UGC videos are now a common phenomenon in the digital world. They are real, and accessible and create an environment that branded or over-polished content often fails to provide. Therefore, these videos produced by the general public, consumers, or enthusiasts of a given product or brand are very natural.
Consumer-generated content, including UGC videos, plays a crucial role in an effective marketing strategy for eCommerce brands. Leveraging this content through social media platforms, websites, and email can enhance trust and drive sales among target audiences.
This article will discuss UGC video production and editing, how it affects brands, and how businesses can use UGC to improve their marketing strategies.
What is User Generated Content Video?
User-generated content (UGC) refers to content—videos, images, reviews, blogs, etc.—created by people rather than brands. User-generated posts are crucial in building brand authenticity and trust among consumers.
UGC videos, in particular, are video content generated by individuals who voluntarily share their experiences, opinions, and interactions with a product, service, or brand.
These videos can be uploaded to social media platforms, shared on brand websites, or integrated into digital marketing campaigns.
UGC videos are often more relatable than polished, brand-created content, as they come from real people and offer authentic insights.
Whether it’s an unboxing, a testimonial, or a tutorial, UGC videos offer a unique perspective that is hard to replicate through traditional marketing.
Types of User-Generated Video Content
There are several types of user-generated video content that brands can leverage in their marketing strategies:
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Product Reviews: These videos showcase a customer’s honest opinion about a product or service, providing potential customers with valuable insights.
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Unboxing Videos: These popular videos feature customers unboxing and reviewing a product, offering a first-hand look at the packaging and initial impressions.
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Tutorials: Step-by-step instructional videos that show how to use a product or service, helping users get the most out of their purchase.
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Testimonials: Videos where customers share their positive experiences with a brand, adding a personal touch to the brand’s image.
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User-Generated Video Campaigns: These are videos created by customers as part of a larger marketing campaign, often encouraged by the brand through contests or challenges.
Each type of user-generated video content offers unique benefits and can be a valuable addition to a brand’s marketing toolkit.
The Importance of UGC Videos in Marketing
The rise of social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube has changed the way brands approach video content. Leveraging social media channels to promote UGC videos through branded hashtags and contests can drive website traffic and enhance brand visibility. With a shift towards transparency and authenticity, brands are now integrating UGC videos into their marketing strategies to build stronger connections with their audience.
UGC content resonates because it feels more genuine, representing real experiences rather than marketing-driven narratives.
UGC videos benefit brands in several ways:
Authenticity: Since UGC comes from customers themselves, it feels less like an ad and more like a recommendation. Brands should host user-generated content on their websites to enhance credibility and engage visitors quickly.
Trust: People trust their peers more than brands. Seeing real users talk about a product creates a sense of trust.
Engagement: UGC videos tend to be highly engaging, especially when they show real-life experiences with a product.
Cost-effective: Brands don’t have to spend heavily on production. They can rely on their customers to create content.
How to Use UGC Videos in Your Marketing Strategy
UGC videos can be integrated into your marketing strategy in various effective ways:
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Embed UGC Videos on Your Website: Adding UGC videos to your website can increase engagement and conversion rates by providing authentic testimonials and reviews.
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Share UGC Videos on Social Media: Sharing UGC videos on social media platforms can boost brand awareness and reach a wider audience, leveraging the power of social proof.
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Use UGC Videos in Email Marketing: Incorporating UGC videos into email marketing campaigns can enhance click-through rates and conversion rates by showcasing real customer experiences.
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Use UGC Videos in Advertising: UGC videos can be featured in paid advertising campaigns to increase brand awareness and credibility, making the ads feel more genuine and relatable.
By strategically using UGC videos, brands can create a more engaging and trustworthy marketing presence.
UGC Video Production: How It Works
Sourcing Content from Users:
One of the first steps in UGC video production is to encourage customers or users to create content. This can be done through social media challenges, hashtags, or product giveaways where participants are asked to upload a video review or demonstration of the product.
For instance, GoPro built an entire campaign around UGC by encouraging users to share their adventure footage using GoPro cameras. The brand regularly showcases this UGC on its social media platforms, helping to create a community around its products.
Setting Guidelines
While UGC videos are supposed to be authentic, some guidelines should be provided to ensure the content aligns with the brand’s image.
Brands can share best practices for video creation, such as tips on lighting, sound, or showcasing the product prominently.
Legal and Copyright Considerations
When sourcing UGC, brands must be mindful of legal considerations. Obtaining permission from content creators and ensuring the use of their material aligns with copyright laws is crucial.
Platforms like TikTok and Instagram have specific features that allow brands to reach out to creators for permission to use their content.
Promoting UGC Videos
Once brands receive UGC, they can promote it on various social media sites, their own social media platforms, websites, or even ads. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram allow brands to create ad campaigns centered around user-generated videos, amplifying the impact of authentic testimonials and experiences.
UGC Video Editing: Making User Content Shine
Though UGC is celebrated for its authenticity, some editing is often needed to make the video more engaging, professional, and suitable for marketing campaigns.
Curating the Best Clips:
Brands can receive a variety of UGC content, but not all of it may be suitable for use. Professional UGC video editing involves sifting through submissions and curating the best video content created by users.
