What is UGC (user-generated content)?
Last updated · by Elena Sofia Marchetti
UGC (user-generated content) is any content, such as reviews, photos, videos or social posts, made by customers or paid creators rather than by the brand itself. Today the term covers two things: organic posts and reviews from real customers, and paid 'UGC-style' videos that creators make to a brand's brief for ads, product pages and email.
What does UGC mean?
UGC stands for user-generated content. It means any review, photo, video or social post about a product that someone outside the brand made, rather than the brand's own team or agency. 'User-generated content', 'user generated content' and 'UGC content' all mean the same thing: content made by users, not by the company.
Who counts as a 'user' has widened over time. The term started with customers posting unprompted on forums, review sites and social feeds. It now also covers independent creators who are paid to make content that looks and sounds like a customer made it. Both kinds share the same point of view: a real person showing a real product being used, usually filmed on a phone rather than in a studio. That point of view is why the format works. It is also why the rest of this guide splits UGC into its organic and paid forms.
What the UGC acronym stands for
U is for user: a customer, fan or independent creator, not the brand. G is for generated: they made it themselves, with their own phone, voice and setting. C is for content: a review, star rating, photo, short video or social post. Some people say 'UGC content', which repeats the C, but it is now common usage and means exactly the same.
What UGC is not
Studio shoots, agency-made ads, brand-written product copy and press coverage are not UGC, even when they show customers. A polished brand video with an actor playing a 'real customer' is not UGC either. The test is who made it and from whose point of view. If the brand scripted, cast and filmed it, it is brand content.
What are the two kinds of UGC today?
There are two kinds of UGC: organic content that customers create without being asked, and paid 'UGC-style' content that creators make to a brand's brief. They look much the same in a feed. They differ in cost, in how much control you have, and in what you are allowed to do with them.
Paid UGC is a commercial relationship, and the rules treat it that way. The FTC's Disclosures 101 says that a 'material connection' with a brand has to be made obvious when a creator endorses it, and that being paid or getting free or discounted products both count as one.
For brands that want the paid kind on a schedule, #Collabz is a London-based marketplace where DTC brands brief vetted UGC creators and handle usage rights and payment in one place.
Organic customer UGC
Organic UGC is what customers post on their own: a star rating on your product page, a mirror selfie in your dress, a TikTok about a supplement they reorder. It is free and highly credible. The trade-offs are that you cannot control its volume, quality or timing, and you have no automatic right to reuse it in your own marketing.
Paid UGC-style creator content
Paid UGC is commissioned from creators who are picked for how well they make content, not how many followers they have. They film to your brief and deliver files for you to run on your own channels and ad accounts. You control the hook, the claims and the deadline, and usage rights are agreed upfront, so it can go into paid media.
What counts as UGC content?
UGC content is any format in which a real person shows, rates or explains a product. Written reviews, star ratings, customer photos, short videos and social posts all count. For DTC beauty, supplement, fashion and lifestyle brands, four video formats do most of the commercial work, and each one answers a different question a shopper has before buying.
In Bazaarvoice's 2025 Shopper Preference Report, short-form videos (46%) and customer reviews (43%) were the content formats shoppers trusted most. That is why the formats below lean on video and on the language of reviews.
Review
A customer or creator gives an honest verdict, either written with star ratings and photos or straight to camera. A good review names the problem the buyer had, what they tried before, and whether the product fixed it. For a skincare brand that could be 'my redness after two weeks'. Reviews that include a small downside often come across as more believable than all-praise ones.
Unboxing
An unboxing films the moment the parcel is opened: packaging, the first look, the first feel and what is inside. It works best where presentation is part of the value, such as beauty sets, subscription boxes and premium supplements. It shows the shopper exactly what will arrive and answers the 'what do I actually get?' question before they ask it.
Testimonial
A testimonial is a person talking to camera about their results and how the product fits their routine, usually in 15 to 45 seconds. It is the workhorse of paid social because the first few seconds can open on a relatable problem. For supplements and skincare, any results or health claims have to stay within what you can substantiate.
Demo
A demo shows the product being used step by step: how a serum layers under make-up, how a protein powder mixes, how a jacket fits on different body shapes. Demos cut returns and pre-purchase questions because the shopper sees real texture, scale and fit. They work well on product pages and as mid-funnel ads for people who already know the brand.
What shoppers trust before buying
- 52% of shoppers say real customer reviews are the biggest factor in their final purchase decision.
- 35% trust content that includes real-life photos or videos of the product in use.
- 52% distrust creator content that feels overly promotional, so hard-sell scripts work against you.
- 43% say authenticity comes from creators who acknowledge both a product's pros and its cons.
Why does UGC convert better than brand content?
UGC converts because shoppers trust other people's experience more than a brand's claims about itself. It also answers the practical questions a product page often skips: how a shade looks on real skin, how a size runs, how big a scoop really is.
According to Bazaarvoice's Shopper Experience Index (Vol. 18, 2024), 65% of global shoppers rely on UGC such as ratings, reviews, photos and videos when deciding what to buy, and 86% engage with creator content before buying.
That trust has to be earned, though. Shoppers are getting better at spotting fake reviews and over-polished pitches, so UGC works best when it shows the product honestly and when reviews are clearly recent and real.
Trust
A real person with nothing obvious to gain comes across as more credible than a brand talking about itself. Paid creators keep that effect only when the content stays honest and is clearly labelled. Scripts packed with superlatives and no caveats lose that credibility quickly, and they can also create problems with advertising rules about claims you cannot back up.
