The Next Frontier in Content Creation: UGC 2.0

I’ve been in advertising and marketing for a long time. I've witnessed firsthand the evolution of video content creation. When I started in the 1990s, making a piece of video content was like trying to build a spaceship each time. Stock or original production? You needed the right director with the right production company. The right Director of Photography with the right lenses. Turning your vision into a reality was hard. And that was AFTER you had done the whole song and dance to get the client to buy the idea.

Today, a shoot can be scripted, shot, edited and posted in an afternoon. Or in minutes. And all the cameras and lenses you need are in your pocket. And you can have your story posted for all the world to see in seconds. In fact, the whole process is so easy that literally anyone with an iphone and a wifi connection can do what it took an entire industry to do in the past. And they do. Some for the mere thrill of it. Don’t get me wrong. There’s still no substitute for craft. It’s still hard to make a GOOD video. But it’s not as hard as it used to be. And there are those who have the talent and drive to do it all by themselves.

Meanwhile brands are struggling to compete for attention not just with professional entertainment and other advertisers, but with their own audience (see above). Brands are quickly finding that they need way more content. Some are struggling to make original native content they can ship to every platform. Some farm the work out to mega-influencers who keep raising their prices with every deal. Some figure out clever ways to use stock. Some have social agencies and TV agencies and performance marketing agencies making things in silos.

But most of these marketers are leaving billions of opportunities on the table. Because they could be tapping into the growing army of citizens out there making content. That’s right. I’m talking about UGC. I’ve always thought of that as an ugly term. It’s so clinical. “User-generated” centers the company or platform instead of the individual. They aren’t merely “users”. They’re mothers and skateboarders and fashionistas.

They’re creators.

Recently, I discussed all of this with my colleague, Elizabeth Mandeville, in a webinar we called "UGC 2.0 - A New Way To Discover Amazing Content" Liz is the Head of Curation here. Her team is always out there on the open internet, hunting content in the wild for brands. Liz and I did a deep dive into the changing landscape of User-Generated Content and how brands are embracing it in new ways. It was a fascinating conversation. Here are my takeaways.

More Than Just “Influencers”

The creator economy isn't just growing; it's flourishing. In fact, we don’t even really know how many creators are out there. And this economy isn't solely about money; it represents a new era of authenticity and connection. As creators, we're crafting narratives that resonate. Sometimes we even bring our favorite products into the conversation, bridging the gap between brands and audiences.

A Depth of Diversity

Liz and I discussed the importance of searching across all platforms. The ubiquity of social media and camera phone technology has made documenting the human experience something anyone can do from almost anywhere. This makes UGC naturally more diverse. It also makes it an incredible opportunity to raise up voices of those who haven’t traditionally been heard from. Think of it as a way to forge deeper connections with niche audiences. UGC is reshaping how brands view and value content. Want to search across all platforms right now? Head to catchandrelease.com/discover.

Curation + AI = 🤯

Curation is a creative process that requires a human brain. (Liz calls it “listening to pictures”, which I absolutely love!) But Artificial Intelligence is making it so curators don’t have to scrub entire videos looking for the perfect moment. At Catch+Release, we’re teaching our AI search tool about the nuances of what makes content truly engaging. In the future, curation will still be a highly creative act, but with AI tools helping us, we can all be that much better at it.

Invest In Humanity

If better quality is one element of UGC 2.0, another is licensability. Never before have marketers been closer to their individual audience members. Now you can license their content directly. And since audiences are more likely to trust stories coming from other humans than they are to trust brands, this is time and money well-spent.

UGC 2.0 101

So how does Liz recommend starting the curation process? Here’s some tips:

1. Start with a feeling. Forget keywords. Think how you want people to feel and search that feeling.
2. Search early. Start your search before the brief. It might give you ideas. You might actually FIND your whole campaign like Teleflora did.
3. Search often. The internet is always new every day.
4. Save your finds in themed collections. Use your Catch+Release collections like Pinterest boards. One for each feeling, for example. Or one for each type of customer persona.
5. Search every platform. If your customers are there, you should be there too.
   

Happy Curating

You can watch the entire webinar here. I hope it changes the way you think about so-called “User Generated Content”. I can’t wait to see all the authentic stories you tell using UGC 2.0. See you on the internet!

P.S. Love the thumbnail? Shoutout to @neptune from our Creator Community!