36 User-Generated Content Statistics for Marketing in 2025

By: Ashley P.Update: March 19, 2025

Whether you’re already using UGC in your marketing or still on the fence, these user-generated content statistics provide valuable insights to help you make the most of this strategy.

Over the years, the immense influence of UGC on consumers has transformed how businesses connect with their audiences.

From startups to well-established brands, one thing is clear: leveraging UGC can lead to incredible results.

Think about it: your customers, clients, or followers are already talking about your brand, sharing their experiences, and posting photos of your products or services.

All you need to do is to let these fuel your marketing efforts.

So, if you don’t know how to leverage this marketing powerhouse to its full potential yet, these statistics on user-generated content will help you see just how impactful it can be for your business.

Table of Contents

What is user generated content?
How effective is user-generated content?
General user-generated content statistics and marketing trends
What consumers say about user-generated content
- 12. Gen X and Gen Z trust UGCs the most
- 13. Females trust UGCs more than males
User-generated content stats on various social media platforms
A comparison of the trends in user-generated content vs. brand-generated content
How do you measure user-generated content?
Practical tips to kickstart your UGC campaigns
Dynamic QR codes: Effective gateways to your content
Examples of excellent user-generated content
Share authentic content with the help of the best QR code generator

What is user generated content?

User-generated content (UGC) refers to real and original content—reviews, photos, or social media posts—created by people, such as your customers or audience, not brands.

Is UGC similar to influencer-generated content?

Not really.

There are some similarities between the two, primarily in the type of content they can be. Some UGCs can even be considered as influencer content.

The main difference lies in WHO created the content and their INTENT.

While influencers are also users, they bring their creativity, branding, and personality to the content they produce. Some of them are paid, so there is already a bias in their content.

Users, on the other hand, are the people who wish to share their personal opinions and experiences on certain places, establishments, products, or services online. Between the two, UGCs bring more genuine interest and trust to the brand.

UGCs commonly apply to business-to-consumer companies. However, since the future of marketing is moving toward authenticity, with user-generated content at the forefront of that shift, B2B companies are also taking advantage of it.

How effective is user-generated content?

Just how effective is UGC? The short answer? Very.

Here are some stats that speak for themselves:

90% of consumers say that UGC significantly influences their purchasing decisions. (Stackla)
Consumers see UGC as 9.8 times more authentic than those created by influencers. (Stackla)
Brands with UGCs experience a 29% increase in web conversion rates compared to those without. (Stackla)

These numbers all derive from trust. People are more confident about other people’s thoughts on places, products, or services than what the businesses say.

When you integrate UGC into your strategy, you’re giving potential customers the social proof they need to make a decision.

They engage more with the content, so that means you have more opportunities to build relationships, educate your audience, and, ultimately, convert them into loyal customers.

Expert Tip: Consider using a dynamic QR code generator when marketing with either or both. With QR codes encoded with links to your content, you can expand their reach and increase conversions and sales.

General user-generated content statistics and marketing trends

Numbers don’t lie, and when it comes to user-generated content, the statistics are overwhelmingly in its favor.

These data points highlight exactly why UGC is such a powerful tool for building trust, boosting engagement, and driving conversions. Let’s break them down:

1. 40% of shoppers say that user-generated content is very important when making purchasing decisions

According to user-generated content stats from Salsify’s 2024 Consumer Research Report data, around 40% of shoppers rated UGC as “extremely” or “very” important when making purchase decisions.

2. Consumers find UGCs more important than charts and product videos

While providing more insight into the specific product, only 39% thought the charts were extremely or very important. On the other hand, only 37% rated product videos the same way.

3. A lack of UGC leads to customers abandoning their purchase

Furthermore, 13% of the study's respondents stated that they’d abandon an online purchase altogether if there weren’t any UGC available.

4. 82% of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand that leverages user-generated content in their marketing

According to user-generated content data from an EnTribe Survey, around 82% of consumers are likely to buy something from a brand if UGC is incorporated into their marketing strategies.

5. Influencer-generated content has no impact on how people view brands

81% of the respondents from the same survey state that the use of influencers in marketing initiatives has either no impact or a negative impact on how they view a brand.

