UGC Examples that Move the Needle

That’s not a fancy title we chose to get more organic traffic.

The examples featured in this guide don’t just move the metaphorical needle.

They produced real, quantifiable results for our clients.

And that’s what makes this article different:

Our top-performing UGC agency will share our in-house expertise and analyze real-life examples  of companies we worked with.

You will find out why they came to inBeat and what goals they wanted to achieve.

We will tell you why we chose UGC and not another strategy and how we selected our influencers.

We’ll also take you through ads or posts we created, how we got the idea, and what results we got.

Curious yet?

Keep reading below.

TL;DR

• Native: Used UGC on Instagram (200+ unique content assets) to build brand awareness, leveraging influencers for high-quality content and brand exposure.
• Bumble: Utilized UGC for TikTok ads to target Gen Z users, focusing on app downloads and active user engagement.
• Hopper: Employed UGC on TikTok and Meta for app installs and purchases, combating ad fatigue with engaging “tips-and-tricks” content.
• Linktree: Leveraged UGC to create relatable and diverse content, increasing engagement and brand connection.

Native: Awareness Campaign

Native is a beauty and care brand. Their core value is diversity, and they favor glam, stylish presentations over raw content.

Besides, Native is one of our most decided and well-prepared customers:

• They had specific guidelines for quality.
• They wanted the content to be very high-end.
• Their goal was to collect user-generated content on Instagram, with the possibility to repurpose the content on other media.
• Native wanted to put their products in the limelight.

1. Why Native Came to inBeat

Native came to inBeat to create high-quality images for social media to build their brand awareness. As we mentioned above, they had very specific rules and guidelines. They also knew we had a large database of influencers, so we could deliver the content they wanted.

2. Why We Used UGC for Native (and not Another Strategy)

First, UGC is what we call user-generated content. But in many of our clients’ cases, this strategy doesn’t involve posting from the creators’ side. Therefore, this is not an organic campaign – it’s only UGC creation for ads.

And that means you won’t see those ads unless the platform’s algorithm targets you. It’s quite different from a regular organic influencer marketing campaign.

The main advantage is gaining more control over this campaign.

That’s precisely what Native wanted.

So why did we choose UGC and not another strategy?

• UGC is the best type of content for social media: Many UGC statistics show that this type of content leads to increased product consideration and conversions. Our experience also indicates that UGC creates desire, specifically for beauty brands like Native.
• The target was building brand awareness: UGC creates social proof and can put your product on the map. If Native’s goal had been to increase its sales, we would have proposed using influencers. In that case, the creators post content directly on their pages, recommending products to their followers. Influencers also discuss products directly with the people watching them, responding to comments and DMs.

More importantly, Native already had this strategy in mind. We told you they were decisive.

3. How We Selected Creators for Native

Finding influencers is essential for any successful campaign. Here are the steps we followed for Native:

3.1. Mood-boarding: Creative Brief

The first step of creator selection is mood-boarding – the trademark inBeat name for this part of the process).

Basically, we composed a creative brief following Native’s recommendations. We included all relevant criteria, such as the product being in the limelight and high-end content. Other criteria were related to content pieces and campaign details.

3.2. Mood-matching: Sourcing Creators

After composing the brief with clear goals and expectations, we found creators that could meet these conditions.

Native wanted:

• Diverse creators across genders, nationalities, sizes, and industries because diversity is one of their core values.
• All these creators needed to be able to produce high-quality content.

Here are two examples of top-performing content creators to see how diverse they are:

Leticia Esparza, Sparring Taekwondo World Champion:

Prashant Yay, a personal stylist with a love for sustainability:

3.3. Consulting Native

After shortlisting the best candidates, we showed Native our proposals. They vetted our choices, and we decided on ten content creators.

4. The Content We Created for Native

After onboarding the ten creators, we provided them with products they photographed in various locations. They also took photos of themselves with the product.

5. How We Got the Idea for the Native Ads

Native was very decisive on what type of content they wanted. They suggested this type of ad, and, from all looks of it, they were right.

6. Monitoring the Native Campaign

The goal of Native’s campaign was to build brand awareness, so our KPIs had to reflect that. We followed:

• Reach
• Follower count growth
• Quality of content based on the creative brief

7. The Results We Got for Native

Native was very happy with this campaign’s results, so they renewed the contract for 2023. They wanted four times as many creators this time and had four times the original budget.

Bumble: App Download Campaign

Bumble is a dating app that addresses Gen Z-ers. The dating app environment is competitive, with Tinder monopolizing a huge chunk of it. So, other dating apps must stand out of the crowd somehow.

