What are UGC Creatives? + 8 Popular Types with Examples
User-generated content (UGC) is any video, photo, or text shared by real people about a product.
Think of product reviews, testimonials, and customers’ social media posts featuring products or brand hashtags.
Surprisingly, using UGC creatives in ads can work better than big-budget commercials — and cost much less.
Read on to learn more about:
- Overview
- Why users prefer UGC creatives
- How AI improves UGC content
- Top platforms for UGC ads
- 8 popular types of UGC creatives
- UGC creative trends to watch
- A tool to improve your UGC ads
What are UGC Creatives?
UGC creatives are created by customers of a brand or product. These aren’t polished ads, but organic content shared by everyday users.
When you scroll through Amazon reviews and see customer-uploaded images or videos, that’s an example of UGC. Or if you’re on IG and come across someone raving about their new running shoes in a casual, unsponsored way, that’s also UGC.
While UGC creatives are usually unpaid, brands often reuse them for marketing. Once added to ad campaigns, they become UGC ad creatives — blending authenticity with strategy.
Unlike purely organic UGC, these ads involve paid collaborations with creators who follow a script or shot list.
Even though these UGC ads aren’t organic, brands usually choose genuine fans of their products to keep the content engaging and relatable. That’s why they perform better than traditional ads.
Why Do Users Prefer UGC Ads?
Unlike scripted commercials, UGC ads show people like yourself using products in real-world settings — making them more trustworthy and relatable. Those are a couple of reasons why 91% of marketers say UGC works better than traditional ads.
Here’s why users prefer them:
- More helpful: You can learn more about the product by watching a real person use it and share what they think. These types of endorsements reassure potential buyers that they’re not getting a dud product. That’s why studies show that 86% of consumers prefer brands that feature real customer experiences, which can lead to higher click-through rates.
- More trustworthy: When UGC ads are done well, they sound like a recommendation from a friend. Studies show that 88% of consumers trust peer recommendations the most when making purchases.
- More community: Brands that embrace customer content aren’t just marketing their products — they’re building a group of people who share an interest. This can create a sense of belonging, according to Forbes. Think about the sneakerheads scrolling through TikTok, seeing all their friends with the new Jordans — that’s tough marketing to beat even for Michael Jordan.
When your team creates high-quality UGC ads, you’ll improve engagement, build trust, and create a lasting connection with your audience.
How Does AI Improve UGC Ads?
AI-powered tools make UGC ads more effective and scalable. You can optimize content creation and improve targeting with the help of those powerful algorithms. Here’s how:
Data-Driven Insights and Optimizations
AI analytics tools help brands understand what’s working in their UGC campaigns by tracking engagement, sentiment, and conversion rates.
For example, if you’re running Google Ads, Google Performance Max will A/B test your ads and identify the top-performing variations. Bestever.ai can then use computer vision to analyze underperforming ads and suggest improvements.
This means less time scouring your poor-performing ads, trying to guess what isn’t working, and more time making ads that are more likely to succeed.
Faster Content Creation and Curation
AI speeds up UGC content generation by helping with scriptwriting, shot ideas, and even generating B-roll.
Tools like ChatGPT can draw on tried-and-true scriptwriting practices to generate drafts for UGC creators, giving them a solid starting point. Other text-to-video apps like Sora can generate video snippets based on your prompts so you can get closer to your vision instead of having to search stock footage libraries for a shot that’s close enough.
Pro Tip: UGC ads work because they feel authentic and are made by real people, so don’t over-automate the process.
Enhanced Personalization and Targeting
AI ensures UGC ads reach the right people at a time when they’re not going to skip your ad.
If you’ve ever searched for new running shoes and then suddenly see UGC running shoe ads on social media (and the shoes actually look pretty cool), you’ll understand how this can help.
For instance, Dynamic Yield analyzes data across all your channels, from social media to email to phone. Then, it uses AI to predict user preferences and personalize content wherever your customers are — whether it’s showing workout gear to gym enthusiasts on Amazon or texting skincare product deals to beauty shoppers.
Automated Moderation and Brand Safety
AI-powered moderation tools help maintain a high standard for UGC content by filtering out inappropriate or low-quality content. Not every soccer mom is quite ready to go full-time at the UGC thing yet.
To reduce your risk, try Microsoft’s Azure AI Content Safety to scan text and visuals and flag content based on your brand guidelines. Then you can sleep easy knowing only the most relevant and professional ads go live.
