User-Generated Video is Changing the Media Landscape

If you scroll through any social media platform, like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, you might notice that the line between real user posts and advertisements is blurring. Paid sponsorships and user-generated company videos are getting more views and better interaction. Advertisers are getting smarter about how to get you to watch their promotions—and trust them.

Authenticity Determines Company Reputation

When you think of a video advertisement, you might immediately think of the traditional route: a high-impact Nike video, a crisp white Apple ad, or a heartfelt pharmaceutical testimonial from a famous actor.

But audiences have become wise to traditional marketing strategies. Celebrity spokesmen and fear-based messaging (if you don’t buy our product, you will suffer) are a thing of the past.

Nowadays, companies are recruiting regular people, not actors and celebrities, to record videos that promote their brand. Finding real, relatable spokesman to promote your product—especially if they’re genuine, existing users—makes a real connection with your purchasing audience.

User-Generated Content is Cheap Advertising

Companies are finding many benefits to user-generated content. They’re foregoing carefully crafted studio sets, long days of shooting, expensive equipment, and a whole crew of people. To some, this low-effort video style may seem lazy or unprofessional. But UGC isn’t just cheaper than a big-budget commercial—it’s proven to be more effective.

With cost savings on each advertisement, it’s also more cost-effective to create more ads per campaign. And fresh content gets more views than recycling the same video over and over.

Get More Valuable Views with UGC Video Strategy

When UGC advertising is done right, it may take viewers a minute to realize they’re being shown an ad. This advertising strategy is effective in gaining views as well as building trust. Many users feel skeptical of messaging coming from large corporations. But self-filmed videos from someone ‘like you’ feel more authentic. They might sound like a friend offering a recommendation. Even if the speaker was paid, that testimonial of the product or service, in turn, feels more honest.

In tandem with increasingly accurate social media algorithms, your brand is also more likely to reach your target audience now than ever before. TikTok’s For You Page feed is highly specific to each person’s preferred content and creators. Instagram promotes brand and influencer accounts first, your friends and family second.

Many social media platforms curate these feeds using collected demographic and engagement data. So when advertisers take advantage of the algorithm, they can attract the most likely buyers.

Traditionally text- or photo-based social media platforms are leaning into video. It’s an industry-wide shift, prioritizing engagement first. With a UGC video strategy, you can blend in and get better results.