1. Why Bumble Came to inBeat

Bumble came to inBeat with two goals in mind:

• To boost app downloads
• To get more active app users

The strategy we decided on was to produce a UGC campaign for paid TikTok ads. Like in the Native campaign, the creators didn’t post this content on their pages, and neither did Bumble.

2. Why We Used UGC for Bumble (and not Another Strategy)

We used UGC for Bumble for two reasons:

1. Their audience, Gen Z-ers, use TikTok more than other social networks: UGC is the preferred type of content for this social platform.
2. That’s what the competitors were missing: We thoroughly analyzed Bumble’s competitors, analyzing their content and ads on social media. We collected relevant data such as angles used in videos, messages, content creators, and where they drive traffic. After reviewing this data, TikTok UGC emerged as the winning strategy.

We didn’t get any brief for Native this time; they trusted us enough to find the best road to success.

And we decided that couples who meet on Bumble should go on dates.

3. How We Selected Creators for Bumble

Just like with Native and other customers, mood-boarding was our first step. After creating this brief, which included content examples and guidelines, we searched for creators to produce it.

Our creators had to respect the following criteria:

• 18-24 years old
• App users
• Lifestyle influencers

We’ve used our own UGC marketplace for that as well as executed manual outreach. 

4. The Content We Created for Bumble

Five creators of diverse backgrounds were chosen for this campaign, and we came up with the idea, “come with me to my first date,” which played out nicely.

Every creator chose a date idea and invited a date out. Alyssa, one of the creators, met her girlfriend on Bumble. She was very excited to take her out and film this experience.

Here’s the ad Sebas Bedoya, owner of eccentric high-end clothing brand Thrsday, created:

Alyssa Klinzing, former Miss Kansas USA, created this video:

Insider secret: We used three hooks in these TikTok ads. The first was at the beginning, another in the middle, and the third at the end.

Including multiple hooks in the videos allowed us to decrease the cost per install considerably. We noticed that the first hook outperforms the other two by 30%.

Here’s an easy example:

If the third hook leads to a cost per install (CPI) of $1, the first one has a CPI of 70 cents. That might not seem like much, but it makes a considerable difference with a six-figure campaign budget.

5. How We Got the Idea for the Bumble Ads

We got the idea for the Bumble ads from thorough research. We organized our research in three stages:

• Competitors
• The entire dating app industry
• Past campaigns that Bumbles did

6. Monitoring the Bumble Campaign

First, we tested different content from the same creators to see what worked. So, we kept a close eye on this campaign, especially knowing that the TikTok algorithm is fairly volatile.

We also followed specific KPIs, considering the app’s marketing goals:

• Number of app downloads
• Number of active users
• Cost per install

7. The Results We Got for Bumble

Bumble is also one of our happiest customers. We increased their app downloads considerably, and more people became active users. Besides, we also slashed their CPIs considerably thanks to the 3-hook tactic.

Hopper: Mobile App Purchase Campaign

Hopper is a travel app that helps people book flights at accommodation quickly. Their unique selling point is helping people find the best prices. The mobile app makes predictions and sends users notifications to inform them when they can purchase at the most affordable prices.

As such, Hopper targets young people with wanderlust. These are mostly Gen Z-ers and young Millennials who want to travel as often as possible without breaking the bank.

1. Why Hopper Came to inBeat

Hopper wanted to get more:

• App installs
• In-app purchases

The company also wanted to scale its TikTok ads campaign. The problem with ads on this channel is they reach ad fatigue quickly. As that happens, the cost per acquisition (CPA) becomes higher.

2. Why We Used UGC for Hopper (and not Another Strategy)

We used UGC for Hopper because that’s the best type of content to attract attention and avoid ad fatigue. The ads were presented as “secret travel hacks,” and all creators used hooks in that fashion:

Again, we decided on paid ads for TikTok and Meta. inBeat’s creators generated unique content to attract the audience’s interest. At the same time, these travel hacks created desire, so people were more likely to make in-app purchases.

3. How We Selected Creators for Hopper

We selected creators for Hopper following our tried-and-tested mood-boarding followed by the mood-matching process.

After creating the brief based on thorough research, we tried to find content creators who produce similar content. We were looking for:

• High-engagement rates to make sure their followers are actually interested in these creators
• Professionalism to ensure these creators are sharp and can produce quality content
• Content creators in the travel niche to ensure they are relevant for this app

Chantel is a coach and content creator in the lifestyle and travel niches. She was also one of our top performers for Hopper:

Ryan Fila is another top-performing creator we partnered with during this campaign. He is a traveling filmmaker with a highly engaged audience. Besides, Ryan produces raw TikTok content that helps him connect to his followers:

4. The Content We Created for Hopper

The content we created for Hopper followed the “tips-and-tricks” format. Basically, content creators shared awesome travel hacks with their audience.

