In 2025, User-Generated Content (UGC) is transforming digital marketing, with 82% of consumers saying they’re more likely to purchase from a brand that incorporates UGC into its campaigns.
From Sephora's viral #SephoraHaul campaign to Cluse's real-life product lookbooks, UGC allows brands to harness authentic customer voices across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
With algorithms increasingly favoring organic content and consumers demanding transparency over polished ads, brands that embrace UGC enjoy higher ROI, stronger brand loyalty, and better reach. In this guide, we explore powerful user-generated content examples and why they continue to outperform traditional marketing efforts.
User-generated content, or UGC, is any type of content—photos, videos, reviews, blog posts, or testimonials—created by real customers rather than the brand itself. It’s what people share online when they talk about your product, service, or experience.
In 2025, UGC and customer led marketing matters more than ever because people trust people. Consumers are increasingly aware of polished ads and sponsored content, and they crave authenticity. When they see a real person using your product in their everyday life, it builds instant credibility. It also gives your brand more exposure, drives engagement, and helps convert curious browsers into buyers.
Plus, algorithms on platforms like Instagram and TikTok tend to favor this kind of organic content, giving it a better chance of reaching a wider audience than traditional branded posts. If you're not actively encouraging or showcasing UGC in 2025, you’re leaving a powerful and cost-effective marketing channel untapped.
UGC and branded content might look similar at first glance, but they play very different roles in your marketing strategy.
Branded content is created by your team or hired professionals—it's polished, carefully planned, and designed to communicate a specific message or vibe. It’s great for building a consistent brand identity and showcasing your products in the best light.
UGC, on the other hand, is created by your customers or UGC creators. It’s raw, authentic, and often spontaneous. That realness is exactly what makes it so powerful. While branded content can sometimes feel like an ad, UGC feels like a personal recommendation—and that’s what modern consumers respond to.
In short, branded content helps shape perception, while UGC builds trust. The best strategy? Use both. Let your brand set the stage, then let your customers do the talking. In the case of UGC, you will also have to ask for content usage rights, but by adding a disclaimer on the post or section where you encourage people to share their content.
Product ratings and reviews are the honest opinions your customers leave about your products. They can be long or as short as simply mentioning the score they would give to what you sell.
If you have an ecommerce store, you can include a section for customers to leave their reviews and ratings, and then you can create UGC from them, such as posts featuring the reviews, videos reading, and sharing them—both good and bad—to demonstrate authenticity and trustworthiness.
UGC images are one of the most visual and shareable forms of user-generated content. They typically come from customers who take photos of your product in real-life settings—whether it's a flat lay, a selfie, or a quick snapshot during use.
These images work especially well on platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, where visuals drive engagement. To encourage more image-based UGC, you can suggest a branded hashtag or invite users to tag your account when they post. Some brands also collect these photos through email follow-ups after a purchase, asking customers to share their experience.
Social media content is one of the most common types of UGC and also one of the most organic. People are eager to show off what they purchased if the service or product was good, and this is often featured in Instagram posts, TikTok videos, or Instagram posts.
This type of content isn't niche-specific, as everyone can benefit from it in a variety of formats. To achieve the greatest impact for your brand, it's important to have a strong social media presence, with a profile that people want to tag and interact with.
Unlike reviews or ratings, which can be simply a score, customer testimonials are videos or posts accompanied by copy that provide a more complete and in-depth insight into a specific product or service.
It's essential that the customer feels free to give an honest opinion, as this is noticed by potential customers, who will appreciate this approach and your brand's willingness to be scrutinized to demonstrate its value.
Blog posts can be published on various platforms, but they feature more written content than a typical social media post. It's an effective UGC technique when your audience is willing to read longer, in-depth pieces about what you sell (something common in the technology and book niches, for example).
This format allows users to explore their experience in detail—whether it’s a tutorial, a list of pros and cons, or a personal journey with your product. It’s especially powerful when the product requires a bit more explanation or context, and works best when written by someone genuinely invested in your brand.
Live streams and video reviews offer an authentic, real-time look at your products or services. Customers or influencers might unbox your product, show how it works, or share their first impressions live, giving viewers an unedited experience that builds trust.
Video content, whether live or pre-recorded, allows users to highlight features, demonstrate use cases, and share honest opinions in a way that's more dynamic than written reviews alone. Platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram Live, and Facebook Live are ideal for this type of UGC.
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Now that you know the types of UGC that exist, we'll show you examples of the best uses various brands have given them, so you can use them as inspiration and apply them to your next marketing campaign.
The mattress brand "Casper" finds itself in an extremely competitive industry, as the number of times a person will buy mattresses or pillows is limited, so it's necessary to have a product that stands out and can demonstrate it.
