UGC (user-generated content)

User-generated content is content about a brand created by customers or fans rather than by the brand itself: photos, reviews, unboxings, mentions. Brands reshare it because an outside voice is more credible than their own.

The term has split in two. Classic UGC is organic: a customer posted because they wanted to. "UGC creators" are paid freelancers producing content that imitates that organic style for ads. Both are useful; only one is a testimonial, and platforms increasingly require the paid kind to be labeled.

Legally, reposting someone's content is not automatic: their photo is their work. The practice that keeps everyone comfortable is asking permission in a comment or DM and crediting the author, and keeping a record of the yes.

Operationally, UGC is found in mentions, tags and comments, which is an argument for watching those channels daily rather than during campaigns only.

Related terms: Earned media · Social listening