This strategy caught people’s attention easily, especially because all creators started with similar hooks. Grabbing people’s attention from the first few seconds is vital on TikTok, where users can scroll after just one second.

Here’s the car rental segment that Ryan Fila did:

5. How We Got the Idea for the Hopper Ads

The first thing we did, as always, was thorough research.

We looked into Hopper’s past campaigns and analyzed their goals. We also looked at what the audience wants and what the competition is doing.

That’s how we found this idea of “tips-and-tricks” travel hacks.

But here’s something different we did for Hopper:

We built a massive content library across content creators, which we optimized over time. TikTok’s algorithm is unpredictable, and we wanted to hone down on the best type of content.

6. Monitoring the Hopper Campaign

We monitored the Hopper campaign using two main KPIs:

• The number of app downloads: We wanted more people to install this app.
• Cost per acquisition (CPA): Another goal was to have more people book flights, car rentals, and hotels using the app.

7. The Results We Got for Hopper

This campaign gave Hopper ongoing genuine high-performing creatives. Their installs increased as expected, and so did the number of people making in-app purchases. We kept the CPAs low, fighting the TikTok ad fatigue successfully.

Linktree: Engagement Campaign

Linktree is a freemium social media reference landing page. This tool mainly targets content creators, allowing them to share multiple links on social media.

1. Why Linktree Came to inBeat

Linktree came to inBeat to connect with its audience more intimately. To achieve that goal, Linktree tried positioning itself as a culturally in-tune brand.

2. Why We Used UGC for Linktree (and not Another Strategy)

To increase engagement with its audience and position itself as a hip brand, Linktree decided to share relatable content. This content had to be shared:

• Organically and authentically: We used both paid ads and organic content for this campaign
• In different formats that resonate with Linktree users: You will notice that the Linktree ads don’t follow a similar pattern like in Native’s case, for instance.

And if the directives are organic, authentic, and diverse, it stands to reason that UGC was the best road.

3. How We Selected Creators for Linktree

The first step in this campaign was to research and discover the insights that would help us build the creative brief.

The content had to be engaging, informative, and fun.

After composing these briefs, we started looking for the right creators:

• We wanted young, fresh people with high energy who are good at speaking on camera.
• We didn’t put much emphasis on the number of followers. We first look at high engagement rates for this type of content.

Pro tip: Use our free engagement rate calculators if you are also building an engagement-based campaign. All you have to do is insert the creator’s name in the search bar, and the engine will give you instant results:

4. The Content We Created for Linktree

The content we created for Linktree was very diverse. We used memes, reel parodies, and more.

The purpose was to highlight different ways people use Linktree that are:

• Culturally relevant
• Relatable to real-life situations

For example, we showed people how to reorder Carousel photos on Instagram:

We had relatable memes – we all know that feeling when you can’t find your AirPods:

We also did paid content, like this video from young musician Sesh Nolan:

In this video, Sesh explains to his followers how to use Linktree to grow their audiences. The app streamlines communication, organizes links and shows users how many people clicked on their links.

5. How We Got the Idea for the Linktree Content

We are constantly looking for new trends and social platform updates, so ideas always start from there. Here are some sources we took into account:

• News
• Tips from creators
• Linktree features
• Memes
• Trends

Here is the “un poco loco” trend made to fit Linktree:

This trend helped us build relatable content because we started from a sore point for most social media users:

When an influencer says “link in bio,” you can rarely find that link in their bio.

Of course, Linktree solves that issue quite successfully.

Insider tip: Using this mix of humor+facts is a magic wand to build credibility and increase engagement.

6. Monitoring the Linktree Campaign

The main KPI for monitoring the Linktree campaign was views per video. Our goals were:

• TikTok: 5,000
• Instagram: 15,000
• YouTube shorts: 350
• YouTube: 350

We also looked at the likes and comments, analyzing their number and quality.

7. The Results We Got for Linktree

As a result of our campaign, Linktree managed to increase its organic reach and engagement. The brand created more relatable content, which helped it better connect with its audience.

Will You Become a UGC Example that Moves the Needle?

This guide took you through four case studies. You saw how UGC – both paid and organic – can help you achieve your marketing goals, whatever these are.

Our UGC increased brand awareness for Native, improved engagement for Linktree, and got more downloads for Bumble and Hopper.

Of course, the secret ingredient is having a good strategy.

You must start from the top with high-quality research. Then, you must streamline communication with content creators, stay on top of the campaign, and test different tactics. Monitoring the entire process is also essential; after all, you must ensure your campaign stays on track and correct things when they go haywire.

Book a strategy call if you need a good partner to help put you on the map and turn you into a UGC case study that moves the needle.

We will discuss your needs and goals to develop the best strategy. Just like we did for all our customers above.