What is a UGC Video? Meaning, Benefits, and How to Use It

There is no greater decision a brand can make than whether or not to embrace user-generated content. A close second, should you decide to use UGC, is when to implement it in your marketing strategy. You don't want to be too early (and most companies jumping on trends before they're ready can look desperate), and you don't want to be too late to capitalize on this powerful marketing approach either.

From 2018 to 2023, there has been a 63% increase in brands using UGC videos in their marketing campaigns, according to recent industry statistics. If you decide to incorporate UGC videos into your strategy, this is what awaits you.

What is User-Generated video content (UGC Video)?

UGC video meaning user-generated content is content created by regular people (not the brand itself) that features a product or service. It's like when your friend shows you their new shoes on Instagram or when someone posts a TikTok about how they use a skincare product.

UGC videos are different from traditional marketing because:

• They're made by real customers or creators (not professional marketing teams)
• They look authentic and less polished (shot on phones, in homes)
• They show the honest opinions of real persons
• They don't use expensive or professional equipment and editing

For example, when someone films themselves using a new coffee machine and posts it online—that's UGC. The coffee brand didn't make it, but they might share it later if they get permission.

UGC videos feel more trustworthy because they come from regular people like you and me, not from the company trying to sell something. This is why many people check YouTube reviews before buying products now. We trust other customers more than advertisements!

Why is UGC Video Important?

You might have been using professional content your entire marketing life, but now it's time to bug out. UGC videos have become crucial for brands across industries, and for a good reason.

Builds Brand Trust and Credibility

Trust is the foundation of any successful brand-customer relationship. When potential customers see real people using and enjoying your products, it creates an authentic connection that professional ads simply cannot match. 

Consumers trust recommendations from other people, even strangers, over branded content. And it makes sense. We're all skeptical of brands telling us how amazing they are, but when a regular person with nothing to gain shares their positive experience? That hits different.

The psychology behind this is simple: we trust people who seem similar to us. A study by Nielsen found that 92% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know, and UGC creates a similar feeling of peer recommendation.

This trust factor becomes even more important for:

• High-cost purchases where risk is greater
• Products with technical features that need demonstration
• Items where fit, quality, or performance matters significantly
• Services where results vary between customers

UGC videos show the good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly. It serves you well, though, by giving your brand a sense of credibility and authenticity.

Increases Brand Awareness and Engagement

UGC usually goes viral. Not only will you be building organically, but you'll probably be fine with reducing spend on ads because you'll continually be getting increasingly enthusiastic about letting your customers do the talking.

When your users produce content in regards to your brand, they are posting it to their networks – people you might not have access to through traditional advertising. This word-of-mouth dissemination can rapidly increase your exposure without increasing your budget.

Boosts SEO ranking

Good news: Your UGC content can help. Search engines love fresh, relevant content, and your UGC lends you a consistent pipeline of new content that is populated with your brand keywords and themes. This optimizes your search ranking and drives greater organic traffic to your site.

And by posting them on other channels, users are providing high-quality links to your site – another SEO win. Engagement metrics are like catnip to the algo gods, and a UGC piece of content will generate more comments, shares, and time-on-page than a brand post.

When Google sees people spending more time viewing your customers giving a testimonial about your product, it is like it is a sign that your site is filled with quality content – elevating you up in those all-important search ranking lists and causing your competition to ask themselves why their expensive SEO company isn't getting it done.

Encourages Community-Building

When your customers record themselves with your product and upload it to the internet, all bets are off. They're joining your strange little brand family. Your product is converting regular customers into brand ambassadors: if individuals go out of their way to make a point of videotaping themselves with your product, they're interested. They're interested enough to want to share it with their friends and that's a big win for you.

It snowballs. One person shares, another does. Before you know it, you've got people engaging with each other off the back of their affection for your brand. They comment on each other's channels, exchange tips, and defend you against critics.

This community builds itself. You just need to identify it, nurture it, and every now and then throw some fuel in to keep it going.

Types of UGC Videos

Know that wacky variety of content out there? It might not seem as overwhelming anymore once  you understand the main types of UGC videos that can benefit your brand.

Customer Testimonials

Customer reviews will probably be the most impactful sort of UGC content. Actual people giving honest feedback on their genuine use of your product or service. 

Your greatest testimonials are concrete, specific, and clearly describe exactly how your product helped solve a certain problem or improve a customer's life in some way.

