Advertising Best Practices for User Generated Content (UGC)

My best practices for creating user-generated content are all about not just grabbing viewers' attention, but creating emotional bonds with the audience, building trust, and making your brand stand out in a way that will ultimately drive adoption.

The Big 3

These are the most important aspects to highlight:

1. The First Few Seconds: The first few seconds matter more than anything. You need something that will immediately capture the attention of someone quickly scrolling their feed and also clearly give your Elevator Pitch (or the shortest what and why possible). Also consider calling out the target audience during this period with a question. Example: while showing a visual of amazing Lego creations (attention capture), the UGC creator could say “Parents [Audience], tired of trying to find new Lego boxes for your kids each month [Question/Pain Point]? This Lego subscription box will… [What/Why]”

2. Authenticity is Key: Make sure the video feels authentic. Consumers are good at figuring out what’s not authentic and when you create a UGC piece that feels inauthentic, it actually does more harm than good.

3. Cover The Important Bits: You can’t imagine how many times people walk away from UGC content with more questions than answers. Ensure you are covering who this is for, what it is, why someone should care, how it works, and when applicable, the when and where details of the offer.

10 Additional Points to Consider

Here are some quick hitting tips to put extra polish on your UGC content:

1. Keep It Short & Clear: Ensure UGC is concise for easy understanding. You don’t need more than 60 seconds and rarely that.
2. Collabs: When possible, have creators set up an official ad collab so you can run ads from their account as well.
3. Connect Emotionally: Create feelings (humor, empathy, etc.) from the start.
4. Quality Images / Visual Appeal: Use striking visuals to capture your audience.
5. Humor / Entertainment: Start with humor, if suitable for your brand.
6. Empathy & Relatability: Connect by understanding viewers' experiences.
7. User Recommendations / Positive Feedback: Include real customer feedback for credibility
8. Narrative Start / Storytelling: Begin with, or include, a compelling story.
9. Boost with Captions & Effects: Use captions, emojis, and visuals to increase engagement.
10. Trend Tracking: Stay updated on trends and leverage TikTok’s Creative Center for insights.

Excited to dive in?

Here are some of my favorite angles to inspire your next UGC creation:

• Problem / Solution: Showcase how your product or service solves a real-life problem, providing an effective solution.
• Tutorial / How-To: Guide viewers through step-by-step instructions on using your product or achieving specific results.
• Bring Website to Life: Bring online shopping experiences to reality by demonstrating the process from browsing to product arrival.
• Before & After Transformation: Display the transformation or improvements achieved with your product or service.
• Unboxing & First Impressions: Share the excitement of unboxing and initial reactions to your product.
• Behind-the-Scenes (BTS): Offer a glimpse into your company's operations or production processes.
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Answer common customer questions and provide solutions.
• Product Showcase: Highlight the features, benefits, and versatility of your product or service.
• Product Comparisons: Compare your product with competitors, emphasizing its advantages.
• Customer Success Stories: Share testimonials of customers who have achieved significant results with your product or service.

Here are a couple examples to help get you started:

• Ridge #1
• Ridge #2
• Obvi
• Sour Patch Kids
• Jones Road Beauty

Step-by-Step Guide

If you want to really nail your next UGC video, let me show you a real world example of prompts I provided one of my clients that recently released a new book:

Intro:

• Show the book, announce you are releasing a new book

Power Hook:

• Who is it for
• What made you decide to write it / the problem
• Why its so important for people and what is solves for them

Go Deeper / Make it Easy:

• How does the book work (how you made it easy)
• When is the right time to get the book for me (place in career, etc.)
• Storytelling / proof it works (i.e. example of someone who followed the teachings)

Call to Action

• Where / How/ When they can get it
• Bonuses
• Hard sell

Follow these best practices and you’ll be well on your way to creating emotional bonds with your audience, building trust, and making your brand stand out in a way that will drive adoption.