User-generated content (UGC): The key to brand growth in 2025
How did a cosmetic brand redefine the beauty industry, raking in $602.4 million globally?
For Fenty Beauty, the answer goes beyond inclusivity in its product range, the influence of Rihanna's fame, its partnership with Sephora, and its top-notch marketing strategies.
It's the power of user-generated content: social media content created by product users featured on Fenty's Instagram page.
If you check out Fenty's Instagram page, aside from pictures and videos of their paid models and Rihanna, there are tons of videos of customers who have bought their products, used them, and decided to share their thoughts with the rest of the world.
This is a low-cost form of advertising, as these videos are referrals, helping the brand share with its audience that Fenty products are not only for the famous and glamorous: regular people can use them too.
Customers who use the products tell friends, family, and the brand's audience, “I have used this product. I have no regrets. I highly recommend it!”
As a marketer, this article will help you understand the importance of UGC, why it shouldn't be overlooked, and ways to incorporate it into your marketing strategies.
Table of content
Why is user-generated content important?
UGC refers to word-of-mouth marketing. It involves everyday users of a product creating specific content (images, reviews, videos) tailored to share their experiences and opinions of a brand's product on social media.
UGC isn't just for beauty brands. Even B2B marketers are catching on, as it presents an opportunity for their target audience to engage with their product through the lens of ordinary people like them.
It builds trust, which in turn sprouts engagement and future purchases.
Consider Ashley Nolivo’s post:
Source: LinkedIn
In the post above, Ashley points out how simple, unpolished moments—like a Loom clip or a Slack moment—can be powerful forms of UGC in the B2B world.
It's a reminder that UGC isn't restricted to one industry. It thrives on real people sharing real value, and that kind of content converts in any industry.
Benefits of UGC
Brands that lean heavily on user-generated content do so for the following reasons:
1. Builds trust with customers
Often, when customers want to buy a product, they go in search of reviews. They want to know what others have to say about the product.
Is the product good?
What's the brand's customer service like?
How long does it take to deliver?
Is it worth the price?
In their search for these answers, who do you think they would want to listen to? Ordinary people like them or paid influencers and models?
UGC builds trust as your audience will relate more to the guy next door than a salesman who just showed up at their front door.
Sheraz Ali, Founder of HARO Links Builder, weighs in on the importance of UGC:
“In my experience, UGC drives a trust cycle. For a customer of an online store, we ran a campaign that encouraged customers to share photos of themselves using their products.
These user-generated photos converted 40% more than professional product photography in A/B conversion tests. Why? It was clear: potential buyers trusted actual users more than clever marketing copy. This campaign drove a 23% boost in first-time buying and a strong spike in social sharing.”
For Scott Clary, Founder of the Success Story Podcast, UGC is key because of a growing demand for transparency.
“Consumers are increasingly demanding transparency from brands. They want to know who's behind the logo, what the company stands for, and how products are made. UGC helps to answer these questions and build trust”, he adds.
2. Cost-effective marketing
One reason your brand should jump on the UGC bandwagon is that it doesn’t incur any form of expense. You don’t need to create a budget for it. On the other hand, UGC generates money as it establishes your brand as the go-to person in its industry.
Companies don’t pay user-generated creators. Customers share reviews willingly when they’re pleased with a product or service. So instead of partnering with multiple influencers and creating a marketing campaign, just leverage UGC.
Take GoPro, for example. It's a camera manufacturer known for its compact, durable, and waterproof designs. When it comes to online marketing, GoPro spends very little because their customers essentially do the work for them, and they enjoy it.
The company encourages users to share photos of their memorable travel moments and tag them, filling up its social media with fresh content without spending a dime.
3. Social proof in action
Picture this: Anna, a plus-sized woman, is scouring the internet for the perfect Valentine’s date night dress. She lands on a page showcasing exquisite dresses for women. As she scrolls, she sees both slim and plus-sized models wearing the dresses, but she remains unimpressed.
Continuing to scroll, Anna discovers a video featuring a plus-sized woman in a stunning red sequin dress. This woman shares how she, too, searched for a brand that offers beautiful dresses for plus-sized women until she found this one.
In the video, the woman tries on the red dress, which fits her perfectly. She accessorizes the outfit, heads out on her date, and takes amazing pictures. Inspired by this, Anna feels confident and orders on the brand’s website.
The above scenario is social proof in the form of user-generated content. Potential customers will look at existing customers' actions and behavior before making a purchasing decision.
