10 reasons why you should use UGC for your social ads

User Generated Content (UGC) is content created by normal users. This means, for example, self-made cell phone videos on Instagram or Tiktok. UGC is also being used more and more in the corporate context. People without awareness or reach talk about a brand and its products. Not to be confused with influencers.

UGC creators are often explicitly commissioned by the company to create content. In return, they usually receive free products. The produced UGC is then used by the brand in both organic posts and social ads. Here you can see a few examples:

But is it worth it? In most cases yes.

UGC is widely used on Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok, you may have noticed that while scrolling through the feeds. Dynamic and short videos of real people are exactly what users want these days.

So if you want your ad to stop scrolling and capture the attention of users, the best way to do it is to provide them with exactly that: dynamically cut ads, rotated with a mobile phone – with UGC, your ads fit natively into the social media channels .

Real people want to see real people, not models. In UGC, the protagonist is like you and me. This makes UGC ads very authentic and ensures strong identification.

In most cases, purchasing decisions are made subconsciously and on an emotional level – consumers buy a product, because it makes them feel good. A successful advertisement therefore arouses emotions and shows the user what it would be like to own the product themselves.

For example, in UGC ads, real people show how the product helped them solve a problem. They share their stories and their emotions and also arouse them in the viewers.

People trust people much more than brands – that comes from a Study by Capterra out. According to this, users trust the ratings of other users more than content from the company and even more than recommendations from friends or family.

User-generated content in advertisements provides users with an authentic rating from real people they trust.

Unlike professional product shoots, user-generated content shows how the product is used in real life. The plate is suddenly part of the cooking evening, the drink is consumed on the way to sports, the bag is filled with everyday companions. The users can imagine how they would use the product themselves.

As mentioned above, UGC for social ads is actively commissioned by many companies. Compared to passively generated UGC created by customers, this has the advantage that the storyline can be specified more clearly.

Based on a briefing, UGC creators produce exactly the scenes that are required for the subsequent ad concept. This creates an advertisement that has been optimally optimized for conversions, i.e. purchases, but with the look of an authentic mobile phone video.

Do you have a product whose advantages and benefits are not obvious at first glance? Then UGC ads give you the space to explain complicated products without the ad looking like an instruction manual.

Packed in a storyline, the:die Creator:in shows in short scenes how the product is used, names advantages, shows before/after comparisons or explains how the product helped.

Ad fatigue means the wear and tear of advertisements. No matter how well, for example, a Facebook ad worked at the beginning, after a certain time its performance deteriorates. The ad was then played out to the users too often. Variety is very important in social ads and that means a large amount of content is required.

With UGC, a large number of videos can be produced by different creators at high speed and at low cost, so that you always ensure a large variety in your ads.

You don’t just need a lot of content to prevent ad fatigue. Even when it comes to scaling an advertising account, i.e. massively increasing the budget, a lot of ads are needed.

The production of UGC Ads is very easily scalable, since you do not need any known influencers, models or large budgets. Instead, the content can be created by anyone who visually fits your audience and enjoys making videos.

In order to still be successful with social ads these days, it is important to strategically test ads and optimize them using data. Which scrollstopper captures the user’s interest the most? Which problem does the target group identify with the most? What benefits should be cited to increase purchases?

In order to implement such tests, many scenes and video variations are required – UGC is also ideal here because it can be created very easily in large quantities.

It is worth trying out UGC ads for your social media ads on Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok and Co. Of course, only a test can show whether user-generated content also works for your target group.

However, it is important that not all of your ads are converted to UGC – a mixture of classic ads and UGC ads is recommended here, as this ensures that the branding for your company is not neglected.