Social media
UGC (user generated content)
UGC is content made by users or creators rather than by the brand itself. It works on social because it reads as a recommendation from someone you know rather than an ad, even when it is paid.
What it means in practice
In practice UGC looks like this: someone films on a phone, at home or in the car, talking to the camera with no lighting. The brand supplies the product, a brief and an optional script. Creators are picked by someone on the social team, not by a casting agency. It runs continuously rather than in campaigns, and one creator usually delivers three to five variants so you can test what lands.
Why clients care: a Slovak supplement brand ran ads with a polished studio video and then the same offer with three creator videos. The studio video looked better and lost, because people recognised it as an ad and scrolled past. A single UGC video in Slovakia typically costs in the low hundreds of euros depending on the creator's reach, a fraction of a shoot day with a crew.
How it is done: a brief stating what must and must not be said, an agreement on the number of videos and on the right to use them in ads, then filming at the creator's end and the edit. You supply the product on time, the factual details and fast approvals. Write into the contract how long you may use the video and on which platforms; a one year social licence is a common baseline.
Where it breaks: the brand sends the creator a line by line script and UGC turns into an ad shot on a worse camera. The point is that someone else is speaking, in their own words. And reviews are not for sale. The creator has to be free to say what they think, the partnership must be disclosed, and if the product is poor, UGC only spreads that faster.
For every UGC video we write down one sentence: why we think it will work. A month later we come back and compare it with what happened, and those conclusions feed the content plan. Try it today: before your next video, write down what you expect from it and put it away.