The content in demand by customers today isn’t flashy or expensive. It’s captured by the everyday person and their smartphone, free of Photoshop and pushy sales pitches. Whether it’s a review written on Yelp or an unboxing video, consumers want authenticity — and they’re finding it in content created by people just like them.
With this in mind, brands are tapping into the power customers have in impacting their fellow consumers’ purchasing decisions with user-generated content. It’s a powerful tool for creating marketing collateral consumers trust, and some of the biggest brands are already leveraging it.
Chobani, for instance, has tapped into their fans’ creativity with the #SwitchTheChobaniFlip challenge, a social media marketing campaign driven by user-generated content. And you can use this strategy in your own marketing efforts, too.
The secret is getting customers excited to create their own content by letting them tell their story in the format they love — video. Better still, now that videos can also be interactive, it’s easier than ever for users to add whatever they want straight from the video player. We’ll dig into how you can achieve this with your own user-generated video campaign and why it drives better business results.
Ready to collaborate with your customer base? Keep reading to view some UGC examples.
The Rise Of User-Generated Content
Put yourselves in the shoes of a customer looking to plan a trip. Which of these would you care more about when choosing a hotel — an ad campaign launched by the brand itself or a Yelp review from a recent guest?
Most consumers are likely to pick the latter. In fact, research shows 76% of consumers trust content shared by an individual more than content shared by brands. Today’s customers want to know they can trust the content they choose to engage with. And that comes from consumers just like them who don’t have sales goals in mind.
User-generated content (UGC) refers to any form of content — text, videos, images, reviews — created by customers rather than the brand itself. This includes everything from social media posts and YouTube reviews to blog comments and customer testimonials.
What makes UGC so powerful is its authenticity and the organic trust it builds among consumers. A whopping 90% of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding which brands they like and support.
Authenticity has become especially important to Gen Z. Over 60% of Gen Z believes authenticity makes a person “cool.” They’ve grown up in a digital landscape filled with brands pushing their products, and the brands that have stood out to them are those that aren’t afraid to be real.
But while 92% of marketers believe the content they create resonates as authentic, most consumers say that less than half of brands put forth authentic content. This gap highlights a significant opportunity for brands that embrace UGC. Customers value real experiences and honest opinions and UGC delivers precisely that.
With the demand for authentic content stronger than ever for younger generations, businesses that adapt to this growing consumer trend will come out ahead. In fact, we consider it to be one of the top video marketing trends to watch this year.
How Video Is Catching On
Traditional marketing campaigns resort to Hollywood-level production to wow and delight customers. But now that consumer trends have shifted to a more authentic approach, can video keep up?
Absolutely. In fact, video and user-generated content go hand in hand. Today’s audiences crave genuine, relatable content that reflects real experiences and emotions. High-budget productions can sometimes feel distant and impersonal, whereas UGC videos offer a raw, unfiltered look into everyday interactions, making them highly relatable and trustworthy.
User-generated content is all about letting the customer tell their story. And the best storytelling tool out there today is video.
Video content communicates the essence of personal stories in a way that static images or text simply cannot. Combining visuals, audio and text, videos are able to capture all the nuances of whatever story it is you’re trying to tell. From subtle body language to impactful background music, video brings narratives to life, adding a human touch that’s engaging and familiar.
For example, this video from the University of South Dakota is personalized for the viewer — in this case, Peyton — to take them on an immersive, first-person journey of what it would look like to be a student at their university.
It’s easy to see how engaging videos can be. And because of this, they reign supreme when it comes to content on social media. Videos posted on social channels generate 1200% more shares than both text and image combined. This viral potential amplifies the reach and impact of the content, essentially turning your audience into brand advocates.
Combining video and user-generated content, then, is the perfect recipe for marketing collateral your customers will want to share. By encouraging users to create and share their own videos about your brand, you tap into their creativity and authenticity, amplifying your brand’s reach and credibility organically.
How Brands Are Leveraging UGC Videos
While we know user-generated video content is effective, it doesn’t mean your customers will automatically want to take part. There needs to be an incentive for customers to want to create their own video.
Here are some strategies that can make customers more eager to be a part of your campaign.
Let Customers Create Their Own Custom Highlight Reel
An incentive your customers can’t resist is an easy way to show off their biggest achievements. Let your customers create a personalized highlight reel they’ve customized themselves, hand-picking the moments they’ve always wanted to brag about.
This is especially popular among gamers, where bragging rights make up a core part of gameplay. CCP Games gave EVE Online players a chance to create their very own recap video.
By selecting their favorite stats, achievements and other custom data, players could easily create a video they could then show off to friends and followers. It’s a simple — and super fun — way to share their love of the game with others.
Better yet, by adding an incentive for recruiting new players (when a friend signed up, both players were rewarded with extra points), CCP Games not only encouraged existing players to share their Personalized Videos but also incentivized them to actively grow the community.
All in all, the EVE Online campaign was able to engage players and drive tangible business outcomes. The personalized recap videos created by players led to a 66% uplift in visits to the EVE Online recruitment page, one of the primary goals of the campaign.
Enter a Contest With Their Own Video
Another way you can encourage your customers is with the chance to win something big. Create a contest where it’s possible to score one of your latest products for free or a spot in your next commercial — all they need to enter is a video they’ve created themselves.
GoPro has become a master of this with their marketing campaigns that ask customers to send in videos they’ve shot with their GoPro. Check out this recent campaign that challenged customers to shoot an exciting video from their home during the pandemic.
Not only did it give customers something to do while they were stuck at home, but they also had the chance to score their own GoPro, simply by submitting their own video.
