User-Generated Content (UGC) is transforming how brands and consumers interact in the digital landscape. Initially, it was a linear communication channel where brands pushed campaigns promoting their products, and the consumers were presented with a binary choice: to buy or not to buy.Fashion Marketing Gaming
However, with UGC in the picture, product users, or rather consumers, now have an opportunity to genuinely review the product themselves and share the feedback with a larger online community on social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.
Arguably, UGC is a more effective approach to marketing (for brands) and shopping (for consumers). 34% of customers in a country like the U.S. rely on other users' reviews, according to the latest analysis by Statista.
How UGC Is Changing the Landscape of Digital Interactions
While the concept of UGC was pioneered in the '90s, it has become more popular over the past two decades, thanks to the wide adoption of social media platforms. Today, there are over 5 billion social media users globally, a good number which uses these social ecosystems for shopping and other forms of creative interactions.
It is this global interconnectivity that has seen UGC take the forefront in shaping the future of several industries, most notably fashion, marketing and gaming.
The fashion industry is one of the sectors where stakeholders are quickly embracing UGC to improve consumer engagement and showcase a wider product suite, alongside an authentic feedback channel.
Examples of fashion brands that have tapped into UGC include Balmain, which launched the #BALMAINARMY campaign, inviting consumers to share their Balmain-styled photos. Louis Vuitton also ran the LVStories campaign, where users had the opportunity to share their travel stories on various social media platforms while donning LV products.
What stands out about these two UGC campaigns is the level of interaction they generated, while at the same time giving prospective customers a more relatable experience as opposed to the traditional high-end fashion runways that remain exclusive.
Marketing is another niche that is being transformed by UGC; gone are the days when brands would have to pay a serious amount to marketing firms for campaign packages. As of writing, it is possible for any company to run a UGC campaign on popular platforms such as TikTok or Instagram without necessarily spending a huge sum.
A good example of a successful UGC marketing campaign is Laura Mercier’s #ReadySetGo challenge on TikTok. The campaign required TikTokers to post their before and after looks using Laura Mercier. Surprisingly, over 2,500 videos were created by TikTokers from different demographics, and these went on to hit a total of 8.1 billion views.
Video game companies are perhaps some of the earliest adopters of UGC. To provide some context, Roblox, which debuted in 2005, featured a platform where users could create and share personalized digital goods or games. Minecraft, on the other hand, offers its consumers a 3D in-game construction environment.
These two are just examples of the leading players embracing UGC, but more importantly, the larger gaming industry now relies on UGC to make more interesting stories with longevity. This is because UGC has opened up an ecosystem where gamers can go beyond the gaming experience and harness their creativity to contribute to more advanced game mods, skins, among other utilities.
Deloitte predicts that 3D UGC game development platforms will pay out a whopping $1.5 billion to content developers, an industry that will likely see more than 10 million independent developers join the space in the near future.
Role of AI in Enhancing UGC
By now, you might have already come across multiple articles touting the growth of AI innovations. It is no secret that generative AI is taking the front seat in the modern-day work environment. This is evident in the number of daily active users on AI platforms; ChatGPT, for instance, records an average of 180 million monthly visits according to the latest data.
So, how exactly will generative AI enhance the value proposition of UGC? For starters, most UGC content is in the form of images, videos, reels, and other forms of art. This is an area where generative AI has proven to be very effective. Barely two years ago, only specialists in the art industry would create high-quality content.
That’s no longer the case; with generative AI tools such as Midjourney, anyone can curate a picture by simply giving prompt instructions to the AI tool. The same applies to customized graphic designs and other types of creative work that content creators use to enhance the value of their UGC content.
In the gaming industry, creative technology studios such as California-based AMGI are already integrating AI to improve their UGC-oriented games. The studio, which has been around since 2019, released its pioneer NFT game dubbed My Pet Hooligan, tapping into the power of Web3 and AI. This social-action game leverages AMGI’s proprietary motion capture and AI to introduce a gaming environment where users can interact as their in-game avatars.
What’s more is that besides curating content in the media and gaming space, unbiased AI algorithms will also assist UGC content to rank more effectively. Organic campaigns such as the ones run by the fashion brands mentioned above will likely have a wider reach compared to paid campaigns that are largely dependent on spamming and other forms of media malpractices.
Conclusion
The advent of UGC content has indeed challenged the status quo of the retail sector across all industries. People no longer need ‘forced’ campaigns from brands when they can simply sample several online reviews. At the same time, who says a gamer has to remain just a gamer? Why not channel their creative energy to contribute to the gaming development process? UGC has made this possible as well.
Now, with AI, it is a no-brainer that UGC will rise to heights never seen before. The process of creation is much faster and more flexible, not to mention the fact that generative AI has become an everyday companion to creatives looking to sharpen their ideas.
