Ads need to look and feel like they pair well with the platform on which they’re being served in order to perform well. Marshall McLuhan, perhaps the most well-known media theorist, first asserted that “the medium is the message” 60 years ago, and this axiom still holds true today. The two–ad and ad platform–are inextricably linked.
User-generated content (UGC) is like a continuous, asynchronous conversation happening across all social media platforms. People share photos, videos, reviews, and stories at all hours of the day and night. Whether it’s on Facebook, Instagram, or review sites like Yelp, UGC feels like it belongs there—it fits right in. This content isn’t just entertaining; it’s genuine and relatable. When you see someone’s post or review, it feels like you’re hearing from a friend, not just a company. This kind of content brings people together and helps build trust. By using UGC in your marketing, you can connect with your audience on a deeper level, making them more loyal to your brand and forming real connections online.
User-Generated Content Humanizes Brands
Imagine you’re scrolling TikTok or Instagram’s Reels feed. You’re focusing on human faces in almost every video you watch. When you’re confronted with some B-roll footage backed by a plain piece of music you know in less than a second that you’re watching an ad. You keep scrolling.
Now imagine that you’re scrolling through one of these feeds and you reach a video about a handheld water flosser that looks useful. A person with healthy-looking teeth is demonstrating the handy features of this water flower. Halfway through the video, it occurs to you that you’re watching an ad, but you don’t mind as much because an engaging human being has been telling you something valuable. The person in this video is articulate. They’re speaking directly to you. You’re engaged and willing to listen to what this person has to say.
Creating paid social ads that blend naturally with the platform and humanize your business’s offerings by incorporating user-generated content (UGC) is essential for several reasons:
- Better user experience: Ads that seamlessly blend with a platform’s interface and content attract more engagement. They feel less intrusive and integrate smoothly into the browsing experience, enhancing overall user satisfaction.
- Increased engagement: Using UGC-style footage in ads can make them feel more authentic and relatable, resulting in higher engagement rates like likes, shares, comments, and click-throughs.
- Ad performance improvement: Because they appear less like traditional ads, UGC ads are more effective in delivering your message and value proposition and can prompt actions like conversions or purchases for DTC brands.
- Trust and credibility: Authenticity plays a crucial role in modern marketing. Incorporating UGC-style footage humanizes your business’s offerings, showcasing transparency and genuineness. This approach fosters trust and credibility among your audience.
- Maximized ROI: Ads that blend with the platform and resonate with users often result in a positive ROI. Focusing on creating ads that match the platform’s style and convey your brand’s message authentically can boost the impact of your advertising budget for better results.
5 Paid Social Media UGC Ad Best Practices
Like any ads, UGC-style content has its own set of best practices that ad creators should adhere to for optimal results.
- Be authentic: Make authenticity a top priority in your UGC ads. Users engage most with content that feels genuine and relatable.
- Include a clear CTA: Make sure your UGC ads feature a clear and compelling call to action that encourages users to take the desired action, whether it’s making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or visiting your website.
- Test and iterate: Continuously experiment with various UGC ad formats, messaging, and placements to enhance performance. Utilize data-driven insights to fine-tune your strategy and achieve better results as time progresses.
- Stay relevant: Maintain the relevance of your UGC ads by consistently monitoring industry trends and discussions. This guarantees that your content stays current and connects with your audience effectively.
- Leverage reviews and testimonials: Include user reviews and testimonials in your UGC ads to offer social proof and establish trust with potential customers.
The biggest mistake when creating UGC-style ads for social media is neglecting authenticity. Employing fake or deceptive user-generated content risks harming your brand’s credibility and trust, resulting in negative perceptions from your audience. Prioritizing genuine and truthful content that genuinely represents your brand is crucial for resonating with your audience positively.
You Don’t Need to Pay Influencer Prices to Run UGC-Style Content
Ad footage that blends in with organic user-generated content is essential on TikTok. It’s important on Instagram and in the YouTube Shorts feed too. Brands pay influencers thousands or tens of thousands of dollars to collaborate on paid partnership posts. But these high prices are charged because, when partnering with an influencer, you’re paying for the attention of that influencer’s audience as much as you’re paying for their skill as a content creator. While this can work well for large brands like Amazon or McDonald’s, the cost of paying an influencer on top of the cost of running that paid influencer partnership is too steep for most businesses.
Instead of paying an influencer, someone on your marketing team could record the footage for your ad. Here at Mad Fish, we source ad footage from a curated network of content creators to keep quality high and costs low for our UGC-style ads. To succeed on paid social platforms, you must be able to reliably and consistently source new footage for your ads. This allows you to run tests, learn from the results, and iterate your ad mix.
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