User generated content (UGC) marketing puts your customers front and center. Instead of relying only on brand-made assets, you encourage people to create and share their own photos, videos, reviews, and posts. When done right, it feels authentic, builds trust, and sparks engagement that polished ads can’t always match.
Think about GoPro, which built its brand on customer videos, or Starbucks’ famous #WhiteCupContest that filled Instagram feeds with customer designs. These are reminders that sometimes, your community can be your most powerful creative team.
This guide defines UGC marketing, explains why it works, shows the most common formats, and lays out how to build a strategy that’s both insight-led and measurable. Let’s go.
At its simplest, UGC marketing is when brands use content created by their customers to promote products or services. It could be:
Brands encourage creation, curate the most relevant submissions, and share them where they’ll have the biggest impact.
UGC works because people trust people. According to multiple consumer studies, people find content from other customers more believable than messages that come directly from brands.
Done well, UGC also:
Over time, it becomes a steady stream of social proof: the kind that nudges shoppers from “just browsing” to “add to cart.”
Here are the formats you’ll see most often:
Think of UGC as a co-creation project with your customers. You’re giving them the stage and a reason to step into the spotlight.
Not everyone posts at the same rate. Use consumer insights to map out who over-indexes for sharing, reviewing, or posting. Focus on segments that value authenticity and recommendations from peers.
Some share to gain recognition, some to help the community, others simply because they love your brand. Knowing what drives your audience helps you design prompts and rewards that feel natural.
TikTok and Instagram are perfect for short videos. YouTube suits tutorials. Forums like Reddit work best for tips and debates. Align your asks with platform norms, for example, “film your first 10 seconds after unboxing” might not land on Reddit, but would work much better on Instagram.
Make participation easy with hashtags, clear submission rules, and quick ways to share. Spotlight your creators on brand channels, give shout-outs, or offer loyalty perks to keep your audience engaged. Rewards don’t need to be flashy, but recognition is important.
Treat UGC like any other campaign. Track submissions, engagement, and brand outcomes like awareness, consideration, and favorability.
Both feature real people, but they serve different purposes.
Many brands use both. UGC for scale and credibility, influencers for precision and storytelling.
Inviting customers to create comes with responsibilities. Protect your brand and community by:
Consumer insights turn UGC from a hopeful experiment into a powerful growth engine. With GWI, brands can:
Feature real experiences, real language, and real outcomes. Over-produced assets can dilute the social proof that makes UGC powerful.
Build prompts and rewards around what your audience values, not just what is easiest for your brand to ship.
Use consumer insights to pick channels and formats with the highest relevance for each audience, then tailor prompts to fit how people already create there.
UGC works because it’s rooted in trust. Brands that win with it don’t leave things to chance, they design systems that encourage sharing, amplify the right voices, and measure what matters.
Start with a clear view of your audience, understand what drives them to share, meet them on the platforms they love, and close the loop with solid measurement.
It involves using authentic content created by consumers, such as reviews, social posts, and videos, to promote a brand.
UGC builds trust and authenticity, engaging people with relatable stories that feel credible and useful.
Insights help you to pinpoint the right audiences, uncover what drives them to create and share, and select the most effective channels and formats.