Yes, you get to learn another acronym! Throw it on your brain shelf next to ROI, IMO, LMK, and OOO.  

And don’t get UGC confused with UFC. That’s short for Ultimate Fighting Championship. You’re not going to enter The Octagon for some MMA (that’s short for “mixed martial arts,” BTW).

UGC is short for user-generated content, and the internet is all about it these days.

‍What is UGC (user-generated content)?

‍In the simplest terms, user-generated content is anything a regular human creates and posts online. 

It’s not a multimillion-dollar video produced in-house at an ad agency. 

It’s not a slick magazine photo of a supermodel wearing jeans on the moon.

UGC is made by a guy drinking juice while skateboarding and listening to Fleetwood Mac.

It’s made by a woman who used Gorilla Glue instead of hair spray.

Basically, UGC is made by real people doing authentic things. And in 2021, authenticity matters. 

Would you rather have some Don Draper character on Madison Avenue tell you to buy a new car with some flashy tagline, or would you prefer your favorite cousin post a Story on Instagram of how excited she is camping in her new SUV?

Most people would prefer the cousin. 70% of consumers consider UGC opinions before they buy something. And 41% will look at between four and seven reviews to gain even more insight for a purchase.

But why do so many people trust content created by random people on the internet more than professionals?

‍UGC is real.

‍Professional content feels salesy because it is. 

A brand or business creates an ad so they can sell something to you.

A guy records himself talking about the new luggage he bought because he genuinely wants to share his thoughts and opinions with others. He has passion for the product, not payment for promotion. 

People can sense that authenticity. In fact, more than 30% of millennials have unfollowed a brand due to inauthentic content.

Between filters, Photoshop, and people renting out a fake private jet for photo shoots, it’s hard to tell what’s real anymore. 

But an actual human being sharing their honest opinion? That’s real. 

And really valuable.

Does that mean Influencers are making UGC? 

In a word, no. 

Influencers exist in that rare space of getting paid for posting something on the internet. Sure, they can make their post seem authentic, but it’s still going to be paid advertising. 

How’s this for a statistic: consumers consider UGC 9.8x more impactful than influencer content.

Finally for once, regular people get a win!

‍Who should create user-generated content?

‍You don’t need a soundstage or actors or expensive equipment with UGC. You just need access to people who are willing to share their story on camera.

With such a low barrier to entry, this opens up UGC to so many exciting uses:

• Educational Institutions
• Community Organizers
• Marketers
• Human Resources
• Content Creators
• Virtual & Live Events
• Nonprofit Organizations
  

And video is by far the best option for user-generated content. You know how a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, there are 30 frames in one second of video.

So now that you know video content created by authentic people is the way to go, we get to the big question:

How do you create the best UGC videos?

Luckily for you, Capsule can help with that.

Capsule lets you harness the power of user-generated video content for all your UGC needs. And the best part?

• Capsule is easy
• Capsule is fast
• Capsule is affordable

With just a few simple steps, you can create hours of high quality, engaging content from the people who matter most to your business or organization. 

1. Make it specific.

Even though other people are creating the video content, you need to let them know what kind of content you want them to create. And let them know fast! People have an 8 second attention span these days.

First, think about what you want to get out of these videos. You could want:

• Testimonials about a new product
• Welcome messages for a recently hired employee
• Questions from your fans
• Customers talking about how relaxed they are post-spa treatment
• Original songs played on a ukulele
  

Start with a narrowed topic, question, or theme that is on brand and on message for what you want to create. Then guide people into the answers that are the most beneficial to you. 

Let’s say you sell mattresses and wanted to use these videos for an ad campaign about how comfortable your mattress is. 

‍Generic Question: “Can you talk about the mattress we sold you?”

‍That’s too broad of a question. People could end up talking about how the mattress barely fits in their studio apartment. That’s not the kind of content you want! 

A better question would be:

‍Specific Question: “What about the mattress we sold you is so comfortable?”

‍This question will get you better results. The more specific the question, the more specific the answers.

Make it as easy as possible for someone to submit high quality video content that you can use.

Remember: these are regular people recording videos. Most likely, they won’t be professionally trained in acting, lighting, or audio. 

In your brief, tell them what to talk about but also how to look and sound. They’ll be grateful for the direction.

Including any or all of these tips in your Capsule brief will make a better final product:

• Record in front of a blank background in a quiet space
• Look into the camera when recording
• Smile and be energetic
• Light yourself from the front
• Hold a specific product
• Wear a specific kind of outfit
• Cover up logos that aren’t your brand
• Avoid swearing (unless that’s on brand for you)

Having limitations actually makes for a better final product. Set some guideposts and watch your high quality, on brand content roll in! 

‍2. Reach out to the right audience.

‍A question about your new bacon double cheeseburger won’t get the response you want if you ask vegans. 

You have to know your audience.

By this point you already know what you want to get out of your UGC videos. So what audience will get you the response you want?

Look to communities that are already champions of your brand, business, or organization. The people who are already on your side.

These are the users you want generating your content.

With Capsule, you can easily send a link out that directs people right to your brief. They can review it and record their video without downloading any extra software.

It’s that easy.

‍3. Brand your videos.

‍Now you have quality videos about the topic you want recorded by the people you want. Don’t stop here!

You need to attach your brand to all this great content. Capsule lets you do it in a couple clicks.

With Capsule, you can customize the branding of your videos from the color palette to the filters to the font. You can also add your logo to take your branding to the next level.

You don’t need a graphics editor when you use Capsule. Just select the videos, and Capsule instantly exports them with your branding in the formats you want.

Which brings us to...

‍4. Export in all video dimensions.

An Instagram video should be a ratio of 4:5 and is recommended to be 864×1080 pixels.

But a TikTok video’s ratio should be 9:16 and 1080×1920 pixels.  

Then there’s Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat. High res, low res, H.264 vs. H.265 compression codecs. 

It’s too much. And really, who even cares? 

The people watching your videos do. 

It’s a frustrating thing that after you’ve compiled all of these fantastic, branded videos you’re not done. 

Now you have this exporting mountain to climb.

Wouldn’t you know, Capsule makes it super easy to export all formats with the click of a button.

It saves you time so you can focus on the final UGC push...

5. Share on social media and beyond

You can’t keep all this great content to yourself. It’s time to share it with the world!

And share it EVERYWHERE. In emails, on social media, over text. Don’t forget that favorite cousin of yours camping in her new SUV. She gets bad reception out there, but she likes to feel included.

Capsule creates a sharable link that you can pop into any mode of communication you like. And those beautifully formatted videos you exported can upload nicely to your social media platform of choice.

And you know what else? You can even embed Capsule videos on your website!

Wherever you share your content (and it should be everywhere), you can feel proud that your keen direction and brand quality made these user-generated videos the best they could be.

‍Conclusion

‍Making UGC videos the right way can be very powerful. You can have top notch, authentic content from passionate people that convert better than more expensive videos that take so much more time to produce.

You can cobble together a UGC strategy on your own and hope it works. Or then there’s Capsule... 

‍Try Capsule free for 14 days and see what all the fuss is about.