7 Top Examples of Successful User Generated Content Campaigns Worldwide

In today's time, top brands of the world are increasingly running User Generated Content Campaigns to market their products. With the help of social media, all these top brands come up with unique ideas and share them with the world.

User-generated content (UGC) refers to any content, such as videos, images, or text created by users of a particular product or service.

There are a number of reasons why top brands use UGC to promote their brand. Such as-

• Establish brand loyalty and grow a community
• Build trust between customer and brand
• Strengthen brand visibility on online
• Collect feedback from real users

For example, Airbnb's “Live There” campaign featured real stories from travelers about unique experiences they had while staying at Airbnb rentals around the world. The campaign generated over 130 million views across multiple platforms and resulted in a 10% increase in bookings.

So interested to know more about how top brands have used user-generated content to their marketing advantages?

Then, here is a post for you that highlights some of the best examples of successfully User Generated Content campaigns. You will surely get a lot of mind-blowing ideas and inspiration from these examples.

Why Brands Need User-Generated Content

More than the brands themselves, customers trust each other a lot. In fact, several surveys suggested that more than 60% of people trust the comments posted or photos taken by other customers. Rather than believing those taken by the seller or manufacturer itself.

This supports the importance of user-generated content even more for these brands and companies.

User-Generated Content turns a loyal enthusiastic consumer into an automatic campaigner of brands. It will improve build engagements among various communities for their products or services.

The basic idea of user-generated content is that passionate customers or partners of the brand will provide a more authentic recommendation. It will help other communities and customers to make a buying decision.

85% of the user are found to be more influenced by the UGC than the content made by the brands directly – Adweek

The above statistics already encourage companies to connect with their clients in a more engaging and personalized manner.

In today's social media-driven world, usage of user-generated content is really ideal and cost-effective. In fact, 70% of brands believe that UGC helps them connect better with customers on social media.

Not to mention its ability to reinforce your brand trustworthiness, raises instant outreach, and improve customer trust and authenticity.

7 Examples Of Top Brand's User Generated Content Campaigns

Below are the examples of top brands who get immense success in user generated content campaigns-

1. Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola's marketing team came up with the idea of starting a “Share a Coke” campaign through the social and ads channels.

Overnight it has started to see a great response from general customers around the globe. This idea first popped in for the Australian in 2011, when Coke decided to print about 150 most common and popular names on its bottles asking people to ‘share a Coke' with their loved ones.

The campaign was run in rotation in different countries based on the culture, customs, and background of each of those countries.

This idea was welcomed with open arms and people profusely started sharing photos with the bottles on social media. The “Share a Coke” campaign became an instant hit. Not just in Australia but around the globe in over 80 countries later on.

If you want to utilize social media for your brand promotion, this guide can help you. – How to Create a Fruitful Social Media Content Workflow.

2. Netflix

Inspired by the title of Netflix's original series ‘Stranger Things', they have decided to promote their series through some creative User Generated Content (UGC).

Normally, in order to spread the word of Netflix's upcoming premiers, they promote fans' posts extensively using simple hashtags usually the title of the show.

In one such campaign, Netflix used the title ‘Stranger Things2' in the hashtag to promote their upcoming second season of the series. Due to such action, curious Instagram users were lured back to the page of Netflix to find out what the real fuss was about. 

Getting entertained by this idea thousands of people got stimulated and started posting images of stranger things in their daily lives hash-tagging/tagging the title of the show. Using those unique UGC shared worldwide, Netflix generated almost 1 million audiences in just 2 weeks.

Witnessing this overwhelming response they realized they can cash in from such UGC in the future as well and shared such campaigns more often than not.

In a recent campaign, on their Instagram page, they reshared some influencer content like ‘Baby Barb'. Also, the waffles and eggs specialized food item producers like Eggo used the series title to improve engagement. So no doubt these UGC played a vital part in Netflix’s social media strategy.

3. Adobe

The designing software company Adobe thought of running an innovative campaign for talented designers and artists using a Hashtag. They started an Art Maker Series, where inventive designers were asked to share their creative artwork and highlight their skills using any of the Adobe products such as Illustrator, Photoshop, etc. in a demonstration of fast-paced videos.

Adobe then used these shared UGC for user recommendations, product/feature promotions, and other expert endorsements. With such UGC, Adobe has tried to showcase its design capabilities.

They use another hashtag #AdobePerspective where endowed design content creators could share their and other user's visionary work for free. This was seen as a great opportunity for Adobe to engage with the users of various other communities.

Until they see the sample of these UGC, many new users may find it difficult to know the things they can actually do with their software. So this UGC will play as a form of show-offing the enormous ability of Adobe products.

Adobe is indeed an inspiring example of UGC and their campaigns are always a highlight of other capable users. They also value the integrity and culture of their fraternity. This truly keeps them ahead of the race making their UGC look quite real and authentic to the viewers.

4. Apple

Nothing is more authentic and compelling than your users vouching out for the product they love. Apple was quick in realizing this after they found out about user's dissatisfaction with the average camera capabilities for pictures shot in low lights. Without wasting any time Apple launched a #ShotOnIphone campaign to redeem their lost trust in iPhone's camera aptitudes.

