What Are Examples of User-Generated Content Campaigns in Marketing?
In the dynamic realm of user-generated content, marketing professionals have leveraged creativity to boost brand engagement. From a Marketing Manager's perspective on Poppi's #SodasBack Health-Forward Campaign to a CEO & Founder's insights into a Workspace Showcase, here are seven innovative campaigns that have made a mark.
- Poppi's #SodasBack Health-Forward Campaign
- Businessmap's Success Story Engagement
- Viral Self-Defense Video Challenge
- Instagram AR Lens Talent Attraction
- #UbuyAroundTheWorld Cultural Showcase
- Elizabeth & Clarke's Influencer Sales Surge
- Startup House's Workspace Showcase
Poppi's #SodasBack Health-Forward Campaign
One notable user-generated content campaign is Poppi's #SodasBack marketing initiative. This campaign underscores Poppi's mission to reintroduce soda in a healthier form, highlighting its low-sugar content, prebiotics, and natural ingredients. The goal is to challenge traditional negative perceptions of soda by offering a modern, tasty, and gut-friendly alternative.
Though primarily focused on B2C, some businesses also promote Poppi within their own work environments, which highlights the diverse reach and impact Poppi has. On platforms like TikTok, Poppi leverages the #SodasBack hashtag to drive user participation, encouraging fans to share their experiences. This strategy has proven highly effective, creating viral content and connecting with a health-conscious audience. Overall, the campaign showcases Poppi's commitment to health and innovation in the beverage industry.
Businessmap's Success Story Engagement
One distinct user-generated content campaign I've led at Businessmap was the 'Share Your Success Story,' an innovative strategy where we prompted our customers to share their unique success stories using our project management tool. This campaign had a two-fold effect: it not only provided us with genuine testimonials to use for marketing purposes, but it also significantly fostered our online community engagement.
The impact was more than we could have anticipated, as it magnified our brand engagement by 35% within a quarter. We observed that people were more inclined to interact with authentic experiences from our users than with traditional marketing content.
Further, the campaign content provided invaluable insights into our customers' needs and preferences, which we could then reflect in our product development. This was a classic demonstration of how user-generated content, when executed mindfully, serves both as an effective marketing tool and a valuable resource for brand growth.
Viral Self-Defense Video Challenge
A highly successful user-generated campaign that was executed involved an online video challenge spotlighting viewers demonstrating practical self-defense security techniques.
Rather than stale corporate demos, we enlisted charismatic internal team members across technology, creative, and operations, demonstrating bite-sized personal security habits like properly securing home routers, guarding login credentials, and avoiding phishing lures through role-play. It was almost like gaming meets Mr. Rogers for digital hygiene!
Set to upbeat music, the authentic vibe balanced gravitas and accessibility beautifully. It captured the imagination and shares rapidly through social media, quadrupling typical reach and engagement benchmarks over six weeks. But the real magic happened when viewers began posting their own versions, acting out security smarts.
Seeing cyber safety transformed into a public participatory meme, paying off core messages, drove exponential organic amplification as everyday users brought the videos into their real family and workplace contexts. The viral, community-powered momentum affirmed influence through user empowerment over pure installations alone.
Instagram AR Lens Talent Attraction
I can give you a great example—a very successful user-generated campaign that accelerated brand desirability and talent interest was an Instagram AR lens and challenge we created.
The interactive lens allowed users to overlay imagery of themselves interacting with realistic office scenes we constructed, showing teams brainstorming creatively, celebrating campaign launches together, and even napping in our coffee shop lounge.
We seeded the lens organically with college design and marketing clubs, along with peer agencies, asking them to showcase the challenge. It quickly became a viral showcase, attracting thousands of impressions as talent posted themselves collaborating on mock projects with our teams through the immersive experience.
The authentic advocacy and peek behind the curtain sparked tremendous organic brand inquiry and interview requests from up-and-coming marketers drawn to the transparent culture and boundary-pushing work. Our recruiting pipeline soared with leads that aligned values first, beyond just skills and experience.
#UbuyAroundTheWorld Cultural Showcase
I envisioned a campaign capitalizing on the global reach of our platform. We launched #UbuyAroundTheWorld, a contest where users submitted photos or short videos showcasing themselves using a Ubuy purchase in their local setting. From sipping coffee from a Ubuy mug at sunrise in Tokyo to picnicking with a Ubuy blanket amidst the Scottish Highlands, the entries captured the diverse use of our products and the international spirit of our customer base.
The user-generated content not only flooded social media with the hashtag but also provided a treasure trove of authentic content that resonated with a global audience. Engagement soared as users commented on each other's entries, sparking conversations about different cultures and travel experiences—all tied back to Ubuy's ability to connect them to products from around the world. The campaign's success went beyond brand awareness; it fostered a sense of community among Ubuy's users.
Elizabeth & Clarke's Influencer Sales Surge
Our work with Elizabeth & Clarke, a women's workwear brand, on their rebrand and launch in 2020 allowed us to incorporate UGC into the strategy—and the results were insane!
We designed a product launch strategy, focusing on rebranding all social media accounts and implementing community outreach and influencer marketing campaigns.
Within one year, Elizabeth & Clarke pivoted from seeing their first 'zero sales' month to breaking sales records nearly every day. Alongside a 9,244% sales lift, we helped Elizabeth & Clarke see around a 3,000% increase in engagements and impressions. Overall, the campaign received upward of 33 million impressions.
Because UGC allows brands to reach new audiences they may not have otherwise reached, Elizabeth & Clarke also received 3,690 new followers in just one quarter.
If anyone tries to tell you influencer marketing is out...they couldn't be more wrong!
Startup House's Workspace Showcase
At Startup House, we once ran a user-generated content campaign called "Show Us Your Workspace" where we asked our followers to share photos of their home offices. The response was incredible, with people showcasing their creativity and productivity in unique ways. Not only did this campaign increase brand engagement, but it also helped us connect with our audience on a more personal level, showing that we value their individuality and work style. It was a fun and interactive way to build a sense of community around our brand.
