What is User-Generated Content (UGC)?
User-Generated Content (UGC) is composed of audience-driven materials associated with a brand, including reviews, photographs, videos, and blog posts. These materials may be submitted through social media platforms or directly on the brand’s webpage. UGC facilitates community engagement, builds authentic trust through real voices, and enhances the brand’s content repository at minimal production costs. Emphasizing UGC strengthens social proof, and UGC can also improve SEO by providing search engines with new and varied content signals. Content moderation ensures brand alignment while having contribution limits guarantees quality.
As an example of UGC, brands can showcase customer selfies labeled with #BrandName, showcase reviews on e-commerce product pages, or invite community members to submit posts in a guest blogger series.
Related terms: social proof, content curation, community engagement, brand advocacy