What is User-Generated Content? And Why is it Important?

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Top Highlights

• buyers are more selective about the brands they interact with and purchase from, especially the notoriously fickle Gen-Z

• to help influence engagement and increase conversions

• User-generated content (UGC) is any content—text, videos, images, reviews, etc.—created by people, rather than brands.

• User-generated content (also known as UGC or consumer-generated content) is original, brand-specific content created by customers and published on social media or other channels. UGC comes in many forms, including images, videos, reviews, a testimonial, or even a podcast.

• Where does UGC content come from? Customers

• Brand loyalists

• Employees

• UGC creators A UGC creator is someone who creates sponsored content that appears authentic but is designed to showcase a specific business or product.

• Don’t be tempted to fake your user-generated posts or campaign. Audiences will quickly sniff out the false sentiment, which could seriously damage your brand reputation.

• People ultimately trust other people, so it’s essential to think of UGC as the modern-day word of mouth.

• mages Videos Social media content (e.g., a Tweet about your brand) Testimonials Product reviews Live streams Blog posts YouTube content

• GoPro Video equipment company GoPro uses UGC to sustain its YouTube channel, with its top three videos all originally filmed by customers. As of December 2021, those three videos have racked up over 400 million views combined. Not bad for content that cost GoPro nothing to produce. In fact, UGC for the company got so big, they now run their own awards show and promote daily photo challenges to inspire their consumers to get creative.

• Always request permission Consent to share content is mandatory. Always ask before republishing or using a customer’s content.

• Credit the original creator