User-generated content (UGC) is created and published by unpaid contributors. UGC’s most popular version of content would be photos, video and text; the great thing with UGC is that once consumers post on social media, they will influence their followers’ buying habits. Around 85% of people have said that user-generated content is more influential than content the brand created.

But what makes a successful piece of user-generated content? Here are some of the best examples of UGC, along with how they did it and, more importantly, why it worked. Luckily you can always search for “digital marketing agency London” to find the best digital marketing agency to help you create the most excellent piece of user-generated content, just like these examples!

Wayfair – #WayfairAtHome

This ingenious idea allowed Wayfair customers to show off their new pieces of Wayfair furniture creatively and inclusively. Using the hashtag #WayfairAtHome, customers would post their home setups featuring their Wayfair products. Wayfair would see this and then re-post a select amount of the customer posts and provide a link to the product they had purchased so everyone else could also buy it. This is an excellent way to receive customer testimonials and design inspirational content for them to post.

Starbucks – #RedCupContest

This piece of UGC is very well known for the red Starbucks cups, the annual piece of user-generated content that would promote Starbucks’ upcoming winter holiday-themed beverages. The #RedCupContest allows customers to grab a festive picture with their red Starbucks cup and a chance to win a Starbucks voucher. With over 40,000 posts already submitted, it’s pretty easy to say it has worked! This piece of UGC promotes the new range of festive drinks and drives sales, as you’ll have to purchase the festive red Starbucks cup to take a picture with it.

Aerie – #AerieReal

Women’sWomen’s clothing brand Aerie created one of the most inclusive pieces of user-generated content. They noticed that many women were excessively editing their photos before posting on social media platforms. Aerie wanted to change this! They vowed to stop the retouching of images and challenged women to post a picture of themself in a swimsuit with 0 amount of editing, along with the #AerieReal hashtag, of course. As empowering as that all is, they also took it a step further and for every post with the #AerieReal, they donated $1 to The National Eating Disorders Association.

ASOS – #AsSeenOnScreen

A lovely play on words went a long way for this piece of UGC; with ASOS standing for ” As Seen On Screen”, they wanted to change it for this creative slightly. Seeing me was a great way to see the products of clothing on “real bodies” instead of the models’ perfect figures that we were all used to seeing. ASOS customers could post directly on the ASOS website using the hashtag #AsSeenOnMe for their Instagram posts. Another significant part of this piece of UGC was that ASOS customers were able to become an influencer of sorts, as they were able to show how they would style their selected product, what they would pair it with and what colours go best with the outfit, this has turned quite a basic idea to a very empowering one.

Cancer Research – No Makeup Selfie

This campaign was, again, straightforward yet highly effective. Cancer Research challenged anyone and everyone to post a Selfie of themselves without any makeup.

Along with donating £5 and nominating others to take on the challenge, this gained so much traction Cancer Research raised more than £8 million in just six days! Though having no makeup on doesn’tdoesn’t have anything to do with Cancer itself, it does show a vulnerable side to everyone.

BMW – #BMWRepost

This campaign was a way for BMW to discover and interact with their highly loyal community of car lovers and, of course, a way for BMW vehicle owners to show off their luxury vehicles. The primary purpose of this piece of user-generated content was to get customers to brag about their purchase by adding the hashtag #BMWRepost to their post, and you don’t really need to sell luxury items; they sell themselves due to the size of the community of BMW lovers.