51% of respondents even admitted to scrolling influencer-generated content.

6. 78% of shoppers rank reviews as the most impactful user-generated content for their purchase decisions

This data comes from a report done by Bazaarvoice on the shopper experience.

With almost 80% of shoppers feeling this way, it truly highlights the effect other customers have on one’s purchasing decisions.

7. Quality user reviews highly influence purchases

21% of respondents are most convinced to purchase goods based on high-quality reviews. Average star ratings on products are close to that, with 19%.

Meanwhile, 13% of respondents say that the number of reviews on a product can influence their decision to purchase it.

8. More than 40% of B2B buyers agree that user-generated content plays a more significant role in the purchasing decision process

The latest B2B marketing statistics conclude that UGCs play a role in the marketing strategies of B2B marketers.

In fact, according to data from the Winterberry Group, 44% of B2B buyers agree that UGC and peer reviews are “playing a greater role in the purchasing decision-making process.”

9. Almost 30% of marketers are struggling to come up with content ideas; UGC becomes the answer

With more content being generated daily, it’s easy to imagine how difficult it can be to create something that will grab people’s attention.

In fact, as per the data from a Content Benchmarks Report by Sprout Social, 29% of marketers struggle to develop ideas for their marketing content.

This puts UGC in a unique position to provide marketers from all industries with ideas and inspiration.

10. More than 80% of e-commerce marketers agree that visual user-generated content reaches more customers

81% of marketers responding to a Nostro study agreed that visual UGC has a more significant impact on reaching customers than professionally shot photos or even content by influencers.

More than a third of the respondents also agreed that UGC generated more customer trust.

Only 24% of marketers felt that professionally shot content generated the most, while 18% felt the same way about influencer content.

11. Engaging with online content is one of the most common social media activities in the US

According to recent data, 50% of respondents to a Statista survey believe that liking posts by other users or following people is the most common activity on social media.

This tells us that content generated by users can expect a huge return on investment, at least in the United States.

Tip: To increase engagement with your social media content, generate a link page QR code to direct your audience to all of your channels.

What consumers say about user-generated content

This is how various consumers think about UGCs:

12. Gen X and Gen Z trust UGCs the most

According to a study by Cloudinary, the role of visual content (particularly UGC) grows more dominant in brand communications and commerce with each generation.

70% of Gen X and Gen Z respondents and 78% of Millennials found that knowing other users’ opinions was “very” and “extremely” helpful when making purchasing decisions.

52% of Baby Boomers and 45% of the Silent Generation also agreed with this.

13. Females trust UGCs more than males

Between female and male consumers, a study in the International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing found that females were more likely to trust UGC than males.

However, when it came to gender-neutral products like laptops, there were no differences in trust levels.

User-generated content stats on various social media platforms

As part of a marketer's research into UGC, it’s important to look at statistics from social media platforms.

We’ve collected data from various sources that highlight the potential of UGC in the top platforms today.

UGC on Facebook

The top social networking platform, Facebook, has evolved into a platform for sharing anything and everything, including product recommendations and ads.

14. In a survey by Statista, 65% of Americans believe that social networks like Facebook are the most used social media platform type.

15. In another report from Statista, 4,000,000 posts were liked per minute.

16. After analyzing over 12 million sets of ads, Meta concluded that video content with audio and a 9:16 aspect ratio had 12% higher conversions per dollar compared to ad sets with other types of video and/or images.

17. According to more studies by Meta, 15-second Facebook video ads optimized for mobile devices had a 12.3% lower conversion cost than non-mobile-optimized video ads

Pro-tip: You can take advantage of the growing trends by using a Facebook QR code solution, allowing easy sharing of posts, profiles, or groups.

UGC on YouTube

The number one website for sharing videos, marketers will definitely want to know key user-generated content statistics for this platform.

18. Data from Statista reveals that, as of June 2022, more than 500 hours of video were uploaded to YouTube every minute, or about 30,000 hours of uploaded content per hour.

19. According to the same report, the number of video content hours uploaded every minute grew by around 40% between 2014 and 2020.

