What is User-Generated Content? And Why is it Important? Here’s what you need to know.

User-generated content, or UGC for short, has become increasingly popular as the number of content creators has grown dramatically.

UGC, or user-generated content, is authentic and unfiltered content produced by the fans and customers of a brand. It can take any form — text, posts, photographs, videos, reviews, etc. — and is produced by individual users, not by the company itself, before being posted online or on a social network. There is no money exchanged; all that is provided are the clients' genuine suggestions.

WHEN ASKED, 90% OF CONSUMERS SAY AUTHENTICITY IS IMPORTANT WHEN DECIDING WHICH BRANDS THEY LIKE AND SUPPORT, AND 60% SAY UGC IS THE MOST AUTHENTIC FORM OF CONTENT.

To put it simply, consumers simply feel they relate more to your every day typical person who resemble either themselves or someone that they know. UGC is sort of a social media version of word-of-mouth.

Now, UGC can be in various forms, and typically include:

• Images (photos on social media)

• Videos (Instagram Reels, TikTok or YouTube)

• Blogs

• Reviews and/or Testimonials

• Case Studies

Now that we have established what UGC actually is, we can now look to understand what a content creator is and how they differ from influencers.

So, the main difference between content creators and influencers is that influencers usually work hard to grow their following before they start working with brands on collaborations. Influencers are paid for their content because they have worked to create a loyal following so they deserve compensation for the sales they are offering the brand from their posts of the collaboration. Content creators on the other hand don’t necessarily have to have a large following, and typically create content for free. The content they make can be posted on their own account, however is usually just sent to the brand for them to post as a UGC post.

Here are some examples of UGC:

So what does UGC have to do with digital marketing and the services we offer here at Explosive Social?

We help you with:

• Find and secure suitable content creators that align with your brand.

• We provide the content creator with posting deliverables and briefs with clear instructions of the content to create.

• We provide the UGC to you as our client to re-purpose paid ads, website content, and other marketing material.