What is user-generated content?

User-generated content is content about a brand made by people outside the company, including reviews, photos, videos, social posts and comments from customers and fans. The term is also used for paid creators who make customer-style content for ads, which is better treated as commissioned advertising.

How do I get customers to create content about my brand?

Offer a product or experience worth sharing, design moments that are visually satisfying, prompt customers when they are happiest with clear and simple instructions, and feature contributors with credit. Avoid paying for reviews, which can breach platform rules and consumer protection law.

Can I repost customer content without permission?

Resharing within the platform's own features may be acceptable under its terms, but using customer content in ads, on your website or in email requires explicit permission. Ask in writing, explain where it will appear, keep a record and remove it promptly if the person asks.

What is a UGC creator?

A UGC creator is someone paid to produce content in the style of an ordinary customer, often for use in brand ads rather than on their own channels. It is a useful creative format but is advertising, so disclosure rules and honest claims apply.

Where should user-generated content be used?

Use it where buyers have most doubt and are closest to deciding: product pages, checkout reassurance, retargeting ads and abandoned-basket emails. It also builds familiarity on social feeds and reduces returns when used for set-up and usage tips after purchase.

User-Generated Content (UGC): What It Is and How to Use It

Two meanings of UGC

The phrase user-generated content now describes two distinct things, and confusing them causes problems. The original meaning is content created voluntarily by real customers and fans: an unboxing video, a review, a photo of a meal, a tagged post. Nobody paid for it, and that is precisely why it persuades.

The newer meaning is content made in a customer style by creators paid to produce it, usually for use in ads. This is better described as creator-made or commissioned content. It can work very well, but it is advertising, and it must be treated and disclosed as such. Keep the two clearly separated in your planning and your language.

Fig. 01 · Comparison

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Organic UGC versus commissioned UGC

Organic UGCCommissioned UGC

Who makes itReal customers and fansPaid creators in customer style

Why it persuadesIndependent peer evidenceNative, relatable format

ControlLow: you get what people makeHigh: you brief and approve

VolumeDepends on product love and promptsAs much as budget allows

RightsMust request permission per pieceAgreed in contract

DisclosureNot sponsored, but reuse needs consentIs advertising; disclose as required

Both are useful. Only one is genuine customer evidence, and audiences can increasingly tell the difference.

Why UGC works

Buyers discount what brands say about themselves because brands are expected to say good things. Customer content carries information a brand cannot fake easily: how the product looks in a normal home, how it fits a real body, how it holds up after a month, what a stranger thought was worth mentioning. It answers questions the buyer did not know to ask.

UGC also signals popularity and normality. Seeing many different people use something reduces the perceived risk of buying it. This is why reviews, tagged photos and customer videos are often most valuable close to the purchase decision, on product pages and in retargeting, not only on social feeds. See product reviews and trust signals.

A brand's claim is a promise; a customer's photo is a receipt.

How to encourage organic UGC

You cannot order customers to create content, but you can make it more likely. The single biggest factor is a product or experience worth talking about. After that, it is about prompts, moments and recognition.

Fig. 02 · Cycle

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The UGC flywheel

Design a shareable moment

Each stage feeds the next. Recognition is the part brands most often skip, and it is what tells customers their content is welcome.

Design the moment. Distinctive packaging, a satisfying first use or a visible result gives people something to show.
Ask at the high point. A message a few days after delivery or a prompt after a service is completed works better than a request at checkout.
Give a simple hook. A recurring theme or challenge gives people a reason and a format.
Feature people generously. Reposting with credit shows that contributions are seen and valued.
Avoid paying for reviews. Incentivised reviews can breach platform rules and consumer law and damage trust.

Permission and rights

A customer tagging your brand is not permission to use their content in your ads, website or emails. Always ask, in writing, and keep a record. A simple direct message explaining where you would like to use it, with a clear yes required in reply, is a common minimum; for paid advertising use many brands seek more formal consent. Credit the creator and remove content promptly if asked.

Be especially careful with content featuring children, health conditions or other sensitive information, and with any personal data. Data protection laws such as India's DPDP Act and equivalents elsewhere apply. When in doubt, do not use it.

