The days of creating one-dimensional digital marketing campaigns are over! Today, the power of marketing success lies in the hands of consumers who purchase from, engage with, and advocate for their favorite brands — making user-generated content king!

User-generated content (UGC) is any form of content that is created and shared by users based on their experiences, opinions, or ideas. Digital platforms, especially social media networks, are hubs of user-generated content such as online reviews, product photos, customer feedback, and more.

If we put on our scientific thinking caps, the success of UGC is proven by the psychological phenomenon known as social proof, which states that people will copy the actions of others in an attempt to gain acceptance in a given situation. You have probably experienced this while scrolling on Instagram and seeing a friend eating at a local restaurant. Next thing you know, you are looking up reservations for the same restaurant, while being subconsciously encouraged by the aspirational dining experience!

Not only does UGC elicit more trust from online users, but it can also offset the limits of small marketing teams by utilizing the diverse and creative content that is already in existence. After all, a billion heads are certainly better than one!
Still not convinced? That’s okay! You can be skeptical. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of mind-blowing statistics that will surely leave you running to include UGC in your digital strategy:

1. This is the most important fact you need to know! 93% percent of the customer believe that UGC can be helpful in making purchase decisions.

2. UGC leads to a sharp increase in engagement! In fact, customers between the ages of 25 and 54 years old are 70% more likely to share content made by fellow customers than content created by the brand itself.

3. For reaching millennial purchasers, UGC has yielded better results than any other type of media. It even outranks video content, which is notoriously successful on social media!

4. Online advertisements featuring UGC have four times higher click-through rates, which are measured by the number of clicks that your ad receives divided by the number of times your ad is shown.

5. Additionally, there has been a 50% dip in the cost-per-click (CPC) rate for online advertisements featuring UGC, meaning your brand could pay less to get customers to your site!

6. Don’t underestimate the “influencer” generation! Videos posted on YouTube by the users get 10 times more views than content put up by a brand.

7. Did you know that customer reviews can also be considered a form of UGC? In fact, about 64% of the customers making online purchases not only rely on the user reviews for their purchase decisions but also actively seek the reviews.

8. About 50% of customers want brands to tell them about the kind of user-generated content they want them to create and share. However, in reality, only 16% of the brands do this!