You’ve probably seen it happen without even realizing it, you’re scrolling through Instagram, TikTok, or Snapchat, and boom, there’s your friend posting his brand-new Jordan tracksuit.
Whether he meant to or not, they just created what marketers refer to as user-generated content, yep! UGC.
Now, you’re probably thinking things like “Wait, isn’t that the buzzword everyone keeps throwing around in marketing lately?” Well, you’re not wrong, but it’s more than just friends sharing their pictures.
By the end of this you’ll know exactly: What’s user-generated content, its main types and we will leave you with ten real world UGC examples.
Until then, don’t forget to grab your snack 🍪 and your hot chocolate 🥤
What Is User-Generated Content
User-generated content which you might also hear referred to as UGC, is exactly what it sounds like: content created for free by your own customers or users about your brand. Reviews, testimonials, social media posts, videos, comments — it can be anything!
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UGC feels authentic, unfiltered, and most importantly, it builds trust faster than any traditional ad ever could, and that’s exactly why industry giants like Nike, Apple, Notion, and Microsoft actively feature user-generated content on their social media.
And just to give you an idea, let’s back it up with some data. 54% of marketers say user-generated content is the most engaging type on social media, according to Walls.io’s user-generated content statistics.
The Main Types of User-Generated Content
Now that you know what goes into UGC, you’re probably wondering, what does it actually look like out in the real marketing world? Well, it can come in all shapes and sizes.
Let’s break down the different ways your customers can create content around your brand.
And just a friendly little tip: if your customers are putting that content out there, don’t just admire it, repurpose it in your next campaign! 😉
Customer reviews and testimonials
We bet it feels like déjà vu, product reviews on Amazon, Google, Shopify, or maybe even your own website. And believe it or not, a simple five-star rating from a happy customer can be the final push someone needs to hit “buy.” Why? Because people trust other people’s experiences.
Supernotes, a very promising project management software in the productivity space, for instance, reposted a review received from one of their users in google play store.
It might seem like just another random post, but in reality, this kind of testimonials on a platform like LinkedIn (yep, the right social platform also matters!) can create a lot of noise and convince thousands of potential users to give Supernotes a try.
Social media posts
This type of UGC is about what your audience posts on their own social media, photos, videos, podcasts, or even a quick Story, as long as it features your brand in a positive light, it totally counts.
Sometimes you can trigger UGC content yourself, how? Well, just give your audience a reason to get excited about creating something related to your brand, just like Manchester City Football Club did with Cravenwood Primary Academy, where students were asked to draw each player on the team.
And guess what else the team did on their official Instagram? They shared the game lineup using the kids’ hand-drawn portraits. Pretty genius, right?
Blog posts and articles
On many occasions, your users write a full blog post or a listicle about your brand or product in particular, and sharing these longer pieces to make some noise and attract new clients can be a terrific idea.
Take G2, for example, the world’s top peer-to-peer review site, they ranked Circula, an up-and-coming expense management software, as the second-best out of 25 German software companies.
Before you know it, Circula celebrated this milestone the right way, by sharing a snippet from the review, and it goes without saying that this post wasn’t just about looking good, because it surely helped expose the software company to a whole new audience, including G2 followers and the German public.
Contests and challenges
Customer engagement and UGC content, looking for a good blend of the two? Your best bet is to run fun contests or giveaways like “post a selfie with our product,” “share your best template using our app,” or “tag us in your favorite outfit.” Literally anything that gets people excited to join in.
People love participating in challenges, especially if there’s a prize involved, and that’s what ActiveCampaign the giant marketing automation platform made the most of by setting up a fun ball-grab machine at their event booth, and plenty of users jumped in to play, and just like that, it turned into viral user-generated content.
How to Use User-Generated Content in Your Marketing Strategy
You spot a great piece of UGC about your product, and feel tempted to just hit that repost button, Nice! But the truth is, it’ll take you a little more work than that to turn that post into more leads and sales.