Clips with good lighting, clear audio, and a focus on the product or service should be selected.
Branding and Consistency
UGC videos need to be consistent with the brand’s overall message and aesthetic. Simple editing techniques such as adding logos, captions, or watermarks can ensure the video feels like part of the brand’s portfolio while still maintaining its user-generated charm.
Highlighting Key Moments
To keep viewers engaged, UGC video editing should focus on highlighting the key moments in the video. Whether it’s an unboxing moment, a transformation using a product, or an emotional reaction, editing can enhance these moments by cutting unnecessary content and maintaining focus.
For example, Apple often uses UGC in their ads but with refined editing to match the brand’s high standards. They include transitions, overlays, and occasionally add background music to enhance the mood while still preserving the authenticity of the original UGC.
Adding Subtitles and Music:
To make UGC videos accessible to a wider audience, brands can add subtitles. This ensures that viewers can follow along even when they’re watching without sound.
Additionally, adding music—particularly royalty-free tracks—can set the tone and make the video more engaging.
Optimizing for Social Media:
Each social media platform has its own specifications for video content. UGC video editing should account for platform requirements such as dimensions, length, and file size across various social media sites.
Vertical videos perform best on platforms like TikTok and Instagram Stories, while square or horizontal formats may be better for Facebook and YouTube.
For example, Nike frequently uses UGC in its campaigns, especially on social media platforms. The brand edits user-submitted videos to fit the platform’s format, whether it’s a short clip for TikTok or a longer video for YouTube.
Examples of Brands Leveraging UGC Videos
Starbucks
#RedCupContest Every holiday season, Starbucks runs a UGC campaign where customers are encouraged to share photos or videos of their Starbucks red holiday cups.
By promoting the hashtag #RedCupContest, Starbucks receives a massive amount of UGC, which they repost on social media to engage with their audience.
This campaign effectively utilizes UGC video production to increase brand visibility during a key sales period.
Lululemon
Community Highlights Lululemon leverages UGC to showcase how their community uses their products. They encourage customers to share workout routines or yoga sessions while wearing Lululemon gear.
Lululemon’s UGC video editing approach focuses on curating and enhancing the best clips to highlight the brand’s community-centered lifestyle.
GoPro
GoPro Awards As mentioned earlier, GoPro’s UGC approach is a benchmark for how brands can leverage user-generated videos. They encourage users to upload action-packed videos taken with GoPro cameras.
The best submissions are featured on GoPro’s social media, and some even win awards. The brand’s UGC video editing includes refining footage to match GoPro’s high-action, adventure-filled brand identity.
Sephora
Tutorials and Reviews
Sephora capitalizes on UGC by encouraging customers to post video reviews or tutorials showcasing the use of beauty products. Integrating a user generated video campaign into their strategy allows them to link engaging videos created by real customers, enhancing the customer experience and maintaining engagement. UGC video production in this case offers a real-world, unfiltered look at how products perform.
Sephora enhances these videos by reposting them with subtle branding and captions that add value to the content.
Best Practices for UGC Videos
To maximize the impact of UGC videos in your marketing strategy, consider these best practices:
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Always Ask for Permission: Before sharing a UGC video, ensure you have the creator’s permission to use their content.
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Give Credit: Acknowledge the creator by tagging them or mentioning their name, which also encourages more users to create content for your brand.
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Be Authentic: Ensure the UGC video is genuine and not scripted or staged, as authenticity is key to building trust.
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Use High-Quality Videos: Select high-quality videos that are well-produced and engaging to maintain a professional image.
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Monitor and Respond: Keep an eye on comments and engage with your audience by responding to questions or concerns, fostering a sense of community.
By following these best practices, you can effectively incorporate UGC videos into your marketing strategy, increasing engagement, building trust, and driving conversions.
UGC Video vs. Traditional Branded Video
Authenticity
UGC Video: Authentic, raw, and relatable content created by customers or fans.
Traditional Branded Video: High-quality, polished content produced by brands.
Production Cost
UGC Video: Low-cost; brands rely on users to create content.
Traditional Branded Video: Expensive, requiring professional production teams and equipment.
Engagement
UGC Video: Often more engaging because it feels like a recommendation from peers.
Traditional Branded Video: Engagement can be lower, as it may feel like an advertisement.
Control
UGC Video: Less control over the content, but offers more authenticity.
Traditional Branded Video: Complete control over messaging, but may feel less authentic.
Conclusion: The Future of UGC Video
It is important for brands that want to connect with their customers to create user generated content videos. As the concept of social proof becomes more relevant and influential, UGC is a cheap and effective way to promote goods and services.
However, sourcing UGC videos is only one aspect of the problem – the second and equally important aspect is the correct UGC video editing that will turn raw footage into content that corresponds to a brand’s message and aesthetics.
Are you ready to leverage UGC videos for your brand?
If you need help with curation, editing, or even the enhancement of the content created by the users to share on social media platforms, then Vidpros is here for you.
Our professional staff works with UGC video content and we can improve your material to be interesting to the audience and remain loyal to the brand.
Hand over your UGC videos to Vidpros to get well-edited videos that are polished enough to look professional but raw enough to convey the message your customers seek!
