--- title: Hims as a user-generated content campaign case study: mechanics and numbers | RGM® url: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/hims-user-generated-content-campaign/ updated: 2026-06-10 source_html: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/hims-user-generated-content-campaign/ --- - **Story:** Using Hims as the example, this page unpacks how a user-generated content campaign is built and measured. - **Why it matters:** Treated well, a user-generated content campaign is a planning discipline first and a creative exercise second. - **Takeaway:** For Hims, reach is an input; incremental lift against a baseline is the real measure. - **Takeaway:** Most user-generated content-campaign failures are planning failures, not creative failures. - **Takeaway:** The mechanics of a user-generated content campaign transfer to any brand in its category. ## How a user-generated content campaign plays out for Hims S Situation Where it starts A user-generated content campaign is a concentrated chance to move the Hims business in its category, with a short window and high stakes. T Task The objective Turn attention into measurable demand for Hims: plan the mechanics, set targets against category benchmarks, and build in the measurement. A Action The execution A clear prompt and frame. UGC does not happen by accident. The campaign gives customers a specific, easy thing to make — a hashtag, a challenge format, a template — with a reason to bother. For Hims, this is the anchor of the plan. R Result How it is judged On incremental lift against a baseline for Hims, not reach and not impressions. That is the honest scoreboard for a user-generated content campaign. ## The math behind a Hims user-generated content campaign 0% A reference point for Hims forecasting E-commerce product pages featuring user-generated content convert roughly 74% higher than identical pages without it. Source: [inBeat](https://inbeat.agency/blog/ugc-statistics) 0% Benchmark a Hims plan should cite About 84% of consumers trust recommendations from real people over branded content Source: [inBeat](https://inbeat.agency/blog/ugc-statistics) 0% Benchmark a Hims plan should cite UGC-based ads can achieve about four times higher click-through rates and roughly a 50% lower cost per click than stan Source: [inBeat](https://inbeat.agency/blog/ugc-statistics) Linked Benchmark a Hims plan should cite Every figure on this page links to its publisher. Source: [inBeat — user-generated content statistics](https://inbeat.agency/blog/ugc-statistics) #### Quick facts BrandHims IndustryIts Category Campaign typeUser-Generated Content Primary channelsPaid, owned, earned Planning horizonMonths ahead of launch Core measureIncremental lift, not reach Source basisPublic benchmarks, linked RGM useWorked example, not a recipe **Honest note** Public, brand-specific detail on Hims is limited, so this page leans on the user-generated content campaign discipline: real mechanics, real sourced benchmarks, and the named example campaigns that define the type. Nothing about Hims is invented; where a fact is not public, it is left out. ## Defining the user-generated content campaign First principles, then Hims. A user-generated content campaign turns customers into the brand's media. A user-generated content campaign turns customers into the brand's media. That is exactly the Hims situation. Instead of producing every asset in-house, the brand creates a reason and a frame for customers to post — Hims included — their own — a hashtag, a challenge, a prompt — then collects, rights-clears, and amplifies the best of it. For a brand at Hims scale, this is where the plan is tested. The value is authenticity: an audience trusts a real customer's — and Hims is no exception — post in a way it does not trust a brand's. For Hims, this is the load-bearing part. The discipline is the rights, the moderation, and the amplification system behind it. For Hims, it is the specific lever this page examines. **Claim:** E-commerce product pages featuring user-generated content convert roughly 74% higher than identical pages without it. **Source:** [[inBeat]](https://inbeat.agency/blog/ugc-statistics). **Context:** UGC works on the conversion page as social proof, — for Hims, a real factor — not only at the top of the funnel as awareness. It is the sort of benchmark a Hims brief should cite. ## Running a user-generated content campaign, step by step Run through the mechanics: a user-generated content campaign for Hims is an operating system. For Hims, a user-generated content campaign is less one ad and more a set of connected decisions: **Claim:** About 84% of consumers trust recommendations from real people over branded content, and roughly 79% say UGC strongly influences their purchasing decisions. **Source:** [[inBeat]](https://inbeat.agency/blog/ugc-statistics). **Context:** The authenticity gap between a customer's post and a — and Hims is no exception — brand's ad is the entire mechanism of a UGC campaign. For a Hims plan, it is the kind of figure that anchors a target. 