Winning Guide To the Dos and Don'ts of User-Generated Content

Introduction

Users' Validation is required to scale a business from zero to hero. In the digital era, when users decide that your product is great and speak about it online, that screams to others, “Hey! This product is crazy, you should try this!”.

The content created by users that directly or indirectly provides marketing and validation to your product is nothing but User Generated Content (UGC). UGC comes not in one but many forms. Three of the most notable ones are video testimonials, text reviews, and audio testimonials.

Imagine this: you see a raw, unfiltered video taken by an everyday internet user, and the user is speaking about their love towards a product. This subconsciously makes you believe in that story to consider buying that product. Same applies to customer reviews, if it's unfiltered insightful reviews that have both positives and negatives spoken about.

As a brand, assisting your customers to easily capture and submit UGC would further enhance your chances of generating more UGC. That's why brands turn towards review management software that provides options for an end user to seamlessly record UGC.

Why User-Generated Content is a Game-Changer

UGC is an underrated superpower that most new brands overlook at times. Hear this stat: 6 out of 10 users prefer brands that have UGC due to the authenticity it provides. 40% of shoppers stated UGC to be “extremely” important for their purchase decisions. Here are four crucial pointers that showcase why UGC is a game changer for your brand's growth:

Builds Trust and Credibility:

There's no rocket science behind UGC. It's as simple as potential customers wanting to hear what older customers have to say. When you have solid UGC across the internet, then that will surely instill initial trust for a customer to take a leap of faith into your business.

Enhances Brand Authenticity:

Goes without saying that authenticity is the key to your brand's identity and value. With customers becoming smart each day, they are more aspirational than before. They don't like to be sold or marketed to. They want authenticity that's as simple as black and white. UGC is your pathway towards showcasing that authenticity to your potential customer.

Boosts Engagement and Conversions:

With trust, credibility, and authenticity in check. Your organic engagement and conversions are bound to increase. That's like, if you take care of what's in your control, the rest falls in place itself. UGC does exactly that for your brand, it provides an overall push that helps you scale throughout your journey.

Bonus Pointer:

Why do video testimonials add a personal touch that feels perfect?

In UGC, video testimonials add an extra layer of personal touch when it comes to authenticity and credibility building. As humans, when we see another human through a screen speaking about a product with emotions on their face, that's likely to convince us better.

The Dos of User-Generated Content

For simpler understanding, let's know the Do’s of UGC first, and then jump on to the Dont’s over the same.

Ask for Reviews at the Right Time

UGC can be either received from a customer when they decide to give you one themselves or you go ahead and ask for it at the right time. Putting aside the former, let's focus on how to get the timing right. Here are a few suggested instances in which you should request a UGC.

Right After Purchase:

When a customer purchases your product, their excitement and happiness towards the same would be high. They'll be highly receptive to UGC requests during this time. More than 80% of Gen Z have either shared or are willing to share a UGC.

During Positive Feedback:

When you receive positive feedback from a customer, be it during a regular conversation or any other instance. Request the customer for a UGC by mentioning what that means to you.

During Renewal:

When a customer is renewing or re-purchasing from you. It means they liked the service or product. This is a good time to request a UGC from the customer. The chances to get one will be high due to them having seen your value already.

Getting the timing right can also influence the response rate from your customers. Here are some further insights to help:

For electronics, you should prefer reaching out 7–10 days post-delivery.

For skincare products, the ideal time for a reachout would be 2–4 weeks post-delivery.

For apparel, 7 days post-delivery is what you should prefer.

If it's a SaaS tool, consider approaching after 3 active sessions.

For online courses, it is best to approach post-completion of a module.

Make It Easy for Customers

Before you ask for a UGC, make sure you've set up a seamless user experience and journey for them. Keep check of the below pointers to ensure ease for your customers:

Provide Clear Instructions:

The instructions on HOW and WHAT should be made clear to the user. They shouldn't be left hanging to figure this out themselves. Consider providing clear instructions through a description with steps on the landing page where they can record their UGC.

Usage of Tools to Simplify Further:

Use a testimonial management tool that can enable your users to record their UGC. While UGC can bring high impact, the tool will ensure ease of use for a customer.

Offering Multiple Submission Options:

Each customer has a preference of their own. Offer multiple format options during their UGC submission. It could be audio, video, or text.

Clear instructions, ease of use, and multiple options would ensure the highest chances of smoothly capturing a UGC.

Personalize Your Requests

Personalization works wonders because it makes your customers feel valued and seen. Always make sure you address them by their name; this will improve your response rate as well.

Apart from the name, customise your outreach message to have specific instances related to the journey of your customer. This will make it even more human and give you the best chance at receiving a response.