Relevance
UGC shows the product in the shopper's own context: a bathroom shelf, a gym bag, a commute outfit. Seeing it on different faces, body types and skin tones helps people picture themselves using it. Studio photography rarely does that at the same scale or cost, especially for beauty and fashion ranges with many variants.
Volume for testing
Because UGC is cheaper to produce than a studio shoot, brands can test many hooks, faces and angles in paid social instead of betting on one ad. Winning variations get the budget, weak ones are switched off early, and fresh creative slows the ad fatigue that pushes acquisition costs up over a campaign.
What does UGC mean in marketing?
In marketing, UGC means using customer and creator content as brand assets in ads, on product pages, in emails and on the brand's own social accounts, rather than relying only on studio shoots. A simple rule of thumb is to put UGC wherever a shopper hesitates. Placement and testing are covered in detail in the guide linked below; the cards here only map the main places it appears.
Paid social
This is where most paid UGC ends up. Short testimonials and demos run as ads on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, cut to vertical 9:16 with captions and a hook in the opening seconds. Brands usually commission several versions of the same brief so they can test which face, opening line and angle brings in new customers most cheaply.
Product detail pages
Reviews, customer photos and short demo clips sit next to the add-to-basket button. Bazaarvoice's 2025 Shopper Experience Index lists 'recent reviews from real customers' among the top three things that make shoppers confident in a purchase. Knowing whether reviews are genuine was the most common frustration, cited by 46%, so keep reviews current and authentic.
Email and SMS
UGC brings welcome flows, abandoned-basket reminders and launch emails to life. A real customer photo or a short testimonial GIF in place of a stock image gives the email social proof at the point the reader is deciding whether to come back. Post-purchase emails also work the other way, asking new customers for reviews and photos.
Organic social and community
Brands repost customer content, with permission, on their own feeds and Stories. They also run branded hashtags and pin top reviews or creator demos. This keeps the feed varied between campaign drops and shows prospective customers that real people use the product, without the brand having to produce every post itself.
When does UGC count as advertising?
UGC counts as advertising once the brand pays for it, gifts the product, or reuses it in its own marketing. From that point, both disclosure and permission rules apply.
In the UK, the ASA and CMA's Influencers' guide to making clear that ads are ads explains when content has to be disclosed and how to do it. Gifted products still count, so a gifted post needs a clear 'Ad' label at the start; in the US the usual label is '#ad'. The ASA says the guide will be updated following the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, but that its advice is still broadly correct.
Permission is the other half. A customer's post belongs to the customer, so reposting it or running it as an ad needs their explicit consent. Paid creator content should come with a written usage licence that spells out channels, paid media use and duration before anything goes live. How long that licence should last, and what it should cost, is covered in the guide linked below.
What are UGC usage rights and how long should a licence last
Sources and further reading
- ASA and CMA, Influencers' guide to making clear that ads are ads — Advertising Standards Authority
- Disclosures 101: New FTC resources for social media influencers — Federal Trade Commission
- Bazaarvoice Shopper Preference Report 2025 (press release) — Bazaarvoice
- Bazaarvoice Shopper Experience Index Vol. 18 (press release) — Bazaarvoice
- Bazaarvoice Shopper Experience Index 2025 (press release) — Bazaarvoice
- Bazaarvoice, Shopper Experience Index 2025 blog, 2025
Frequently asked questions
Does 'UGC content' mean something different from UGC?
No. 'User-generated content', 'user generated content' and 'UGC content' all mean the same thing: content made by users, not by the company. 'UGC content' repeats the C, but it is now common usage.
Is a brand video with an actor playing a customer UGC?
No. Studio shoots, agency-made ads, brand-written product copy and press coverage are not UGC, even when they show customers. The test is who made it and from whose point of view, so if the brand scripted, cast and filmed it, it is brand content.
What is the difference between organic and paid UGC?
Organic UGC is what customers post on their own. It is free and highly credible, but you cannot control its volume, quality or timing, and you have no automatic right to reuse it. Paid UGC-style content is made by creators to your brief, so you control the hook, claims and deadline, and usage rights are agreed upfront.
What types of UGC video work best for DTC brands?
For DTC beauty, supplement, fashion and lifestyle brands, four video formats do most of the commercial work: reviews, unboxings, testimonials and demos. Each one answers a different question a shopper has before buying.
How many shoppers rely on UGC when deciding what to buy?
According to Bazaarvoice's Shopper Experience Index (Vol. 18, 2024), 65% of global shoppers rely on UGC such as ratings, reviews, photos and videos when deciding what to buy. It also found that 86% engage with creator content before buying.
Which content formats do shoppers trust most?
In Bazaarvoice's 2025 Shopper Preference Report, short-form videos (46%) and customer reviews (43%) were the content formats shoppers trusted most.
Where should brands use UGC in their marketing?
A simple rule of thumb is to put UGC wherever a shopper hesitates. The main places it appears are paid social, product detail pages, email and SMS, and organic social and community.
Do gifted products need an ad label on UGC posts?
Yes. UGC counts as advertising once the brand pays for it, gifts the product, or reuses it in its own marketing. In the UK a gifted post needs a clear 'Ad' label at the start, and in the US the usual label is '#ad'.
Can a brand repost a customer's photo or video as an ad?
Only with the customer's explicit consent, because a customer's post belongs to the customer. Paid creator content should come with a written usage licence that spells out channels, paid media use and duration before anything goes live.