20. 58% of Americans also agree that media-sharing platforms like YouTube and Instagram are the most used social media platform types.

UGC on Instagram

The platform for sharing your greatest moments with the world, Instagram is easily one of the first places to go for short-form user-generated content.

21. Data on media usage from Statista revealed that 694,000 reels were sent via direct message on the platform per minute.

22. According to another survey, 50% of users said that they wanted funny content on the platform. Meanwhile, 46% wanted creative content, and 41% wanted informational ones. Lastly, more than 30% wanted to watch engaging content.

23. Based on Meta’s studies, Reel ads vertical videos with audio had over 35% higher click-through rate (CTR) than all other kinds of Reel ads on the platform.

24. According to research by Nostro, almost a third (28%) of e-commerce marketers agree that Instagram users generate the most engaging content out of any platform.

UGC on WhatsApp

While primarily a messaging app, WhatsApp has a business side that makes it a great place to find user-generated content. Below are some facts that can be useful in using this platform for UGC.

25. Data from GWI states that WhatsApp is the favored platform among users aged 35 and older.

26. According to Statista, there were 41,600,000 messages sent every minute as of December 2023.

27. A UGC study by Cloudinary found that WhatsApp was considered the most helpful platform when researching a purchase by 84% of German respondents.

28. 74% of UK respondents agreed, while only 24% of respondents from the United States felt the same way.

UGC on TikTok

With its meteoric rise, TikTok has cemented itself as one of the largest and most popular platforms in recent years. Naturally, tons of user-generated content can be found on this platform, which gives us these statistics.

29. According to Statista, personal TikTok accounts generated an average of 32,108 views. However, the average number of views for business accounts reached only 23,782.

30. According to another Statista report, influencers on TikTok and YouTube generate over 90% of video views, the largest share of video views on both platforms as of July 2022.

Conversely, content produced by media companies and brands accounts for only a small portion of the video views generated.

31. A user-generated content statistics report from Billo indicates that UGC on TikTok is 22% more effective than branded content. This is 32% greater than the engagement rates from Facebook ads and 46% greater than regular ads.

A comparison of the trends in user-generated content vs. brand-generated content

Aside from UGC, brands can also make use of content they create themselves to market their goods and services. However, there is a noticeable difference in how both content types affect factors like brand awareness and trust. Let’s look into that.

32. Advertising is avoided by nearly 70% of consumers

As powerful as advertising can be, research by Edelman found that almost 70% of respondents to their study avoided advertising.

Additionally, advertising only has half the impact of UGC and other forms of earned media.

According to the communications firm, this is because consumers prefer the words of technical experts and people similar to themselves.

33. Conversions increase by 100.6% when user-generated content is interacted with

Research done by PowerReviews suggests that lead conversions increase by 100.6% when site visitors interact with UGC.

Content like reviews, Q&As, and visuals can help convince consumers, especially as e-commerce continues to grow.

34. 88% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know more than any other marketing channel

Branded content is great at showcasing a product or a service. However, customers may prefer to be convinced by other sources. What is user generated content for, but to do precisely that?

According to Statusphere, 88% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know over any other marketing channel. This comes from the authenticity that comes naturally from content made by smaller creators.

35. 93% of marketers claim that user-generated content performs significantly better than branded content

Not only consumers agree with the significance of UGC in marketing. According to Forbes, a whopping 93% of marketers who incorporate UGC into their campaigns agree that UGC performs better than branded content.

In fact, influencer marketing statistics from Later show that UGC featuring brands can drive engagement nine times higher than branded content.

Additionally, research by TINT revealed that almost half of experienced marketers (48%) agree that UGC humanizes their marketing campaigns. The humanizing factor of UGC may explain why 42% of marketers also see it as essential to content marketing strategies.

36. Only 50% of marketers choose influencers who are genuine fans of their product

When it comes to UGC and marketing campaigns, additional research done by Sprout Social indicates that only half of the marketers surveyed chose influencers who genuinely love their products.

This doesn’t mean that authenticity has been thrown out the window. A majority of marketers (62%) actually encourage the influencers they partner with to share their real experiences.

