What Is User-Generated Content (UGC)?
User-generated content refers to any form of content—text, images, videos, or audio—created and shared by consumers rather than the brand or business itself.
It is an authentic expression of customer experiences, opinions, and creativity that holds immense value in today's digital marketplace.
UGC manifests in various ways, from customer reviews and ratings to social media posts, testimonials, forums, and user-generated advertisements.
User-generated content is different from influencer marketing as the latter is sponsored by the brand and may not seem authentic enough.
Influencers are known to create content because of their partnership with brands.
UGC on the other hand, is created by real customers. 80% of respondents in a survey conducted by Stackla said that UGC highly impacts their purchasing decisions.
With UGC, there’s a genuine emotional connection between brands and customers that transforms passive buyers into active participants in the brand's narrative.
Also, unlike traditional branded content, which often feels like a one-sided monologue, UGC amplifies the voices of everyday consumers, creating a powerful sense of trust, community, and social proof.
Let’s now move on to see the specific benefits of UGC for eCommerce.
What Are the Benefits of Using UGC for eCommerce?
There are many benefits of UGC for your marketing campaigns and we’ll now explore each one in detail.
1. Higher conversion rate
By incorporating UGC strategically throughout the customer journey—from your homepage to your product pages—your eCommerce store will persuade and convert many visitors.
Think about this simple customer review:
“The most long lasting, fragrant candles I’ve ever bought. 100% recommend.”
Wouldn’t this review make you want to buy the candles, rather than just boring copy highlighting the ingredients of each candle?
UGC serves as a validation of your product's quality and performance. This sense of validation can significantly affect purchasing decisions.
When satisfied customers share their positive experiences through UGC, this instills confidence in potential buyers, reducing the perceived risk of making a wrong purchase.
Every time users come to your eCommerce store, they look out for what others had to say about your product, and that makes them buy from your brand.
2. Plenty of social proof
Social proof is the idea that people would most likely behave a certain way because they see others doing the same thing.
There is a tendency for people to prefer socially acceptable products and services.
UGC inspires social proof to a large extent.
When potential customers encounter authentic user reviews, testimonials, and social media posts, they will see your brand as socially acceptable.
This social proof is a guiding force, alleviating doubts, and reassuring hesitant shoppers.
UGC extends beyond individual product reviews. Social media platforms, forums, and online communities serve as hubs for UGC.
There, customers enthusiastically share their experiences, engage in discussions, and advocate for brands they love.
This organic spread of positive sentiment fuels a sense of community and trust, positioning your brand as a reliable authority within your industry.
By harnessing the power of UGC's social proof, businesses can solidify their reputation and differentiate themselves in a crowded market, ultimately influencing buying decisions.
3. Increased brand awareness
In an overcrowded digital landscape, cutting through the noise and capturing the attention of your target audience is challenging.
However, user content is a powerful amplifier for brand awareness across all marketing channels.
When users share their experiences, and create product tutorials, customer photos, and videos showcasing your offerings, they become enthusiastic brand advocates, effectively spreading your message among their social circles.
This organic sharing of UGC brings about increased reach, enabling your brand to tap into new audiences and markets that traditional marketing efforts may not have reached.
In fact, a travel company, Busabout grew their social audience by 350% by focusing on UGC as their digital marketing strategy.
Additionally, UGC has a powerful impact on organic search engine optimization (SEO).
As customers generate and share UGC across various online platforms, it creates a wealth of user-generated keywords, branded hashtags, and descriptions that align with your brand and products.
This organic UGC-driven content acts as a magnet for search engines, increasing organic traffic by 228% according to a case study by Search Engine Land.
So, UGC enhances your brand's visibility and drives organic traffic to your eCommerce website.
4. Increased user engagement & brand loyalty
UGC ignites excitement and involvement from customers, empowering them to actively engage with your brand.
When happy customers are encouraged to share their stories, experiences, and creative content related to your products, they become more than just consumers—they become co-creators.
By creating a platform for customer expression, businesses can tap into the innate human desire for self-expression and connection, forging a deep bond between customers and your brand.
This heightened engagement translates into an increase in loyal customers, repeat purchases, and a thriving community of brand enthusiasts who proudly share their experiences and recommendations.
5. Better shopping experience
The firsthand knowledge created from user-generated images and videos helps to bridge the gap between online browsing and in-person evaluation.
