates, which are key to measuring the extent of your brand awareness.
Meanwhile, indicators like ROAS help determine your conversion rates.
All in all, combining the use of data with your campaign is a must when it comes to the successful implementation of UGC.
Luckily, you don’t have to do this on your own.
Advanced analytics tools are something you can use to measure the performance of your UGC campaign across multiple channels.
Pro Tip: Use AI tools to monitor sentiment analysis, conversion rates, and engagement to adapt your campaign on the fly.
So, the last step your brand needs to take is to track the number of UGC submissions and see how well your challenge went.
With this data, you can improve your future campaigns by seeing what worked and what didn’t.
Now Over to You
With all the information we’ve provided in this playbook, you’ve just taken a major step toward unlocking the full potential of UGC.
But why stop here?
Start exploring AI-powered UGC strategies that will help you scale and personalize campaigns effortlessly so you’ll be ready for a new era of content.
Think you’re ready to kick things off?
Then feel free to book a demo with us. Someone from our team will be waiting to hear from you.