Apple was losing a significant amount of fans due to this issue. So, in the urgency of regaining the trust back of its users, Apple was swift in addressing this matter giving a lot of importance to this campaign. The campaign was about newbie and pro users taking photos in low light with their iPhones and sharing them online.

Those beautiful low-light shots were then posted on Youtube under the campaign name “Shot on iPhone”. The campaign mostly showcased some of the most magnificent everyday day user's low light visuals that were taken using the lens of the iPhone.

Using such innovative User Generated Content, Apple not only regained the faith of its skeptical users but also saved a lot of development and production costs. Also, minimizes the implementation cost of their marketing strategy.

Apple made all those users feel really special when they used their visual content in Apple's ads worldwide.

This long-running UGC campaign also improved user engagement in Apple's community. Made all the users feel like a part of the community. This helped Apple to revive its status among its fans. 

Undoubtedly a master plan of making the proper use of the UGC campaign making it a part of their core marketing strategy now for the last 3 years.

5. Starbucks

Back in 2014, Starbucks encouraged its customers to draw some artistic doodles on their white cups launching a contest for them on Twitter under the hashtag #WhiteCupContest.

Starbucks announced that the winning white cup drawings submitted by the customers would be used as a limited edition template for the cup design of Starbucks. This contest then generated great interest in the customer's mind. In just a span of 3 weeks, it received a tremendous response with around 4000 drawn cups being sent to Starbucks by the users after that.

Looking at the huge success of #WhiteCupContest, in 2016 Starbucks came up with another challenging contest for its enthusiastic customers. This time the coffee giant came up with a contest named #RedCupArt challenge under the hashtag.

This has also received great feedback from its customers. It brings enormous social media popularity for Starbucks on Twitter and Instagram.

Both of these UGC campaigns were the perfect example of creating a huge social media impact even without having to spend a lot. And excitingly enough, for Starbucks, these contests were a great publicity stunt that worked like magic. All the user-generated content valued by Starbucks also proved that it appreciates customer feedback.

Another reason for such user-generated content campaigns to be successful is that it's super easy to participate for anyone. Also, something that is directly related to the customer's favorite product.

6. GoPro

GoPro's #GoProChallenge emerged as a brilliant marketing initiative orchestrated by the company's innovative marketing team. The campaign aimed to harness the power of user-generated content through social media and advertising channels, creating a global buzz.

The concept of the #GoProChallenge took shape organically, with GoPro enthusiasts being encouraged to share their most thrilling and creative action videos. The campaign kicked off, and the response was immediate and widespread.

The #GoProChallenge phenomenon began to gain momentum in different parts of the world. It was a strategic move, with the campaign being tailored to suit the unique cultural contexts, customs, and backgrounds of the various countries involved. This adaptability contributed to the campaign's resonance on a global scale.

Much like the “Share a Coke” campaign, GoPro's #GoProChallenge succeeded in fostering a sense of community and engagement. Users enthusiastically shared their action-packed videos on social media platforms, using the designated hashtag to connect with the wider GoPro community.

7. Lay's

Lay's “Do Us a Flavor” is a contest where the public submits ideas for new chip flavors. The most compelling entries are then produced in limited batches and put up for a nationwide vote. The flavor with the most votes wins and becomes a permanent addition to Lay's lineup, with the winning creator receiving a grand prize (often $1 million!).

The campaign debuted in the U.S. in 2012, celebrating Lay's 75th anniversary. It was an instant hit, with millions of flavor submissions and the winning creation, “Cheesy Garlic Bread” by Karen Weber-Mendham, becoming a commercial success. Since then, “Do Us a Flavor” has returned numerous times, each edition featuring unique themes and prize structures.

“Do Us a Flavor” has become a signature Lay's campaign, proving that crowdsourcing can be a powerful tool in the food industry. It's a testament to the brand's willingness to take risks and listen to its customers, and it continues to be a source of delicious fun and innovation for chip lovers everywhere.

Read More: Drive Your eCommerce Growth with User Generated Content.

How to Allow User Generated Content On Your WordPress Website

You are a WordPress user and your site already works with UGC or you just want to start hosting them now. Then there are a number of free and paid WordPress plugins that make user-generated content hosting much easier than ever.

For managing user-generated content from the front end keeping you away from the hassle of going to the backend. You can use WP User Frontend Pro.

It has one of the most user-friendly user interfaces. You get to have your own front-end dashboard from where you can manage your UGC. Allow users to post their generated content right from the front end without any trouble.

So if you need a reliable tool to promote User-Generated Content Submissions then WP User Frontend is perfect for you.

Have You Seen Any Other UGC That Inspired You?

It's true that you can raise the authenticity and credibility of your website with user-generated content. People also find the UGC more honest and genuine compared to the information that brands provide to the customer. So, having UGC is a fantastic way of promoting your products.

Did you find any other UGC campaigns interesting enough to share with us? Do let us know via the comments section below.