18 Top User Generated Content Statistics You Should Know
What’s the current state of user-generated content?
User-generated content (UGC) has become one of the most influential forms of digital marketing.
It includes content like reviews, posts that mention your brand on social media and social media content that includes your products.
In this post, we share the top user-generated content statistics from the marketing industry.
Editor’s top picks – user-generated content statistics
These are the top five statistics from this post:
- Companies that incorporate user-generated content in their marketing strategies see 4.5% higher conversions. (Roster)
- 61.25% of consumers across all generations have an affinity for user-generated content. (Cloudinary)
- 52.33% of marketers in the US, UK and Germany prefer video reviews over photos when researching products. (Cloudinary)
- Companies who leverage user-generated content spend 50% less on advertising. (Roster)
- Despite its benefits, only 35% of marketers are including user-generated content in their marketing strategies. (TINT’s State of Social & User-Generated Content Report)
General UGC statistics
1. User-generated content leads to 4.5% higher conversion rates
Roster is a brand ambassador management app who helps brands achieve more sales and social media engagements by utilizing tools like UGC.
According to statistics they’ve collected from their own customers who use UGC, user-generated content leads to better conversion rates that are 4.5% higher than typical forms of digital marketing.
Here are a few user-generated content statistics from one of Roster’s case studies. They were helping Purple, a lucrative mattress company. These were the company’s numbers after the first six months:
- Purple’s social media reach was 55 times higher.
- Social media engagement was 40 times higher.
- Brand ambassadors turned in over 500 user-generated images.
- Brand ambassadors published hundreds of social media posts related to the brand.
- The earned media value of Purple’s UGC was just shy of $300,000.
- Customer collaboration was 85% more efficient than the influencer marketing strategy the company was using.
Purple was also able to incorporate UGC content produced by brand ambassadors into their own social media posts.
Source: Roster
2. 61.25% of consumers like user-generated content
According to Cloudinary’s study of user-generated content. 61.25% of consumers have an affinity for this type of content.
The company broke this stat down by generation:
- Millennials – 78% have an affinity for user-generated content
- Gen Z – 70%
- Baby Boomers – 52%
- Silent Generation – 45%
Source: Cloudinary
3. 53.7% of marketers say influencer content converts better than branded content
According to TINT’s report on the state of social and user-generated content, a little over half of marketers, or 53.7%, agree that influencer content converts at higher rates than branded content.
While this means influencer content isn’t leagues ahead of branded content, it does mean that influencer content is something brands should put more work into including in their marketing strategies.
Source: State of Social & User-Generated Content Report
4. 52.33% of consumers across three regional markets agree that photos are most helpful when researching products
Cloudinary asked consumers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany about what sort of content they find most helpful when researching products.
52.33% said photos are most helpful. Here’s that stat broken down by region:
- United States – 55% of consumers in this market say photos are most helpful when researching products
- Germany – 53%
- United Kingdom – 49%
They also discovered that 21% of consumers in this market use reviews as their number one choice when it comes to making a decision on a product.
15.67% rely on status updates in text-messaging apps as their number one deciding factor.
Source: Cloudinary
5. 80% of consumers prefer photos of real customers over stock photos
According to TINT’s report, a large majority of consumers, specifically 80%, like to see photos of real customers in ads and marketing messages rather than stock photos.
57% also believe the “diversity of real customers and teams” should replace stock images.
Source: State of Social & UGC Report
6. 49.5% of younger consumers find video reviews more helpful than images
Cloudinary asked members of the Millennial and Gen Z generations about their sentiments toward user-generated product videos and images when making purchasing decisions.
They discovered that 49.5% of these generations find video reviews more helpful than images.
Specifically, 47% of millennials and 52% of Gen Z find them to be superior to images.
Source: Cloudinary
7. User-generated content cuts advertising costs by 50%
Roster is a UGC platform that helps brands utilize the power user-generated content can provide.
According to their own findings, UGC cuts advertising costs in half.
Instead of paying for social media ads that reach a broad customer range, companies can use platforms like Roster to produce user-generated content that reaches markets they know are interested in their products.
Source: Roster
8. Only 35% of marketers use user-generated content in their marketing strategies
You may not consider it, but ratings and reviews are actually a form of user-generated content.
TINT’s report revealed that only 35% of marketers actually use UGC content in their marketing strategies.
This is in spite of 69% of marketers understanding that ratings and reviews are important for conversion rates and 80% of consumers admitting that they look up ratings and reviews before making purchases.
This means UGC is an important part of the online purchase path.
Source: State of Social & UGC Report
Other user-generated content statistics
9. Restaurants are 33% more likely to succeed with user-generated content than other businesses
Cloudinary is an image and video API platform.
According to the company’s UGC study, restaurants are 33% more likely to succeed with UGC than other types of businesses.
Retail businesses are 32% more likely to succeed while doctors and dentists are 17% more likely to succeed.
These are the top three business types that benefit the most from UGC.
Source: Cloudinary
10. 60% of internet users who took an action off TikTok agree that TikTok creators are more influential than celebrities
According to TINT’s report, 60% of users who took an action off platform said they find creators on TikTok to be more influential than celebrities.
