The traditional marketing playbook is being rewritten. We analyzed search trends over the past year using BrightEdge to ascertain how businesses are researching and thinking about user generating content.  The data reveals that businesses are making significant inroads in user-generated content (UGC) strategies—but not in the ways you might expect.

Let's explore five key search trends that reveal how brands are transforming their approach to customer engagement, and how you can stay ahead of this evolution.

1. Brands Are Investing in Professional UGC Capabilities

The Data:

- General queries for learning about user generated content consistently maintain 40,000-50,000 monthly searches

- Business-focused UGC platforms command premium CPCs of $15-20

- Growing search volume across a number of areas.  

-Interest in UGC Platforms has increased by 30% YOY

-Searches for UGC Tools are up 28% YOY

-UGC Marketing is up 18% from last year! 

What This Means:

Businesses are moving beyond ad-hoc UGC campaigns to build sustainable, scalable content ecosystems. They're investing in professional tools and platforms that can turn customer content into a reliable revenue driver.

Cohora’s All In One Solution is Built for where Marketing is going: 

Instead of relying on a series of point solutions to curate and manage a user-generated content marketing strategy, Cohora makes it easy to activate in a single screen. Our unified platform synchronizes customer interactions across all touchpoints, allowing you to:

- Collect and analyze zero-party data efficiently

- Create personalized engagement campaigns

- Track and optimize customer content performance

- Manage your entire UGC ecosystem from one intuitive dashboard

2. Search Data Shows Companies Are Getting Serious About UGC Strategy

The Data:

According to our research, businesses are increasingly interested in how to be more strategic in their UGC work: 

• "UGC marketing" and "UGC strategy" searches show 13.64% year-over-year growth with high commercial intent ($14.72 CPC on average right now)
• Strategic planning terms like "UGC content strategy" and "UGC marketing strategy" have seen 175% year-over-year growth

What This Means:

The days of simply reposting customer content are over. Businesses are investing in comprehensive strategies to understand, cultivate, and leverage UGC effectively. The high commercial intent in the form of high CPC’s and growing searches around strategy terms show companies are actively seeking tools that can turn customer content into actionable business insights.

Beyond Random Content: How connecting UGC with customer insights drives strategic success:  

We see that customers are already leveraging Cohora’s platform to help with:

• Collect deeper customer insights through branded quizzes, polls, and interactive experiences that reveal the "why" behind UGC engagement
• Make data-driven decisions about content promotion based on real customer preferences and behavior patterns
• Create personalized UGC experiences by segmenting and targeting content based on customer interests
• Turn every piece of UGC into actionable insights that fuel smarter marketing decisions and stronger customer relationships

3. The Shift Toward Active Community Building

The Data:

- "UGC creator" maintains steady high volume (22,200 monthly searches) and grows at 10% YOY

- 20-30% year-over-year growth in community engagement terms

- Increasing searches for loyalty and incentive programs

What This Means:

Brands are moving beyond passive content collection to actively cultivating engaged customer communities that generate high-quality UGC.

Customers are using Cohora as one-stop shop for UGC Creation. The most common applications include:

- Creating and manage effective loyalty programs

- Rewarding customers for both transactions and engagement

- Building deeper connections through personalized interactions

- Foster long-term customer relationships that drive retention

4. UGC Is Moving Beyond Social Media to Power Marketing Campaigns

The Data:

According to our research, businesses are integrating UGC across all marketing channels:

• "UGC ads" searches have grown 391% year-over-year, showing brands are investing in paid UGC promotion
• "UGC social media marketing" terms demonstrate 133% growth as companies seek comprehensive social strategies
• "UGC campaign" searches increased 21.88% year-over-year, indicating a shift toward strategic, campaign-based approaches
• Digital marketing integration terms like "UGC in digital marketing" show consistent 33% year-over-year growth

What This Means:

UGC is no longer confined to social media feeds. Companies are systematically incorporating customer content into their broader marketing mix, from paid advertising to email campaigns to website content. This multi-channel approach shows UGC is becoming a core marketing asset, not just a social media tactic.

Put This Into Action: integration into broader campaigns are a key reason users are turning to Cohora.  In a single platform, they are able to: 

• Distribute UGC strategically across all marketing channels
• Create cohesive campaigns that blend organic and paid content
• Measure and optimize UGC performance across touchpoints
• Scale your UGC efforts while maintaining authenticity

5. From One-Off Content to Engaging Experiences

The Data:

Our research suggests businesses are evolving beyond simple content collection:

• "UGC contests" and engagement-focused terms show 133% year-over-year growth
• "UGC style content" searches increased 88.89% year-over-year, indicating interest in interactive formats
• Customer advocacy related searches show steady growth of 50% year-over-year

What This Means:

‍Companies are moving beyond collecting static UGC to creating dynamic experiences that encourage ongoing customer participation. This shift toward interactive content and community engagement shows businesses understand that sustainable UGC programs require active customer participation.

Why a Platform Approach Matters:  Scaling these programs and building them systematically is very difficult without a centralized place to do it.  In a single screen, users can: 

• Launch branded interactive experiences like polls, quizzes, and contests that both entertain and gather crucial customer insights
• Build an owned community space that integrates seamlessly with your e-commerce environment
• Design dynamic segments to incentivize both content creation and community participation
• Unify all customer data and interactions in one platform for truly personalized engagement

Search data reveals a clear pattern: businesses are moving beyond viewing UGC as just content—they're building comprehensive strategies to turn customer engagement into a sustainable competitive advantage. To keep up, it’s essential for e-commerce brands to embrace UGC as a strategic revenue driver. 

Cohora provides the all-in-one platform you need to capitalize on these trends. From sophisticated data collection to community building, from personalized engagement to powerful analytics, we offer the tools and expertise to help you build a UGC strategy that drives real business results.

Don't wait until your competitors have established their UGC advantage!. Contact us today to learn how Cohora can help you transform your customer engagement strategy and drive long-term revenue growth!

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