User-generated content (UGC) is any text or media that customers publish about your products, completely on their own terms.
Because UGC comes from real buyers, it’s more persuasive to shoppers than ads. Bazaarvoice’s 2025 Shopper Experience Index reports that shoppers who engage with UGC reviews convert 144% more often and generate 162% higher revenue per visitor.
Google is even testing UGC Shopping carousels that pull review photos into product image galleries, giving it prime real estate on SERPs.
Given that, it’s clear that showcasing peer voices should be part of your marketing strategy. Ahead, you’ll learn how to collect and show UGC for your brand, with eight examples of companies doing it right.
What is user-generated content?
User-generated content (UGC) is any text, photo, video, or audio clip a real customer creates about a brand without any guidance. It can also include employees who post content about their workday on social media platforms like LinkedIn.
Some examples of UGC are:
- An unboxing video on TikTok
- A five-star review on your product page
- An #OOTD Instagram Story that tags a product drop
- A livestream try-on
- Long-form Reddit reviews
And the format keeps widening.
Shoppers trust their peers. A 2024 consumer research report found that some 40% of shoppers say that user-generated content (UGC) is “extremely” or “very” important when making a purchase decision.
Deloitte’s 2025 Digital Media Trends survey also found that Gen Z now spends about 50 minutes more per day on short-form social video and UGC than the average US viewer, and 52% say this creator-led content feels more relevant than studio or TV programming. These shoppers are seeking out content creators whose experiences mirror their own.
Organic vs. paid UGC
Organic UGC gives your brand credibility. Unlike traditional influencer marketing, it feels spontaneous and unscripted.
Paid UGC is good for on-demand creative content where a brand briefs a UGC creator to film specific clips.
Let’s look at some key differences between the two.
| Organic UGC | Paid UGC | |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Voluntary posts, ratings, and digital community spaces | Commissioned content created to a brief |
| Rights | The brand must get permission from the creator or rely on platform embeds. | Usage rights are negotiated upfront; often perpetual digital |
| Control | Low, but it’s authentic | Control over messaging, style, and timelines |
| Cost | No direct payment | Between $150 and $200+ for a 30-second video |
| When to use | Social proof, discovery, community building | Product demos, ad creatives |
When you need guaranteed assets for campaigns or marketplace listings, paid UGC cuts the time it can take to surface good organic pieces, and lets you script hooks or problem/solution storylines. It gives you scalable content creation without an in-house studio.
Because pricing is still all over the place, anchor budgets to the 2025 median while adding 25% for extended usage rights or multi-platform bundles.
Why UGC matters in 2025
Shoppers still trust online reviews. Although at lower levels than the pandemic, BrightLocal reports that around 42% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. The reviews they do trust are detailed, visual, and voiced by humans.
Latest consumer-trust statistics
1World Sync’s 2024 benchmark report found that 88% of consumers actively seek out reviews before buying something, and 67% say ratings, reviews, and customer-submitted photos or videos have persuaded them to make a purchase they weren’t initially planning.
As mentioned above, more folks are spending time with UGC, and multiple studies show they are purchasing directly from creator recommendations.
Text-only reviews are becoming less effective, and brands need to elevate the quality and transparency of UGC with video. Marketers who ignore creator-style storytelling risk missing the next generation of spenders.
UGC’s impact on conversion
Power Reviews found that 9 in 10 consumers are more likely to buy a product that has photo and video reviews.
In an analysis of 1,200 websites in 2022, Statista reports that the average conversion rate with just UGC present on a product page was around 3.2%. That rate jumped when users engaged with the UGC, giving a 102% conversion lift.
It’s clear that in 2025, shoppers let peer content, and not just brand copy, close the sale. Treat UGC as a trust signal and budget for it accordingly.
Eight examples of UGC done right
Pura Vida: Build a community with hashtag-led campaigns to drive visibility
Hashtag-led campaigns are a valuable way for customers to find and follow their favorite brands, and stay part of a trend or conversation. Hashtags are everywhere on social media: Twitter, Instagram, and of course, TikTok.
Hashtag-led campaigns are a fun and inclusive way to:
- Increase brand awareness
- Drive engagement
- Promote products in an authentic, buyer-focused way
Brands can engage fans by creating their own hashtag and incentivizing customers to use it. Consider how your customers feel about your brand and encourage them to create content that shares it.
The jewelry brand Pura Vida inspired customers to create UGC by including a hashtag along with a discount code in their post-purchase emails. The brand used the hashtag#puravidabracelets to help keep buyers connected to the brand after they bought products. Customers who used the hashtag could be featured on the brand’s social media account. Other shoppers could search the hashtag and find a community of fellow brand fans. The hashtag was shared with a discount code for a future sale, which is great for customer retention.
