Will user-generated content (UGC) be even more important in 2026?
To answer it simply, yes, it would be.
Of course, this is a data and research-backed statement we are only able to state after performing a thorough analysis of market trends and statistics reflecting the continuous growth of UGC in a range of industries.
Let’s dive a bit deeper to gain a better understanding of this discourse.
To develop a deeper understanding of it all, we have to dive further into the discourse.
Looking at the past few years, it seems like the demand for user-generated content keeps growing, and the internet keeps getting filled with a humongous amount of it, in different formats and varieties. This only cements the idea that UGC marketing strategy, regardless of its format, is uncannily powerful when it comes to influencing the audience and driving major decisions.
By definition, user-generated content, also known as user-created content (UCC), is content generated by users of the internet, such as images, videos, audio, testimonials, text, software, and user interactions.
And it’s so easy to spot them on YouTube, Reddit, TikTok, and brand sites, as most have dedicated sections for UGC.
The UGC Market Size
Expanding our research, we found some interesting statistics that depict the gigantic significance of the UGC realm.
According to this insightful research, the global UGC market size reached around USD 7.85 billion in 2024. In addition, this is commulatively estimated to grow to USD 32.93 billion by the year 2033, predicting a robust increase in CAGR of 16.2% from 2025 to 2033.
Moreover, if we narrow our scope to a specific industry, like the Global Travel and Tourism, we observe that its user-generated content market is estimated to be valued at USD 279.8 million in 2025. And by the year 2035, it is projected to reach around USD 1,132.1 million.
As much as it is important to acknowledge the monetary aspect of the global UGC market, it also holds great significance to study the elements that are driving such an undeniable large degree of growth.
What’s Driving UCG Market Growth?
The rising surge in the UGC market is fundamentally caused by the introduction of multiple social channels and platforms. The additional layer of socials to the big binary complex system of the search engines has further fueled the demand for crafting interactive content solutions and building additional engagement streams. This has become the utmost important component of the brand strategies now, as compared to the previous times when it used to be a rather overlooked marketing tactic.
Then we have the pivotal concept of establishing brand authenticity and consumer trust. And this is the hands-down, an all-time need now, cause the internet is burdened by the competent brands and product sellers, and it’s getting harder to capture the attention of your audience every passing day.
Thirdly, in order to win the brand wars, it’s a no-brainer that marketers need to pay special attention to bridging the visible gaps between the circulating brand messaging and the consumer perception. One of the ways to achieve this is to maintain a persistent stream of UGC — videos, images, text reviews, testimonials — by the real customers and not the insufferable bots crowding the social spaces. This marketing not only cements your brand identity as a credible one but also sends out the positive message that you care about what your customers think about you, and it’s immensely valuable to your brand growth.
Popular UGC Brand Campaigns
According to Search Logistics, UGC campaigns get a 29% higher conversion rate as compared to traditional campaigns without UGC. This leads us to spotlighting some of the eminent UGC brand campaigns that garnered so much attention and engagement.
GoPro
When it comes to incorporating UGC into your core brand strategy and messaging, GoPro makes it to the top of the list. Cause their handy and innovative products create an organic UGC just by being what they are.
And if you go through their socials, you’ll find out they actively post and promote the media created by their customers across the globe. That includes athletes, travellers, people with different professions, and so on. With that, they frequently hold hashtag competitions to pique the interest of the users and increase the user engagement by tenfold.
Doritos #CrashtheSuperBowl Campaign
And it would be absolutely unfair to miss the Doritos #CrashtheSuperBowl contest when we’re discussing UGC brand campaigns. Almost two decades back, Doritos came up with the phenomenal campaign idea, having a forte of UGC and customer participation that instantly gained immense popularity and still remains one of their most popular brand campaigns.
In this contest, customers are challenged to create a Doritos advertisement better than the brand could. And the winner wins $1 million and gets their ad played during the big Super Bowl game. Not only does this campaign allow people to turn their creative vision into reality, but it also creates a stronger sense of community engagement that lets us see how people perceive the said brand.
According to this article, the UGC campaigns received millions of video submissions from around the globe. In addition, there was a 30% increase in Super Bowl ad engagement as the audience was curious to find out which fan-made ad won the hyped contest.
#CrashtheSuperBowl campaign has run for over a decade, from 2006 to 2016, and incredibly made a comeback this year. Here’s the fan-made ad that won the recent contest.
Airbnb “Live There” Campaign
It is common to find those YouTube Vlogs and Instagram reels sharing the coveted Airbnb experiences — the good, the bad, and the ugly. This content format, indeed, makes up a huge segment of user-generated content for this renowned brand.
But do you know that, back in 2016, Airbnb took a thoughtful initiative and launched a “Live There” campaign to promote their growing venture and reflect on how they’re enabling travellers to connect better with different destinations. The mindful campaign was rooted in the idea of traveling to destinations, not merely as tourists, but as locals. And to experience different regions across the globe in a more meaningful way, and make lifetime memories.
With a multifaceted approach, the campaign encouraged travellers to share their experiences on socials with the hashtag #LiveThere, and also shared real stories from hosts, locals, highlighting the unique accommodations.
Takeaway
Indeed, the UGC market is thriving. And speaking of the future of user-generated content, the growing shift is only going to continue in the years to come. With so many formats, discussions, general customer and influencer participation, they’re likely to be omnipresent on the most visited sites and socials. And of course, with the AI bots infiltrating our spaces and contributing to trending discourses, there’s a huge requirement for genuine and authentic opinions more than ever now.
So, yes, UGC will not only be important and relevant in 2026, but even beyond that!