To achieve this, they give reviews a prominent place on their website with the "Why You Love Casper" section, and every month they share snippets of the best reviews on their social media profile. This way, people interested in purchasing the products will find these reviews on various platforms, gaining greater insight into the brand and what it offers.
Never underestimate people's desire to share their experiences, both positive and negative. If they buy a product they love and feel supported throughout the purchasing process, they'll leave a glowing review that will speak louder than any description you can give of your product, because it's from a real user who wasn't paid to say that.
Negative reviews can also be featured, but at this point, you have to be strategic: show understanding with the dissatisfied customer, offer a solution, and promise to work on it. This way, potential future customers who come across these negative reviews will know that there are caring brand representatives ready to help.
Cluse watches aim to bring elegance and sophistication to the general public, but to do so, they had to overcome the hurdle of being a relatively new brand—founded in 2013—in an established industry that had been hit hard by digital watches.
To make this possible, they built a close relationship with their customers, sharing their photos on the brand's official websites and social media. To share their photos, they ask customers to take a photo of themselves wearing the watch and share it with the hashtag "#cluseclub" or directly upload it to the website's lookbook.
Typical watch brand catalogs often feel detached from reality, making it difficult for people to see themselves wearing them. Therefore, Cluse's incorporation of UGC images into its lookbook and social media was disruptive and caught people's attention.
These real-life photos, taken with high-quality cell phone cameras, not on a photography set but outside in the real world, made people feel like potential wearers of this type of watch. The campaign mixed exclusivity with inclusivity, as people could be part of the "#Cluseclub" just by using a hashtag and uploading a photo to be part of a brand's campaign.
UGC on social media has different techniques that make it stand out, but the one that can help create an effective campaign the most is the use of strategic hashtags. In recent years, fashion and beauty influencers have shared their purchases with the hashtag or the word "haul," and Sephora capitalized on this by creating the hashtag "#SephoraHaul."
With this hashtag, they invite everyone who buys their products to share them on social media. This way, they accumulate UGC and brand mentions across different social media platforms, but they also spread the word about their products organically.
The #sephorahaul hashtag was used by people who use the products, in some cases nano- and micro-influencers, but most importantly, it didn't cost Sephora a cent. Every time someone buys a product, they're encouraged to share it on social media with that hashtag, and to date, it has been used in more than 400,000 posts.
Those using this hashtag are not partners, ambassadors, or affiliates of the brand, as they use other types of hashtags, codes, and links. They are simply real users who are freely sharing how they use the product, what the product actually looks like, and more.
The activewear brand consistently uses customer testimonials to showcase its products. After each sale, it invites customers to post about their experience and tag the brand.
To make this effective, the brand allows all tags to be public, so people who are undecided about whether to buy can see how people use these products and their testimonials.
Customer testimonials are a way for brands to show how real women see themselves using their products, but more importantly, how they feel about them. When it comes to activewear, it's crucial that people have access to testimonials, and they're more credible if you hear them coming from real customers.
These videos are homemade, with no special production or lighting. Users usually shoot them at home, or in the middle of their workout, showing the product in a raw and realistic way.
One of the industries that jumped on the UGC train the fastest was the book publishing industry, as they noticed it helped boost their sales more than any other type of marketing campaign. They realized that the answer was already within their target audience: people who read are often good at writing, and they're not afraid to share their opinions on blogs or forums.
In some cases, publishers work through gifting—sending new books to influencers to spread the word—but most of the time it’s regular readers (regardless of how many followers they have) who share their opinions and write detailed blog posts about the books, without giving away spoilers.
This kind of UGC is organic because its content is shared by habitual readers, which sets them apart from the crowd. Plus, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a book review—it could be a “Top 5 Favorite Books” list or reading techniques, which is a natural way to feature certain titles from a publisher.
It’s effective because this type of UGC isn’t limited to just the book niche: someone might post a photo of a book with a caption, and a casual follower could get curious and ask for more info. And when it circulates within BookTok circles, it’s even better—because publishers reach their target audience directly.
Board games have their ups and downs in the market, with peaks during specific seasons but fierce competition from video games. However, they greatly benefit from live streams where their games are featured, most often through UGC.
These types of live streams work because they're presented as a group of friends playing board games together, something people can relate to. The interactions are real, and during the live stream, the game is played from start to finish, showing all its features and the reactions users and their friends might have while playing.
Since these aren't paid collaborations, the comments about the game aren't scripted, which gives viewers more confidence in whether they'd actually have a good time playing it, or if there's something they don't like.
Watching these videos also teaches them how to play, among other rules—and how to cheat, if that makes everything more fun—which makes them more likely to buy the games.
