With these user generated content examples, you'll see companies from many different industries showcasing their customers' content on social media.
Reposting and sharing content from your fans and customers is a win-win. You get great content to share, and they get the warm fuzzies from knowing you care about them. They might even pick up several new followers when you tag them or retweet them.
In this post, we dive into 20 user generated content examples and offer insights into how you can maximize this type of content.
What is user generated content?
User generated content (UGC) refers to content created by customers, fans, and followers as opposed to your brand. It's a brilliant way to share human (not stock) content with your followers and forge a deeper relationship with customers.
While it's a popular social media marketing strategy for ecommerce companies, it's a smart move for software, services businesses, and plenty other types of companies.
20 user generated content examples
Keep scrolling for examples from B2C ecommerce companies, large brands, and B2B software startups. There's plenty to get inspired by. If your product doesn't easily lend itself to UGC (and even if it does), you can create a contest or a sweepstakes to encourage more customers to post about you.
1. Carters
In this post, the Carter's Instagram account is reposting a Thanksgiving-themed post from a customer's account. This is a smart way to make your customers feel noticed. Just be sure to get permission first.
2. Dover Saddlery
Dover Saddlery encourages customers to post about them with the hashtag #itsfromdover for a chance to be features on their homepage. The company uses Curator on their website to pull approved user generated content into their website.
Do you want an engaging website that makes smart use of user generated content? Try Curator for free.
3. Kendra Scott
Popular jewelry brand Kendra Scott uses their Instagram to share UGC from their stores to drive more excitement about visiting them not just online, but in person.
4. John Deere
Happy Hallow-green!
— John Deere (@JohnDeere) October 31, 2020
?: Andrea W ? Karl K ? Caitlyn J ? Parrish B pic.twitter.com/ulkbFtzNSg
On Twitter, John Deere gives a shoutout to customers who have sent in adorable photos of their kids dressed up for Halloween in brand-themed costumes.
5. Spanx
Spanx does a great job continually reposting content from their customers. They also always make sure to mention the product shown so other fans can know what to shop for.
6. Fossil
Fossil selects only the best of the best UGC to post. In this user generated content example, we see two friends hanging out together and can reminisce about the good old days.
7. Quadlock
100% recommend @QuadLockCase. pic.twitter.com/C21allCh90
— Bill. (@bhilton88) May 4, 2020
In this UGC example, we see a customer tweet that Quadlock retweeted on their own Twitter account. This is a brilliant way to promote social proof.
8. Knix
My @knixwear and loungewear budget just replaced my gym membership. Priorities?
— Christina T Pack (@ChristinaTPack) November 6, 2020
While a lot of UGC is image-based, it doesn't have to be. UGC can also be text only social media content, as well as videos. Knix retweeted this tweet from one of their customers.
9. Birchbox
Birchbox turned a customer image and quote into a beautifully-branded graphic. This is a great way to repurpose UGC and make it fit your brand even better.
10. Drunk Elephant
In this example, Drunk Elephant shares plenty of useful product tips along with a UGC image.
11. Notion
Big shoutout to @AveryFrancis & the team at @buildwithbloom for helping create our new @WillfulWills employee handbook. It's stored in Notion, and is extremely comprehensive - but more importantly, it's inclusive & easily accessible. Highly recommend Notion for internal policies! pic.twitter.com/trx7x0qy8a
— Erin Bury (@erinbury) November 30, 2020
Ecommerce and consumer brands aren't the only ones who can benefit from UGC! This UGC example is from SaaS company Notion, who retweeted this tweet about how a user created their employee handbook with the software tool.
12. Teachable
If you're looking to make a show-stopping first impression with your course, make sure your homepage is on point.
— Teachable (@teachable) December 2, 2020
Take Amanda Overs of @icanmakeshoes, for example—her brand identity and what you can expect to learn in her course are clearly shown almost immediately. pic.twitter.com/lwPc0i99Ej
Teachable is another user generated content example that's not within the physical product category. Teachable is a popular platform for course creators, and in this example, they've shared the landing page from one of their customers' courses.
13. Happy Skin
In this post, skincare brand Happy Skin uses UGC to promote a special bundle and one of their popular products.
14. Toms
Popular shoe brand Toms reposts UGC often. It's an easy way to connect with followers at a deeper level while satisfying your needs for content as a brand.
15. Warby Parker
Warby Parker has made things interesting by reposting user generated content that shows their product on a dog (instead of a human). For a big boost in social media engagement, scan the UGC that uses your products to find the most eye-catching images.
16. Leesa
When your alarm goes off on Monday morning... ? pic.twitter.com/u8cLEpZHN8
— Leesa (@leesasleep) July 13, 2020
Leesa is a sleep brand that posts UGC on their Twitter account, and other social media profiles. By showcasing real-life images (such as an unmade bed), they foster a deeper connection with followers. This is much more social media-friendly than stock photos with perfectly made beds.
17. Bonobos
Clothing company Bonobos showcases mask chic fashion on their Instagram page, and gives credit to the customer who provided the content. This offers appropriate attribution and gives the Instagrammer a chance to grow their following (thus incentivizing other influencers to post UGC with the brand).
18. Bombas
Ecommerce sock startup posts UGC featuring customers of all ages on their fast-growing Instagram account.
19. Clickup
Clickup is a popular project management software that posts images of their employees on Instagram. Yes, you heard that right, this is a pic of a team member not a customer. If your company doesn't offer cool, trendy shoes or sunglasses, curate UGC from employees instead.
20. Frank Bod
In this post, Frank Bod showcases a customer who took a creative photo of their body scrub in action.
How to encourage your audience to create UGC
There are several ways to encourage customers to post UGC:
- Contests and sweepstakes
- Offer a chance to be featured on your social media accounts and website
- Regularly post UGC so followers know you're open to sharing their content
- Use a branded hashtag like Dover Saddlery's #itsfromdover
How to utilize UGC to increase website conversions
Embed UGC in your website (home page and product pages) with Curator, which lets you create multiple feeds for brands, product lines, and products so you can showcase approved images on your webiste.