Cupshe: Allow customer feedback on product pages with photo reviews
Today, many ecommerce customers expect to see feedback and reviews on products before they buy. Beyond words, product photos by customers provide real value for your buyers. Not only do they establish trust and credibility, UGC photos can:
- Make for a stickier experience: After seeing a few product pages with customer photo reviews, potential buyers may want to stick around to peruse the website for more.
- Let buyers see the product IRL: Models are one thing, but seeing a piece of clothing on someone in their day-to-day life helps a buyer visualize what it may look like on them.
- Establish strong social proof: Seeing other people own what you want to buy creates a stronger need to purchase it.
Swimsuit brand Cupshe successfully leverages customer feedback on product pages with photos reviews. While the product page for their bestselling black cut-out one-piece swimsuit features all of the information buyers need at the top of the page, customer reviews and images show shoppers how the suit fits on different body types.
Here, UGC builds trust with potential buyers, and it also encourages community by letting customers share their honest opinions and photos of their purchases with one another.
Province Apothecary: Use social media for sharing consumer-focused campaigns
One of the ways brands can incorporate UGC into their strategy is by sharing how consumers use their products through targeted or ongoing campaigns. It’s a cost-effective way to produce content for your social media without the help of an agency or multi-person team. By sourcing posts from hashtags, tagging, or a concentrated campaign strategy for your audience, you can share real-time, authentic, and organic social posts to a wider network.
Canadian beauty brand Province Apothecary consistently incorporates customers into their social media posts. The brand shares Instagram posts dedicated to what they call “PA on You,” reposting videos and photos of customers using their products.
Two Blind Brothers: Campaigns that partner with charities and nonprofits
Using UGC for revenue alone is not the only approach. Customers want to buy from brands that have similar values, prioritize authenticity and transparency, and engage with the world in meaningful ways.
Share the charities, causes, or nonprofits that matter most to you through UGC campaigns that partner with specific organizations or raise funds for donation.
Apparel brand Two Blind Brothers has built a following through sharing buyers’ reactions to their Shop Blind challenge, in which customers purchase items without knowing what they are. The proceeds of the program go to a variety of charities and research organizations dedicated to finding a cure for blindness.
Customers are encouraged to share videos of unboxing their surprise orders for a chance to be featured on the brand’s YouTube or Instagram accounts.
The brand’s cofounders have Stargardt disease, which causes loss of sight through macular degeneration in the eye. These UGC posts, re-shared or co-shared, promote both the brand’s products and the cause they support.
Vanity Planet: Involve consumers in product concepts and ideas
Product development is a way to engage with customers and incorporate UGC. You can get precise and valuable input from customers by doing focus groups, but it’s hard to scale over time and across customer segments, product categories, and different markets.
On social media, you get constant, large-scale feedback. Customer reviews are a great source for comments to help you determine what your audience likes and doesn't like about your products and brand. Opinions shared by buyers though videos, photos, and reviews can ensure you’re creating the products your audience needs.
Vanity Planet turned product pages into a dynamic community. They made it much more powerful for first-time visitors to feel confident in the brand. They let customers’ voices champion and evangelize their products, because customers also had a hand in developing them. This feedback loop of reviews and real-time insights from buyers has helped Vanity Planet develop products that people actually want to purchase.
Maude: Honest testimonials from consumers
Customer reviews and testimonials are important UGC examples. Potential buyers often rely on the advice of friends and family, and strangers, too.
This content marries loyalty and retention together because your buyer is trying the product, reviewing it, and advocating for continued use. A customer who’s specific about what the product does for them can resonate with your target buying audience.
Sexual wellness brandMaude includes customer reviews on their product pages and uses them on social posts to help promote products.
It’s important for this brand to set itself apart because it falls into the often crowded industries of beauty, wellness, and sex. Customers need to trust intimate products, and these testimonials help them understand the nuances before testing the products out themselves.
Beefcake Swimwear
Beefcake Swimwear is a great example of how simple a UGC post can be. Notice how the image wasn’t produced by an expert team, it’s a picture that @angieevansbutch posted of themselves wearing a Beefcake suit. It comes from a genuine buyer and acts as a first-hand endorsement, not an advertisement.
The post also displays the swimsuit on a body type the brand wants to celebrate. Beefcake markets gender-neutral, size-inclusive swimwear. Reposting a happy customer in a natural setting emphasizes that mission and shows prospects, “This brand really fits people like me.”
Glossier: Collaborate with influencers in your industry
Glossier worked with influencer Nam Vo to promote the beauty brand’s Futuredew Solid and Futuredew Serum. The video was filmed and captioned in Nam Vo’s own style, not Glossier’s, so it carries her trademark authenticity and credibility. Her community already trusts her skincare advice, which transfers to Glossier in the post.
Viewers watch as Nam Vo swipes Futuredew Solid across her cheekbones and instantly see the glossy payoff. Showing the texture, finish, and application is one of the strengths of UGC. Viewers can picture themselves doing the same and getting advice from a friend.
How to collect and showcase UGC content
User-generated content is a great way to remove friction from the buying process. Whether it’s encouraging a click in your marketing email, or answering last minute questions on a PDP, UGC can help you close the sale.
