What Is UGC and Why Brands Use It

UGC is content with a real person's face, made for your brand.

UGC stands for user-generated content. In marketing, the term now describes short videos, filmed by a real person in a social media format, that show a product or service as if it were a recommendation. The brand commissions and pays for the video, decides where to use it and keeps the rights that were agreed.

The difference from a traditional ad is the form. There is no studio, no voiceover and no logo opening the video. There is a person talking to their phone camera, showing the screen, explaining the problem they had and what changed. It is the same format people already watch every day on Instagram and TikTok, and that is why it doesn't jump out as advertising.

Organic UGC and commissioned UGC

There are two types, and it is worth not mixing them up.

• Organic UGC: a customer posts, on their own initiative, a video or photo with your product. It is great, but you don't control when it happens, what it says, or the quality. And to use it in an ad you always need permission from the person who made it.
• Commissioned UGC: you hire a UGC creator to write, film and edit videos from a brief. You control the message, the format and the deadline, and the agreement defines where and for how long you can use the video.

When a brand talks about "doing UGC", it almost always means the second. That is what this article is about.

Why brands use UGC

It looks like content, not like an ad

Someone scrolling decides in a couple of seconds whether to stay or move on. A video with a person speaking naturally has a better chance of being watched to the end than a piece that, from the first frame, shouts "this is advertising".

It shows the product being used

A photo shows what the product looks like. A UGC video shows how it is used, how long it takes and what happens next. For apps, software, courses and services, where the customer can't touch what they are buying, that demonstration is often what is missing.

It answers doubts before they become questions

A good UGC script takes the most common objection ("I don't have time", "I tried another one and it didn't work", "it looks complicated") and answers it inside the video, in the voice of someone who sounds like your customer.

You can test many versions

Because each video is simpler to produce than a studio campaign, you can test several openings, angles and calls to action, and keep only what works.

Where a UGC video is used

• Paid ads on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. This is the most common use.
• Organic posts on the brand's own channels.
• Product pages and landing pages, next to the buy or booking button.
• Email and messaging, as proof of use in a sales sequence.
• Sales presentations, to show the product working without having to demo it live.

Each of these uses should be covered by the usage rights. I explain how that works in UGC usage rights.

What a UGC video that works has

There is no fixed formula, but the videos that hold attention usually have four parts.

1. Hook. The first line and the first image. It can be a question, a confession or a situation the audience recognises straight away.
2. Problem. What the person felt before. Concrete, with an example, without exaggeration.
3. Demonstration. The product in use: the app screen, the step by step, the before and after.
4. Action. What the viewer should do next, said simply.

The structure I use most is before and now: how things were, what changed, and what the person gained from it. It works because it tells a small story in twenty or thirty seconds.

Most common formats

• Demonstration: showing the product or app working, step by step.
• Testimonial: the experience told in the first person. It should only say what is true.
• Before and now: the difference between the routine without the product and with it.
• Answering an objection: taking a real doubt and responding to it.
• Short tutorial: teaching something useful where the product fits in naturally.
• Unboxing: opening and showing what comes in the box, for physical products.

What UGC is not

UGC is not influencer marketing. A UGC creator doesn't have to post the video on their own profile, and the value of the work doesn't depend on follower count. You are paying for the video, not the reach. If you want to understand when each one makes sense, read UGC vs influencers.

Nor is it a video made "in a rush" on a phone. It looks simple because it was designed to look simple: there is a script, lighting, sound, subtitles and editing behind it.

How to start

1. Pick one goal. Installs, bookings, sales, sign-ups. One video tries to do one thing.
2. Decide where the video will run. Ad, organic or product page. That changes the format and the rights.
3. Prepare a short brief. Audience, problem, what to show and the final action. There is an example in how to write a UGC brief for an app.
4. Start with a few videos and several openings. It is the cheapest way to learn what your audience wants to see.

If you want to see how this looks in practice, there are real examples in my portfolio and the Hiwell case study, a video designed to run as a paid ad that reached 514,036 video views and 1,268 clicks. I film in English and Portuguese, and with creators from my community I can cover other markets and languages. When you have your goal defined, get in touch and I'll send you a proposal.