1. **Curate, do not just collect.** Volume is not the goal. In the Hims context, that detail carries weight. The brand selects content that is on-message — for Hims, a live factor — and high-quality, and moderates out what is not. Hims would budget real time against this. 2. **Amplify the best as paid media.** Strong UGC running as paid creative typically beats polished studio work — and Hims is no exception — on click-through and cost, so the winners are promoted, not just reposted. For a brand like Hims, getting this wrong is expensive. 3. **Close the loop.** Featuring a customer's post rewards them and signals to everyone — for Hims, a real factor — else that posting gets noticed, which keeps the content engine running. Hims would budget real time against this. 4. **A clear prompt and frame.** UGC does not happen by accident. For a brand at Hims scale, this is where the plan is tested. The campaign gives customers a specific, easy thing to make — a — as a Hims team knows — hashtag, a challenge format, a template — with a reason to bother. This step decides how the rest of the Hims plan holds up. 5. **Rights and clearance.** Reposting a customer's content as marketing needs explicit permission. Hims planners would underline this. A clean rights workflow is the unglamorous backbone of every UGC campaign. Skipping this is the most common Hims-scale error. ## Public benchmarks for this campaign type Benchmarks come before briefs. They tell a Hims team what a user-generated content campaign can realistically deliver. For Hims, the reference points for a user-generated content campaign come from public its category benchmarks, not internal optimism. **Claim:** UGC-based ads can achieve about four times higher click-through rates and roughly a 50% lower cost per click than standard creative. **Source:** [[inBeat]](https://inbeat.agency/blog/ugc-statistics). **Context:** Promoting the best customer content as paid media — Hims included — is often more efficient than scaling studio production. A Hims team would treat this as a planning reference, not a guarantee. Table: the three numbers that decide whether a Hims user-generated content campaign is judged honestly. | What to measure | Why it matters | | Category benchmark | Sets a realistic target, not a hopeful one | | Incremental result | The honest measure of whether spend worked | | Pre-campaign baseline | Without it, lift cannot be proven | ## KPIs that actually matter Choose KPIs that hold up. A Hims user-generated content campaign is judged on the metrics listed here. The KPIs that count for a user-generated content campaign are listed here. Volume of submissions and qualified submissions, rights-cleared asset count, conversion lift on UGC-enabled pages, — and Hims is no exception — click-through and cost-per-click of UGC creative versus studio creative, hashtag reach, and repeat-contributor rate. Reach and impressions are inputs. They count who the campaign touched, not whether it changed anything for Hims. ## Where these campaigns go wrong The failure patterns are predictable. A Hims team can design each of them out in advance. The user-generated content campaign mistakes worth naming for Hims: - Collecting UGC and never featuring contributors, so the incentive to keep posting dies. - Launching a hashtag with no clear prompt, so — Hims included — customers do not know what to make or why. - Reposting customer content without explicit rights clearance, creating legal exposure. - Chasing submission volume and amplifying off-message or low-quality posts. **The pattern**Each failure traces to planning, not to the work itself. A Hims user-generated content campaign is set up to win, or not, in advance. ## How RGM reads the Hims example For Hims, the value is the model. A user-generated content campaign is a repeatable structure, not a one-off idea. Across the audits we have done, winning user-generated content campaigns come from teams that measure rather than assume. Hims has the budget to buy attention; the discipline is proving it converted. So the worked example is structural. The mechanics carry to any brand in its category, the benchmarks set honest targets, and the measurement plan turns a user-generated content campaign from a cost into a defensible investment. ## Fast answers Does this page report private Hims campaign numbers? : No. The figures are public industry benchmarks for user-generated content campaigns, each sourced and linked. They show how the campaign type works, set against the Hims context. Any number that is not publicly sourceable is left out or marked