UGC (user-generated content) is content that looks as if ordinary users made it: a product review filmed on a phone, an unboxing, a ‘how I use this every day’ clip. Originally the term meant spontaneous content posted by customers. In advertising today, UGC is usually commissioned: the brand pays a creator for footage that keeps a genuine, unproduced feel.
Why does UGC beat traditional advertising?
Because it doesn’t look like an ad. Scrolling through Instagram or TikTok, we skip past polished ads without stopping, but a video of someone talking straight to their phone looks like something a friend posted, so it gets a shot at those first 2 seconds of attention. In our clients’ campaigns, UGC videos consistently achieve a higher CTR and a lower cost per conversion than studio footage, especially on Meta Ads and TikTok. Then there’s social proof: viewers trust ‘an ordinary person’ more than a voiceover artist reading a script.
How is UGC produced?
Despite appearances, it isn’t a case of ‘someone filmed something on their phone’. Behind every effective video there’s a process: a brief setting out the message and target audience, a script with a strong opening (the hook decides everything), choosing a UGC creator who suits the audience, and editing for the specific format of each platform. In UGC campaigns, we usually produce several versions of one video and test which hook and which creator deliver results. A single video is a gamble. Systematic testing of variants turns it into a method.
Related terms: UGC creator, hook. See also our article What’s the best app to edit Reels for social media?
