--- title: How a user-generated content campaign works, with Hyatt as the example | RGM® url: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/hyatt-user-generated-content-campaign/ updated: 2026-06-10 source_html: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/hyatt-user-generated-content-campaign/ --- - **Story:** This case study runs a user-generated content campaign through the Hyatt lens, from mechanics to public benchmarks. - **Why it matters:** Treated well, a user-generated content campaign is a planning discipline first and a creative exercise second. - **Takeaway:** For Hyatt, 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 Hyatt S Situation The setup A user-generated content campaign is a concentrated chance to move the Hyatt business in its category, with a short window and high stakes. T Task The job Turn attention into measurable demand for Hyatt: plan the mechanics, set targets against category benchmarks, and build in the measurement. A Action The work 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 Hyatt, this is the anchor of the plan. R Result The verdict On incremental lift against a baseline for Hyatt, not reach and not impressions. That is the honest scoreboard for a user-generated content campaign. ## The math behind a Hyatt user-generated content campaign 0% A reference point for Hyatt 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% A planning anchor for Hyatt About 84% of consumers trust recommendations from real people over branded content Source: [inBeat](https://inbeat.agency/blog/ugc-statistics) 0% Category figure relevant to Hyatt 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 What the public data tells a Hyatt team Every figure on this page links to its publisher. Source: [inBeat — user-generated content statistics](https://inbeat.agency/blog/ugc-statistics) #### Quick facts BrandHyatt 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 Hyatt 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 Hyatt is invented; where a fact is not public, it is left out. ## The user-generated content campaign, defined The core idea, before the Hyatt detail. A user-generated content campaign turns customers into the brand's media. A user-generated content campaign turns customers into the brand's media. For Hyatt, this is the load-bearing part. Instead of producing every asset in-house, the brand creates a reason and a frame for customers to post — Hyatt included — their own — a hashtag, a challenge, a prompt — then collects, rights-clears, and amplifies the best of it. A Hyatt team reads this closely. The value is authenticity: an audience trusts a real customer's — as a Hyatt team knows — post in a way it does not trust a brand's. It applies cleanly to Hyatt. The discipline is the rights, the moderation, and the amplification system behind it. This page applies that definition to Hyatt. **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, — and Hyatt is no exception — not only at the top of the funnel as awareness. For a Hyatt plan, it is the kind of figure that anchors a target. ## Running a user-generated content campaign, step by step Look at the moving parts. A user-generated content campaign at Hyatt scale is assembled, not improvised. A user-generated content campaign is an operating system rather than a single asset. For Hyatt, these parts have to work together: **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 — Hyatt included — brand's ad is the entire mechanism of a UGC campaign. A Hyatt team would treat this as a planning reference, not a guarantee. 1. **Rights and clearance.** Reposting a customer's content as marketing needs explicit permission. A Hyatt team reads this closely. A clean rights workflow is the unglamorous backbone of every UGC campaign. This step decides how the rest of the Hyatt plan holds up. 2. **Curate, do not just collect.** Volume is not the goal. In the Hyatt context, that detail carries weight. The brand selects content that is on-message — Hyatt included — and high-quality, and moderates out what is not. Hyatt planners flag this as a make-or-break detail. 3. **Amplify the best as paid media.** Strong UGC running as paid creative typically beats polished studio work — and Hyatt is no exception — on click-through and cost, so the winners are promoted, not just reposted. This step decides how the rest of the Hyatt plan holds up. 4. **Close the loop.** Featuring a customer's post rewards them and signals to everyone — and Hyatt is no exception — else that posting gets noticed, which keeps the content engine running. A Hyatt-scale team treats this as non-negotiable. 5. **A clear prompt and frame.