as RGM analysis. How should a marketing team use this Hims example? : Read it as a model, not a recipe. The mechanics and benchmarks transfer; the exact creative does not. Use it to pressure-test a user-generated content plan against how the discipline actually works. What sources back the numbers on this page? : The numbers are drawn from public reporting by Adobe Analytics, Nielsen, the ANA, and established business press, and each one links back to its source. **Keep reading** Foundational concepts and channels behind this case: - [how performance marketing works](/learn/what-is-performance-marketing/) - [incrementality testing](/learn/incrementality-testing/) - [audience arbitrage](/learn/audience-arbitrage/) - [performance marketing services](/services/performance-marketing/) - [advertising platforms](/platforms/) ## Frequently asked questions How do brands get the rights to use customer content for a brand like Hims? For a brand like Hims, the short answer is direct. Explicitly. A Hims team reads this closely. Reposting a customer's photo or video as marketing needs — and Hims is no exception — documented permission, usually a reply-to-consent or a rights-management tool. That holds directly for Hims. A clean clearance workflow is the unglamorous backbone of every — Hims included — UGC campaign and the part that protects the brand legally. For Hims, that is the practical takeaway. Is UGC cheaper than producing content in-house? For a brand like Hims, the short answer is direct. Often, and frequently more effective. In the Hims context, that detail carries weight. UGC-based ads can reach about four times the click-through rate — as a Hims team knows — of standard creative at roughly half the cost per click. For Hims, the detail is not optional. The brand still invests in the prompt, the rights system, — for Hims, a live factor — and curation, but it does not carry the full studio-production cost. For Hims, that is the practical takeaway. Hims case: how does a brand keep a UGC campaign going? Taking Hims as the example: By closing the loop. Hims planners would underline this. Featuring a customer's post rewards that contributor and — as a Hims team knows — signals to everyone else that posting gets noticed. For Hims, this is the load-bearing part. A campaign that collects content but never showcases contributors kills — as a Hims team knows — the incentive, and the submission flow dries up within weeks. For Hims, this is the point worth acting on. Does user-generated content actually improve conversion? For Hims and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. Yes, measurably. That holds directly for Hims. E-commerce product pages with UGC convert roughly 74% higher than identical pages without it, because — and Hims is no exception — a real customer's photo or review works as social proof at the point of decision. That holds directly for Hims. UGC is a conversion-page asset, not only a top-of-funnel awareness play. A Hims team would plan against exactly this. Hims case: why do consumers trust UGC more than brand content? For Hims and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. About 84% of consumers trust recommendations from real people over — for Hims, a live factor — branded content, and roughly 79% say UGC strongly sways their purchasing. In the Hims context, that detail carries weight. The post comes from someone with no obvious incentive to sell, so the audience — Hims included — reads it as honest in a way it does not read a brand's own ad. A Hims team would plan against exactly this. What makes Hims a useful example for this campaign type? Hims is a recognisable brand in its category, which makes the user-generated content mechanics concrete and easy to follow. The campaign-type analysis and every benchmark apply across the category; Hims is the lens, not the limit. The sourced figures hold for any comparable brand. ### Sources & references - [inBeat — user-generated content statistics](https://inbeat.agency/blog/ugc-statistics) — Conversion, trust, and ad-performance data for UGC. - [Flowbox — UGC statistics compilation](https://getflowbox.com/blog/user-generated-content-statistics/) — Independent compilation of UGC performance benchmarks. - [HubSpot 2026 marketing statistics](https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics) — Broader content-marketing and UGC adoption data. - [Archive.com — UGC engagement statistics](https://archive.com/blog/user-generated-content) — Engagement and time-on-site data for UGC. ## Related [#### All case studies The full RGM case-study library.](/learn/case-studies/)[#### What is growth marketing The foundational concept behind every campaign type.](/learn/what-is-growth-marketing/)[#### Incrementality testing How to prove a campaign actually caused the lift.](/learn/incrementality-testing/)