UGC that works on Amazon and social, from brief to final cut.
User generated content works because it looks like it came from a customer, not a brand. Getting it to also land your claims, fit every placement and stay usable in ads takes more planning than most people expect. This is how we do it.
Why UGC works
Shoppers have learned to scroll past ads. Content that looks like it came from someone like them gets watched. UGC feels native in TikTok and Reels, it answers the questions a shopper has on a product page and it gives a brand far more content than a traditional shoot can for the same budget.
The catch is that it has to do a brand's job while sounding like a person. That's where the planning goes.
Write a brief that keeps their voice
A good UGC brief gives creators structure without a script that makes them sound like an ad. Ours always covers four things.
- Campaign overview. The product, the audience and the one thing the content has to land.
- Deliverables and logistics. Formats, lengths, deadlines and how the product reaches them.
- Creative direction. The shots we need, the setting and the feel, with examples.
- Script and claims. Talking points in plain language, and the claims they can and can't make.
Cast for the audience, not the follower count
The right creator looks and sounds like your customer. We vet each one for a real audience in the right market, recent activity and the quality of their content, using the same checks we use for creator seeding. For some briefs we cast creators to film at home, for others we bring them into our studio with our crew.
Agree the rights before anyone presses record
The most common UGC problem is content a brand can't use. Agree usage rights in writing first. Where it can run, for how long, whether it can be used in paid ads and whether it can be edited. Log those terms against every asset, so nobody has to dig through emails a year later.
If the creator is paid or gifted, posts on their own channels are ads and need a clear label, in line with the ASA and CMA guidance.
Cut for every placement
One shoot should become many assets. We plan the cuts before filming, so the creator captures what each one needs.
- TikTok and Reels. A hook in the first second, vertical, fast and captioned.
- Amazon. A longer demonstration that shows the product working and answers the questions in the reviews.
- Paid social. Square, vertical and landscape versions, each with proposed audience interest groups.
- Organic posts. Primary text written for search, alt text and hashtags.
For Dr Scholl's product launches, UGC sits in the standard launch toolkit alongside product films and statics, with an organic UGC video and a paid UGC suite for every new product.
Where AI fits, and where it doesn't
AI is useful in UGC production. Editing, versioning, captions and transcreation are all faster with it. What it shouldn't do is invent customers. AI generated people presented as real reviewers damage trust. Labelled AI content lowered engagement and conversion in our impact assessments. And New York's synthetic performer law now requires ads with digitally created people to say so.
- Brief for structure, not a script
- Cast creators who look and sound like your customers
- Agree usage rights before filming
- Plan every cut before the shoot, and keep real people real
Measure, then go again
Track views, engagement and conversion for every cut, then brief the next round from what worked. The best performing creators become your regulars, and the best performing content becomes your ads. Our content production team runs UGC end to end, alongside our influencer programmes.
Sources
Questions clients ask us.
What is UGC?
UGC, or user generated content, is content made by customers or creators in their own voice rather than by the brand. Brands use it because it feels native in social feeds and on product pages, and shoppers trust it.
Can UGC be used on Amazon?
Yes. UGC style video works well as a product demonstration on the listing and in Amazon video ads, as long as you hold the rights and the claims match what the brand is allowed to say.
Who owns the rights to UGC?
The creator does, unless they agree otherwise. Agree in writing where the content can run, for how long and whether it can be used in paid ads, before anything is filmed.
Should we use AI to make UGC?
Not to invent customers. AI generated people passed off as real reviewers damage trust, and laws such as New York's synthetic performer rules now require disclosure. Use AI for editing, versioning and captions instead.
More from the Resource Centre.
Creator seeding that gets posts, not just parcels.
The nine stages, vetting checks and two tiers we use for creator seeding and gifting, plus the changes that lift the post rate.
Brand value, not compliance, is the biggest AI risk.
What our impact assessments found when real content carried a made with AI label, the rules now in force and six steps to use AI without hurting the brand.
From one shoot to every listing, planning an ecommerce product shoot.
The shot matrix, location, casting and product tests behind a five day shoot that gave Hoover films and 120+ images for every listing.
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