User-generated content (UGC) is fast becoming one of the most powerful tools in the marketer’s playbook.
Not only does it heavily influence a person’s purchasing decisions, but people also find it more authentic and genuine. For a small business, that’s money.
As a result, Viddyoze has helped hundreds of businesses harness the power of UGC content and UGC videos. Now, we want to do the same for you. Keep reading, and we’ll show you:
- How to generate high-quality UGC video
- How to use UGC video to improve sales and build your brand
- How to build a UGC campaign that works for you
What Is User-Generated Content (UGC)?
User-generated content is media created by a brand’s customers, social media followers, or advocates. It can be anything from a video review to a blog comment. Essentially, UGC is any content a brand uses to promote itself that it has not created or paid for directly.
As such, UGC isn’t the same as sponsored posts or expert endorsements. UGC is quality content created by regular people.
UGC video is any user-generated content that features video. In the last few years, as video’s importance in marketing has grown, it has become one of the primary forms of user-generated content marketing.
There are two reasons for this:
- Every smartphone has a built-in HD camera, allowing people to create video content easily.
- Social media has grown exponentially (with multiple social media platforms available, over half the world’s population now uses it), giving consumers the perfect platform to share their online content.
The Benefits Of UGC Videos For Businesses And Brands
- Amplify Your Organic Reach Cost Effectively
- Introduce Your Products To People Outside Your Network
- UGC Builds Active Communities
- Video Posts Get More Organic Reach Across On Social Media
- Active Social Media Engagement Improves Your SEO
Recommended reading: 17 Benefits Of Video Marketing
Amplify Your Organic Reach Cost Effectively
Organic reach measures how much visibility your non-paid posts generate on social media platforms.
To calculate your organic reach, divide the number of impressions your posts generate against your total number of followers. For example, if you have 1,000 followers but only 200 see your post, your organic reach would be 20%.
Now, the alarming news for social media marketers is that organic reach has been in decline for years. It’s now estimated that the organic reach of Facebook posts is just 5%.
UGC video campaigns allow you to dramatically increase your organic reach by posting your brand content across multiple social media accounts as more and more people participate by uploading their videos.
UGC allows you to leverage your participant’s connections or followers to get your brand into the newsfeeds of people who have not heard of you.
Let’s put it this way, what’s better for your marketing campaign, one person (you) posting about it or 100 people posting about it? No brainer, right?
And the best bit? UGC videos are super cost-effective. Not only do you not spend any money creating online content, but you don’t have to put any paid spend behind it on social media.
Introduce Your Products To People Outside Your Network
News flash: people trust their friends more than some random brand. In fact, 71% of consumers are more likely to buy based on a social media referral.
By making your product the focus of your UGC campaign, you can use your customer to soft-recommend your product to other people in their network.
For example, ask your users to record a short video review of your product and its impact on them. Remember, this is your UGC campaign; you set the rules for content submissions.
Not only is this free advertising, but it will connect you with many new people who’ve maybe never even heard of your brand before. Authentic content is the key here: real people talking about your brand is easier to trust and engage with.
UGC Builds Active Communities
A successful user-generated video strategy isn’t just about encouraging people to create videos and make social media posts – you also need to engage with the user-generated content video they share.
Engaging with posts about your brand is a crucial component to winning advocates. Why? Because this shows that your brand is listening to the community and talking back.
Online forums are worth thinking about, too. Many big brands, such as Amazon, Red Bull, and Xbox, have achieved success by posting on Reddit, asking users (existing customers and potential customers) for feedback, and answering questions.
Video Posts Get More Organic Reach Across On Social Media
As we’ve already mentioned, there are many types of user-generated content – but the best by far is video, also known as user-generated video (UGV content).
The reason for this is simple: people engage with and share videos much more than other forms of user-generated visual content.
It’s no secret that people prefer video over other content formats. 80% of people would rather watch a video clip than read the same information in a blog post. On Twitter, posts with video get up to 10x more engagement than text posts. It’s a similar story on LinkedIn (3x more engagement) and other social media platforms.
Active Social Media Engagement Improves Your SEO
Does Google keep an eye on other top social media content and platforms? Officially, no, it does not.
Bing, on the other hand, is open about its use of social signals as a ranking factor in its search algorithm.
Therefore, if you want to drive more traffic to your website from the United States’ third biggest search engine, getting more people to interact with your brand and on social media is a must.