4. Boosts customer engagement
One survey of 1,200 e-commerce solutions running UGC shows a 3.2% conversion rate. When visitors scrolled and engaged with UGC content, the conversion rate increased by an average of 3.8%.
James Wilkinson, the Co-founder of Balance One Supplements, experienced firsthand the impact of UGC on customer engagement. He shares:
“Beyond visibility, UGC also promotes a deeper level of engagement and trust in the community. When we showcase customer stories in our email campaigns or reshare user testimonials on Instagram, engagement spikes—our latest UGC campaign achieved a 22% higher open rate and 3x more shares than our promotional content.
We’ve also seen curated shoppers who interact with UGC (liking, commenting, submitting their own) have 35% higher lifetime value than non-interactors.”
5. Encourages creativity and diverse content
UGC content creators have a truckload of content ideas to help promote your brand. Since they are unpaid and don’t have to follow a script, they are at liberty to create raw and relatable content. These include:
Unboxing videos
How-to tutorials
Before and after transformation
Lifestyle integration (a day in my life)
All of these create a sense of inclusivity as your followers get to see common folks like them use your product.
UGC vs. influencer marketing: What's the difference?
UGC and influencer marketing are often confused and used interchangeably, but they are not the same.
Since influencers are paid, their content comes off as an ad. UGC, on the other hand, are created by users with no financial obligation to make the brand and its product perfect, making it seem far more trustworthy.
How to leverage UGC to boost sales
If you have gotten to this part of the article, you already know that UGC is your brand's best bet in 2025. A brand that has earned the trust of many is usually top of mind. Your question now should be, how to include UGC in your strategy.
Below are five ways to tap into user-generated content:
1. Create a branded hashtag
After launching a new product, one of the ways to get eyes on it is to encourage consumers to create content around it while using a branded hashtag.
Let's say you launched a new skincare kit. You can ask your customers to use your branded hashtag when uploading any content about your kit.
That way people can easily be redirected back to your social media pages through your tag.
Your audience can also find other UGC content about your product through that tag. An example: go on Instagram and type #fentybeauty, and you will get swamped with different content.
Source: Fenty Beauty
Kai Collective, a London-based clothing brand, also has a haul of UGC that you can access through their hashtags.
If you are looking to get one of their pieces and need social proof on Instagram, just type in #kaicollective, and you’ll find enough social proof to allay your doubts.
2. Host contests and giveaways
Remember that skincare kit you just launched? You can encourage user-generated content by doing giveaways and contests.
Your CTA could be: “Create a video, telling us your favorite product from the kit, and stand a chance to win a one-year free supply of that product.”
3. Feature customer reviews
98% of shoppers are more likely to consult customer reviews before purchasing a particular product. People will buy from you if others have something nice to say about your product.
So when customers buy from you, ask for reviews. It can come in any form: images, videos, google reviews, or social media messages. While some will do it without being asked, others need a polite nudge.
For instance, the Google review below not only builds trust but also encourages others to make their purchase decision based on the positive experience this customer shares.
A customer review on Google
4. Start a challenge
You can start a challenge on TikTok. The platform currently has 1.04 billion active users worldwide. Imagine just 1% of this number viewing a TikTok challenge you created. Amazing, right?
Don’t just post your branded hashtag and contest/ giveaway content on TikTok. Actively encourage people to participate and tag your brand.
Another great example is GoPro. The company also nudges customers to snap photos of all the things they love doing, upload their favorites, and submit them for a chance to win the GoPro Award.
Some of the other fun challenges they run include:
GoProSnow Challenge
GoPro Line of the Winter
GoPro Grom Quest
Photo of the Day Challenge
Anything Awesome Challenge
Source: GoPro
5. Highlight UGC on social media page and website
Your goal with UGC should be to bring in sales through redirects to your social media page or website.
Now, imagine someone getting there and not finding the trending video that brought them there in the first place. The trust will diminish, and they will leave. It could seem like you don’t acknowledge the efforts of the creators.
So feature UGC across all your platforms. For Instagram, you can create a highlight dedicated to it or pin some on your page. On your website, you can have a page solely for UGC content.
Final thoughts
It's 2025, and the brands that are thriving are the ones that truly understand the game.
They know that trust is key, and they’ve built brands that fit effortlessly into the daily lives of their users. A big part of that success comes from leveraging user-generated content.
To succeed, be the brand that answers your customers’ questions and eases their doubts. And the perfect tool to do this is using UGC to show them that regular people like them already love your product.
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