Video testimonials capture emotional responses that written reviews simply cannot—you can see the excitement in someone's eyes when they talk about how your product changed their life.

Brands can encourage testimonials by reaching out to satisfied customers, creating dedicated hashtags, or offering incentives for sharing experiences (though always ensuring authenticity).

Tutorials & How-To Videos

A study of first-time users with new products showed that their ability to be patient was cut in half  when trying to figure things out alone. When given basic instructions in video form by other users, the satisfaction rates skyrocketed. 

Tutorial UGC videos show real customers demonstrating how to use your products effectively. These practical demonstrations help potential customers visualize themselves using your  product. 

User-created tutorials often highlight creative or unexpected uses for your  products that you might  not have considered in your  official marketing.

These videos serve a dual purpose: they provide valuable information to viewers while simultaneously showcasing your  product in action.

Unboxing Videos

There's something oddly satisfying about watching someone open a package. Unboxing videos create anticipation and excitement around receiving your product.

These videos highlight:

• Packaging quality and presentation
• First impressions and reactions
• Product features and initial testing

The unboxing experience has become so important that many brands now design packaging specifically to create a memorable unboxing moment worth sharing.

Product Reviews

Honest reviews from real users carry tremendous weight. Effective review videos include:

• Pros and cons (yes, including negatives makes it more trustworthy)
• Comparisons to competitors
• Long-term usage results
• Personal stories about how the product solved a problem

How Brands are Leveraging UGC Videos

Everyone around you will go the distance to convince  you that implementing UGC is complicated. Not that much anyway. But it isn't, and it doesn't have to be. Increased engagement, authentic connections, community building—these are just some of the things brands focusing on UGC now enjoy.

Social Media Campaigns

Strategic social media campaigns centered around branded hashtags can generate massive amounts of UGC video content. Successful campaigns make participation simple, fun, and aligned with users' natural behavior. 

Take Chipotle's #GuacDance challenge on TikTok, which generated 250,000 video submissions and led to their biggest guacamole day ever—serving 802,000 sides of guac. 

Or GoPro's #HomePro challenge during the pandemic, encouraging users to create adventure videos at home using their GoPro cameras—resulting  in thousands of creative submissions that kept the brand relevant even when traditional outdoor adventures weren't  possible.

The key is creating a concept that's  easy to participate in but offers room for personal creativity and expression.

Contests & Challenges

Even if you're on solid ground brand-wise, you will notice a depletion in the ol' engagement bank without regular contests. If not simply from the excitement they generate and the content they produce, chances are good you'll want to invest some of your marketing dough in this strategy, too.

Contests and challenges provide direct incentives for users to create and share UGC videos featuring your products. The competitive element drives higher participation rates and often results in more creative content. 

Starbucks' annual Red Cup Contest invites customers to decorate their holiday cups and share photos, generating thousands of creative entries and massive social media visibility.

Adobe | Make the Cut

Adobe's "Make the Cut" challenge invited users to create videos using their software, offering substantial prizes and the chance to have work featured—resulting  in high-quality UGC that simultaneously showcased their product capabilities.

Effective contests balance accessible entry requirements with enough creative freedom to generate diverse, interesting content.

How to Create High-Impact UGC Videos

Although it might sound scary at first and seem like a challenge to you now, implementing UGC strategies will be the most beautiful thing for your brand. This new road is a beautiful adventure.  It comes with many challenges but also with many moments of pure and innocent joy. 

I guarantee that your first successful UGC campaign will melt you, that the first authentic testimonial will delight you more than you thought. As for the first time your content goes viral through user sharing, I don't even think I need to mention it.

Encouraging Customers to Share Content 

The most successful brands make content creation and sharing feel natural and rewarding for their customers. Creating simple pathways for submission is crucial.  

Clear calls-to-action on packaging, in email communications, and across social channels remind customers that you want to see their content.

Incentives don't always need to be monetary—recognition,  the chance to be featured, or simply being part of a community can be powerful motivators.

Make sharing effortless by creating dedicated hashtags, easy upload portals, or direct submission options through your website or app.

Collaborating with UGC Creators & Brand Ambassadors

Micro-influencers with 1,000-10,000 followers often generate 60% higher engagement rates than bigger influencers. 

Working with dedicated UGC creators gives you more control while maintaining authenticity. These creators specialize in making content that looks genuine but meets your brand standards.

