What is UGC? Working with content from your customers

UGC stands for user-generated content: posts, photographs, videos, reviews or comments people create about an experience, product or topic. For a brand, a customer’s photo of an item in use can add a perspective different from the brand’s own product photography.

Marketers also use “UGC creator” for someone commissioned to produce content with an everyday look. Record that commercial relationship. A spontaneous review and a commissioned video have different origins and conditions, even when both look like phone footage.

Three questions before using a piece

Check who created it, their relationship with the brand and where you intend to use it. Its appearance does not answer those questions.

Swipe the table to see all columns.

A creator can work as an influencer and produce assets for a brand’s account. The role’s name does not establish whether the arrangement includes posting on their profile, paid advertising or indefinite reuse. Clarify those conditions before preparing the campaign.

Example: a photo that helps explain size

This is a fictional example. Lino sells bags and receives a customer photo showing a notebook, bottle and keys inside its small model. The team identifies a useful question: what fits in that bag?

The image can support a post if it shows that model and retains enough context. The team checks the product, who took the photograph and which use is authorized. Other people or third-party material in the image also need consideration.

Suppose the team then records authorization for an organic Instagram post during an agreed period. A proposal to reuse the photo in a paid ad remains pending. The authorization recorded for the first piece does not automatically resolve the second.

A caption could explain: “How one customer organizes her small bag: notebook, bottle and keys. Check the model’s dimensions on the product page.” Before publication, the team would need to confirm that the image and description match. A single photo also does not establish that every bottle or notebook fits.

What to record about intended uses

WIPO explains that publishing a work online, including on social media, does not automatically place it in the public domain. Use can depend on permission, a license or applicable exceptions. Naming a photograph’s creator does not itself resolve that review.

For editorial work, record the exact asset and intended use: account or channel, organic publication or advertising, period, modifications and credit. Retain a reference to the agreement and who reviewed it. If someone only allowed sharing through a native platform feature, check the scope before downloading and uploading the file elsewhere.

This log helps the team prepare content; it is not a contract and does not itself establish valid rights. Copyright, personal image and advertising conditions depend on the country and case. Resolve the relevant questions with the person responsible for that review.

Paid collaborations, gifts and testimonials

Retain commercial connections when presenting the material. The US Federal Trade Commission explains that payments, gifts and other material connections can require clear disclosure in endorsements. That guidance has a US context; check the rules for your campaign’s country and platform as well.

Do not turn a commissioned script into a testimonial of actual use if that experience did not happen. Check what the person can claim and which facts the brand supplies. If an opinion describes an individual experience, retain that scope when editing it.

Generating an image with AI does not make it UGC from a real customer. An illustration can be appropriate when identified as such and not attributed to someone who did not create it.

A worksheet for ready and pending pieces

The UGC tracking CSV includes two uses of the same fictional asset: an organic use recorded as authorized and a pending advertising use, plus a blank row. The team needs to check real evidence before marking a piece ready.

Keep usage status separate from editorial status. A piece can have permission and need a caption correction; another can have finished copy while permission is still unresolved. The content approval workflow helps organize that review.

Avoid adding unnecessary personal information to a shared worksheet. Use an internal reference to the material and keep agreements where authorized team members can consult them. Review pending questions and dates before scheduling reuse.

Evaluating whether UGC helps your content

Choose the question the piece should answer: demonstrate use, explain size or resolve a doubt. Record channel, format, distribution and period. Depending on the destination, observe replies to that question, product-page visits or clicks identified through UTM parameters when a measurable link exists.

Do not assume a customer photo will achieve more reach or sales. Results depend on the piece, audience and distribution. Preserve those conditions when comparing it with another post and use the criteria in our content testing article.

Once the material’s use is confirmed, HeyMark lets you plan content with your team. Authorship and usage review happen before scheduling; we do not present them as automatic HeyMark functions. See the product section for the workflow.

Lino and its conditions are fictional. The worksheet and case are HeyMark’s editorial work. The cover contains AI-generated imagery illustrating the concept, not content from real customers.