The top platforms to show UGC Ads
If you’re looking to post your UGC ads and see a positive ROI, check out the top websites:
Social media platforms
These high-traffic platforms offer engaging formats that make them ideal for UGC ads. Here are the networks to start with:
- TikTok: A top platform for UGC due to its massive reach and younger audience. Although it’s faced a ban and recovered (for now), it remains a key platform for brands to consider when growing their audience.
- Instagram: Great for sharing short-form Reels and photo carousels to tap into Instagram’s vast audience.
- Facebook Ads: Ideal for creating personalized UGC ads for the most relevant audience with its stronger targeting capabilities.
- YouTube Shorts: Great for brands repurposing long-form YouTube content into short, engaging videos while leveraging YouTube’s massive audience.
- Reddit: Great for targeting niche communities, but brands must be cautious — Redditors are quick to flag inauthentic or overly promotional content.
- Twitch: Best for engaging gaming and live-streaming audiences, offering on-the-fly reactions to products.
E-commerce platforms
E-commerce platforms are embracing user-generated content (UGC) to enhance the shopping experience and drive conversions. Here are some of the top platforms for UGC in e-commerce:
- Amazon: A must for brands looking to reach a massive audience, with the added benefit of the Amazon Influencer Program for seamless creator collaborations. However, strict guidelines and high competition make standing out a challenge.
- Etsy: Best suited for handmade and vintage brands, offering an engaged niche community that values authenticity. However, its smaller reach compared to larger platforms may limit visibility.
- Shopify: Good for e-commerce brands of all sizes, allowing full customization of UGC integration, analytics, and marketing tools. To access advanced UGC features, brands may need third-party apps such as Bazaarvoice.
8 popular types of UGC creatives (with examples)
If you’re getting started, it's crucial to understand the various UGC creatives that can boost your marketing strategy. Here are some top options to try and examples of successful UGC content:
1. User Reviews
User reviews are the modern equivalent of word-of-mouth marketing. They often feature customers' unfiltered thoughts and experiences. If your product doesn’t perform up to expectations, the feedback can get pretty brutal (yet sometimes hilarious). However, this is why positive reviews are so trusted by customers.
E-commerce platforms like Amazon let you share text, photos, and videos, and they are now working with UGC creators through the Amazon Influencer Program.
2. Product Demonstrations
Showing how real customers use your product helps potential buyers understand its value. UGC-style product demonstrations show users how a product works in their daily lives.
For example, GoPro's user-submitted videos highlight the camera’s durability and performance in extreme conditions, inspiring adventure seekers to create their own clips. It doesn’t hurt if you can work with professional daredevils too.
For a more down-to-earth example, check out IKEA’s tagged IG posts. You’ll see proud moms showing their cute kids in a new IKEA crib or beloved pups napping on a handwoven wool rug.
3. Customer Stories
These UGC creatives typically feature testimonials, day-in-the-life vlogs, and real-life photos of use cases that show how your product fits into customers' lives.
Apple did this well with their #ShotOniPhone campaign which encouraged users to capture and share their best iPhone photos using the hashtag. They then featured selected images in ads, turning everyday users into brand ambassadors.
4. Before & After
Before and after comparisons are best for products that deliver visual transformations. This format works especially well in the beauty, fitness, and home improvement industries.
Starface made its fun, star-shaped pimple patches a success with this approach. The brand encouraged customers to share selfies wearing them and built a strong online community. It frequently reposts UGC featuring its iconic yellow stars, celebrating acne as part of the self-care journey.
5. Social Proof
If everyone else is doing it, then it’s probably good for me too. That’s how customers tend to think and why social proof works so well. It’s like an endorsement from the community. This can include showing user photos to demonstrate widespread adoption.
ASOS's #AsSeenOnMe campaign took this approach and encouraged customers to upload photos of themselves wearing ASOS products. Think about how helpful it would be to see so many people wearing the clothes you might buy in hundreds of real-world settings.
6. Influencer Style UGC Ads
Influencer-style UGC ads bank on the trust that audiences have with popular creators. These ads often feature influencers using or endorsing products in a natural, relatable way.
Daniel Wellington's influencer campaigns showed artists, magicians, and other influencers wearing their watches in their daily lives, making the product feel aspirational yet accessible.
