How to Nail UGC Campaigns: From Baby Carriers to Barbiecore

You know what usually sends me to a brand’s Instagram page? It’s not paid ads (I tend to scroll or tap through most of them). Instead, I’ll check out a brand that someone I follow is raving about…provided the products look appealing or they’re relevant to my needs. And you can bet that most consumers are also influenced by user-generated content (UGC).

In fact, Billo reports that 70% of Gen-Z consumers and 78% of Millennials make buying decisions based on UGC. This isn’t surprising because real, everyday consumers are the ones who can provide the most authentic and unfiltered opinions about their experience with a brand or its products. As such, UGC is the backbone of trust in a landscape that’s oversaturated with content.

In this post, I break down how you can successfully build UGC campaigns that help you build trust and drive conversions. Let’s take a look.

Why UGC Wins: More Trust, More Conversions

I mentioned earlier how UGC has helped me discover brands on platforms like Instagram. Seeing other customers posting about a brand or product is indeed one of the most effective ways to discover new brands and products. So it’s obvious that UGC plays a vital role in boosting brand awareness. 

But UGC does a lot more than helping you reach new audiences. It also helps you build trust and drive conversions.

More Conversions

High-quality visuals from professional photoshoots may catch the eye. But they’re not always the type of content that generates trust. Rather, consumers seem to have a stronger preference for content generated by real users – regardless of how unpolished and unedited it may be.

So even if the branded content attracts them initially, they’ll often seek out some UGC when it comes time to buy the product. Seeing the experiences of real customers gives them the confidence to go through with the purchase. It helps them understand how the product would look in real life or how it might benefit them. So it guides them to make more informed buying decisions.

The best part is that UGC is typically organic, which means customers don’t get paid to create it. Sure, some of them may earn points or other forms or reward. But brands don’t tell them what to say or how to say it, so their reviews are often honest and unfiltered.

Additionally, there are some UGC creators who get compensated with free products in exchange for creating the content. But in most cases, these creators are encouraged to be honest about the products they review. This makes the content more trustworthy, allowing you to build trust with customers.

In fact, 81% of marketers in a Nostro study report that images and videos from real customers generate the most trust compared to any other type of content.

More Conversions

When people have trust in your product or brand, they’re more likely to buy from you. The Billo report cited earlier confirms this, marking a 10% increase in conversion rate when UGC is included in the buying journey. Furthermore, online conversion rates increase by 29% as a result of UGC.

Some studies on UGC marketing even note a 102.4% increase in conversion rates among shoppers who actively engage with UGC. Additionally, visitors who come across UGC while scrolling are 3.8% more likely to convert.

Top Brand Examples to Inspire You

To help you get an even better understanding of how UGC impacts brand success, let’s check out some of the best brand examples.

#Barbiecore

The Barbie revival we’ve witnessed in recent years was fueled by the release of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” movie and the viral campaigns to promote it. User-generated content played a key role in the success of these promotion campaigns, such as the “This Barbie” trend, where people used a selfie generator to plug themselves into the film’s promotional poster. The trend gained virality, seeing over 13 million users worldwide.

Even long after the movie’s release, Barbie still seems to have a chokehold on the internet population with user-generated content trends like #Barbiecore. Fans would use the hashtag to share photos and videos of themselves all decked out in pink fits to channel the iconic doll, inspiring more people to participate. 

The trend was particularly influential in the fashion industry, sparking a 416% increase in online searches for pink clothing. But UGC trends like this also seem to fuel a renewed interest in Barbie dolls. Gross sales for Mattel’s Barbie brand amounted to $1.54 billion in 2023.

Happy Baby

As a parent, I tend to do tons of research to figure out what to buy and what not to buy when it comes to babycare products. Even with all this research, I’ve had the experience of buying something that seemed perfect because of the marketing, only to realize it wasn’t really practical or that it didn’t really work for us. Baby bottles that aggravated colic, diapers that leaked way too easily, the list goes on.

We’ve also had a few bad experiences with baby carriers, too – some being too much of a hassle to use and some not being designed to support the hip joints properly. If I’d taken the time to find photos or videos from real parents using those products, I might have been able to make more informed decisions.

But in most cases, all I found were reviews and ratings. While these are also a form of UGC, they’re easy to fake. And even if they were authentic and positive, they couldn’t really show the products used in a real-life context.

That’s why Happy Baby’s UGC-led Instagram strategy is such a refreshing change from the product-heavy grids that many brands maintain. The brand shows photos of real parents using their carriers in a real-life setting. This gives a realistic look at how the products actually look in contrast to the brand’s professional product shoots. 

So parents can see how the carriers can support their little ones and how practical they are for different use cases, giving them much-needed info that could influence their buying decisions. See how the following post shows a mom using the brand’s carriers for tandem baby wearing.