Offer Incentives (Without Being Pushy)

If you consider offering incentives to your customers in exchange for a UGC. Make sure you do that ethically without making your customer feel used for your benefit. Here are some suggestions:

1. Discounts: As a token of gratitude, offer your customers discounts for their next purchases. Make it seem like you are doing it out of gratitude and not from a business standpoint.
2. Shoutouts: If you have a solid online presence, you can offer that as an incentive to receive UGC from your customers. Offer customers a shoutout over your social media. This helps them to get visibility over their profile. It's a win-win.
3. Loyalty Points: Create a loyalty program that keeps your customers engaged throughout their journey. Offer them loyalty points across checkpoints you've created. One such checkpoint would be to capture their UGC.

Try to avoid making incentives look like a bribe. Sometimes brands get it wrong by offering incentives in the barter system, such as you give me this and I give you that. This puts off a customer and possibly reduces their trust and loyalty towards your brand.

Showcase UGC Strategically

Receiving UGC is one aspect; making the best use of it strategically is a different ball game altogether. Consider the below pointers on WHERE to use them:

1. Website: Showcase them over your website in places that need credibility building or a nudge to help a customer's purchase decision.
2. Social Media: Market UGC over social media. Viewers are likely to stop and look at a brand's UGC when compared to regular posts.
3. Ads: Use UGC while you run ads across the internet. Showcasing validation and credibility is one of the best ways to run successful ads to achieve your goals.

Bonus Pointer:

Video testimonials are a gem to be used for marketing and also for your sales team. Potential customers are aware that reviews can be fake at times, up to 30%. Video testimonials give better authenticity to overcome this barrier in customers' heads.

The Don’ts of User-Generated Content

Now, with the understanding of what you need to do. Let's know the things you need to keep away from. These hold the capacity of damaging your brand if not taken care of.

Don’t Be Too Aggressive or Spammy

Being aggressive towards the growth of your business is great. But not towards your customers. Frequent requests and messages can annoy customers. It'll increase the chances of them never responding to you and also not recommending you to others.

Always aim to strike the right balance between persistence and respect. Show your customers why this matters to you by reaching out to them during the right moment when you know your chances are high.

Avoid Forcing or Guilt-Tripping Customers

Don't pressure your customers into leaving feedback. You might win momentarily but possibly lose the customer forever.

Forced UGC gives away that vibe when someone sees that. Even if you have less UGC but are genuine, that's far better than having a ton that feels fake. Your whole purpose will backfire if you don't take care of this pointer.

Don’t Edit or Manipulate Testimonials

Authenticity is the key towards your growth. Never edit or manipulate UGC. By chance, if the customer who gave the UGC comes across the edited version, the trust would be lost. If they mention this online, your reputation would take a huge hit. Don't run behind temporary rewards that turn you unethical.

If you do decide to alter a testimonial for grammar or restructuring, do that after getting permission from your customer. Show them the final draft before posting, but only after they give a thumbs up, go ahead.

Never Ignore Negative Feedback

Don't have a blind eye towards negative reviews. 45% of users are more likely to purchase from you if you have the habit of responding to negative reviews. Handle them calmly, try to bring the conversation offline, and if not, acknowledge, apologize, and provide a possible solution in your best of control.

Once you get a hang of handling negative reviews, you can turn that into opportunities for credibility. Customers want to see the negative aspects of a business and how it handles them. No business comes with only positives. Surprise is the last thing your customers want.

How Video Testimonial Software Can Help

Having the right helping hand across your business journey can skyrocket your growth. Video testimonial software can do exactly that for you.

You can use the software to automate and streamline your entire testimonial collection process. Starting from collecting the reviews to handling and showcasing them perfectly.

When selecting a video testimonial software, make sure you check for the features that feel right for your business. For example, find answers to the bunch of questions such as:

1. Import: How well can it import reviews? How many platforms can it integrate with?
2. Collect: How’s the functioning of the review collection form? The UI/UX? Does it offer auto language translation features? Does it capture different formats of reviews?
3. Manage: How does the online workspace function? Is it easy to use? The security of your data? What's the data limit?
4. Showcase: How well can it showcase your reviews? Does it offer a dedicated landing page? What are the features of the Wall of Love?
5. Final Validation: How is the brand's customer support? Their testimonials? Their case studies? Social presence?

Most businesses are turning towards video testimonial software because it offers them the same support a review management team would. From cafes to AI startups, all are adapting the tool to scale their business. These case studies https://www.feedspace.io/case-studies/ should justify the claim in general.

Final Thoughts

In the blog, we've understood why UGC matters for your brand's growth and how it can help you to increase your revenue, credibility, trust, and overall value.

We also understood the Do’s of the UGC, being to use them strategically, incentivize smartly, provide great experience, personalised approaches, and getting the timing right.

The Dont's of UGC were not to be aggressive, guilt tripping users, editing reviews without permission, and ignoring negative feedback.

It's never too late to start collecting UGC the right way, and you can do that right now. With consumers being smart, it's very hard to scale a business in the old ways of marketing. Authenticity through UGC is a proven way to scale any business in 2025.

Feedspace has helped a large volume of different businesses across the globe to benefit from UGC. Customers have stated it to be the best tool out there for the value it has at offer. Want your business scaled? Sign up for free and check how Feedspace can take you from a hero to a superhero.