** UGC does not happen by accident. In the Hyatt context, that detail carries weight. The campaign gives customers a specific, easy thing to make — a — and Hyatt is no exception — hashtag, a challenge format, a template — with a reason to bother. This step decides how the rest of the Hyatt plan holds up. ## Public benchmarks for this campaign type The data sets the targets. A user-generated content campaign for Hyatt should be planned against these figures, not against hope. A Hyatt team setting user-generated content campaign targets needs the category data first. The numbers below are public and linked. **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 — and Hyatt is no exception — is often more efficient than scaling studio production. A Hyatt team would treat this as a planning reference, not a guarantee. Table: the three numbers that decide whether a Hyatt 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 | ## Which KPIs decide the verdict Measure what matters. For Hyatt, these KPIs show whether a user-generated content campaign actually worked. For a user-generated content campaign, the metrics that matter are these. Volume of submissions and qualified submissions, rights-cleared asset count, conversion lift on UGC-enabled pages, — for Hyatt, a real factor — 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 Hyatt. ## The failure patterns worth pre-empting Failure has a shape. For Hyatt, the four errors below are the ones worth pre-empting. These failure patterns recur across user-generated content campaigns: - Chasing submission volume and amplifying off-message or low-quality posts. - Collecting UGC and never featuring contributors, so the incentive to keep posting dies. - Launching a hashtag with no clear prompt, so — Hyatt included — customers do not know what to make or why. - Reposting customer content without explicit rights clearance, creating legal exposure. **What to notice**Each failure traces to planning, not to the work itself. A Hyatt user-generated content campaign is set up to win, or not, in advance. ## What RGM takes from the Hyatt case The lesson for Hyatt is structural. The user-generated content campaign mechanics transfer; the creative does not. Across the audits we have done, winning user-generated content campaigns come from teams that measure rather than assume. Hyatt 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. ## Quick answers on this case study Are the figures here taken from Hyatt's internal data? : No. Every statistic is a public, linked benchmark for the user-generated content campaign type, applied to Hyatt as the example. Where a figure cannot be sourced publicly, it is omitted rather than guessed. What is the practical takeaway from the Hyatt user-generated content write-up? : Use the structure, not the surface. The user-generated content-campaign mechanics here apply broadly; the Hyatt creative is one execution among many. How are the benchmarks here verified? : Each figure carries a fact-atom linking its publisher. Sources include Adobe Analytics, Nielsen, the Association of National Advertisers, and major business press, so every claim can be checked. **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 Why do consumers trust UGC more than brand content for a brand like Hyatt? Taking Hyatt as the example: About 84% of consumers trust recommendations from real people over — as a Hyatt team knows — branded content, and roughly 79% say UGC strongly sways their purchasing. For Hyatt, the detail is not optional. The post comes from someone with no obvious incentive to sell, so the audience — for Hyatt, a live factor — reads it as honest in a way it does not read a brand's own ad. A Hyatt team would plan against exactly this. How do brands get the rights to use customer content? Taking Hyatt as the example: Explicitly. In the Hyatt context, that detail carries weight. Reposting a customer's photo or video as marketing needs — Hyatt included — documented permission, usually a reply-to-consent or a rights-management tool. A Hyatt team reads this closely. A clean clearance workflow is the unglamorous backbone of every — as a Hyatt team knows — UGC campaign and the part that protects the brand legally. A Hyatt team would plan against exactly this. Is UGC cheaper than producing content in-house for a brand like Hyatt? Taking Hyatt as the example: Often, and frequently more effective. In the Hyatt context, that detail carries weight. UGC-based ads can reach about four times the click-through rate — and Hyatt is no exception — of standard creative at roughly half the cost per click. It applies cleanly to Hyatt. The brand still invests in the prompt, the rights system, — and Hyatt is no exception — and curation, but it does not carry the full studio-production cost. A Hyatt team would plan against exactly this. How does a brand keep a UGC campaign going for a brand like Hyatt? For a brand like Hyatt, the short answer is direct. By closing the loop. It applies cleanly to Hyatt. Featuring a customer's post rewards that contributor and — for Hyatt, a live factor — signals to everyone else that posting gets noticed. Hyatt planners would underline this. A campaign that collects content but never showcases contributors kills — and Hyatt is no exception — the incentive, and the submission flow dries up within weeks. For Hyatt, that is the practical takeaway. Does user-generated content actually improve conversion for a brand like Hyatt? Yes, measurably. A Hyatt-scale brief should name this. E-commerce product pages with UGC convert roughly 74% higher than identical pages without it, because — and Hyatt is no exception — a real customer's photo or review works as social proof at the point of decision. For Hyatt, the detail is not optional. UGC is a conversion-page asset, not only a top-of-funnel awareness play. The same logic holds for any its category brand, Hyatt included. Why does this case study use Hyatt as the example? Hyatt 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; Hyatt 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/)