UGC creators: How to scale social content & brand awareness

Key points

• User-generated content (UGC) builds trust and authenticity by showcasing real customers and creators who genuinely connect with your brand.

• UGC creators differ from influencers, they produce brand-aligned content without necessarily having a large following, making them highly scalable and cost-effective.

• Partnering with UGC creators helps brands generate high-performing content for paid and organic social media campaigns.

• Leveraging UGC across platforms strengthens social proof, improves engagement, and enhances your overall content marketing strategy.

User-generated content (UGC) creators may not be who you think they are.

First, the big picture: Overtly salesy advertising is losing its effectiveness. Today’s consumers trust the opinions content creators share on platforms like TikTok, Yelp, and  Instagram over branded messaging created by a marketing team.

Smart brands are increasingly using UGC on their own channels. Ever shop for a T-shirt online and see images and reviews from people who already bought it? You may have found a photo of someone who matches your height and body type. You may have scanned their review, thinking it’s more likely to give you an accurate sense of how the sweater fits.

The person wearing that sweater is a UGC content creator. But what is that, exactly?

What is a UGC content creator?

A UGC content creator is someone who produces and shares content featuring brands or products, often in a more authentic and relatable way compared to traditional advertising.

A UGC creator may share, for example, their opinion or experience with a product or service in the form of a review, a video, a blog post, and more.

There are two types of UGC creators:

• Organic UGC content creators: Consumers who create content about brands or products they use without being paid by the brand to do so. Unlike influencers, these UGC creators don’t necessarily have a large social media following.
• Professional UGC content creators: Content creators who are sponsored by brands to produce content that feels authentic. This kind of user-generated content has the same impact because it’s relatable and more like a straightforward review rather than an advertisement. Because brands typically own the end product and promote it on their own channels, whether a UGC creator has a large following is less relevant than it would be in influencer marketing.

Which platforms are most popular among UGC content creators?

User-generated content shines on different platforms in unique ways, helping brands connect with audiences where they’re most active.

Here’s how UGC works across some popular platforms:

• Instagram is a go-to for visual UGC, where customers share product photos and experiences through posts, stories, and creative reels. With hashtags and location tags, brands can quickly find UGC with an aesthetic polish that aligns with Instagram’s vibe.
• TikTok thrives on short, clever videos that are perfect for UGC challenges and product demos. The “duet” feature allows users to create a split-screen video with a brand’s existing video. TikTok’s algorithm favors authentic, unfiltered posts, making it a top choice for raw, engaging UGC that spreads quickly.
• YouTube allows for deeper dives with long-form content like product reviews, unboxings, and tutorials. UGC here has a long shelf life, serving as a resource for new customers well after it’s posted.
• Facebook supports diverse UGC formats, from customer reviews and group discussions to live product demos. Its community-driven nature makes it great for fostering brand loyalty and discussions.
• X is ideal for real-time UGC, with product mentions, feedback, and campaign participation happening in quick, conversational posts.

Each platform offers unique ways for brands to engage customers authentically, giving UGC creators plenty of room to make an impact.

How do brands use UGC creators in their marketing and engagement efforts?

Consumer brands increasingly use both professional and organic UGC creators to reach target consumers. This approach allows brands to tap into authentic customer experiences while also maintaining some control over the content quality.

Here are some examples of how brands have harnessed their power:

Image of Center Parcs’ activity-specific social UGC galleries from the customer story

• Contests: Starbucks launched a creative campaign that encouraged customers to decorate their iconic white cups and share their designs. The winning creations were used as templates for actual Starbucks cups, generating nearly 4,000 entries.
• Challenges: Apple’s ongoing #ShotOniPhone campaign has been hugely successful in showcasing the capabilities of iPhone cameras by featuring UGC on Apple’s Instagram feed, addressing concerns about camera quality.
• Visual UGC: Eco-friendly brand NAVY Hair Care used visual UGC to practice social listening while engaging online shoppers, driving a 264% increase in repeat visitors. The brand uses Emplifi’s Checkout Comments to both highlight and solicit buyers’ perspectives on why they bought an item. The brand garners an average of 360 Checkout Comments per week.
• Geofencing: Center Parcs, a European network of holiday villages, uses geofencing to collect UGC from within a 500-square-foot area around their properties from real guests. The brand then seeds this content across critical points of the customer journey. For example, it featured activity-specific social UGC galleries live across its website.

How can businesses motivate and inspire UGC content creators to produce more content?

Businesses can encourage organic UGC creators to produce more content by making them feel valued and engaged.

