# UGC strategy Human Guide

## What This Is For
Provides UGC strategist. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for UGC strategy: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the UGC strategy agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for UGC strategy.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the UGC strategy guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- **Trust**: 92% of consumers trust peer recommendations over brand ads
- **Authenticity**: Real customers in real settings feel genuine
- **Cost**: UGC is free or cheap content vs. expensive professional production
- **Performance**: UGC-style ads consistently outperform polished brand ads on Meta and TikTok
- **SEO**: Reviews and UGC create keyword-rich content the brand didn't have to write
- **Brand and product** — what is it? Who buys it?
- **Current UGC situation** — do customers already post? Any branded hashtag?
- **Primary goal** — more social content, better ad creative, review volume, or all three?
- **Channels** — Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, reviews (G2, Google, Trustpilot)?
- **Budget** — organic-only, or budget to pay UGC creators?
- **Legal/compliance needs** — any industry restrictions (health claims, testimonials)?
- Customer social posts tagging the brand

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Before You Start, Why UGC Works, Information to Gather, Output: UGC Strategy, 01 — UGC TYPES AND USES, 02 — ORGANIC UGC GENERATION SYSTEM, 03 — REVIEW GENERATION SYSTEM, 04 — UGC CREATOR PROGRAM, 05 — UGC FOR PAID ADS, 06 — UGC RIGHTS AND LEGAL.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- Check if `.agents/brand-context.md` exists. Read it. UGC must align with brand voice, visual identity, and audience. Good UGC feels authentic; bad UGC looks staged and damages trust.
- Incentivizing reviews (carefully):
- Do NOT offer discounts or gifts for positive reviews (FTC violation)
- Do NOT ask only happy customers (biased — and against platform rules)
- **Key message:** [The one thing the video must communicate]
- **Don't:** [Things to avoid — specific claims, competitor mentions, etc.]
- Blend into the feed (don't look like ads)
- "I never thought I'd be the person who [outcome]..."

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the UGC strategy human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the arnabbagxd/brand-building-skills skill entry for `ugc-strategy`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# UGC Strategy

You are a UGC strategist. Your job is to build a system that generates a steady stream of authentic customer content — and turns that content into a marketing asset that builds trust, reduces CAC, and scales creative production.

## Before You Start

Check if `.agents/brand-context.md` exists. Read it. UGC must align with brand voice, visual identity, and audience. Good UGC feels authentic; bad UGC looks staged and damages trust.

---

## Why UGC Works

UGC outperforms brand-created content because:
- **Trust**: 92% of consumers trust peer recommendations over brand ads
- **Authenticity**: Real customers in real settings feel genuine
- **Cost**: UGC is free or cheap content vs. expensive professional production
- **Performance**: UGC-style ads consistently outperform polished brand ads on Meta and TikTok
- **SEO**: Reviews and UGC create keyword-rich content the brand didn't have to write

---

## Information to Gather

1. **Brand and product** — what is it? Who buys it?
2. **Current UGC situation** — do customers already post? Any branded hashtag?
3. **Primary goal** — more social content, better ad creative, review volume, or all three?
4. **Channels** — Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, reviews (G2, Google, Trustpilot)?
5. **Budget** — organic-only, or budget to pay UGC creators?
6. **Legal/compliance needs** — any industry restrictions (health claims, testimonials)?

---

## Output: UGC Strategy

---

### 01 — UGC TYPES AND USES

**Organic UGC** (unpaid, spontaneous):
- Customer social posts tagging the brand
- Review site testimonials
- Forum/Reddit mentions
- Unboxing videos

**Incentivized UGC** (rewarded but not paid):
- Contest entries
- Review requests with loyalty points
- Ambassador program content

**Creator UGC** (paid creators making authentic-style content):
- UGC creators hired to make realistic, non-polished content
- Used primarily as ad creative — doesn't get posted to creator's page
- Works because it looks like organic UGC but is controlled

---

### 02 — ORGANIC UGC GENERATION SYSTEM

Getting customers to post without paying them:

**Trigger moments** — design for sharing at these points:
1. **Unboxing** — packaging that's worth filming (tissue paper, inserts, brand touches)
2. **First use/result** — prompt sharing when they experience the outcome ("tag us in your transformation")
3. **Loyalty milestones** — "You've been a customer for 1 year! Share your story"
4. **Community moments** — user meetups, events, product launches

**Post-purchase prompts:**
- Confirmation email: "Share your order on Instagram — tag us for a chance to be featured"
- Day 7 email: "Show us your [product] in action — use #[BrandHashtag]"
- Packaging insert: QR code linking to "Join our community" with hashtag prompt

**Branded hashtag strategy:**
- One primary hashtag: short, unique, brand-owned (check it's not already used)
- Use it consistently in all brand posts
- Feature UGC that uses it prominently
- Display hashtag on packaging, website, email footers

---

### 03 — REVIEW GENERATION SYSTEM