Okay, you’ve decided to get UGC videos for your brand.
That’s awesome! Congrats!
Now, what kind of UGC do you want to get? 🤔
There are many directions you can go with UGC. But which ones will help you reach your goals?
In this article, we’ll look at different types you can get, with examples of UGC videos for each of the most popular types. There’s nothing like seeing a concept in action to help you figure out if it’s the right fit for your brand!
After that, we’ll give you our best recommendations for brands looking to buy UGC, especially if you’ve never used it before.
But first, let’s take a step back and talk about what UGC is, and how it can help your brand.
What are UGC videos?
UGC, or user-generated content, is original content that consumers create for brands.
Generally, you’ll find UGC videos, but photos can be UGC too. If you’re lucky, you’ll find organic UGC by monitoring the conversations about your brand online.
However, if your business is small to medium-sized (or if your fan base isn’t super vocal), you may have a hard time finding UGC online. When that’s the case, UGC platforms are a great way to get high-quality user-generated content.
If you’d like to learn more about UGC, we recommend this article: What is UGC?
Types of UGC videos (with examples)
You might think that UGC is whatever content users decide to generate for your brand. Not so!
UGC comes in a few main formats. If you’re thinking of hiring a UGC creator for your brand, it’s a good idea to know the type of content you have in mind. That’s why we’ve curated these UGC videos examples– so you can have a picture in your mind of the type of video you’re going for.
Let’s look at some of the most popular formats first:
Testimonials and reviews
In testimonials or review videos, people share their experiences with your product and give their honest opinions.
Sometimes, this happens naturally because people love your product. At other times, you need to prompt them to try it out and record their experience.
Testimonials perform well in ads because they’re authentic. People relate to the genuineness of other people talking about a product or service and are more likely to trust an actual user.
… And it doesn’t matter if you sell physical or digital products– this format works!
For example, check out this example customer review video:
If you want videos like this for your brand, we’d be happy to help!
Unboxing videos
In an unboxing video, someone takes your product out of the package it ships in and shows the audience what’s inside.
These videos have an element of surprise, and people will often watch to the end to see what it’s going to look like.
Because the element of surprise piques viewers’ curiosity, unboxing videos do very well in ads. They’re best for e-commerce brands that sell physical products because it’s very hard to “unbox” a digital product or service.
Here’s a great example of an unboxing video from one of our creators at Clip:
How-to or tutorial videos
How-to videos are usually a little longer than other forms of UGC because they explain how to use the product in detail and give an overview of the entire process.
Generally, it’s not a good idea to get shorter how-to videos because they’re not helpful– and the whole point of a how-to is to be helpful by making it super easy to use the product. However, this will vary based on what your business sells– you know your product and how long it takes to explain how to use it!
How-to videos are generally best for posting on organic social media, your product pages, or with other tutorials on your website. They’re not an extremely popular option for ads, but if they’re done right, you can use them there as well.
Here’s an example of a how-to video that the brand could use in an ad if they wanted to:
But again, most how-to videos are best for organic social media and your website– and there’s nothing wrong with that!
If you’d like UGC like the how-to video above, you can get started with Clip.
Creator’s choice videos
Leaving the creative direction entirely up to the creator is a great way to get a fresh take. Sometimes, they’ll surprise you with how well they perform– and other times, they’ll help you confirm that you’re heading in a good direction with your current marketing.
(Note: creators will still probably choose to make testimonials, how-tos, or unboxing videos. It’s just that they incorporate their unique perspective on your product.)
A words of advice about this type of video:
- Create a separate campaign if you plan to run ads with one of these videos so that you can easily spot how they perform. The creators you pick may or may not intuitively know what resonates with your audience.
- Only pick creators who are super creative if you’re leaving the choice to them. If you’re working with Clip, you’ll be able to tell if they’re creative because you can check their previous work and portfolio.
Here’s one of our favorite examples of an up-to-the-creator video that performed well:
You also always have the option to post a creator’s choice video on your organic social media channels and see how it performs there, without putting ad spend behind it.
These four types of UGC: testimonial, unboxing, how-to, and creator’s choice– are the most popular types of UGC content- and for good reason! However, there are a few other kinds you can try if they’re a good fit for your brand. We’ll talk about those now.