This means consumers, especially those who use TikTok, are more likely to trust recommendations from TikTok creators than they are from celebrity endorsements.
58% say brand advocacy is important to them.
Source: State of Social & UGC Report
11. 77% of marketers do not request permission to use customer photos
TINT’s report on the state of UGC content found that only 23% of marketers request permission to use customer content when they repost it to social media.
If you don’t request permission, not only may you be committing copyright infringement, you’re also following poor social media etiquette.
If you want to use user-generated on your own social media channels, do this instead:
- If it’s on Instagram, add the post to your story. Other users will be able to click on it to go to your customer’s original post.
- If it’s on TikTok, stitch the video or duet it. Like on Instagram, other users will be able to click on your customer’s username to view their original post.
- If it’s on Twitter (now X), click the Repost (retweet) button, and click Repost to post the tweet to your own account, or click Quote to retweet the post while also adding your own comment.
- If you want to add the content to an edited image, video or other type of content, ask your customer for permission to use their content in your own content. If they grant it, be sure to give them credit by including their username.
Source: State of Social & UGC Report
12. 75% of consumers claim they know when they’re being advertised to
According to TINT’s report on the state of social and user-generated content, 75% of consumers say they know when they’re being advertised to.
This makes user-generated content as tricky of a form of marketing to use as it is useful.
If you can produce authentic UGC, such as encouraging customers to post content with your products themselves, you’re golden. But if you produce inauthentic UGC, such as staged UGC, consumers will catch on and will be less likely to convert.
Source: State of Social & UGC Report
13. More than 65% of consumers think there’s a difference between influencers and creators
According to TINT’s social and UGC report, over 65% of consumers feel there’s a difference between influencers and creators.
More than 72% of marketers agree with this sentiment.
This means that although society uses the terms “influencers” and “creators” interchangeably, there is a succinct difference between the two, and consumers can see those differences.
Both groups create content and are technically creators. Creators may even promote brands, which would technically make them influencers.
However, “influencers” are creators who make lifestyle content created with the sole intent to grow an audience they can market themselves or others to. Much of their content relies on parasocial relationships they form with their audiences.
“Creators” create content with the sole intent to inform, educate or entertain.
Source: State of Social & UGC Report
General marketing statistics
14. 79% of marketers invested more in video in 2023
According to TINT’s latest UGC report, 79% of marketers stated they invested more in video content in 2023.
Source: State of Social & UGC Report
15. 36% of marketing budgets decreased by the end of 2023
According to TINT’s report, 36% of marketing budgets shrunk in 2023.
Plus, 61% of marketers reportedly do not have the resources to cover as much content as they need to keep up with their competitors. Fewer than 20% have the resources to create quality visual content.
This is why user-generated content is highly sought after. It’s free, and when it’s not, it’s cheap.
Source: State of Social & UGC Report
16. 82% of marketers do not measure the performance of their content across marketing channels
TINT’s report revealed that only 18% of marketers measure the performance of their content across the marketing channels they publish it to.
Furthermore, around 22% of marketers do not have the methodology to understand what visual content will convert in search engines, social media or ads.
Source: State of Social & UGC Report
General consumer and social media user statistics
17. 76% of consumers use social media to search for brands and products
Social media continues to be a powerhouse in the world of marketing.
According to TINT’s report on social and UGC, 76% of consumers use social media to find out information about or discover new brands and products.
When asked to rate how strongly they agree or disagree on whether or not they’ve used social media for this purpose, here’s what consumers had to say:
- Strongly Agree – 37.9%
- Somewhat Agree – 37.9%
- Neutral – 14.5%
- Somewhat Disagree – 6.6%
- Strongly Disagree – 3.1%
Plus, 69% of consumers have purchased something they saw on social media, so it is highly effective as a marketing strategy.
According to Statista, some of the most popular social media platforms include Facebook with 3.03 billion monthly users, YouTube with 2.49 billion, Instagram with 2 billion and TikTok with 1.22 billion.
Source: State of Social & UGC Report, Statista
18. 66% of consumers think audio and video content make brands stand out more
TINT’s report included consumer stats as well.
They found that 66% of consumers think that brands who use audio and video content to market their products stand out more than those who only use text and images.
UGC helps brands produce more of this content without them actually having to spend resources to do it.
Source: State of Social & UGC Report
Final thoughts
User-generated content has become a powerful form of marketing that allows companies to incorporate authenticity into their marketing strategies. And yet, the majority of marketers aren’t utilizing it.
The most common types of user-generated content are reviews and social media posts that mention or include your brand name or product.
If you sell retail products, use review marketing strategies to encourage customers to leave reviews wherever you sell products and to review your business on Google, Yelp and Facebook.
If you want your customers to mention you more on social media, try creating a hashtag for them to use to show off your product.
Also, repost your customer’s posts and feature UGC content (with permission) in your own content and even other forms of marketing like email marketing. Customers may be more willing to create content with your products if they see you giving recognition to other customers.
Use influencer marketing strategies and hire brand ambassadors if you want to produce more user-generated content.
You can do something as simple as sending free samples to influencers. They’ll likely post about it in their Instagram stories.
Sponsor influencers or hire brand ambassadors if you want to streamline your company’s production of UGC.
We have tips on getting started with influencer marketing if you need them.
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