What is User-Generated Content (UGC)?
Learn what User-Generated Content (UGC) means, why it matters for your marketing strategy, and how consistent content keeps your brand top of mind.
Definition
User-generated content (UGC) is content created by customers about your brand. Learn UGC types, examples, and strategies for encouraging and using UGC.
What is User-Generated Content (UGC)?
User-generated content is any content. Reviews, photos, videos, testimonials, social posts, or forum discussions. Created by your customers rather than your brand.
When someone posts an Instagram story wearing your product, writes a Google review about your service, or creates a TikTok tutorial using your software, that’s UGC. It’s marketing you didn’t create, didn’t pay for (usually), and that your audience trusts more than anything your marketing team could produce.
Stackla data shows 79% of consumers say UGC highly impacts their purchasing decisions. Compared to only 13% who say brand-created content does. The trust gap is massive. People trust people, not brands.
Why Does UGC Matter?
UGC is the most credible form of marketing because it comes from real customers with no incentive to exaggerate.
- Builds social proof. Reviews, photos, and testimonials from real users reduce the perceived risk of buying. Prospects think “if it worked for them, it’ll work for me.”
- Reduces content creation costs. Your customers create marketing assets for free. A single customer photo or video can be repurposed across ads, social, email, and your website.
- Boosts engagement rates. UGC posts on social media generate 28% more engagement than brand-created posts, per Hootsuite
- Improves ad performance. Ads featuring UGC get 4x higher click-through rates and 50% lower CPC than traditional branded creative
UGC also feeds your SEO strategy. Customer reviews create fresh, keyword-rich content on your product and profile pages that search engines love.
How UGC Works
Encourage Creation
Ask for it. Post-purchase emails requesting reviews, branded hashtag campaigns, photo contests, and referral programs all generate UGC. Make it easy. The less effort required, the more content you’ll receive.
Curate and Repurpose
Not all UGC is equal. Select the best pieces and feature them on your website, in email campaigns, and in paid ads. Always get permission before repurposing customer content (a simple DM or email works).
Amplify Across Channels
Feature UGC on product pages (reviews increase conversion rates by 12-22%, per Spiegel Research Center), in social ads, in email newsletters, and on landing pages. UGC works everywhere because trust works everywhere.
UGC Examples
Example 1: Review-driven local business A dental practice asked every patient for a Google review after their visit. Within 6 months, they went from 15 reviews to 180+. Their Google Business Profile visibility improved, and new patient inquiries increased 50%. All from asking.
Example 2: Hashtag campaign A fitness apparel brand launched a hashtag campaign encouraging customers to post workout photos wearing their gear. They reposted the best submissions, giving customers exposure while generating hundreds of pieces of authentic content. Ad campaigns using this UGC outperformed studio-shot creative by 3x.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you get customers to create UGC?
Ask directly through post-purchase emails, create a branded hashtag, run contests, and make the process easy (short review forms, one-click photo uploads). Incentives like discounts or features on your page increase participation.
Is UGC the same as influencer content?
Not exactly. UGC comes from regular customers organically (or with light prompting). Influencer marketing is a paid partnership with someone who has a following. There’s overlap, but UGC is typically more authentic and less polished.
Do you need permission to use UGC?
Yes. Always ask before repurposing someone’s content. Especially in paid ads. A simple DM saying “We love your post! Mind if we share it on our page?” is usually enough. Some brands include permission language in contest rules.
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Sources
- Stackla: Consumer Content Report
- Spiegel Research Center: How Reviews Influence Sales
- Hootsuite: UGC Statistics
How User-Generated Content (UGC) shapes your marketing outcomes. In practice
User-Generated Content (UGC) is a concept your competitors understand too. The difference between brands that benefit from it and those that don't comes down to consistent execution. The brands that stay visible aren't publishing more manually. They've automated their content pipeline. theStacc handles that side automatically, so your brand stays relevant without a full marketing team.
See how theStacc worksRelated Terms
Brand advocacy is when satisfied customers voluntarily promote your brand through word-of-mouth, reviews, referrals, and social sharing. Learn how to.
Engagement rate measures how actively your audience interacts with your content. Learn the formula, benchmarks by platform, and how to improve engagement.
Influencer marketing partners with individuals who have influence over your target audience. Learn about influencer types, strategies, and how to measure ROI.
Social media marketing (SMM) is the use of social platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, X, and TikTok to promote a business, build brand.
Social proof is the psychological phenomenon where people look to others' actions, reviews, and endorsements to guide their own decisions. Especially.
Keep your brand visible without the manual work
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