Behind-the-scenes videos
Behind-the-scenes videos show how something comes together before the finished product is complete. They intrigue viewers because they’re seeing something they don’t normally have access to– even though for you, it’s probably business as usual!
If you’re selling a physical product, this may look like an overview of your manufacturing process, or at least a glimpse of a particularly eye-catching step.
If digital products are your thing, it may look like creating a 30-second video that shows you recording an upcoming audiobook or digital course.
Most of these ideas have one thing in common that makes it difficult to get UGC videos from them– they happen with you or your team, not customers. However, you don’t *have* to have your team make a behind-the-scenes style video if you’d prefer to use UGC.
If part of using your product involves assembly, you can ask a UGC creator to film themselves setting it up. Or if you challenge people to show how they use your product behind the scenes in their lives, you can get behind-the-scenes UGC content that way from creators.
Whatever angle you decide to take for behind-the-scenes videos, they’re a great thing to post on your organic channels to increase awareness. (They’re not as effective as ads, so you don’t need to worry about that).
Educational videos
Educational videos aim to inform users about a specific topic or product. The main goal is to inform and educate, not to drive sales. So, while it’s GREAT to have educational videos as part of your content strategy, they’re more for the people who are just learning about your product and aren’t yet ready to buy.
Depending on your product, they can also be a great fit if your customers are going to need directions after they purchase on how to use your product (similar to a how-to video). Either way, they’re great for your organic social media channels and product pages.
If you’re looking to educate the public (or your customers!) on a specific topic, this is a great UGC video option. Otherwise, we’d recommend sticking to one more popular formats that we outlined at the beginning of this section.
Haul videos
Haul videos show glimpses of a recent purchase from a particular store or brand, usually showing off multiple items. While you *could* consider these to be UGC (after all, they’re made after people buy things), they’re *usually* made by influencers who post them on their channels, and they’re particularly popular with fashion and beauty influencers.
It’s less common to see brands using them– although you do see bigger brands like Nike and GymShark using content like this from time to time to show off a a new product line.
Haul videos can be a fun way to spice up your content or start working with influencers. But, if you haven’t experimented with the most popular forms of UGC yet, we recommend waiting on this one.
Now that we’ve covered the different kinds of UGC you can get for your brand, we wanted to take a minute to outline the strategy we would use if we were just starting with UGC in 2024. Let’s take a look.
What kind of UGC videos should you buy for your brand?
In this section, we’re getting to the gold– how to put all of these types of UGC videos together to create the perfect mix for your brand!
The kinds of videos you need will depend a lot on your goals for your campaign: do you want to increase sales, or increase awareness?
Keeping your goals in mind, here’s what we recommend to start:
Drive sales with paid ads
If you’re running paid ads to drive sales, we recommend getting some 30-second unboxing videos and/or testimonial videos to start.
As you write your brief for creators, you’ll see the most success if you have them follow this simple sales formula:
- First 3-5 seconds: hooks (aka why people should stop scrolling and keep watching)
- Next 15-20 seconds: features (aka what you want them to talk about)
- Last 5-10 seconds: call to action (aka what the person watching the video should DO now that they’ve seen the video)
With Clip, you can try different types of campaigns and get different videos, depending on your goals. Why not get started today and see which type of video works best for your brand?
Increase awareness and trust with organic social media
If you’re looking to increase brand awareness by posting on your Facebook page, Instagram, or even TikTok, buy some how-to UGC videos.
How-to videos take as long as it takes for the creator to show the process while keeping people engaged. And, they’ll stay on your social feeds or on your website as a resource for people who are researching your product before or after purchase.
Ultimately, these are just suggestions. Feel free to mix and match and then buy UGC videos that work best for you!
The fun begins
Now that you know all about UGC, the different types of UGC content you can get from creators, and how to use it to your advantage on both paid and organic channels, the fun begins!
It’s time to order UGC videos. 🎉
There are also quite a few trends and predictions for UGC in 2024, you might want to check those out to learn more.
And, of course, if you’re ready to get started right now, you can sign up today. You pay per video and there are no contracts, ever.
Here’s to growing your brand!
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