# The 7 Types of UGC, and Which One Sells the Most Customer photos, video, written and media reviews, social reposts, testimonials and campaign content: seven distinct UGC formats, what each is actually good for, and which one carries the highest measured conversion lift. By Rohin Aggarwal · 2026-07-23 Ask five merchants what UGC means and you get five different answers: reviews, Instagram reposts, unboxing videos, a competition hashtag. All of them are right, and that is the problem. Treating "UGC" as one thing means budget and attention go to whichever format is loudest, not whichever one actually moves a buyer from browsing to checkout. **Quick answer** - User-generated content splits into seven distinct formats: customer photos, customer video, written reviews, photo/video reviews, organic social reposts, long-form testimonials and campaign/competition content. - They are not interchangeable. Each earns its keep at a different point in the funnel: discovery, decision or trust. - Where a direct comparison exists, video is the highest-converting single format: 4.1× vs. text-only reviews, photo reviews land at 2.6×. - The highest-leverage placement for any format is the product page itself, not a social feed or a dedicated gallery page. User-generated content is any product photo, video, review or post a customer creates rather than the brand, and it comes in seven distinct formats that behave differently on a store: customer photos, customer video, written reviews, photo/video reviews, organic social reposts, long-form testimonials, and campaign or competition content. A merchant who treats all seven as one bucket called "UGC" ends up collecting whichever is easiest (usually text reviews) instead of whichever converts best for their category. **4.1x** — video reviews convert vs text-only (PowerReviews, 2023 baseline) ## The seven formats, and what each is actually for ### 1. Customer photos A single image of a real person using or wearing the product. Cheapest to collect (a post-purchase email ask is enough), fastest to moderate, and the format most buyers expect to see on a PDP gallery next to studio shots. Weak on its own for high-consideration categories, strong as volume filler once a gallery needs breadth. ### 2. Customer video Unboxing, demo, styling or "day in the life" clips. The highest-effort format to collect and the highest-converting where a direct comparison exists. Video shows motion, fit and real-world context that a photo can't, which is why it earns the steepest lift in categories where buyers are uncertain about how a product actually behaves (apparel, beauty, furniture assembly). ### 3. Written reviews Text-only star ratings and comments. The lowest-friction format for a customer to leave and the easiest for a brand to collect at scale, which is why it's the default most stores start with. It's also the weakest converting format of the seven when compared directly against media-backed alternatives, largely because a five-star text review is easy to write insincerely and buyers have learned to discount it slightly. ### 4. Photo and video reviews A written review with an attached image or clip from the reviewer. Structurally a review (goes through the same verified-purchase flow) but functions like UGC because the media does the persuading, not the star rating. Photo reviews convert 2.6× vs. text-only; this is the format most review platforms are now actively prompting for at the point of request. ### 5. Organic social reposts Content a customer posted on their own channel, tagged or mentioned the brand, and the brand later reposts with permission. Strongest for discovery and brand-feel, since it's the only format that lives natively in a format buyers already trust (their own feed) before it ever reaches the store. Weakest for direct on-page conversion measurement, since the content usually lacks the structured, product-tagged context a PDP gallery needs. ### 6. Long-form testimonials A named customer, in their own words, describing a specific outcome, not just "great product." Rare (most customers won't write three paragraphs unprompted), but the highest-trust format per piece because the specificity is hard to fake. Best deployed sparingly on high-intent pages (pricing, checkout, a flagship product) rather than diluted across a general gallery. ### 7. Campaign and competition content Content generated on demand through a hashtag challenge, giveaway or seasonal prompt. The only format a brand can schedule rather than wait for, which makes it the fastest way to fill a thin content library. Trades a little authenticity for volume and timing control; works best as a periodic top-up, not the whole strategy. **Measured conversion lift vs. text-only reviews** - Text-only reviews (baseline): 1× - Photo reviews: 2.6× - Video reviews: 4.1× _Only formats with a direct, sourced comparison are shown. Social reposts, testimonials and campaign content have real value but no equivalent controlled comparison exists, so no number is claimed for them._ ## Which format to prioritise first Start with whichever format is cheapest to collect in volume (photos, then photo reviews), get those live on the product page, then layer in video for the handful of best-sellers where fit or technique is the real objection. A thin gallery of five video pieces on your top three products usually outperforms a thick gallery of fifty low-effort photos spread across the whole catalogue. ## Which format fits which category Apparel, footwear and beauty carry the biggest gap between studio and reality (fit, drape, how a shade actually looks on skin), which is why video and photo reviews do the most work there. Furniture and home goods lean on customer photos in context: a sofa in a real living room answers "will this fit my space" better than any showroom shot. Food, supplements and anything consumed rather than worn tends to convert on video (unboxing, taste reaction) because the product itself is invisible in a still photo. B2B and higher-consideration purchases (courses, services, enterprise software) get more out of long-form testimonials than any visual format, since the buying decision hinges on outcomes a photo can't show. Campaign and competition content is the exception: it isn't tied to a category so much as a moment, a launch, a seasonal push, a slow month that needs a content top-up. Run it as a periodic addition on top of whichever always-on formats fit the category, not as the primary strategy. ## Collecting each format without hiring for it Photos and photo reviews come from a single automated post-purchase email; most review platforms support media upload in the same flow a text review uses, so no separate ask is needed. Video takes more prompting, a specific request ("show us how you styled it") outperforms a generic "leave a review" for getting motion content rather than a static clip. Social reposts require watching brand mentions and tags, which a listening tool automates; doing it manually works below a few hundred followers but stops scaling past that. Testimonials are best gathered by simply asking a happy customer directly, in a support ticket, a reorder, a five-star review, rather than waiting for one to arrive unprompted. **In one line:** UGC is seven formats, not one. Photos and photo reviews build volume cheaply; video carries the highest measured conversion lift; reposts and testimonials do the trust-building work a conversion number can't capture. Match the format to the job, don't default to whichever is easiest to collect. A [UGC and why it out-converts studio content](/blog/what-is-ugc-and-why-it-converts) covers the underlying "why" in more depth; [how to collect UGC from Instagram and TikTok legally](/blog/how-to-collect-ugc-legally-instagram-tiktok) covers the collection mechanics for formats 2 and 5 above. ### FAQ **Q: What are the main types of user-generated content?** A: Seven distinct formats: customer photos, customer video, written reviews, photo/video reviews, organic social reposts, long-form testimonials, and campaign or competition content. Each behaves differently and earns its keep at a different point in the funnel. **Q: Which type of UGC converts best?** A: Where a direct, sourced comparison exists, video reviews convert 4.1× vs. text-only reviews and photo reviews convert 2.6× (PowerReviews). Formats like reposts and testimonials add real trust value but don’t have an equivalent controlled comparison, so no multiple is claimed for them. **Q: Do I need all seven formats to start?** A: No. Start with photos and photo reviews for volume, then add video on your highest-traffic products once the collection process is working. Reposts, testimonials and campaign content are worth adding once the core gallery is live, not before. ### Sources - PowerReviews: the impact of visual content on conversion — 2023 baseline, video/photo review conversion multiples - [Idukki: What is UGC, and why it out-converts studio content](/blog/what-is-ugc-and-why-it-converts) - [Idukki: How to legally collect UGC from Instagram and TikTok](/blog/how-to-collect-ugc-legally-instagram-tiktok) - [Idukki: build your 90-day rollout plan](/tools/recommendations-engine) --- Canonical: https://idukki.io/blog/types-of-ugc-which-sells-most Tags: UGC formats, Strategy, Video