7. Behind-the-scenes content
Behind-the-scenes UGC creatives are going for the same vibe you get when a movie rolls the outtakes at the end. It’s a unique glimpse into the making of products or services, whether that’s a factory tour, employees on the job, or mistakes made along the way.
For example, GoPro's Million Dollar Challenge encouraged users to share their unedited footage, resulting in a wealth of clips they turned into bankable UGC ads that don’t feel like ads at all.
8. Contests and giveaways
If you can’t get UGC content organically, well, why not offer some cash or rewards? These campaigns often offer incentives for user-submitted content with a chance to win big prizes.
Starbucks' White Cup Contest is a notable example, where customers decorated their Starbucks cups and shared them on social media. The winning design was made into a limited-edition reusable mug that generated buzz and engagement.
UGC creative trends to keep an eye on
User-generated content (UGC) is evolving, and brands that stay ahead of key trends will see higher engagement and better ad performance. Here are the biggest shifts shaping UGC marketing:
- Short-form videos will continue to rule: Platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts continue to prioritize quick, engaging content. According to a recent study, 73% of users prefer short videos about brands versus longer ones, so keep it punchy to reap the benefits.
- AI-enhanced UGC will get better: Tools like Bestever’s Ad Analysis Dashboard analyze poorly-performing ads frame by frame to pinpoint issues — such as slow transitions, boring hooks, cluttered visuals, and inconsistent performance — helping you quickly identify and fix the elements that hinder performance. This level of precision can make UGC campaigns more effective and data-driven.
- Micro-influencers will grow: Smaller creators with niche followings cost less and allow you to directly reach a segment of your audience. They can often generate more engagement, making them an affordable way for brands to reach highly engaged audiences.
- Cross-platform content repurposing is essential: If you create a short video, you might as well adapt it to all the social networks for more reach. You can also combine multiple short videos into a long-form YouTube video. The possibilities are endless and tools like Buffer help brands do this automatically to save a lot of time.
Staying ahead of these trends will help brands use UGC more effectively, creating content that feels natural, builds trust, and drives real results.
FAQs
Is UGC used in paid ads?
User-generated content (UGC) is commonly used in paid advertising strategies. According to Meta, UGC ads consistently outperform traditional ads in terms of engagement, reach, and return on ad spend (ROAS). This surge in popularity is no coincidence — UGC-style ads resonate with audiences by offering authentic and relatable info that polished brand content often lacks.
In 2025, fully AI-generated UGC is becoming more common too. Although it does defeat the real purpose of UGC, so we’ll see how these strategies continue to perform moving forward.
Is UGC better than traditional ads?
According to Forbes, most marketers agree that UGC is working better than traditional advertisements. The power of UGC lies in its ability to make marketing more human, so brands can build trust, which consumers say is a top factor when making a purchase.
How can brands use UGC successfully?
For better results with UGC campaigns, try to consistently use new ad creatives, so users don’t lose interest. Personalize your ads to each segment of your audience. Gather insights using AI-powered tools like Bestever to improve your worst performing ads and make them better.
How Bestever helps UGC campaigns succeed
Using UGC creatives can improve your ads. However, picking the right creatives is key to taking your campaign to the next level.
That’s where Bestever can help.
We use AI to analyze your creatives and tell you why one’s working and the other isn’t. Here’s exactly how we help UGC ad campaigns:
- Analyze your ads' effectiveness: Bestever’s Ad Analysis Dashboard gives you instant feedback on an ad's Visual Impact, Brand Alignment, Sales Orientation, and Audience Engagement. It’ll even break down each element in detail.
- Get suggestions to improve every frame: If an ad isn’t hitting the mark, ask Bestever to tell you what’s wrong and get instant actionable suggestions on what to do to fix it. No more guessing or wasting time — your team can start fixing those issues asap.
- Understand your audience: Bestever’s audience analysis tools go beyond sharing standard demographics, helping refine both targeting and messaging. You can share your website URL or integrate it with your ad manager, and it’ll quickly let you know who wants to hear more from you.
- Rapid asset generation: Fetch AI-generated images, stock photos, and video clips that all fit your brand voice. Then you can share the creatives with your team to make multiple ad variations faster.
- Instant feedback loop: Know immediately why an ad variant underperforms, then pivot before wasting your budget.
Ready to turn your UGC into high-performing ads? Let our team generate a frame-by-frame analysis of your UGC creatives to see what’s driving engagement — and what’s not. You can optimize your content and boost conversions starting today.