If you're involved in the world of digital marketing and social media, and you’re wondering, "what are UGC creators?" you’ve stopped at the right place.
UGC content creators are individuals who create content in the form of written reviews, photos, and videos from their experience of using a product or service.
UGC, or User Generated Content, is important as it appears to be more authentic and relatable than content created by brands. This authenticity and relatability help to build trust between a brand and its customers.
UGC Creators: The Ultimate Guide on How To Be a UGC Content Creator
In this blog post, we'll take a closer look at what’s UGC, UGC content creators, what they do, and why their contributions are so valuable to both brands and consumers.
One of the most important aspects of UGC is the creators themselves. Anyone with a camera and access to the internet can ultimately create user generated content. But not all UGC creators with a camera and internet are the same.
Some are amateurs creating content for fun, while others are professionals using their skills to make a living.
But before we dive deeper into UGC creators, let’s walk through what is UGC content.
What Is UGC Content?
We’re a marketing agency, and we collaborate with e-commerce businesses to help them boost sales with social media marketing. And whenever we introduce the concept of UGC to our clients, they often respond with, “what is UGC content?” or “What does UGC mean?”.
So it’s vital we define what UGC is. Simply put, UGC is any content that has been created and shared by users of a product or service rather than directly by brands or companies.
This includes everything from photos and videos to written reviews and testimonials.
The beauty of UGC is that it is authentic and relatable, giving consumers a real-life look at a product or service before they make a purchase. It is a powerful tool for building trust between a brand and its customers.
Content Created by People vs Content Created by Brands: The Difference and Why It Matters
People are more likely to trust the opinions and experiences of an actual person rather than the carefully crafted messaging of a brand.
When customers see real people using and enjoying a product, they're more likely to believe the fact that the product is good, and this ultimately drives them to buy it.
On the other hand, content created by brands is often more polished and professional-looking, with a lot of graphics than UGC.
Don't get me wrong, this is great for showcasing products or services in the best possible light, but it also comes across as insincere or inauthentic.
Because the ultimate goal of any business is to drive sales and profit. And the truth is, everyone is well aware of that intention. And that is where UGC shines!
What Are UGC Creators: A Closer Look
UGC creators are individuals who create content based on a product or service that they have first-hand experience with. They share their experience with the product or service to inform other potential buyers.
The format of the content can be written, image, or video. Video UGCs are the most in-demand and most effective for how engaging and real they can be.
There are creators that create UGC content for their own as well as for businesses. Brands are willing to pay such creators to promote their products or services, and this can easily become a source of lucrative income for you.
Have a look at the UGC below. It's a video UGC we did with one of our UGC content creators for one of our clients as part of a social media marketing strategy.
How Much Do UGC Creators Make?
We’ve gone through a lot about user generated content and UGC creators. But there’s still more valuable data to explore. But at this point, you may be wondering. “how much do UGC creators make for their efforts?”.
It’s normal if that’s what you’re thinking. After all, our ultimate goal here is to explore this opportunity and make a career out of it.
The short answer is the earnings of a UGC content creator depend on multiple factors. Some UGC creators earn a bit of pocket money through affiliate marketing or sponsored posts, while others are able to make a full-time income by directly working for other brands and businesses.
Depending on the creator's experience, popularity, quality, etc., companies usually pay UGC creators anywhere from around $100-700 for a 30-second video UGC.
What Is UGC in Social Media: The Powerful Marketing Technique
Now, let’s have a look at how social media comes into play with UGC.
Social media platforms have made it easier than ever for UGC creators to share their content with a wide audience, especially videos UGCs.
The top social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok are a treasure trove of user-generated content.
For one, UGC, especially the video content, is extremely engaging to consumers. On the other side, we have these social media platforms, and each of them holds an eye-popping number of users:
Facebook: Around 3 billion monthly active users.
Instagram: Around 1.5 billion monthly active users.
TikTok: Around 1 billion monthly active users.
Brands are well aware of the power of UGC on social media and often use it to their advantage by constantly publishing user generated content.
How Brands Use UGC in Social Media
Businesses use the vast network of social media users and use UGC to promote their products, build brand awareness, and engage with their target audience in a way that feels authentic and relatable.
Brands, and even marketers like us, prefer video UGCs to be used in social media.
Videos allow us to showcase our products in action, share customer testimonials, and even give a behind-the-scenes look at a company.
Video UGCs are also used to drive social media engagement, with users being encouraged to share and comment on videos that they find interesting or entertaining.
Why Is UGC So Important: The Immeasurable Value of UGC for Brands
But why is UGC important for brands and businesses? To understand that, you first need to know how UGC works for brands.
For one thing, it helps to build trust and authenticity with consumers.
