To be completely honest, User Generated Content is nothing new. Have you ever shared your opinion about a particular brand, service, or product? Then you have already become a user who’s generating content. Even if the only thing that you have done is given a movie 4 stars, you are already on the UGC team. Video user-generated content is a real game-changer. Thanks to Instagram Stories and Snapchat, for example, anyone can easily create content every single day. There is so much great material out there – why not use it as part of your marketing strategy?
Here’s why UGC Rocks
Basically, user-generated content is any content (reviews, images, text, videos, etc.) created by people, rather than brands. Today, a lot of companies have already figured out that it might be much more beneficial to use UGC in their marketing campaigns. Mainly because 84% of millennials say that user-generated content is more trustworthy than other forms of media (including influencer marketing). Moreover, 90% of consumers in the USA cite UGC as more influential to their buying decisions than traditional marketing. Out of all types of user-generated content, video is by far the most influential. No wonder. Video content is more likely to capture your attention and create an emotional response. As a result, website visitors will spend 90% more time on a site with UGC video content.
5 Amazing Examples of User-Generated Videos
1) GoPro: Fabio Wibmer’s Downhill Chase – GoPro of the World November Winner
GoPro is one of the best brands at user-generated content. In a nutshell, the company’s audience enthusiastically took over the brand’s promotion. Cool, right? Practically every person who owns a handheld video camera now wants to capture their adventures and share them with others. At least 6.000 GoPro-tagged videos are uploaded to YouTube…every day. Unlike a lot of other brands, GoPro recognizes the value of UGC. That’s why the brand buys the rights to the best self-shot videos. GoPro Awards is a special project with various challenges. It is another tool that helps the marketing team receive outstanding videos, while the participants get a chance to win incredible prizes.
2) COPA90
COPA90 is a football media business headquartered in London. This distributed media network reaches millions of fans around the globe. Back in 2018, 300 users from different countries had the opportunity to cover the FIFA World Cup. Goosebumps. The company has cultivated a special ‘creator network’ since 2016. It is a network of COPA90 users who are also aspiring content creators. During the FIFA World Cup, the company would use Snapchat to share user-generated content in different languages from across the planet. The sports fans took center stage and showed the tournament from their perspective. The stories were seen by 35 million unique users in the course of 45 days!
3) Tourism Queensland
One day Tourism Queensland tried to think of an idea that would attract more tourists to their island. They didn’t shoot an expensive ad video. Instead…they offered people a job. The Best Job In The World campaign is considered to be one of the most successful tourism campaigns. “Not since Willy Wonka and the golden tickets hidden in chocolate bars has something come along like this” – said the editor of The Sunday Times. The campaign received crazy coverage thanks to not only regular users on the Internet but also such giants as CNN and BBC. Basically, the world’s largest broadcasting corporations can start generating content for you!
4) Ridley Scott
A user-generated documentary produced by Ridley Scott? Sounds insane, but when it comes to UGC, anything can happen! National Geographic once asked people around the world to switch on the camera and record some magnificent (or ordinary) moments of their life. Ridley Scott and Oscar-winning director Kevin MacDonald then took 4500 (!) hours of footage and turned it into a spectacular 95-minute movie “Life in a Day”. A documentary that celebrates the wonders of being alive. Created by YOU.
5) Avakin Life
Avakin Life is a popular game-app where you can ‘live your fantasy’ and customize your unique 3D self with the help of thousands of fashion items. Overall, the global online lifestyle mobile game hosts a total of over 45 million players. You can socialize in various settings, play small games, create your own apartments. Of course, a large focus is set on social exchange with people from around the globe. However, Avakin Life is the quintessence of user generated content. In a lot of ways, the users are generating their own virtual reality. The company behind Avakin Life also uses UGC to create vibrant videos for marketing and advertising. While you’re playing the game, professionals from Performante can snap some shots of your setting and then create a video that will inspire others.
Where Will You Start the Journey?
You don’t need huge budgets to create amazing UGC videos. But you should definitely always be creative and authentic. That’s exactly what users love about this type of content. Just like GoPro, you could start a competition. Another amazing idea: the content could be shot by your employees, for employer branding purposes or other campaigns. All you need to do is catch the beat of this beautifully crazy world and enjoy where it takes you.