This provides customers with a tangible sense of the product's quality, features, and benefits.
What’s more, UGC creates a sense of community and social interaction within the eCommerce space.
Customers can engage with fellow shoppers, seek advice, and share their experiences through UGC and social media platforms.
This interaction adds value to the shopping experience, enabling customers to connect, learn from one another, and build relationships based on shared interests.
If you are looking for inspiration on what UGC looks like, don’t worry, there are thousands of brands leveraging these benefits of UGC.
Let’s see a few examples in the next section.
3 Examples of eCommerce UGC Campaigns
Let's explore some compelling examples of successful e-commerce UGC campaigns that will inspire you to harness the power of customer-generated content.
From creative social media initiatives to authentic customer reviews, these examples will spur you on to start your own UGC campaign.
Aerie
Aerie, the famous American lingerie and apparel brand, has successfully leveraged UGC to promote body positivity and inclusivity.
They launched the #AerieReal campaign, encouraging customers to share unretouched photos of themselves on social media, showcasing diverse body types, and promoting a realistic representation of beauty.
This hashtag is solely dedicated to UGC, no matter what type of content it is.
Aerie also features these UGC on their social media platforms to inspire users to create more.
This has helped them to build a strong and relatable brand image, resonating with their target audience and building a loyal community of supporters.
Ipsy
Ipsy, a makeup brand, was founded in 2011. Over the years, they embraced UGC to create an interactive, personalized customer experience.
Their TikTok account is filled with UGC, showcasing makeup artists and enthusiasts using their products.
Through their Glam Bag program, subscribers receive a curated selection of beauty products and are encouraged to share their unboxing experiences on social media using the hashtag #ipsy.
Ipsy then features selected UGC posts on their website and social media channels, showcasing the creativity and excitement of their community.
This approach has encouraged customer engagement and attracted new subscribers through the visual appeal and positive word-of-mouth generated by UGC.
Pottery Barn
Pottery Barn, a renowned home furnishing retailer, has used UGC to inspire and guide their customers' design choices.
They encourage customers to share images of their homes styled with Pottery Barn products using the hashtag #mypotterybarn. This hashtag is even promoted in their Instagram bio.
Pottery Barn then curates and features the UGC images on their website and social media platforms, providing real-life inspiration for customers.
By showcasing UGC, Pottery Barn creates a sense of community and authenticity, empowering customers to envision their spaces with its products.
These brands demonstrate how UGC fosters authenticity, community engagement, and brand loyalty.
This is the power to bring the human element into the digital realm, transforming the transactional process into a journey of discovery and inspiration.
However, it goes beyond just posting user-generated content.
There are some strategies and best practices necessary for using UGC to propel your e-commerce business.
Want to find out what these are?
We’ll show you in the next section.
How to Use UGC for eCommerce
Want to try out UGC for your eCommerce business?
We got your back.
Here, we’ll talk about three key ways you can use UGC for marketing your brand.
Encourage users to create their own content
It is essential to remember that User-Generated Content (UGC) thrives on the creativity and participation of your customers.
By encouraging them to create and share their content, you tap into a gold mine of authentic and engaging material that can fuel your eCommerce success.
Here are some tips for creating UGC for your brand:
- Creating interactive campaigns: Start user-generated content campaigns or contests that invite users to showcase their creativity and experiences with your products.
Whether it is a photo contest, a video testimonial challenge, or a UGC-based giveaway, provide incentives such as rewards, discounts, or recognition to motivate customers to participate.
These rewards will inspire users to create UGC and engage with your brand meaningfully.
- Featuring customer spotlights: Highlight and showcase outstanding UGC created by your customers.
Regularly select and feature user-generated content on your online store, social platforms, or marketing materials.
By shining a spotlight on their contributions, you not only recognize and appreciate your customers but also inspire others to follow suit and create their own content.
- Offering exclusive opportunities: Provide exclusive opportunities for users to collaborate with your brand.
This could involve inviting customers to be brand ambassadors, participating in product beta testing, or contributing to content creation.
By involving users directly in your brand's activities, you foster a sense of ownership and loyalty, encouraging them to generate UGC and advocate for your products.
Remember to provide clear guidelines, instructions, and tools to help users create UGC effectively.
This can include sharing tips, providing templates or hashtags, and offering technical support if necessary.