When selecting UGC creators:

• Look for authentic voices that match your brand values
• Prioritize engagement rates over follower counts
• Check their previous content for quality and style
• Consider diversity to reach different audiences

Best Practices for Shooting High-ROI UGC Content

You thought you knew everything about content creation your entire marketing career? You'll feel like you can learn for a week straight once you're diving into UGC, and not just from the newborn, try-all-approaches stuff. Also, the bouncing-off-the-wall creativity of your users, whose innovative ideas will only be rivaled by the amount of engagement they can generate.

Whether you're guiding customers or working with UGC creators, certain principles consistently lead to higher-performing content. 

• Keep it authentic: Overly scripted content defeats the purpose of UGC
• Focus on benefits, not features: Show how the product improved someone's life
• Capture genuine reactions: First impressions make compelling content
• Use natural lighting: Harsh studio lighting looks too professional
• Shoot in real environments: Homes, offices, or outdoors where products are actually used
• Include close-ups: Detail shots help viewers see what mattersep it concise: 15-60 seconds is the sweet spot for most platform

Legal and Ethical Considerations

Don't get so excited about UGC that you forget the rules. Always get permission before reposting someone's content. 

Key legal considerations include:

• Getting explicit permission to reuse content
• Creating clear terms and conditions for UGC campaigns
• Providing proper attribution when sharing
• Avoiding copyright infringement (especially with music)
• Ensuring content doesn't violate platform guidelines

Social Media Platforms

Different platforms serve different purposes:

• TikTok: Perfect for short, entertaining UGC that shows personality. The algorithm favors authentic content over polished ads.
• Instagram: Great for visually appealing UGC, especially in Stories and Reels. Use the Shopping feature to make UGC shoppable.
• YouTube: Ideal for longer-form UGC like detailed reviews and tutorials. These videos have a longer shelf life and SEO benefits.
• Facebook: Good for community-building and sharing UGC that tells stories. Works well for targeting older demographics.
• Pinterest: Perfect for inspirational UGC that shows your product in aspirational settings or as part of DIY projects.

Product Pages and eCommerce Stores

Featuring multiple UGC videos showcasing different use cases or customer types helps diverse customers envision the product in their own lives. Many eCommerce platforms now offer direct integrations with UGC platforms, making implementation relatively straightforward.

The most effective implementations pair UGC videos with written reviews for comprehensive social proof. UGC on product pages can increase conversions by up to 29%. 

Smart placement includes:

• Video galleries on product pages
• UGC review sections
• Homepage features of customer content
• Email marketing featuring UGC
• Dedicated UGC landing pages

Paid Advertising & UGC Video Ads

UGC-style videos have revolutionized paid advertising, with many brands now creating ads that mimic the authentic feel of user-generated content. UGC video ads typically generate higher click-through rates and lower cost-per-acquisition than traditional polished advertisements.

These ads work particularly well in social media environments where users are accustomed to seeing authentic content from friends and connections.

Think about your own behavior. When was the last time you willingly watched a traditional ad? But a real person showing how a product changed their life? That gets your attention.

Smart brands are integrating UGC with paid advertisements in two forms:

1. Amplifying Genuine UGC

They ask permission from consumers who have produced great content, then promote it. It's just spreading what existing users have made.

The results are quite interesting:

• 4x higher click-through rates
• 50% lower cost-per-click
• 2.4x higher conversion rates

2. Creating UGC-Style Ads

These are production-quality videos that mimic UGC. Shot with normal people instead of professional actors. Natural lighting. Handheld camera movements. Even some perhaps intentionally left-in "gaffes." 

Brands like Dollar Shave Club and Liquid Death are getting it right. Their ads are what your funny friend would make, not an ad agency.

Primary channels for UGC video ads:

• TikTok (especially their Spark Ads format)
• Instagram Reels
• YouTube Shorts
• Facebook Feed

You can not, however, fake authenticity. Customers can identify a fake UGC ad from afar. Your best bet is to use genuine UGC with targeted advertisements. 

And besides that, UGC ads are less expensive to make. No production crew to pay. No star talent. Just everyday people with genuine stories.

Your Customers, Your Voice

Like we said in the beginning, there might be no greater decision a brand can make today than whether or not to embrace UGC videos. Brands using UGC see 29% higher web conversions than those who don't. 

UGC content earns trust that cannot be achieved through any amount of traditional advertising. It gets communities going, drives engagement, enhances SEO, and ultimately converts buyers from browsers.

The future of marketing isn't so much you speaking to your audience, but also letting your audience speak on your behalf. And that can be accomplished by using UGC videos.