The Difference between PAID and ORGANIC UGC

What is UGC?

UGC Stands for User Generated Content.

It’s basically any form of content – images, videos, written, audio – that has been posted by a ‘customer’ to social media. Instead of the brand promoting itself via traditional ‘ads’, you now have consumers or employees creating on their behalf, talking about the product or showing it in their everyday style etc.

You can have organic UGC and paid UGC. The difference between the two is how the brands use it

(and it also effects how the creator has made it too)

Some Stats On The Rise In Popularity of UGC

• 92% of consumers turn to people they know for referrals above any other source.

• 84% of consumers say they trust a friend’s recommendations above all other sources of advertising.

• Millennials (ages 25 and above) trust UGC 50% more than original content generated by the brands.

• UGC-based ads get 4x higher click-through rates and a 50% drop in cost-per-click than average.

There’s a big difference between content that is meant to be used in organic posts on your feed versus if it’s being used in paid ad campaigns so let’s discuss that next:

ORGANIC UGC

When I’m creating organic content, I know that the goal for that particular piece of content, differs to something I’m making for a paid ad. Organic UGC is roughly 80% value or entertainment and 20% selling the offer/product. In other words, it’s more about being entertaining/beautiful/on trend rather than ‘salesy’. With this type of content, your aim is to just post something on social media and be consistent, fill the feed & work on your relationship with your customers/followers.

• It’s designed to emulate a customer experience

• Not usually ‘salesy’ much more subtle. Could be a tutorial or an unboxing or ASMR video. They often follow trends and are fun/entertaining

• Only to be posted on the brands social pages

• Showing products in everyday life. Real people in real life using your products

To summarise, your organic piece of UGC is simply posted to the brands instagram page or Tik Tok. If it’s a paid piece of content, it will be used in paid ads by the brand. This is when they takes your video and they put money behind it to ‘boost’ the post so that tik Tok and instagram will play that video multiple times a day on the For You page and Explore page. Which, hopefully, leads to more follows and even sales for the brand. This is why content used in paid ads costs the brand more - or, should.

I will say, content creation is a relatively new field and many of us business owners and content creators are still learning the ropes. Now that I know what to charge for useage rights and the worth of that content - or even the raw footage (Which I used to give away for free with the video they bought from me!) I won’t be making that mistake twice.

PAID UGC

For content that is made for paid ads, the goal is almost always to get the sale or at least some sort of conversion for the brand, whether it’s a follow, website click, sign up to email marketing, etc. So you can be more deliberate and strategic with these types of videos.

There is usually an advertising budget behind these videos and they can be much more scripted and even follow a specific structure. There’s often a brief from the brand outlining ‘Do’s’ and ‘Don’ts’ and they might want you to touch on the USP’s, answer customers limiting beliefs and things like that within the video.

They are designed to convert, we want you to purchase or sign up etc.

• Usually 15 seconds or less but can be longer

• Can be posted on a brand’s website or used in ads by the brand.

• It’s goal is to generate sales, brand awareness or gain follows

• Has a clear structure - hook, focuses on the pain point that the product solves and its features & benefits etc.

I hope you now understand the difference and - for the creators reading this - I hope you’re not undercharging yourself like I was when I first started. That video you charged $200 for could be potentially generating hundreds or thousands of dollars in sales for the Brand.

If you’re a Brand who is in need of some UGC, you know what to do!

(Email me and ask for my pricing list so we can get started!)

Love Bec