Costco

For Costco, organic content from shoppers sharing hidden gems, Costco “hacks,” and “secrets” sparked millions of views across TikTok and other social media platforms. These users shared tips on how to save money, skip lines, and enjoy lesser-known Costco services. One shopper even shared when it’s the best time to grab the retailer’s food court cookies (when it’s freshly baked in the morning).

So this type of content helped people discover ways to get more out of their Costco shopping experience, encouraging them to try these hacks and secrets. It also encouraged other shoppers to share their own experiences and tips with others, driving even more user-generated content for the retailer.

ColourPop Cosmetics

The Costco and #Barbiecore examples are heavily user-led, meaning that the brand wasn’t really involved in the campaigns. Although these are excellent campaigns either way, other brands like ColourPop Cosmetics prefer to have more control over their UGC campaigns. That’s why they choose to curate UGC from influential creators in the makeup and beauty space to fill up their Instagram feed.

This type of influencer UGC helps the brand to effectively show how to use their products to create unique makeup looks, providing makeup inspo that could drive more purchases. ColourPop heavily leans on UGC for promoting their newest product drops and collections. 

They even go so far as to provide creators with early access. This gives them enough time to create content that would then be used for promoting the new products on the days leading up to their launch.

Dos and Don’ts for Crafting a Powerful UGC Campaign

Now that you’ve seen the benefits and the brand examples, it’s time to find out how to craft your own UGC campaign. Here are some tips and best practices to streamline the process.

Monitor Branded Hashtags for Organic UGC

Your branded hashtags are the easiest way to discover organic content created by your customers. Create a branded hashtag that your customers can use when they want to share their experience using your products. Include this prominently in your bios, websites, packaging, and emails to encourage more UGC.

Then track the usage of your branded hashtag to find organic user-generated content. Use the opportunity to look for high-quality pieces that you can repost or reuse for your brand’s social. You can also use the brand management tools from Influencity to track content that mentions your brand even if it doesn’t explicitly include your branded hashtag.

Organize UGC Campaigns Around Prompts

You may get a lot of customers who voluntarily share content without being prompted. But don’t rely on this alone if you want customers to create UGC from a specific angle. 

Provide them with prompts so you can organize your UGC campaigns around a certain type of content. For example, “show us your first bottle moment” or “use #hashtag to share your unique makeup look with the new XYZ collection.”

This not only helps you organize your UGC efforts, but it also makes it easy for customers to share their experiences. They don’t have to think too hard about what to talk about since you’re already providing them with a prompt. Plus, it’s easy to filter out the noise and focus on content that serves a specific purpose.

Spoonflower organizes a bi-weekly #SpoonflowerChallenge, inviting their design community to enter designs around specific themes. This hashtag helps the brand to keep track of entries while engaging the community to participate, while the contest further drives interactions by collecting votes from community members. It also brings visibility to the diverse selection of design options available at Spoonflower.

Repurpose High-Performing UGC for Ads and Reels

Some user-generated content may be more impactful than others in driving engagement. This indicates that the content resonates with the audience, making it perfect for promoting your brand. Get more out of high-performing UGC by repurposing it for your Reels and paid ads.

By reposting the UGC as Reels on your brand’s account, you could significantly boost visibility since Reels tend to get higher impressions. Plus, since the content is already performing well with the creator’s audience, there’s a good chance it can drive high levels of engagement for your brand.

When you repurpose high-performing UGC for your paid ads, you further amplify its reach and attract more prospects. Since the content has already been proven to be effective based on its performance, you’re likely to generate a better return on investment for your ads.

Don’t Repost without Permission or Credit

Remember that even if the content is about your brand, it still belongs to the original creator. So make sure to get explicit permission from them before you repost it. Otherwise, it could leave room for potential conflicts and legal troubles.

Similarly, don’t forget to give due credit to the creator when you reuse their content. You can either tag them in the post or mention them in the caption. This not only acknowledges the original creator for their contribution, but it also improves transparency and helps the audience differentiate between branded content and user-generated content.

Tentree always credits the original creator when they repost their content on Instagram.

Consider Licensing Agreements When Necessary

Sometimes, written permission sent in a DM or comment is all you need to repost content created by your customers. Other times, you may need to go further with formal licensing agreements. This is essential if you’re looking to repurpose the content for promotional campaigns like social media ads, billboards, and other forms of advertising.

Your licensing agreement should specify the extent of the permission you have, such as where and how you can reuse it or whether you can modify it. It should also specify the duration of the license and remove any potential for misunderstanding. Having a formal agreement in place ensures that you’re protected from legal conflicts further down the line. 

Create UGC Campaigns at Scale

Organic UGC is one of the most effective ways to build brand trust and drive conversions. When done right, it can be a powerful tool to grow your brand exponentially. Make the most of the tips, tools, and examples I shared above to build UGC campaigns at scale.