The strategy had plenty of advantages. Not only did it engage GoPro enthusiasts during a challenging time (and kept the brand top of mind) but it also highlighted the quality of its products and how they can be used in different kinds of environments and activities — all without any costly investment by GoPro itself.
A big part of GoPro’s success is how it encourages and empowers customers to become active participants in the brand’s storytelling process. By nurturing a community of content creators and rewarding their creativity, GoPro amplifies its brand reach and inspires a strong emotional connection with its audience, driving long-term brand advocacy and improving sales.
Help Customers Celebrate
No accomplishment is complete without a little humblebragging. It’s in our nature to want to show off a new milestone we’ve met. Let your customers announce their good news in a video with user-generated video content.
If you’re in the health industry, give customers a way to create a user-generated video celebrating their latest fitness goal. Or if you’re in the higher ed space, students can announce their acceptance in a video they can send out in an instant.
Another personal celebration that deserves its own special video? When someone’s made a donation. Donors have a huge impact on nonprofits — and it’s likely they’ve donated to a cause they’re passionate about. Let them celebrate their commitment to helping out with a video showcasing how they’re doing so.
Encouraging donors to share their contributions can significantly boost the reach of the cause. When donors publicly demonstrate their support, it not only spreads awareness within their networks but also inspires others to contribute. This ripple effect amplifies the impact of each donation, turning individual acts of kindness into a collective movement for change.
In a similar move, we created this video campaign during COVID-19 to give people the ability to thank those making this stressful time easier, whether it was a family member working the front lines or a friend offering emotional support. The effort worked to boost morale, highlighting the power of user-generated content in fostering connection and building community.
Thanks to our innovative Interactive Video functionalities, it was easy for individuals to create and share their video of appreciation. Users could input custom data — such as names or specific sentiments — from right in the video player and personalize the message. Drop-down selections for music and themes further ensured each video was unique to the recipient.
Note: Curious how it works? Try it for yourself.
The Value of User-Generated Videos
We’ve explored the what and where of user-generated video content. But an explanation of UGC videos is incomplete without diving into why they work so well.
Here are just some of the ways UGC videos improve your bottom line.
They Increase Reach
You can tap into the power of viral content by crowdsourcing content from your customer base. Your audience is already on Twitter, Facebook and every other social channel.
With a user-generated video, they can easily share why they enjoy your product or service, how they’re using it or whatever else they find most interesting. When people see real customers enthusiastically sharing their experiences with your brand, they’re more likely to engage with the content, comment and share it with their own networks. It’s an effective way to get your product in front of prospective customers and increase your reach with a message they’ll trust.
Take a look at this campaign from WW (formerly Weight Watchers) as an example.
Because the video was interactive, members could click within the video to pick the stats they wanted featured — making it easy to create a video that celebrates their fitness journey. And, as we touched on before, a highlight reel like this is likely something they’ll want to share on social media.
Imagine you’re a prospective customer. You see your friend has posted a video with all of their personal achievements using this brand’s service. Wouldn’t that interest you to try it out yourself?
In other words, UGC videos come with a sort of built-in credibility. Consumers trust content created by their peers more than branded content because it feels genuine and authentic. Firsthand endorsement from someone you know carries way more weight than any traditional advertisement or paid influencer campaign.
This word-of-mouth marketing is completely free, too. Rather than pay an influencer to praise your brand, you can let your customers increase your reach by posting their video for friends and followers to see.
They Drive Conversions
Now that you’re able to get your product in front of prospective customers, will they actually go ahead and buy from your brand? Because user-generated content is inherently peer-reviewed, customers find it more trustworthy. And that makes it super influential in a customer’s purchasing decisions.
In fact, statistics show almost 80% of people believe user-generated content highly influences what they buy. Trust is key in making customers confident in buying from your business.
User-generated videos can drive conversions in several strategic ways. One effective method is to incorporate clear calls-to-action (CTAs) within the UGC content itself.
For instance, at the end of each customer’s highlight reel, you could add a clickable button that redirects viewers to create their own reel. Or maybe you include a hashtag in the caption that invites others to check out other cool UGC videos and share their own experience with your brand.
Additionally, including UGC in targeted email campaigns or on product pages can provide social proof at critical decision-making points. Spotlighting videos where customers showcase how they use your product or service in real-life scenarios can significantly boost confidence among potential buyers who are on the fence, bringing them closer to making that purchase.
They Improve Your ROI
User-generated content doesn’t just boost reach and conversions; it can also significantly improve your return on investment (ROI).
Creating professional video content can be expensive. By leveraging UGC, you can cut down on production costs since your customers are essentially creating content for you at no cost. This applies whether you encourage customers to create their own content (as GoPro did) or have them customize a single Interactive Video (as we did with our thank-you video campaign).
UGC also tends to generate higher customer engagement rates compared to traditional advertising. When genuine experiences with a brand are presented, people are more likely to interact with and trust that content.
Authentic content resonates more with audiences. UGC provides a level of authenticity that polished, brand-created content often can’t match. This authenticity leads to stronger connections with your audience and, ultimately, higher conversion rates and greater ROI.
Create Trustworthy Content With UGC Videos
Rather than guess what your customers will be interested in, user-generated video content lets your customers tell you themselves. With their help, you can create content that will actually be valuable, translating to a more customer-centric CX and a healthier bottom line.
Our Next Generation Video Platform has made it easy for brands across various industries to harness the creativity of their audience. Through interactive features, viewers have the power to customize a video, make it their own and share their creation with their network.
What kind of videos do you think your customers will create, given the chance? Whatever industry you’re in — gaming, healthcare, education and more — the options are virtually limitless. Ready to see what you and your customers can come up with? We’re here to help you get started.
