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In 2023, the power of user-generated content (UGC) will be more prominent than ever to increase your marketing ROI.
In fact, social commerce sales are expected to hit $2.9 trillion by 2026. That’s right, with a “T.”
UGC offers brands a unique way to show authenticity to customers and connect with them on an intimate level.
Which is why it converts so well.
However, most of the time is a pain to source this type of content individually.
Or, if you are an aspiring UGC creator, it’s also a glorified hassle to find companies to work with.
Investing in a UGC platform can do most of the work for you, which is why creators and companies use them.
In this article, I rank and review the best UGC platforms on the market now to help you find the right one.
Let’s jump right in.
What Are the Best UGC Platforms?
Here are my picks for the 7 best UGC platforms to increase your marketing ROI in 2023:
1) Trend
Best for Bespoke UGC
Trend is described as a self-serving UGC platform with a network of over 5000 content creators who can produce various licensed content to distribute across various channels.
They set you up with the creator and let you direct the creative.
They also have a rigorous creator vetting process before adding them to the platform, encouraging long-term professional relationships between creators and brands.
Key Features
Pros and Cons Of Trend
Pros
Cons
Pricing
Trend offers the following pricing plans:
2) TINT
Best All-in-One UGC Platform
TINT is an all-in-one user-generated content platform that helps drive more reach, engagement, and sales with Artificial Intelligence.
They offer a massive suite of features like social listening, contest & campaigns,
Key Features
Pros and Cons Of TINT
Pros
Cons
Pricing
TINT offers the following pricing plans:
3) Onstipe
Best Social Media Aggregator
Onstipe is a social media aggregator platform that helps you collect, curate, and display UGC as a social wall.
It allows users to regulate, create, and show social media content anywhere, like on websites, TV screens, projectors, jumbotrons, billboards, and digital signs.
Key Features
Pros and Cons Of Onstipe
Pros
Cons
Pricing
Onstipe offers the following pricing plans:
They even have special event pricing plans.
4) Bazaarvoice
Best for Review Management
Bazaarvoice is a platform more suited for those in E-Commerce seeking to control, collect, display, and distribute UGC on a massive scale.
They aim to provide users with the tools to flood the customer journey with authentic UGC that scales businesses.
Key Features
Pros and Cons Of Bazaarvoice
Pros
Cons
Pricing
Bazaarvoice does not have a subscription plan, as it’s more of an enterprise solution.
So contact their team to learn more.
5) ShortStack
Best for Interactive Campaigns
These include hosting activities like contests, quizzes, and giveaways.
Key Features
Pros and Cons Of ShortStack
Pros
Cons
Pricing
ShortStack offers the following pricing plans:
6) CrowdRiff
Best for Travel and Hospitality Brands
CrowdRiff is the choice for any travel brand looking for amazing storytelling through visual content.
They utilize artificial intelligence to discover unique UGC that will resonate with your audience at a specific destination.
Key Features
Pros and Cons Of CrowdRiff
Pros
Cons
Pricing
CrowdRiff requires interested parties to book a demo with their team.
7) Taggshop
Best for eCommerce
For those looking for a specialized UGC platform for eCommerce, Taggshop is your best bet.
Most of their features aim to drive conversions on your online channels with social commerce solutions.
Key Features
Pros and Cons of Taggshop
Pros
Cons
Pricing
Taggshop offers the following pricing plans:
What Is A UGC Platform?
A UGC platform, AKA user-generated content, is usually a marketing platform used to curate, create, distribute, and manage UGC campaigns.
Through this platform, you can leverage content created by real users to share across your channels.
This platform can be used in various ways, from creating campaigns to developing customer relationships and growing a brand’s social presence.
You can also gain valuable insights into customer attitudes, preferences, and buying habits, which can be used to shape their marketing strategies.
Ultimately, you can create more authentic, engaging content, which will help brands increase customer loyalty and conversations.
What Is User-Generated Content?
As the name suggests, user-generated content (UGC) is any content created by actual users, not by brands or companies.
While scrolling social media platforms or companies’ websites, have you ever wondered, “wow, where did all these customer reviews come from? They even took the time to make videos.”
Yeap, those are likely UGC, and they can also be posts, images, or any other forms of digital media that you can think of.
They are often created by influential influencers in their particular niche who then claim the name UGC creator.