Where to use UGC

UGC is most valuable when placed where doubt is highest. On social feeds it builds familiarity; on product pages it answers practical questions; in ads it often feels more native than studio creative; in email it reassures people who abandoned a basket.

Fig. 03 · Matrix

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Where UGC earns its keep

HighLevel of doubtLow

EarlyBuyer's closeness to purchase →Deciding

Place genuine customer content where buyers are closest to deciding and most in doubt.

Commissioned UGC: using it well

Commissioned customer-style content has become a staple of paid social because it is fast, affordable to iterate and native to feeds. Used honestly, it is a creative format, not a deception. The risks arise when ads imply that a paid creator is an ordinary customer, or when claims are made that a real customer could not support.

Brief commissioned creators as you would any creator: the audience, the product truth, the non-negotiables and freedom in delivery. Test many variations, because the format's strength is speed. See AI ad creative and creative fatigue for how this fits into paid programmes.

Myth vs reality

UGC myths

Is your brand ready for a UGC programme?

Self-diagnostic

0/5

UGC readiness check

A quick diagnostic before you invest in a programme.

01Do customers already post about you without being asked?
If yes: You have raw material. Build a system to find, ask and reuse. If no: Start with the product experience and packaging before campaigns.
02Do you have a written process for requesting and recording permission?
If yes: Good. Audit it every few months. If no: Create one before reusing anything.
03Do you credit creators when you reshare?
If yes: Recognition encourages more content. If no: Start crediting; it costs nothing and builds goodwill.
04Is customer content on your product pages, not just social?
If yes: You are using it where doubt is highest. If no: Add reviews and customer photos near the buy button.
05Are paid customer-style ads clearly separated from genuine reviews?
If yes: That protects trust and compliance. If no: Separate them and review disclosure practices.

UGC for B2B and services

Service and B2B businesses often assume UGC is not for them because they have no product to unbox. In practice their customer content simply looks different: a client sharing a result on a professional platform, a photo from a workshop, a speaker thanking an event organiser, a short video explaining why a team chose a tool. It is rarer, so each piece is worth more.

Make it easy for clients to share by giving them something worth sharing: a well-designed certificate, a launch moment, a milestone. Always confirm with the client before reposting, since B2B relationships often carry confidentiality obligations, and never imply an endorsement that has not been given.

Measuring UGC

Track the volume of organic mentions and tagged posts over time, the share of permission requests accepted, and the performance of UGC compared with studio creative in ads and on product pages. A/B testing UGC on product pages is a practical way to see its effect; see A/B testing.

Key takeaways

01Separate genuine customer content from commissioned customer-style content; only the first is independent proof.
02UGC persuades because it shows real use and reduces perceived risk.
03A tag is not permission; ask, record consent and credit the creator.
04Place UGC where doubt is highest, especially product pages and retargeting.
05The product experience is the biggest driver of organic UGC.

Frequently asked

What is user-generated content?: User-generated content is content about a brand made by people outside the company, including reviews, photos, videos, social posts and comments from customers and fans. The term is also used for paid creators who make customer-style content for ads, which is better treated as commissioned advertising.
How do I get customers to create content about my brand?: Offer a product or experience worth sharing, design moments that are visually satisfying, prompt customers when they are happiest with clear and simple instructions, and feature contributors with credit. Avoid paying for reviews, which can breach platform rules and consumer protection law.
Can I repost customer content without permission?: Resharing within the platform's own features may be acceptable under its terms, but using customer content in ads, on your website or in email requires explicit permission. Ask in writing, explain where it will appear, keep a record and remove it promptly if the person asks.
What is a UGC creator?: A UGC creator is someone paid to produce content in the style of an ordinary customer, often for use in brand ads rather than on their own channels. It is a useful creative format but is advertising, so disclosure rules and honest claims apply.
Where should user-generated content be used?: Use it where buyers have most doubt and are closest to deciding: product pages, checkout reassurance, retargeting ads and abandoned-basket emails. It also builds familiarity on social feeds and reduces returns when used for set-up and usage tips after purchase.

Published by Fabulous.Media, a network of specialist marketing agencies. Updated 9 October 2026. Platform features change often; check current official documentation before acting on platform-specific detail.