Your customers are creating content you're not using
Be honest: the last time a customer tagged your brand in a great post, where did it end up 24 hours later?
If you're like most teams, it got a quick reshare to Stories and then disappeared. That's a big miss, because customer content can be some of your most persuasive marketing. 58% of consumers say user-generated content (UGC) is the most authentic type of content, and shoppers who interact with ratings and reviews are 108.6% more likely to convert. Your customers are already giving you something your brand can't manufacture: real people talking about your product, showing how they use it, and sharing their experiences with others.
I see it constantly when I scroll. Unboxings, reviews, product photos, before-and-afters, comments from customers answering other customers' questions. There's authentic proof sitting all around your brand, but most of it gets used once, if it's used at all. A great customer video gets a quick reshare, a review sits on a product page, and a photo disappears into someone's social notifications.
That's the opportunity. Not just to collect more UGC, but to build a system that acquires authentic customer content, gets permission to use it, and amplifies it across your marketing. Your customers are doing the part brands spend a fortune trying to manufacture. They're showing that real people use your product, trust it, and have something to say about it. The job is to make sure that proof doesn't disappear after one post.
How to capture customer content without adding extra team workload
- 1: Look at what you're already being tagged in:
- Start with the content customers are already creating. Check your tags, mentions, comments, reviews, and DMs for unboxings, product photos, reviews, and other content you could put to work.
- 2; Secure usage rights upfront:
- Use a standard reply or a simple tool like Refunnel to capture permission the moment someone posts, so your team isn't scrambling for rights later.
- 3: Build a centralized asset library:
- Store high-performing customer content in one tagged folder, so when you need proof for a product page, email or ad, you're pulling from a stocked shelf instead of starting from scratch.
Note: Need more content for a launch, a season, or a campaign? Ask for it. Give people an easy reason to share, like "Show us how you use [product name]" or "Share your best use of [product] and tag us." A giveaway or a customer feature gives them one more push to join in. We call this a UGC activation, a simple way to prompt your audience to create content for your brand.
That's where UGC pays off. One customer video can work as a social post, an email, a product-page proof point, and paid creative, all from someone who already believes in your product.
We walk through how to build this into your broader social strategy in our free guide, Community Is the New Funnel.
Or, if you'd like me to look at the content your customers are already creating and show you where it could be working harder to drive bottom-line revenue, book a free 30-minute social audit with us.
Sources
- Megan DeGruttola (2019). "Survey Reveals How Consumers Really Judge Brand Authenticity (and Influencers)". socialmediatoday.com
- Power Reviews (2023). "How User-Generated Content Impacts Conversion: 2023 Edition". powerreviews.com
- Refunnel.com: Tracks every UGC post, secures usage rights, and unlocks 1-click whitelisting so you can run partnership ads in seconds.