Companies usually collaborate with these creators to make UGC use as part of their own marketing campaigns.
The reason why it’s so popular is that it’s often seen as more raw, authentic, and relatable compared to content made by the company.
How to Choose the Right UGC Platform?
When choosing one, here are some things to keep in mind.
Best UGC Platforms (FAQ)
Why Do I Need a UGC platform?
You could always do it yourself, but is that efficient use of your time, especially if you are trying to scale?
Here are a few reasons you might want to use a UGC platform:
– Influencer Network: Most platforms will have relationships with quality influencers or UGC creators to help you produce great content and distribute it on their channels.
– Moderation and compliance: You get tools for moderating and reviewing user-generated content while ensuring that you get permission to use the images.
– Frictionless Scalability: Most will save you the mundane and impossible task of curating, filtering, and vetting UGC online.
– Advanced features: Some also offer advanced features such as integration with other platforms and tools, analytics and reporting, and even artificial intelligence.
– Social Commerce: You can even integrate the software on social channels to build professional storefronts and sell directly to customers there.
DIY is definitely an option, but only for smaller operations.
When you want to get serious and scale, there isn’t a better option other than using a professional UGC platform.
What Type of Media Is UGC?
It can be any piece of content created by users, typically on a digital platform or social media site.
It can take the form of pictures and videos, audio recordings, and text-based posts.
Basically, any digital content a person can create.
How Do I Launch a UGC Campaign?
Launching a UGC campaign is essentially like any other marketing campaign.
The only difference is the tools and type of content being distributed.
Here are some easy steps to follow:
1) Define your goals: List the objective clearly, whether it’s to increase engagement, generate brand awareness, or drive sales.
2) Identify your target audience: Definitely know who your audience is. That is marketing 101.
3) Choose the right platform: Now, pick a platform from the list above to help you facilitate the creation, curation, distribution, and moderation of the content.
4) Create a clear call-to-action: Whether you are running a giveaway contest or trying to push more sales, explicitly tell your audience. Don’t give them options.
5) Promote your campaign: Use all your active channels to promote your campaign and encourage participation.
6) Encourage sharing: Make it easy for stakeholders to share your content.
7) Give credit and rewards: Acknowledge participants’ efforts by crediting them for their submissions and offering rewards for the best contributions.
8) Measure and analyze the results: Use analytics to track the success of your campaign and identify areas for improvement to double down for the next one.
9) Engage your community with the UGC: Use the UGC content for future marketing campaigns.
How Can I Source for UGC?
You can source for UGC by yourself or through the help of a platform.
If you are a small organization or a solo creator, manually curating UGC on social media and other channels would be fine.
However, if you are a larger business looking to scale, I highly recommend using a UGC platform to help you automate and scale the whole process.
Where To Find UGC Creators?
One of the best ways is to simply go on Instagram or TikTok and search for hashtags like #ugc, #ugccreator, or #ugccontentcreator.
Usually, UGC creators would appear in searches as they slot these hashtags into their posts and even bios.
Some other ways could include:
– Using Fiverr or Upwork and hiring them as freelancers.
– Working with a UGC platform to help you source for them.
– Browsing forums like Reddit.
– Asking your customers if they are interested in creating content for you.
– Searching Google for UGC portfolio websites.
Is User-Generated Content Better?
UGC, in most cases, is objectively better than any other form of content because of the raw authenticity it provides for potential customers.
Some studies have also shown that UGC is 9.8x more impactful in influencing purchase decisions than influencer content.
Which why a lot of companies have adopted this approach to increase conversions.
To Sum Up
Alright, that’s a wrap.
I hope my list of the best UGC platform was informative to you.
In a nutshell, these platforms aren’t always necessary.
However, if you are trying to scale, you would definitely need to use one of the top UGC platforms mentioned above to boost your marketing ROI.
If you liked this article, remember to share it with others.
Also, comment below if you have any other platforms I could add to the list!
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About the author
Brendan Aw
Brendan is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief at brendanaw.com™, where he helps others succeed in the creator economy. Before launching his blog, he was the marketing manager at various E-commerce, NFTs, Crypto, Marketing Consultancy, Finance, and E-sports companies. He now works on his family’s luxury lighting business in Cambodia while documenting his journey as a creator online.
Learn more about me.