But how do you collect that sweet UGC? Below are the most effective collection tools, and tips on where to place UGC on your site.
Recommended apps
Here are some of the best Shopify apps for collecting and showcasing UGC:
- Loox: This appautomates review capture with branded post-purchase emails and an in-page form that accepts photos and videos. Get fast-loading, customizable widgets (carousels, popups, badges) that inherit your Shopify theme’s style. Loox also syndicates reviews to the Shop App, Google Shopping, and social channels. Pricing starts at $12.99 per month.
- Foursixty: Pull any Instagram or TikTok post (including Reels) into responsive galleries on your homepage, PDPs, dedicated inspiration pages, and the Shop App. Spin up individual “creator shops” that showcase an ambassador’s own feed, tagged products, and trackable sales, turning brand advocates into revenue channels. Pricing starts at $90 per month with a 14-day free trial.
- Yotpo: With a 4.8-star average across 4,900 reviews, Yotpo autorequests text, photo, and video reviews after each order, then surfaces the best snippets with Smart Filters and AI review summaries. Use the free tier for up to 50 monthly orders. Unlock photos/videos, Google Shopping, seller ratings, and 24/7 support from $15/month, with Pro plans adding AI, custom questions, and premium analytics.
Placement tips
Once you collect UGC, you have to show it off so customers will see it.
- Above-the-fold gallery: Baymard’s 2025 UX benchmark found that only 49% of leading sites achieve good PDP UX. There’s big upside for businesses that show star ratings and reviews before the first scroll. Track metrics like click-through rate and dwell time to verify the uplift.
- Tap-to-expand media: Let shoppers zoom or swipe videos and images to get an up-close view of people using your products.
- UGC tabs vs. full-width sections: Avoid displaying reviews in horizontal tabs on the product page. Baymard found this is the worst-performing layout and navigation pattern across various industries and product types.
- Social-style galleries in emails: Foursixty lets you embed a shoppable UGC strip that encourages recipients to post their photos. Cross-post top performers on your own social media channels for extra reach—and hopefully sales.
Legal and ethical UGC checkpoints
Using customer photos or creator clips without a rights and privacy plan can expose you to copyright suits. Treat the checkpoints below as a compliance list for every UGC campaign.
Permission and attribution
Get explicit permission before reposting
A photographer’s 2025 Supreme Court petition (McGucken v. thetravel.com) asks the Court to rule that merely embedding an Instagram image without permission is still infringement. The case highlights the legal gray zone that has persisted since mixed 9th and 2nd Circuit rulings.
💡 Takeaway: No permission on file? Don’t repost. Either embed only with a clear creator tag and written permission, or skip that asset until rights are secured.
Disclose incentives on paid UGC
The FTC’s Revised Endorsement Guides clarify that disclosures must be “clear, unambiguous, and understandable to the ordinary reader.” Small hashtags or buried text no longer suffice. Brands are liable if a creator’s post hides or omits the incentive.
💡 Takeaway: Make sure creators posting paid UGC place a disclosure on any images or videos.
Credit the creator
Add a clickable @handle in the caption or widget and, where possible, link to the original post.
GDPR/CCPA considerations
UGC is considered personal data in Europe under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Article 6. That’s because UGC can contain information identifying the individual, such as images, personal information, or location data. Individuals also have the right to erasure, which means you must be able to locate and remove their content quickly if asked.
The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) gives consumers the right to delete personal information collected from them. If asked to take down UGC, you have 45 days to do so before getting fined.
The buyer’s journey doesn’t end when the customer checks out
It’s important to look at retention as another stage in the customer journey—or even better, another funnel where you can engage your community of buyers with UGC to help them become brand ambassadors, which helps increase sales. Sending the right message at the right time to your customers can generate additional sales.
Incorporating UGC into your other retention tools, such as coupons and upselling, makes it easier to connect with hard-earned customers and to bring them back to shop on your site. With the right UGC strategy, you can improve customer engagement and boost sales among your current community of customers—and increase new customer acquisitions.
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UGC examples FAQ
What are some examples of brands that use UGC?
Some brands that use user-generated content include Kylie Cosmetics (reposts of customer tutorial videos on Instagram Stories), Two Blind Brothers (campaign- and nonprofit-related content on social media), maude (customer testimonials), and Province Apothecary (sharing customers’ content for “PA on You” campaign).
What are some types of UGC feedback?
UGC feedback types include reviews and testimonials. These can be written, photos, video, or audio.
What counts as UGC?
UGC includes photos, videos, testimonials, and podcasts made by shoppers about the brand and their products.
What are some UGC niches?
Specific types of products, groups, or buyers that may or may not have a large audience. This can include beauty product buyers, specific “core” trends on TikTok, and more.
What are the three types of ecommerce?
The three types of ecommerce are: business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), and consumer-to-consumer (C2C).
