What is a UGC Creator? And how to Become One in 2023?
Businesses want to reach their target audience quickly and effectively. There are many ways to do so, however, UGC (user-generated content) comes across as the latest way to improve brand image and generate more revenue. People have lost trust in traditional platforms to check user reviews and about the company’s authenticity. Now they trust people who use the product and write reviews in the form of text, video, and audio.
UGC creators are neither professional content creators nor influencers. Since the global landscape is changing fast, people need more authentic reviews from genuine customers. More than 90% of marketers agree that content created by UGC creators or consumers performs better than branded content.
Our web development company will reveal what is UGC creator and how to become one in 2023 and much more in this blog. Scroll down to start the journey.
What Is a UGC Creator?
UGC content creators are product consumers and individuals who actively produce and share content on various online platforms. They are unlike professional content creators who create content as their primary occupation. UGC content creators are often regular customers of a brand, platform, or online community.
They generate content voluntarily and out of genuine interest or experience. Here are the types of content generated by UGC creators:
- Text-based content: Reviews, comments, forum posts
- Visual content: Photos and videos shared on social media platforms
- Product or service feedback: Through ratings, testimonials, and recommendations
- Blogs and articles: Written by people who have a passion for writing and like to write
- Creative contribution: Such as fan art, fan fiction, and remixes related to specific brands and communities.
Many brands and businesses know that UGC content helps to create trust and build authenticity among consumers. So, they feature UGC content creators as brand advocates or ambassadors. Authentic and enthusiastic content generated by these creators builds trust among the brand’s audience.
Here is an intuitive and comprehensive video for you. Watch it and listen to crucial things about UGC.
Examples of UGC Content
UGC content humanizes your brand and shows the human side of the product. People use your brand and show off on social media platforms. People maybe don’t believe brands but they believe customers of the brand.
Have a look at the picture below:
Here are the examples of UGC content and brands that use it:
1) Starbucks: White cup contest
Starbucks invited coffee lovers to the contest #WhiteCupContest to make designs on the white cup. Many people showcased their creativity on the White cups and posted on social media.
The contest generated huge popularity for the brand and increased the organic search for Starbucks. The company offered winners a $300 gift and had their designs printed on the reusable cups of Starbucks.
User-generated product designs spurred the feeling of importance in the hearts of Starbucks consumers.
2) Coca-Cola: Share a Coke Campaign
Share a Coke campaign inspired a great example of User-generated content. The brand wrote some random names on the cokes and told consumers to find bottles or cans with their names and post selfies on social media.
Coca-Cola got more authentic traffic on the site and inspired different companies to do successful marketing with the help of consumers.
3) T-Mobile: Break up Letters
T-Mobile found a creative way to use UGC content to build trust and popularity among the people. This campaign’s initial focus was on why people ditch their current cell phones. A lot of users answered the question and it turned into a ‘Break Up Letters’ campaign. People posted the Break Up Letters on T-Mobile’s social media channels.
You would be startled to know that the campaign received around 113,000 break-up letters, app page reviews increased to 2.7 million, and more than 65 million social media impressions.
These are the pictures and texts that people have posted on their social media handles. Many UGC creators make videos also for product reviews. Videos are influential and affect the choices of customers about products and services.
How to Become a UGC Creator in 2023? Steps
You need a smartphone to become a UGC creator. Well, other things are also required but without a smartphone, they are not helpful.
Becoming a UGC creator in 2023 involves the following steps:
- Identify Your Niche
- Download a Video Editing App
- Choose Your Platforms
- Create High-quality Content
- Consistency Is Key
- Engage with your Audience
- Stay Updated
- Monetize Your Content
Let’s review each step in detail. It will help you resolve your questions and doubts.
- Identify Your Niche:
What do you like to talk about most? Find which field attracts you the most. It is the very first step to becoming a UGC creator. For example, If you like to wear makeup and talk about it, then create videos related to beauty, skincare, and makeup.
Many people love to talk about the places they visit so they post their pics and videos. So, traveling is one of the niches for UGC creators. There is no lack of niches for becoming a UGC content creator.
- Download a Video Editing App:
You need a good video editing app to shoot UGC content. There are different types of photo editing apps in the market with various features to enhance the quality of your pics and videos.
The app should be user-friendly and have features like editing, enhancing videos, trimming, overlays, text, and more.
You can also use a professional camera and lighting. In a nutshell, you just need to create high-quality and effective content for the brands. For this, use what is easily accessible.
Also Read: How much does it cost to build video editing apps like Magisto?
- Use a Cloud Based Video Editor
To elevate your UGC content creation, consider using an online video editor. These platforms offer seamless access to editing features, including overlays, text options, and various templates, right from your browser.
With no need for heavy software downloads, you can efficiently edit, trim, and enhance your videos, ensuring your content stands out. Opt for an editor that’s user-friendly and complements your existing setup for the best results.
- Choose Your Platforms:
Choose the platform where you want to upload the UGC content. Choose the social media platform where you find a target audience. Popular options for platforms are TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Blogs. Find, on which platform you get more engagement. Platform choice affects the type of content and helps you decide to create what resonates best with the audience.
- Create High-quality Content:
Visually appealing and valuable content has the power to attract more audience than poor content. To create high-quality content you should learn the basics of video and photo editing. And invest in good equipment like Camera and Microphone.
Clear and compelling content will engage more people to your UGC content and brands will pay you more for the same.
- Consistency Is Key:
Posting one UGC content will not help you much. Create content and upload it at fixed times. Create a schedule and stick to it. Be consistent as it helps your followers engage and passionately wait for your next content.
You can take the help of some tools to automate your work and be consistent in posting reviews, videos, and images. Regular posts help your audience to get regular feeds that help them to make decisions about the products.