Don’t worry, though! With a bit of planning, and a clear process, you’ll surely get it right, so let’s walk through how to actually use UGC the right way in your marketing strategy 👇
Always give credit
Here’s a piece of the UGC puzzle that probably doesn’t get talked about enough: Let’s say you find a customer post that’s perfect, great visuals, strong message, the whole package. Congratulations! But wait, you can’t hit the repost button just yet 🤷🏻♂️
You need to ask for permission first. Not only does this keep you in line with content policies, but it also shows your audience that you respect them. Drop them a quick DM like, “Hey! We loved your post about our product, mind if we share it on our page?”
And of course, don’t forget to give credit, tag the original creator when you post. It’s a small gesture that goes a long way in showing appreciation and encouraging other customers to share too.
Repurpose your UGC
While reposting customer content on your social media is perfect for your UGC campaign, you can do better. Why not repurpose for other marketing channels/strategies?
We know, we know, you need some ideas to get you started, here are a few of the most common ways to repurpose your UGC 👇
Paid Ads
Use it in any of your paid ads to make your advertising feel more real and trustworthy. It could be a customer picture, a quick video, a shoutout on X —even a five-star Google review will do.
Instagram Story Highlights
Got users tagging you in Stories? Don’t let that content disappear. Save it to a dedicated Story Highlight so new visitors see instant social proof, better yet! Your followers get inspired by how others are using your product.
Website
Add UGC to your site, especially on product pages. Why product pages, you ask? Because that’s where people decide if something’s worth buying, and when you show them real customers using your product, you are in a way giving them a clear picture of what they’re actually getting.
Email newsletters
Want better engagement from your subscribers? Try featuring user-generated content in your email newsletters, and it’s not hard to see why. According to Billo, adding UGC can boost your click-through rates by 78%. Yes, 78%!
Measure UGC performance
How do you determine the success of your UGC strategy? Through metrics, of course! And for that, your best bet is to use analytics tools to measure engagement, conversions, traffic driven by UGC, and everything in between.
Once you’ve gathered enough data to work with, you’ll know when you’re on the right track and when it’s time to adjust your strategy, and if UGC performs better than your branded content (which it often does), then just double down on what’s working. Easy peasy. 🤷🏻♂️
Encourage more UGC
Do you know what every customer wants? Incentives, all the way! And while featuring your users in your socials is a good incentive, you can take it a step further and offer small rewards, discount codes, or maybe even a free ticket to your next event. It’s an easy way to encourage more UGC and keep the “free content” coming.
But your work doesn’t end with the incentives, you can also try other tactics like sending a follow-up email post-purchase asking for photos, reviews or any kind of UGC you can repurpose for your next campaign.
10 Real-World UGC Campaigns That Crushed It
Now comes the fun part! In this section, we’ll share some unique and inspiring UGC examples to make sure you’re never out of ideas for your next user-generated content campaign!
IKEA
Let’s start our list of UGC examples with a big name, IKEA. And honestly, who doesn’t know IKEA by now? The Scandinavian giant known for its ready-to-assemble furniture relies heavily on user-generated content in its marketing, and it makes total sense, since one of its core principles is getting customers involved in the assembly process.
In fact, IKEA even has a whole landing page with clear guidelines on how to share your IKEA-related content and get featured on their social media 👇
Here as you can see below, one of the users followed the instructions to the T, and he made it 🎉 his work got featured on IKEA and even tagged in their story.
Challenges like this don’t just inspire the next IKEA DIY 💡 but also turn UGC into a fun competition that keeps the free content flowing. Because seriously, who wouldn’t want their creation featured by IKEA?
Nutella
Nutella definitely deserves a spot on our list with its #WorldNutellaDay challenge and the sweet incentives it offers to its ‘Superfans,’ as the brand calls them.
Just like IKEA, Nutella breaks down exactly how to take part in the challenge with a step-by-step guide on a dedicated landing page 👇
The process is pretty simple:
- Add the word “Nutella” to your Instagram bio
- Take a screenshot of your updated bio
- Share the screenshot as a Story
- Tag @Nutella in your Story
The participants of the #NutellaWorldDay challenge will help keep the brand’s content calendar full, and in return, they will be rewarded with products from their best cocoa spread: Limited edition of Loungefly 🍩mini nutella backpack 🎒 and many other products 🍫
Shake Shack
Foodies already love posting pictures of their best burgers, but what happens when a brand like Shake Shack (a popular burger chain based in NYC) turns it into a game with a challenge called #Shackfan?
