UGC (user-generated content)
UGC is content made by customers or creators rather than the brand itself — on TikTok and Reels, usually a person talking to camera about a product they use.
For marketing, “UGC” has come to mean a style as much as a source: a casual, phone-shot video of someone showing a product and saying why it is worth it. Brands buy it from creators, collect it from customers, or now generate it with AI.
It works because it looks like the rest of the feed. A polished ad gets scrolled past; a person describing a problem they had gets watched.
Related terms
AI UGC — AI UGC is a UGC-style video made with AI — an AI spokesperson or avatar presents a script about a product, instead of a filmed creator.
UGC creator — A UGC creator is a person paid to make UGC-style videos for brands to post or run as ads, usually without posting them on their own account.
Spark Ads — Spark Ads are TikTok ads that boost an existing organic post — from your own account or a creator’s, with their authorisation code — so likes and follows go to the original post.
Whitelisting (creator licensing) — Whitelisting is when a creator lets a brand run ads through the creator’s account, so the ad appears under the creator’s name rather than the brand’s.