- Engage with Your Audience:
Create content that helps the audience to find out about the product’s quality. Share your personal experience with the product or service and talk about how you felt before and after using it.
Talk to your audience and find their interest as well. It will help in your next video and make it more engaging. When your audiences don’t resonate with your UGC, you can’t get more followers.
- Stay Updated:
Around 90% of consumers believe that authenticity is crucial while buying any service or product from a brand (Stackla) If you create UGC content based on the latest trends, you have chosen to go the extra mile than the other creators.
Find, what type of content people share these days. This little analysis would help you stay updated. Also, go through some trustworthy news channels.
- Monetize Your Content
As your followers grow, look for monetization options like affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, or selling merchandise. If you think the popular social media platforms are already occupied with some influencers, use Threads It’s a new platform where you can grow your audience from scratch.
Benefits of Using UGC Creators
Explore the benefits of opting for UGC content creators for your brand or business.
- UGC content boosts engagement because real customers create it. UGC content shows that people used the product and had a good experience. It doesn’t seem fake.
- Since real customers create UGC, the content builds trust and authenticity. When people see content from their peers, they are more likely to trust the review and buy the product.
- UGC provides social proof of the good or bad services and products of the company. You can show the proof to others and help them make the correct buying findings.
- It encourages interaction through reviews, testimonials, user photos, and prompts.
- UGC content provides a wide variety of content. It is not boring and always shows something different and the latest.
- Customers tell their stories in UGC content and it shows the user’s perspective, making the storytelling more relatable and engaging.
- Businesses can identify problems where they need revamping by seeing the reactions and replies on the UGC content.
Which Are the Valuable Tools for UGC Creators?
Creators have to take the help of some tools for the smooth creation and process of UGC content. I have categorized the tools in the space below.
1) Research Tool:
This tool helps UGC creators gather information about the trends in the industry, target audience, and competitor strategies. This way, you can find some topics, keywords, and content formats to tailor UGC.
2) Rights Management Tool:
This type of tool helps to get permission and license to use other UGC content. It ensures legal compliance and prevents copyright issues when sharing content
3) Shoppable UGC Gallary:
Brands can showcase user-generated content that features their products from shoppable UGC galleries. This software makes it easy to showcase products so that customers can discover and purchase products directly from UGC posts.
4) Software for Aggregation and Analytics:
This software analyses UGC from different sources such as social media, reviews, and forums. It provides valuable insights into the user’s sentiments, engagement metrics, and performance of different pieces of content.
5) UGC Contest Software:
Brands can control events and campaigns that boost users to create and share their work. It helps UGC content creators to refine their strategies.
6) Review Generation And Display Tool:
As the name implies, this tool helps to collect customer reviews and testimonials. These tools often include features to display reviews prominently on websites, enhancing trust and credibility.
Steps to Find UGC Creators for Your Brand
The traditional way of marketing and connecting with customers is obsolete now. UGC content creation is a new way of marketing. It has the potential to create trust and authenticity in the brand.
1) Find Directly on Social Media:
Search for the popular hashtags and keywords on the social media platforms. For example, you search for ‘UGC creator skincare’ now you have the results of people who are UGC creators. Many creators add ‘UGC creators’ in their bio, so that brands can find them easily when they appear on search results.
Brands can search like:
UGC creator+Industry
2) Launch UGC campaigns:
Begin a hashtag and online contest to attract UGC creators. Clarify your goals before you kick off the campaign, leading to more valuable content creators. It helps to grow brand awareness, make community, and accelerate sales.
Provide comprehensive guidelines to UGC creators so that they keep your brand’s objectives while creating the content. Campaigns will raise a loud voice about your brands that a lot of creators can hear. If they resonate with your brand, they will connect with you.
3) Ask Your Customers for UGC:
Asking your customers for UGC helps to get genuine reviews and feedback about the product. Send an email to customers after they make a purchase from your website and ask them to create UGC content for the same product.
Tell them what kind of content you want to build the trust of the brand. Your customers are the true UGC creators. So, approach them with an engaging email and ask them to create a UGC video or write reviews.
4) Leverage Influencer Search Tool:
The influencer search tool also helps to find UGC creators. You can connect with creators in a short time and with less effort with the help of the search tool. Check out the list of influencers’ tools below.
5) Engage with Existing UGC:
Interact with users who have created content related to your brand. Engage with their posts, show appreciation, and express interest in collaboration. You can easily find the existing UGC and also ask them to create content about other products as well.
What Is the Difference Between UGC Creators and Influencers?
You must be thinking, then who are the influencers? Are influencers the same as UGC creators? Hold the horses.
UGC creators are different from influencers.
Let’s understand the difference between UGC and influencer better in the space below.
Characteristics of UGC creators:
- They are everyday customers of the product and reflect real experience with the product
- UGC creators create content voluntarily because they genuinely like the brand
- Brands have less control over the content created by UGC creators.
- UGC is a highly credible way to boost a brand’s image as real customers create it.
Characteristics of Influencers:
- Influencers are individuals who have intentionally built their online presence.
- They collaborate with brands for financial compensation or product partnerships. Their content creation is a part of their profession.
- They usually have larger and more diverse following across multiple social media platforms
- Brands have more control over content created by influencers
Conclusion
The landscape of digital marketing is evolving. Businesses want to collaborate with creators to build trust and authenticity about their products and services. The role of UGC creators has become more influential than ever before.
If you also want to become one follow the steps mentioned in the blog and leverage tools for fast and effective results. Besides that, if you want to hire experienced developers for your app or website, Technource helps you with the same.
How do UGC creators make money? How much do UGC creators make? How to find UGC creators? How to find brands to work with? How to create a UGC creator portfolio? What should you charge as a UGC creator?
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