If you’re interested in improving your search engine traffic with video, read our expert guide on Video SEO best practices.
13 Types Of UGC Video Content
There are tons of different kinds of user-generated video content, but to keep things simple, we’ve given you 13 of the most common (and most effective) styles of UGC videos.
The great thing about these kinds of user-generated videos is that they’re so all-encompassing that at least one will be relevant to your industry. It doesn’t matter if you’re a hotel manager, dentist, lawyer, or restaurant owner – one of these UGC videos will work for you.
- Tutorials
- Life Hacks Or Personal Tips
- Product Videos or Review Videos
- Gaming Streams
- Unboxing Videos
- Challenge Videos
- Reaction Videos
- Travel Vlogs
- Food Videos
- DIY Videos
- Beauty Or Makeup Tutorials
- Music Covers
- Demonstration videos
Moreover, the above UGC videos can be tweaked easily to have a strong product focus. Take “Product Reviews” as an example. You can create a user-generated video and increase brand awareness if you have one happy customer.
For more inspiration on creative marketing videos you can create for your business, read Viddyoze’s guide on 36 effective marketing video ideas.
The Legal Considerations For Using User-Generated Videos
While user-generated video content is cost-effective and easy to obtain, there are some legal considerations businesses need to be aware of.
Before posting, the main thing to ask yourself is, “Who owns this content?”
Creators may own the copyright on their content, so you may need permission from the original poster to use it. Usually, this isn’t a problem – the creator is often more than happy to let you. After all, that’s why they made the content in the first place.
Certain platforms have terms and conditions that they own all the content posted to their forum; in this case, brands may need permission to use the content.
If in doubt, ask permission and always attribute the content to the original creator with a link or a mention.
Finally, a word on paid endorsements and sponsored content, these are fine to use, but they aren’t user-generated content; they’re paid-for content. As such, the relationship must be disclosed, according to FTC (Federal Trade Commission) rules.
Simply put: if you’re paying for content, you must clarify this with a disclaimer. That’s why Instagram influencers now must include the word “sponsored” in their posts.
How To Make A UGC Video For Your Brand
While your customers primarily create user-generated video content, you can take the initiative for your business by collecting existing reviews from third-party sites and transforming them into animated marketing videos.
To do this, take your good reviews from one of these sites (Google Reviews or Trust Pilot) and put them together in an engaging highlight reel.
At this point, you’re probably asking the million-dollar question: how do I make this kind of video for my brand?
The simple answer is Viddyoze.
Our state-of-the-art software connects to third-party review websites and automatically pulls the most positive ones into a slick, super-engaging highlight video.
And for a limited time only, you can try Viddyoze FOR FREE.
That’s right, we’re offering a free 7-day trial. That means you can sign up right now, create as many UGC videos as you need (or any other type of marketing video), and if you cancel before the trial ends, you won’t be charged a thing.
Follow this link to redeem your free trial. Create business-changing marketing videos in a few minutes with Viddyoze.
UGC Video Examples
- Share A Coke – Coca-Cola
- Crash The Superbowl – Doritos
- Build To Give – LEGO
- Ice Bucket Challenge – ALS Association
Read Viddyoze’s expert guide for an in-depth looking into video marketing examples within the last 12 months.
Share A Coke – Coca-Cola
Hashtag: #ShareACoke
Arguably the most famous UGC campaign ever, Coco Cola hit the jackpot with this simple concept.
“Share A Coke” allowed customers to customize Coke’s iconic label with their names. Once the customer had done that, the rest was easy: ask people to share a picture of their bottle using the hashtag “#ShareACoke.” Millions did. The rest is history.
Crash The Superbowl – Doritos
Hashtag: #CrashTheSuperBowl
An awesome example of user-generated video content, Doritos asked fans to create their own Super Bowl ad for the brand, the best of which was then aired during the lucrative Super Bowl TV slot.
The chance to grab 15 minutes of fame (and a prize of $1 million) had people entering in their droves. The campaign grabbed news headlines around the US, plus tons of engagement on social media.
Build To Give – LEGO
Hashtag: #BuildToGive
With Build To Give, LEGO not only managed to put its product front and center but also hit on an important charitable message.
The idea was simple: ask families to create a decoration from LEGO and share the results online. For every decoration, LEGO donated a gift to a less fortunate family.
The campaign is still running today (since 2017) and has millions of entrants every year.
