3 steps to create the perfect UGC video in 2024

3 steps to create the perfect UGC video in 2024

Most ads are now through online platforms, thus, brands understand the growing need for trust and authenticity.

This premise set the foundation for both influencer marketing and user generated content (UGC) to skyrocket in effectiveness over the last decade.

This format of promotional content has been far more effective than traditional ads in driving conversions. Mainly because the social proof from seeing real customers outside of a brand promoting a product caters to the modern consumer’s preference for authenticity and relatability.

On Instagram specifically, UGC posts have 70% more engagement than traditional paid ads. It’s for these reasons brands are increasingly investing more into UGC for their marketing strategies.

However, as effective as UGC is, the creator space is now saturated and overcrowded. When faced with these circumstances the creators who can produce high quality content consistently are the ones who will rise above the noise.

For that we need efficiency with the right tools for faster processes, systems and personalised templates. Especially when we’re also in a time where trends come and go quickly, we’ll need to capitalise on these with speed for any relevance.

In this article, we’ll be going over 3 simple steps to creating the perfect UGC video and how you can scale yourself with the right tools like Argil to stay competitive.

‍

Step 1: Conduct Thorough Audience Research

‍

The first step involves understanding your audience. Simple tools such as social media analytics, google analytics, and general understanding of your target audience can be brought together to provide more clarity on demographics, preferences, and most used platforms.

This is useful insights to feed into your UGC strategy as we need to tailor our approach with this data. For example, younger audiences might prefer short form humorous content, while older demographics might lean more towards lifestyle or more informative videos. Studies have shown that tailoring your content can increase engagement rates by up to 80%.

Each social media app has a preferred way of consuming video, so delivering these pieces of content must be done natively to each platform to maximise engagement and reach.

Audience research is still something of an ongoing step because we’ll need to constantly keep an eye on analytics and trends if we want to fine tune our UGC for the most effectiveness.

‍

Step 2: Meticulous Content Planning for UGC Videos

‍

You have to plan your content for it to be aligned with any research and understanding of your audience.

The easiest thing to consider first is scriptwriting, making sure your script provides a clear and coherent message that aligns with the objective of each video - whether it’s to inform, entertain, or educate. Make sure to include a compelling call to action at the end of your UGC script to guide any viewers towards a desired action e.g make a purchase, visit online store, or share the video with a friend.

Argil’s AI writing assistant can help so you never have to suffer from writer’s block. You can get drafts written for you with best practices and viral worthy potential built-in, and just simply fine tune to your liking.

Another component to good preparation is understanding editing best practices, such as keeping the pacing tight, using dynamic transitions, and including engaging music or sound effects. In fact, studies show well edited videos can enhance viewer retention by up to 60%.

Don’t be doubtful if filming on a budget either, appropriate filming equipment can involve more accessible things like your smartphone with the right settings, use of tripods, and external microphones to improve overall video quality.

Argil’s built in editing suite offers a range of dynamic editing options you can simply ‘click’ into your UGC videos. Whether that’s transitions, auto captions, AI B-roll or even multi-lingual translation to reach global audiences. The real benefit is you never have to rely on any technical know-how, it’s just your own creative direction - the way editing should be.

Leveraging Argil for video production also lends itself to consistency in visual style which is good for brand identity. If you’re ready to get started with Argil, skip our waitlist and sign up here.

‍

Step 3: Emphasize Authenticity in Every UGC Video

‍

We mentioned at the start the need for authenticity in modern day content otherwise our UGC will be far less effective.

Genuine storytelling is the most important component, we know polished traditional ads are not what modern consumers are looking for. It’s the raw content from real people sharing real experiences and honest reactions that drives sales with social proof.

Another aspect to authenticity is in the temptation to over edit. Here’s a word of caution: consumers online don’t like traditional ‘salesy’ ads. As tempting as it is to produce a highly polished video, the storytelling and natural engagement of a genuine testimonial go a lot further than over-edited video. Embrace the imperfections, it just helps make the content feel real.

If we want to reinforce our authenticity further, getting the audience involved by running challenges that encourage them to share their experiences can hugely boost engagement with the brand. Offer incentives for the best submissions and feature some on the brand channels. This for one, gives you even more organic content to leverage, but also makes your audience feel heard and valued which is great for brand loyalty.

‍

The Future of UGC Videos in 2024

‍

The numbers don’t lie, UGC is undeniably one of the biggest growth levers in a brand’s marketing strategy today. Research shows that UGC videos can lead to 3x more engagement and trust than that of traditional branded ads.

But look, we’re creators ourselves. We know the pains that come with producing video consistently and its no different with UGC:

• staying culturally aware of trends can feel like a full time job itself
• managing video production can be overwhelming, especially for solo creators
• hours or days spent filming and editing is not scalable by yourself

That’s why we decided to build Argil to automate video production. Our suite of tools can help maintain authenticity and content production at scale by enabling brands to focus more on the creative, storytelling, and brand messaging elements to UGC while the manual production is never a bottleneck.

To start making UGC at scale and leverage our features to optimise your content, jump the waitlist here to get started.

‍