When a brand shares a positive review from a real customer, it carries more weight than a polished, professionally-crafted advertisement.
UGC also helps to humanize a brand and make it more relatable.
A great example of the importance of UGC would be Amazon. Almost all products listed on Amazon have reviews. Those are written user generated content published by actual consumers of a specific product.
It's hard to identify the good and bad products on Amazon without these reviews. They're literally the holding pillars and a major influence in driving sales for the e-commerce giant!
How To Be a UGC Creator?
Now, if you're reading this post and thinking, "how to be UGC creator", don't worry, we’ve got you covered.
With the rapid growth of social media platforms and their massive user base, UGC has become an essential element for businesses to gain visibility and build trust with potential customers.
As such, being a successful UGC creator has become a highly valuable and rewarding career opportunity.
Before anything, it's important to know that becoming a UGC creator takes time and effort. So be prepared before you take the leap.
Define Your Niche
If you want to be a UGC creator, the first step is to define your niche and target audience.
This helps you create content that is relevant and interesting to your audience and makes it easier for you to connect with them.
Some examples of niches include fashion, beauty, lifestyle, travel, food, and technology.
You also need to figure out what format of UGC you want to focus on. If you're good at writing, written UGC is your way to go. If you're good in front of cameras, then the highly rewarding video UGC will fit you better.
Learn To Produce High-quality Content
Once you've settled on a niche and format, it's time to get down to the business of creating high-quality content.
This means understanding the basics of media production, such as lighting and sound, and researching the industry standards for video UGCs. For photo UGCs, this could be learning how to use photo editing software, photo filters, and other tools.
Once you've acquired the necessary skills, start producing content and refine your craft over time. Make sure to track your progress and results so that you can identify areas for improvement.
Create Your Portfolio
Your portfolio is a compilation of your best work and should ideally include samples from all the UGC formats that you can create.
This serves as your calling card and will be seen by potential clients, so make sure it reflects your abilities in the best possible way.
Getting paid if you don't already have a portfolio is hard. And getting paid well if you don't have an amazing portfolio is harder.
So start with a few free gigs. Or you can help out your friends or family by creating UGC content for them for free. You can then include these pieces of work in your portfolio.
Find clients
Ok, we've come to the point where we need to find clients now. Once you have everything set up and in place from the above pointers, the next step is finding clients so you can get paid for making UGC content and shape a career out of it.
There are 3 primary ways of finding clients. Here's a closer look at them:
Freelancing Sites
The first method is signing up on freelancing platforms and selling your service there. Upwork and Fiverr are two of the leading freelancing platforms where you can find freelancing gigs.
A freelancing site is perhaps the easiest way of finding people that pay you. These sites are filled with millions of employers, and they're all recruiting almost every hour of the day!
But there's a catch here, though. Freelancing sites will charge a certain rate of commission from you. For example, Upwork takes away 5-20% of your earnings depending on their internal performance metrics.
I mean, if you're getting access to that many employers, it's only fair to pay the price, right?
Networking
Then comes networking. Once you've stepped into the area of UGC creation, start connecting with other like-minded people. You can use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Reddit, Facebook, etc., for networking.
The people you connect with can be a great source of knowledge and insight for you. They could also potentially refer you to companies in the future if you've got valuable skills.
Cold Outreach
If you know someone that could use your UGC creation skills, like an e-commerce business or a local store, reach out to them and let them know you're willing to help for a price.
This is called cold outreach, the process of reaching out to potential customers, clients, or collaborators who have not previously had any contact or interactions with you.
Marketing Agencies
Now this sort of falls under cold outreach, but we want to make this a different section for a very special reason.
For one, marketing agencies are spread all over the place. Click Hive (that’s us, by the way) is one of them but what makes us unique is our effective and proven SMM techniques, generating profits for our clients that have gone through the roof!
You can search for marketing agencies on Google and contact them for a career opportunity.
Are You a UGC Creator?
Our uniqueness and effectiveness make us industry experts. That means Click Hive is not only generating sales for our clients but a stable source of income for our team as well.
Click Hive is always on the lookout for new faces to represent our clients' products. If you have what it takes to be a UGC creator, feel free to reach out to us for a career opportunity.
You can fill out this basic form and we'll get back to you with opportunities!
Conclusion
UGC creators are a vital part of the digital landscape, providing authentic, relatable content that helps build trust between brands and consumers.
With the right skills, equipment, and mindset, you can become a UGC creator and potentially turn this passion into a career.
As UGC's significance increases in today's digital age, it is important for both creators and brands to understand the value of UGC and use it accordingly. The opportunities are endless, and the future looks bright for those who embrace the power of user-generated content.
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