Boost Engagement With

User-Generated
Content on Instagram
 AGENDA
Introduction
How to source UGC for Instagram
How to use UGC on Instagram
How to provide a high-quality customer
experience
Go get started with UGC on Instagram!
User-Generated Content on Instagram 3

INTRODUCTION
On Instagram, UGC created by your target audience can help other potential customers see
themselves in those creative assets and can then enter your sales funnel through a variety of
means. In addition, it will help build trust in your brand, drive more engagement, and
ultimately, help your bottom line. Regardless of your business size, encourage your
customers to share content and if they already are, share it!.
HOW TO SOURCE UGC FOR INSTAGRAM
Where do you begin? Well, the beauty of social media is that you can make
it social, conversational, and creative. Some ways we recommend to clients
and see success with is to start a hashtag trend, as a question, engage in
influencer partnerships. Here’s how you can get started sourcing UGC for
Instagram with these methods.
1. START A HASHTAG TREND

Encourage your fans/followers to contribute and show off what they have
using a unique hashtag you created. If you have some in mind, check their
usage by searching the Instagram hashtags in the respective channels. Your
posts to encourage users to use your hashtag could be a way for them to
show how they are styling a retail product you are selling, a tool you are
providing and what they’ve built using it, or the ways your service makes
their life better. An added perk of doing this is that you can then easily track
submissions, especially on Instagram where you can search and follow a
hashtag. This will also serve as your creative arsenal anytime you want to
share some UGC content.
Check out the effective way that procreate encourages their customers and
people who aren’t yet to do so below.
2. ASK A QUESTION

This one’s simple: Post a question and simply

encourage your followers to share a post and tag you.
After all, people enjoy being featured and feeling
special.
American Eagle is even more direct about asking
their fans if they want to be featured, right in their
Instagram bio and all users have to do is use their
hashtag.
3. PARTNER WITH INFLUENCERS

On a larger scale, we often see celebrities endorsing products on social media. This
requires a larger budget, so it may not be so easy to come about for small businesses
or limited budgets. Worry not, as there are ways you can partner with micro
influencers. For example, if you are a clothing boutique, seek out a local fashion
blogger in your area and discuss a small partnership opportunity with them. If you’re
a law firm, seek out local businesses that you’ve worked with before and do the same,
because you may have helped them incorporate when they opened and they can
share a story about how you were involved. If you’re in real estate, there’s plenty of
opportunity there with people you helped purchase or sell their homes. Influencers
are great at creating unique content that is genuine to them and their followers,
giving you fresh user-generated content to work with. Another thing you can do
with your influencers is have them run a contest from their accounts. If you can, give
away one of your products or services. If the cost is too high, you don’t have to give
away anything big and still find success with something like this. While product
giveaways have been successful, we have seen great success with any type of prize,
such as branded tees, bags, and even stickers. Again, making the user feel special.
 HOW TO USE YOUR
UGC ON INSTAGRAM
Now that you have all of this great content, let’s discuss the various ways you can use it to
not only improve the appearance of your profile, but also boost your engagement and
conversions. Using Facebook and Instagram, you can share the user-generated content, as
long as the user account does not have their account set to private. Though, with Instagram,
if a private user tags you, they have an option on their end to select if you can share it in
your Instagram Stories. Often times, users will select this if they tag you.
Here are some excellent examples of what brands are doing with their UGC that perhaps
you can find inspiration with and emulate with your own flavor as it relates to your brand.
1. RESHARE

Is someone raving about you? Repurpose and reshare it on your channels

and showcase real people sharing genuine and glowing content about you.
The best content does come from true fans posting unprompted content,
such as this one that thanks and reviews one of my personal local favorite
wineries, Serrano Wine in Paso Robles. Loryn Powell shares a review of her
visit to their tasting room on Instagram Stories. She raves about how the
owners were so wonderful to speak with, and she talks about their wine and
how everyone should try it. The kicker is she didn’t get paid to do it. As a
comedian, this user has 50K fans on Facebook and 90.1K followers on
Instagram. This was an excellent opportunity for Serrano Wine to expand its
reach and potentially get more people into the tasting room as a result of
the genuinely good service and products. Resharing posts like these, or even
posts with your product featured, is a must.
2. POST WITH A CAUSE

Find user-generated content that you can append to a relevant post.