The more accessible and enjoyable you make the content creation process; the more likely users will participate and actively generate valuable UGC.
Share UGC on your social media channels (with permission!)
Sharing UGC on your social media channels humanizes your brand, adds an authentic touch, and builds your audience’s trust.
It demonstrates that real people enjoy and benefit from your products, making them more relatable and compelling for potential customers.
Also, when UGC is shared on social media, it has the potential to go viral, reaching a wider audience and attracting new customers to your brand.
However, obtaining permission and following best practices are essential to ensure a seamless and respectful UGC sharing experience.
Before sharing any UGC on your social media channels, always seek permission from the content creators. This can be done through direct messaging, comment requests, or UGC management platforms.
Request the content creator’s consent to use their content and communicate how and where it will be shared.
Respecting the rights and preferences of your customers fosters trust and strengthens your relationship with them.
In addition, when sharing UGC, always credit the original content creator. Tag them in the post and clearly acknowledge their contribution.
This shows appreciation and allows others to discover and connect with the content creator. Tagging and crediting UGC creators also strengthens the sense of community and engagement around your brand.
Create UGC ads
UGC ads are promotional materials created by incorporating UGC seamlessly into your advertising strategy. UGC ads are compelling and boost sales.
The platforms most suitable for UGC ads are platforms that support visual content such as Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
You can start by looking for UGC that aligns with your brand's messaging, values, and target audience.
Authenticity is critical, so use genuine and relatable UGC as visual assets to complement your ad copy, showcasing your products' real-world benefits and experiences.
Plus, you can optimize your ads based on the insights gained, refining your approach to maximize their impact.
To maintain relevance, you should continuously test different UGC ads to identify the most effective combinations of visuals, copy, and UGC elements.
Monitor key metrics such as click-through rates, conversions, and engagement to gauge the performance of your UGC ads.
Finally, seek out UGC creators that can showcase your products in real-life situations, reflect positive customer experiences, and elicit emotions. Insense Creator Marketplace is a great platform to find just the right UGC creators to fit your brand.
By creating UGC ads using a suitable creator marketplace, you can harness the power of UGC to elevate your brand, engage customers, and drive large-scale success in the competitive world of eCommerce.
All the tips listed above may need some tweaking depending on your type of business. If you cater to a larger audience or require longer-term UGC, you may need to upscale.
That’s why we'll show you how to create UGC at scale in the next section.
How to Create UGC at Scale
When creating User-Generated Content (UGC) at scale, harnessing the power of a creator marketplace or an agency can be a total game-changer.
But are there any cons? Which one is ideal?
Let’s discuss each of them in detail.
1. Use a creator marketplace
Creator marketplaces provide access to a vast network of content creators with diverse backgrounds, expertise, and audiences.
This allows you to find creators who align with your brand values and target audience, ensuring the UGC generated resonates with your customers.
In addition, with creator marketplaces like Insense, you can choose from over 20k creators.
These creators can create video reviews, product demos, unboxing videos, or lifestyle photography, to suit your specific needs.
Many content creators within creator marketplaces have established themselves as influencers in their respective niches.
They deeply understand content creation, audience engagement, and brand partnerships.
By leveraging their expertise, you can benefit from their insights and guidance in crafting a UGC that resonates with your target audience.
This is the best way to create UGC at scale. You can watch this video to better understand how creator marketplaces work.
2. Hire an agency
Content creation agencies often have a team of skilled professionals, including photographers, videographers, copywriters, and social media experts.
They have a deep understanding of visual aesthetics, storytelling techniques, and the latest trends in content creation.
By partnering with an agency, you can tap into their expertise to craft visually appealing, compelling, and on-brand UGC.
In addition to this, agencies can provide valuable insights and analytics on key metrics such as engagement, reach, and conversion rates.
This data allows you to optimize your UGC strategy, make informed decisions, and refine your campaigns to achieve better results.
However, this option is less ideal as you have to deal with a lot of individuals in the agency, it is more expensive, and the quality of work may not be guaranteed.
Start Your UGC Campaign Now
UGC plays a key role in successful eCommerce marketing. Whether you’re launching a new product or promoting your brand, UGC can take your marketing efforts to the next level.
Finding the best creators is a great place to start your UGC campaign. Insense simplifies this process by helping you choose the best creator for your brand from thousands of vetted users.
Try out the Insense platform and get started right away.