The chain invites customers to share their best shots of a Shake Shack meal alongside something that represents the brand’s vibe. And guess what? The campaign turned out to be incredibly engaging with thousands of consumers around the world taking part in the challenge and tagging Shake Shack.
And Shake Shack don’t forget to give credit to the original posters by tagging them on their official page 👇
Pringles
Continuing with our food examples, and this time, let’s talk about Pringles, the famous potato chip brand, and their campaign that crushed it in India with the hashtag #PringlesDuckLips.
All you had to do was hold two chips like duck lips, snap a selfie, tag Pringles India in your story and cross your fingers to get featured on their Instagram highlights under the challenge’s name 👌🏻
This hilarious challenge received thousands of likes and comments, and became the talk of the town the next day (in a good way of course!) The payoff for Pringles? They stayed true to their humorous and funny style and gave people a fun reason to connect with the brand on a deeper level 👏🏼
Tesla
What if we told you that most of Tesla’s Instagram content comes from users themselves? Yeah, you read that right! The automotive giant is absolutely killing it by just reposting customer videos and real-life reactions to their cars and it totally pays off.
They even repost videos from well-known Instagram influencers—and needless to say, once these influencers share their positive experiences, they work their word-of-mouth magic on thousands of followers.
Notion
Imagine adding a cool new feature to your product, and then Snoop Dogg gives you a shoutout. Unreal? But that’s exactly what happened with Notion, and it gets even better, he didn’t just mention it, he actually encouraged his followers to try out.
Notion also uses a smart UGC tactic, before any big launch, they offer exclusive access to a select group of users, the goal isn’t just to get feedback, but to build excitement among other customers, and make them eager to try out the new feature firsthand and see what’s in store 🧠
Envato
If you’re a graphic designer, you probably use Envato Elements more often than you can count. But have you ever wondered who’s behind all those awesome templates?
For that, Envato created a Story Highlight and called it “Artist Spotlight” to give you a peek behind the scenes and show you the faces of the talented creators behind the designs.
This gives the artists more exposure and recognition within the Envato community, and allows the brand to build a stronger connection with its audience.
Lime
Sometimes, it just takes asking a simple question before deciding what to post on social media, and that’s exactly what Lime, the U.S. transportation company, does. They’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, instead, they come up with content that aligns with the thought process of their audience.
Scroll through their Instagram and you’ll spot tons of posts featuring UGC, mostly young people, riding Lime bikes and scooters. A straightforward way to reinforce what the brand stands for: green energy and sustainability.
Queshua
Quechua doesn’t beat around the bush, right in their Instagram bio, they tell you: ‘Share your mountain photos and tag us.’ And that simple message went a long way—because one of their main content pillars is photos and videos from their customers.
You grab your Quechua equipment, head to the mountains, capture your adventure in a quick video or photo album, and the next day, your journey could go viral. It’s a tempting idea for Quechua’s audience, and free, authentic content for the brand.
Nikon
Saved the best for last, because Nikon’s social media feed is almost entirely made up of visuals captured by real users, and since people love comparing different cameras, Nikon gets a steady stream of reviews and unboxing videos from photographers.
We know what you’re thinking: there’s so much UGC out there, so how does Nikon manage to sort it all out? Simple, through their Instagram Highlights.
They’ve organized the content into categories like creators, weddings, wildlife, and more, and the best part? None of this content is even sponsored.
And in the end, it’s a win-win, because photographers get more exposure by being featured on Nikon’s page, and Nikon gets free, authentic advertising from its community.
Over to you
Now we can safely say that we have told you as much about user-generated content as you should know before you start implementing it.
But, there is one thing you need to really get: brands don’t ask their users to create content about their product (Okay, sometimes they do, but that’s definitely the exception and not the rule.)
The reality is, when your product truly delivers value, people naturally talk about it. They post, share, and spread the word on their own, and that’s the secret sauce behind UGC.
BUT, and here’s the big but–there’s one thing that’s always going to be there, and that’s people’s love for a little competition, depending upon your niche, you can create your own contests and interactive forms. And it’s not as tough as you think. Woorise gives you all the tools to launch campaigns and easily collect UGC from real customer experiences.