Here are some effective strategies:

• Offer incentives: Provide rewards like discounts, freebies, or exclusive access to new products. This motivates creators to share their experiences.
• Run contests and challenges: Host fun contests that encourage creators to produce content for a chance to win prizes or be uniquely featured in branded content.
• Feature their work: Showcase UGC creators on your website or social media channels. Giving creators a spotlight makes them feel appreciated.
• Engage directly: Like, comment, and share their posts. Direct interaction shows that you value their contributions.
• Make participation easy: Use specific hashtags or simple submission processes so creators know how to share their content.
• Provide clear guidelines: Let creators know what kind of content you’re looking for. This helps them produce relevant and high-quality material.

By making UGC creators feel like a vital part of your brand’s community, you inspire them to keep contributing.

How to brief UGC creators for high-performing content

To use UGC to its full potential, you should treat creator content like a scalable performance channel, rather than a one-off collaboration.

That starts with understanding the role creators play in your strategy.

Creators vs. influencers: know what you’re paying for

When working with creators, it’s important to distinguish between two different models:

• UGC creators: You’re paying for the creative asset
• Influencers: You’re paying for the audience

UGC creators produce content you can reuse across your own channels such as organic posts, paid ads, product pages, and more. Influencers, on the other hand, are primarily a distribution channel.

For most brands, especially in automotive and retail, UGC creators are the more scalable option. They allow you to build a consistent pipeline of content without relying on a single audience.

What metrics should I track to measure the success of campaigns involving UGC content creators?

To measure the success of campaigns involving UGC content creators, focus on these key metrics:

• Engagement rate: Track likes, comments, shares, and saves on UGC posts. High engagement shows that the content resonates with your audience.
• Reach and impressions: Measure how many people saw the UGC content. This helps assess the overall visibility and brand exposure generated by the creators.
• Conversion lift: Track how many viewers of the UGC actually take action, like clicking a link, signing up, or making a purchase. This shows how effective the content is at driving results.
• Traffic: Look at website traffic from UGC posts. This includes referral traffic from social media and direct traffic from unique links provided to creators.
• Click-through rate (CTR): Measure the percentage of people who clicked on a link in the UGC post to visit your site or landing page. A high CTR indicates strong interest.
• Follower growth: Monitor increases in social media followers after UGC campaigns. It reflects new people discovering and following your brand through the creators.
• Customer feedback: Pay attention to comments and feedback on UGC posts to understand customer sentiment and brand perception.
• Return on investment (ROI): Calculate how much revenue or valuable action was generated compared to the cost of the UGC campaign.

These metrics help you understand the effectiveness of UGC in boosting engagement, brand awareness, and sales.

What’s the best way to curate and moderate content from UGC content creators effectively?

Start by giving creators clear guidelines on tone, style, and content expectations to keep submissions aligned with your brand.

Encourage creators to use specific hashtags – or tag your account – to make it easy to discover their posts. Using Emplifi’s UGC platform can help collect and curate content, saving time and maintaining quality of creative performance.

Regularly review incoming submissions, prioritizing high-engagement posts that reflect your brand or company’s values, then ask for permission to use them. Always credit the creators to build trust.

Featuring standout UGC on your channels and engaging directly with creators not only strengthens community connections but also encourages ongoing contributions, keeping the content fresh, authentic, and aligned with your brand.

How does content from UGC content creators affect customer trust and conversion rates?

UGC content is a game changer for customer trust and conversions because it feels real. When people see others genuinely enjoying a product — whether through a review, a photo, or a video — it gives them confidence that it’s worth trying. It’s like getting a recommendation from a friend instead of a traditional ad.

UGC helps customers imagine themselves using the product, which makes them more likely to make a purchase. Seeing real people talk about or showcase a product creates a sense of reliability and authenticity. This naturally leads to higher conversion rates because potential customers feel reassured and connected to what they’re seeing. In short, UGC builds trust and makes people more comfortable hitting “buy.”

What metrics should I track to measure the success of campaigns involving UGC content creators?

To measure the success of campaigns involving UGC content creators, focus on these key metrics:

• Engagement rate: Track likes, comments, shares, and saves on UGC posts. High engagement shows that the content resonates with your audience.
• Reach and impressions: Measure how many people saw the UGC content. This helps assess the overall visibility and brand exposure generated by the creators.
• Conversion rate: Track how many viewers of the UGC actually take action, like clicking a link, signing up, or making a purchase. This shows how effective the content is at driving results.
• Traffic: Look at website traffic from UGC posts. This includes referral traffic from social media and direct traffic from unique links provided to creators.
• Click-through rate (CTR): Measure the percentage of people who clicked on a link in the UGC post to visit your site or landing page. A high CTR indicates strong interest.
• Follower growth: Monitor increases in social media followers after UGC campaigns. It reflects new people discovering and following your brand through the creators.
• Customer feedback: Pay attention to comments and feedback on UGC posts to understand customer sentiment and brand perception.
• Return on investment (ROI): Calculate how much revenue or valuable action was generated compared to the cost of the UGC campaign.