UGC campaigns don't have to be driven by a single brand; collaborations can take them to new levels. In this case, NatGeo partnered with Honda to create UGC that would serve both brands and reach new levels of reach.
They invited Instagram users to use the hashtag "#wanderlustcontest" to share photos of their travels around the world. The photos didn't have to be professional; anyone was invited to participate. The prize was a trip to Yosemite National Park, where Honda vehicles would transport the winners.
The contest brought together two brands that aren't usually associated with each other and don't offer the same product or service, but do have a common niche—in this case, travel. The goal of the collaboration was to organically increase visibility for both brands.
During the campaign, the hashtag was used by more than 100,000 people, and both brands benefited from millions of interactions—including likes, comments, and shares. It was the visibility boost both brands needed, and this giveaway has continued since 2015, with the best photos published in a free online book, promoting both NatGeo's values and Honda's products.
If you're looking for inspiration, there's no doubt that food brands are a great source. Doritos has been dominating the social media game for a while now, and since 2018, it's done so with the help of the UGC it garners through its challenges.
These challenges invite people to post brand-related content on various social media platforms, tagging the brand and using certain hashtags, in exchange for the chance to win a cash prize (usually ranging from $1,000 to $2,500, or prizes such as brand products). The latest challenge was about creating memes, and social media exploded with UGC, with Doritos memes taking center stage.
Memes have immense potential in the marketing world because they're an entertaining way to showcase a product and connect the brand with its audience by appearing relatable and relatable. The Doritos challenge had specific guidelines regarding the content they were looking for: it wasn't just any type of meme; it had to retain the brand's values and language, with Doritos at its center.
Memes had the advantage of being a type of content that people share on their Instagram stories or send via text to their friends. Additionally, with Doritos being the star of each meme, the product and the brand gained visibility, strengthening their connection with their audience.
The famous travel-friendly camera brand was one of the first to foster UGC, and to this day they continue to do so organically without the need for additional investment. To do so, after each sale, they invited users on their social media channels to share photos taken with their products using the hashtags "#GoPro" and "#GoProPhotography."
In this campaign, there was no reward or giveaway involved: they simply appealed to people's desire to share their GoPro photos. The success was undeniable, with each hashtag generating more than 1 million posts each on Instagram.
The campaign didn't require any investment from GoPro; it was simply an invitation to people to share photos taken with its products. It was an immediate success thanks to the amount of UGC, but also because it was free advertising that showcased the capabilities of its cameras.
It also helped GoPro break away from being pigeonholed into adventure tourism, as users shared their urban photos taken with GoPros, and in everyday contexts like having a cup of coffee.
Encouraging UGC doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does need to be intentional. Start by giving your customers a clear and simple way to share their experience. This could be through branded hashtags, post-purchase follow-up emails, or social media prompts asking for photos, videos, or reviews.
Make it rewarding—thank them for sharing, repost their content, or even create occasional giveaways or contests. When people feel acknowledged, they’re more likely to create again.
You can also collaborate with nano- or micro-influencers who already love your brand. These partnerships often lead to natural-looking UGC that resonates with their audience, especially when there's no heavy scripting involved.
Most importantly, always make your brand feel approachable. If your profile looks human, warm, and community-driven, more people will feel confident tagging you and becoming part of your brand’s story.
User-generated content (UGC) has proven to be a powerful tool in building brand trust and increasing sales. By leveraging customer reviews, social media posts, and testimonials, brands can create authentic connections that resonate with their audience.
As consumers continue to value genuine experiences over polished marketing, UGC presents an opportunity for brands to engage meaningfully. Encouraging UGC and showcasing it effectively can drive brand loyalty and provide valuable insights into customer preferences, ultimately contributing to long-term business success.
Social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest are ideal for sharing UGC, especially visual content like photos and videos. Blogs and brand websites are great for long-form content, such as customer testimonials and detailed product reviews.
Yes! UGC, especially reviews and blog posts, can boost your SEO efforts. These pieces of content are often rich in keywords and phrases that potential customers search for. Additionally, UGC tends to generate organic backlinks to your website, improving its search engine ranking.
Yes, always ask for permission before using user-generated content in your marketing materials. While many customers share their content publicly, it's important to respect intellectual property rights and ensure proper credit is given.
Track metrics such as engagement rates (likes, comments, shares), website traffic, conversion rates, and overall sales growth. Additionally, monitor the sentiment of UGC to gauge customer satisfaction and brand perception.
Respond to negative UGC with empathy and professionalism. Address the issue publicly, offer a solution, and show that you value customer feedback. Transparent communication can turn a negative experience into an opportunity for improvement.
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