Ice Bucket Challenge – ALS Association
Hashtag: #IceBucketChallenge
Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge? Of course, you do. It took over social media for a few years, with millions of people dumping cold water over their heads for a good cause.
Once again, the concept was super simple: one person performed the challenge and tagged three others, challenging them to do the same.
Those who didn’t do the challenge had to donate $100 to the ALS Association (a US charity that helps people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). The results were staggering, with the ALS Association collecting $115 million in donations.
Ideas For Getting People To Create And Post UGC Videos On Social Media
Create A Branded Hashtag
The four other marketing campaigns used above are all very different in approach and content, with one fundamental similarity: the hashtag.
Creating a bespoke hashtag lets you track your campaign’s engagement and monitor customer responses. It also gives customers an easy, memorable way to submit their content via social media channels.
Need a cool way to create a hashtag? Run a hashtag contest and ask your followers to come up with the campaign name.
Launch Your Campaign With Influencers In Your Niche
Getting an influencer involved, posting their own user-generated video content, and using your hashtag, is a great way to kick off your campaign.
You get a ready-made target audience, which allows you to get people involved faster. Just remember, if you use influencer marketing, and pay the influencer in any way, you’ll need to clarify this in the video for legal reasons.
Run Competitions And Prize Giveaways
Like Doritos did with its Crash the Super Bowl campaign, an incentive or prize is a great way to get people interested in your user-generated content campaign.
A prize differs from payment, so there’s no need to worry about the legal side. You can even include a note in the competition’s terms and conditions about your right to use the content produced.
To keep costs low, offer your product as the main prize.
For a detailed guide on how to organize a video contest for your brand, read this expertly written guide from Viddyoze Co-founder David Chamberlain.
Other Ways To Use UGC Videos In Your Marketing Strategy
Use UGC To Add Social Proof To Your Website
Having authentic people vouch for your product is a powerful way to get people interested in your brand.
Webpages with user-generated content have an 8.5% higher conversion rate than those that don’t. Include your best UCG videos, reviews, and customer testimonials on key pages, such as product and checkout pages, to improve your website video marketing.
UGC Video Ads
UGC video ads are a great addition to any marketing strategy because they work at the top and bottom of the funnel (ToFu) and the bottom of the funnel (BoFu).
ToFu ads are designed to get people interested in your product. Think fun UGC, such as challenges, games, and competitions. This type of ad is entertaining content designed to catch the eye of cold leads. BoFu, on the other hand, is all about encouraging others to buy and influencing people’s purchasing decisions; this could be a product review video or a video testimonial.
Make Your Brand Appeal To Your Ideal Customer
UGC campaigns can be an excellent way of aligning your brand with your ideal customer’s values, grabbing your audience’s attention.
The key here is to choose the right type of content to engage your ideal customer profile. So, if you’re targeting a younger demographic, lead with challenge videos (check out TikTok for some inspiration). Are you targeting corporate decision-makers? Try sharing personal tips (videos of customers discussing how they used your product to solve their problems).
Final Thoughts On User-Generated Video Content
User-generated content isn’t just a free video (which is excellent, by the way) to post on your social media platforms – it’s proof that your product or service works.
It shows that real people bought your stuff and liked it so much that they felt compelled to share their experience with others. It proves that your product is so good you’ve earned loyal customers. It’s the best kind of social proof – it compels other people to check out your brand, which can significantly impact your brand’s growth and conversion rates.
That’s why the most prominent brands use user-generated content video as a part of their marketing efforts. Done right, a solid UGC strategy does the hard work for you.
Check out our business video maker today for more information about using Viddyoze to create your user-generated content videos.
FAQs
Do you need permission to use User-generated content?
Yes, in some cases, you do need permission to use UGC content. If in doubt, ask and give proper credit to any videos created for your brand by a fan. The best brand advocates should have no problem with you using their content.
What does a user-generated content creator do?
A UGC creator is any average person who makes content for a brand or business, usually as part of a brand’s customer-inclusive strategy. The customer is not officially affiliated with the brand. The UGC content could be YouTube videos, blog posts, custom images, video reviews, or social media posts, to name a few.
How many followers do you need for UGC?
Whether you’ve got 1 or 1 million followers, all it takes is a willing customer. You can start making user-generated content videos with just one follower.
What is the difference between UGC and a content creator?
UGC creators make free content based on a positive experience with a brand’s product or service. Professional content creators are paid to create content for a brand.
