User-generated content(UGC) is fast becoming one of the most credible and effective content marketing strategies.
In fact, a whopping 84% of millennials say that UGC influences their purchase decisions. User-generated videos have become one of the most effective ways to reach out to prospective customers.
Given that videos will account for 84% of internet traffic by 2019, it’s only natural that brands are combining the appeal of video content with the credibility of UGC.
Here’s our pick of the top 7 user-generated videos of all time. These videos are a great reminder of the power of a well-told story.
Five Guys
“You bite the fries. The fries bite back. That’s when you know you have an official French fry!”
This video of a man sitting in his car and reviewing a burger and fries from Five Guys went viral with more than 9.5 million views.
What made the video stand apart was his personality, his authenticity, and of course, his love for the brand!
The best part is, this wasn’t even a video that Five Guys solicited. It came straight from the heart and brought Five Guys so much love, not to mention great word-of-mouth publicity.
This is probably the best example of what a great user-generated video looks like.
GoPro
This amazing video shows Fabio Wibmer capture the craziest bike ride on his GoPro.
Wibmer won the GoPro of the World Challenge in November for this amazing user-generated video.
While Wibmer won $1000 for this video, it has over 33 million views on YouTube and is priceless for its brand recognition value. In fact, GoPro regularly solicits user-generated photos, raw clips, and video edits captured with GoPro’s technology.
Their contest has a number of categories and content creators stand to win over $10000. Their last contest, the GoPro Evolution Contest, Part 3 announced its winners in December last year.
Copa90- Fifa World Cup 2018
Copa90 took user-generated videos to the next level as it drew on 300 users across the world to cover the FIFA World Cup in 2018. Copa90 has cultivated the “Copa90 Creator Network” since 2016.
It is a network of Copa90 users who are also amateur content creators. 300 of these creators came together to tell different stories during the World Cup.
While some of the creators were based out of the host country Russia, others were located in participating countries all over the world.
From stories about Moroccan fans in the Netherlands to those involving underdog teams like Peru and Egypt, Copa90 used user-generated videos to tell the stories that mattered. And garner a massive following in the process.
Tourism Queensland- Best Job in the World
This wasn’t just one user-generated video, but a series of videos that created a splash all over the world.
Tourism Queensland wanted to attract tourists to their island. Instead of spending lots of money on a flashy video with beautiful models, they hit upon the ingenious idea of posting an ad for the “best job in the world” with Tourism Queensland.
All people had to do was submit a video on their site telling them why they’d be perfect for the job. This job post saw as many as 35000 user-generated video applications.
This campaign generated so much attention across the world that the media coverage they got was worth $368 million. Plus, their website received 8.4 million visitors as a result of this campaign.
The BBC - The Royal Wedding
The normally straight-laced BBC found a unique and meaningful way to celebrate the Royal Wedding.
They developed a campaign that invited 50 people to the Royal Wedding. Each of these 50 people was picked because of their extraordinary work with different charities around the world.
In the video above, you can see them introducing themselves and talk about their excitement around the wedding. This was the first of over 270 videos that were created by these extraordinary men and women.
BBC shared these intimate and fun user-generated videos of the wedding through their social media channels.
Fenty Beauty
Rihanna’s line of beauty products Fenty launched in 2017 and has managed to take the beauty industry by storm since then. Fenty chose to launch with a 100% digital campaign which focussed mainly on Instagram and influencer videos.
The video above is a great example of a user-generated review. It’s authentic, intimate, and very relatable. Fenty effectively combines reviews and testimonials from professional models and regular fans.
Fenty’s inclusive, digital-first strategy resulted in 1.4 million Instagram followers in just 4 days. It now replicates this strategy across digital channels including YouTube every time there’s a new product launch.
Adidas- Break Free
A 26-year-old German film school student made this touching video about a retired marathon runner and his everlasting love for running.
The video has almost 15 million views on YouTube and the Adidas running shoes play a central role in the story.
Strangely enough, Adidas never even acknowledged the video let alone collaborate with the creator in any way. This only means that the brand lost out on a marketing opportunity that would have helped humanise their brand in a big way.
User-generated videos are an important outreach strategy for many reasons. Not only do they cost far less, but they also bring authenticity and credibility in a way that brand-sponsored videos just can’t. Plus, today there are a number of video marketing platforms that make curating and sharing user-generated videos much easier.
So if you’ve been thinking that video marketing is either too expensive or just not right for your brand, user-generated videos might be the way forward.