What is UGC?

Have you heard the term ” User Generated Content” and are not sure what the heck it is? Don’t worry, you are not alone. Marketers have a habit of putting things into neat little boxes with somewhat confusing labels. Simply put User Generated Content (UGC) is any content (photos, posts, tweets, videos, etc.) that is created by someone else – a customer, fan or social user. If someone tags a brand (using the @ symbol) or uses a hashtag (#) connecting back to the brand in one of their posts, they are creating UGC. UGC is generally seen on Instagram but does happen on other social networks too and, there are two types of Instagram accounts that can greatly benefit from UGC – Feature accounts and brand accounts. Aerie with their ‘Get Real’ campaign is one of my favorite examples of UGC done well. They made a pledge to never retouch models features in their campaigns as representation of their brand. To further this message, they are using user generated content in their social media campaign by encouraging users to submit their own untouched imaged with the hashtag #AerieReal. To get the campaign going, they event promised to donate $1 for every photo submitted to the National Eating Disorders Association (@NEDA). They are now engaging with their customers by sharing those pictures and posts, tagging the customer and using #AerieReal.

Do you have a favourite example? I would love you to share it!