This leads to sincere reviews and promotions of their products, adding more authenticity to UGC marketing in ways branded content can’t.

How do you measure user-generated content?

Now, you’re convinced that UGCs are effective, but how do you measure it?

Measuring their effectiveness is needed to assess the performance and success of your community engagement. This will require tools like social media analytics (native or third-party ones), listening tools, and management tools.

When measuring UGC on social media, you should define your objectives and choose the metrics you will use. Objectives can include increasing brand awareness or lead generation and conversion.

Common metrics to measure are:

the volume of UGC posts related to your brand
the potential audience size of UGC posts
the level of engagement in the form of likes, comments, shares, or clicks
the sentiment of UGC posts
the number of actions or outcomes that resulted from UGC posts

Expert Tip: Add QR code analytics to your analytics arsenal. QR codes can easily link your customers to UGC online. When using codes with dynamic features, you can track scan metrics like the number of scans and their time and locations.

Practical tips to kickstart your UGC campaigns

Looking to launch your own UGC campaigns after going through all these stats? We’re here to help you out. Here are three practical tips you can use to get started.

Provide engaging but specific content prompts

To help users create content that aligns with your campaign’s goals, you can inspire them with engaging content prompts. These prompts should provide the right guidance while allowing users to be creative.

Prompts can take the form of questions that prompt genuine responses from your users. You can also share templates or examples that they can use to base their content.

Offer incentives

Providing incentives is an effective way of getting users to create content for your campaign. However, it’s important to make sure that these incentives encourage content creation without affecting their authenticity, which is integral to UGC campaigns.\

Incentives can include:

Discounts
Exclusive access
Loyalty points
Shout-outs
Sweepstakes

Use management tools

With potentially hundreds of user-generated pieces to review, having some sort of management tool will be very helpful to your campaign.

How can these tools help you? For starters, they can help you organize the different phases of your campaign. Some, like HubSpot and Asana, offer automation features that streamline campaign management.

Dynamic QR codes: Effective gateways to your content

User-generated content can elevate your marketing to the next level. You can always improve it.

You can do exactly that with QR codes. A QR code generator with logo integration and dynamic features can easily supplement your marketing materials with UGC.

How do QR codes contribute to this? These black-and-white squares can be placed on marketing materials and redirect scanners to UGC.

Consumers can then learn more about the product or service, therefore influencing their purchasing decisions.

You can even put these codes on your products themselves to ensure UGC is part of the customer journey.

Learn more here: 53 QR Code Adoption Rate Stats in 2025 You Need to Know

Examples of excellent user-generated content

To give you an idea of how you should use UGC, let’s go over the best user-generated content examples from some of the biggest brands in the world.

#RedCupContest

During the holidays, Starbucks encourages customers to participate in the #RedCupContest by sharing photos of the iconic red cup on social media. According to the company, the contest once received 24,000 entries in just five days.

This use of UGC not only marketed the brand but also brought together a community of coffee lovers and Starbucks fans during the holidays.

“GoProing” videos

Known for their action cameras, the brand’s products are often used to make UGC. Because of this, it’s only natural for GoPro to leverage these videos for their marketing campaigns.

They launched an awards system on their website where users can submit their GoPro photos or videos. The content shared with the brand can then be featured on social media, and the uploaders may receive GoPro gear and even cash awards.

Share a Coke

An oldie but a goldie, Coca-Cola launched its Share a Coke campaign by featuring the most popular first names on Coca-Cola products.

Ads that promoted their campaign encouraged fans of the drink to find a can or bottle with their name on it and share it on social media with the hashtag #ShareaCoke.

This example was simple yet effective in generating thousands of authentic content on all platforms.

Share authentic content with the help of the best QR code generator

As social media platforms continue to grow, we can only expect UGC to become a significant force in marketing. The stats discussed in this article are a clear sign of that.

Marketers are also in a very good position to leverage UGC in their marketing, further cementing their brand’s success in the long run.

With these user-generated content statistics, you can stay on top of the latest trends and have an edge against your competitors.

To stay one step ahead, you can create and use branded QR codes through QR TIGER to expand your reach and make accessing content much easier.

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