For instance, here’s a terrific example from Hydro Flask on
Facebook, where the company shares an informative post about
how you can join it in reducing single use plastics and
complemented their post with a beautiful nature photo with their
product placed from a customer.
3. SHARE REVIEWS
AND TESTIMONIALS
Collecting reviews? Put those to use! Either share them in the copy of
the post or more effectively, create an image or video using the review
like Dove does below in this Instagram ad. If someone loves your
brand, don’t be shy and ask them for a photo or video review, too.
People are often very willing to provide assets such as these.
4. CREATE AN OF SHOOT
ACCOUNT
If you have a large volume of Instagram UGC that could serve your
brand well in a standalone account, try it out, like Uber has with
their Overheard Uber account. To encourage submissions, Uber
invites rideshare users to DM the account with submissions. Another
thing to take note here is that the company saves its Instagram
Stories and categories them so you viewers can view them even after
the ephemeral content disappears 24 hours after the initial post.
5. IMPACT YOUR AUDIENCE

While the possibilities are endless, given the many

variables out there that are business and audience
specific, if all you have is a photo, simply sharing that,
too, can be effective on days where you need to post
something but may be short on content. If it can make
someone smile, inspire an idea, open up a conversation,
inform, educate, or help, use that content to do so.
6. PROMOTE WITH INSTAGRAM
ADS
If you have a budget for Facebook and Instagram Ads, take your organic
efforts to a new level. Expand your Instagram engagement, reach, visibility,
and sales with new audiences and reconnect with ones that may already be
familiar with you by promoting your user-generated content. Even if you
have a budget of only $5/day, it’s amazing what you can accomplish. Of
course, if you have more budget, that’s better, as you can cast your net
wider to bring in new people to discover your brand, and move them
further along your sales funnel. The faster you can learn what is and is not
working well with particular audiences, messaging, and ads, the quicker
you can make decisions on what to stop and where you can ramp up.
 HOW TO PROVIDE A HIGH-QUALITY
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Remember, users aren’t necessarily generating content for your brand to share. Interactions with
your customers or followers on Instagram are still reflections of your brand, and it’s important
to treat them that way. Here are a few things you need to keep in mind using Instagram UGC.
1. ASK PERMISSION

Before sharing someone else’s content, even if they tagged you in it,
it’s best to ask for permission to minimize any backlash. Comment
on their post or DM them and ask if you can share it. Take a
screenshot of the approval as back up and save it as a precaution.
Other times, a legal disclaimer added to your posts that source UGC
can be an alternative. To be safe, ask your business attorney for their
recommendation.
2. GIVE CREDIT WHERE IT’S DUE

If someone took the time to share a post and tag you in it, give them
credit by tagging them in your reshare. Some brands use copy that
says “image courtesy of @___,” others add a camera with flash emoji
followed by the handle of the content creator, and others use #rg
____ which stands for “regram” on Instagram.
An example of the latter can be seen use on American Eagle’s
Instagram account:
3. GIVE THANKS

Comment on the user’s original post to let them know

you appreciate it. It can go a long way by making them
feel special and you may even get yourself a customer
for life.
4. KEEP TRACK

Create a way of tracking your UGC. Typically, with our

clients, we will create a spreadsheet with links,
screenshots, and details about who shared it, when, and
other helpful information about the types of campaigns
we can use them for.
 GO GET STARTED WITH
UGC ON INSTAGRAM!
Now we’ve covered all the basics and best practices for boosting
engagement with UGC for Instagram: how to source the content, how
to use it for organic and paid means on Facebook and Instagram, and
how to make sure you offer a great customer experience. With user-
generated content, the possibilities of the ways you can use them to
benefit your business marketing efforts are plentiful. Have fun, get
creative, and generate success!
 21

“ OPPORTUNITIES ARE LIKE

BUSES. THERE'S ALWAYS
ANOTHER ONE COMING.
- By Richard Branson ”
User-Generated Content on Instagram
22

SUMMARY
User-generated content (UGC) on Instagram refers to any content—
such as photos, videos, testimonials, reviews, etc.—created and shared
by users rather than the brand itself. It's a powerful tool for businesses
as it showcases real experiences and endorsements from their audience,
fostering authenticity and trust. UGC can amplify brand reach,
engagement, and credibility, making it a valuable asset in modern
marketing strategies.
THANK YOU
aestheticmediateam@gmail.com
www. aestheticmediateam.com