These metrics help you understand the effectiveness of UGC in boosting engagement, brand awareness, and sales.

What’s the best way to curate and moderate content from UGC content creators effectively?

Start by giving creators clear guidelines on tone, style, and content expectations to keep submissions aligned with your brand.

Encourage creators to use specific hashtags – or tag your account – to make it easy to discover their posts. Using Emplifi’s UGC platform can help collect and curate content, saving time and maintaining quality.

Regularly review incoming submissions, prioritizing high-engagement posts that reflect your brand or company’s values, then ask for permission to use them. Always credit the creators to build trust.

Featuring standout UGC on your channels and engaging directly with creators not only strengthens community connections but also encourages ongoing contributions, keeping the content fresh, authentic, and aligned with your brand.

How does content from UGC content creators affect customer trust and conversion rates?

UGC content is a game changer for customer trust and conversions because it feels real. When people see others genuinely enjoying a product — whether through a review, a photo, or a video — it gives them confidence that it’s worth trying. It’s like getting a recommendation from a friend instead of a traditional ad.

UGC helps customers imagine themselves using the product, which makes them more likely to make a purchase. Seeing real people talk about or showcase a product creates a sense of reliability and authenticity. This naturally leads to higher conversion rates because potential customers feel reassured and connected to what they’re seeing. In short, UGC builds trust and makes people more comfortable hitting “buy.”

Why lo-fi content consistently outperforms polished campaigns

One of the biggest shifts in social performance is the move toward low-production, native content.

Polished campaigns still build brand, but lo-fi content drives engagement.

Content filmed on an iPhone in a vertical 9:16 format:

• Feels native to platforms like TikTok and Reels
• Blends into the feed rather than interrupting it
• Builds trust by feeling more authentic and less staged

For UGC, this is exactly what you want. Content should feel like it was created by a real customer, not a production team.

The “hook rate” strategy: build content for testing

In social, the first few seconds determine everything.

That’s why leading brands don’t rely on a single version of a video. Instead, they ask creators to produce multiple hooks for the same asset.

For example:

• “3 things you didn’t know about this…”
• “I didn’t expect this to be so useful…”
• “Before you buy this, watch this…”

Each version uses the same core footage, but a different intro.

This allows teams to A/B test performance in paid social and quickly identify which hook drives the highest engagement, click-through rate, or conversion.

More hooks = more data = better-performing content.

Are there any tools that can help manage and analyze campaigns with UGC content creators?

UGC tools for businesses streamline the collection, management, sharing, and analysis of consumer-created content. They typically offer a few key functions:

• Content aggregation: These tools gather UGC from multiple platforms by tracking hashtags, mentions, or specific tags, making it easy for brands to find all relevant posts in one place.
• Moderation and curation: Effective UGC tools allow businesses to moderate content to ensure it aligns with brand guidelines and curate the best submissions. This includes selecting high-quality images, videos, and reviews to feature on websites, social channels, or ads.
• Content display: Many UGC tools offer customizable options to embed or display UGC across various brand touchpoints, like product pages, landing pages, and emails, enhancing user experience and social proof.
• Analytics and insights: An essential feature is robust analytics, which track engagement, reach, and conversion rates for UGC. This data helps businesses understand how UGC impacts brand visibility and customer behavior.
• Campaign management: Some UGC tools support campaign creation and tracking, allowing brands to set goals, monitor performance, and engage directly with creators.

By combining these functions, UGC tools empower businesses to make the most of a UGC creator’s content, from discovering and managing it to leveraging it strategically for brand growth and engagement.

Ready to get started with UGC content?

UGC is a powerful way to build trust, engage your audience, and boost your brand’s online presence. By inviting real customers to share their experiences, you give your brand an authentic, relatable voice that truly resonates. UGC campaigns bring fresh perspectives, strengthen SEO, and reveal what your audience loves most.

Start by setting clear guidelines, using tools to manage content, and featuring the best stories across your channels. Create a community where people are excited to share — and watch as their voices amplify your brand authentically and effectively.

To help with these first steps, here’s Emplifi’s downloadable guide to UGC strategy.