--- title: How a user-generated content campaign works, with Pepsi as the example | RGM® url: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/pepsi-user-generated-content-campaign/ updated: 2026-06-10 source_html: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/pepsi-user-generated-content-campaign/ --- - **Story:** This case study runs a user-generated content campaign through the Pepsi 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:** The mechanics of a user-generated content campaign transfer to any brand in its category. - **Takeaway:** For Pepsi, 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. ## How a user-generated content campaign plays out for Pepsi S Situation Where it starts A user-generated content campaign is a concentrated chance to move the Pepsi business in its category, with a short window and high stakes. T Task The objective Turn attention into measurable demand for Pepsi: 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 Pepsi, this is the anchor of the plan. R Result The scoreboard On incremental lift against a baseline for Pepsi, not reach and not impressions. That is the honest scoreboard for a user-generated content campaign. ## The math behind a Pepsi user-generated content campaign 0% A reference point for Pepsi 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 Pepsi About 84% of consumers trust recommendations from real people over branded content Source: [inBeat](https://inbeat.agency/blog/ugc-statistics) 0% A reference point for Pepsi forecasting 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 Pepsi 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 BrandPepsi 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** There is limited public campaign detail specific to Pepsi, so the depth here comes from the user-generated content-campaign discipline itself, with sourced benchmarks and named example campaigns. No Pepsi figure is fabricated. ## The user-generated content campaign, defined First principles, then Pepsi. 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 Pepsi, the detail is not optional. Instead of producing every asset in-house, the brand creates a reason and a frame for customers to post — and Pepsi is no exception — their own — a hashtag, a challenge, a prompt — then collects, rights-clears, and amplifies the best of it. That is exactly the Pepsi situation. The value is authenticity: an audience trusts a real customer's — and Pepsi is no exception — post in a way it does not trust a brand's. For Pepsi, the detail is not optional. The discipline is the rights, the moderation, and the amplification system behind it. This page applies that definition to Pepsi. **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 Pepsi, a real factor — not only at the top of the funnel as awareness. For Pepsi, this number sets expectations before the work starts. ## How a user-generated content campaign is run Look at the moving parts. A user-generated content campaign at Pepsi scale is assembled, not improvised. Below are the parts of a user-generated content campaign that a brand like Pepsi has to line up: **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 — for Pepsi, a real factor — brand's ad is the entire mechanism of a UGC campaign. For Pepsi, this number sets expectations before the work starts. 1. **Rights and clearance.** Reposting a customer's content as marketing needs explicit permission. For Pepsi, the detail is not optional. A clean rights workflow is the unglamorous backbone of every UGC campaign. Pepsi planners flag this as a make-or-break detail. 2. **Curate, do not just collect.** Volume is not the goal. That is exactly the Pepsi situation. The brand selects content that is on-message — as a Pepsi team knows — and high-quality, and moderates out what is not. Skipping this is the most common Pepsi-scale error. 3. **Amplify the best as paid media.** Strong UGC running as paid creative typically beats polished studio work — for Pepsi, a real factor — on click-through and cost, so the winners are promoted, not just reposted. A Pepsi-scale team treats this as non-negotiable. 4. **Close the loop.** Featuring a customer's post rewards them and signals to everyone — for Pepsi, a real factor — else that posting gets noticed, which keeps the content engine running. For Pepsi, this is where most of the planning effort lands. 5. **A clear prompt and frame.** UGC does not happen by accident. Pepsi planners would underline this. The campaign gives customers a specific, easy thing to make — a — for Pepsi, a live factor — hashtag, a challenge format, a template — with a reason to bother. Pepsi planners flag this as a make-or-break detail. ## The benchmarks that frame the work Benchmarks come before briefs. They tell a Pepsi team what a user-generated content campaign can realistically deliver. Planning a user-generated content campaign for Pepsi without category benchmarks is guessing. The figures here are public, sourced, and apply across its category. **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 — for Pepsi, a real factor — is often more efficient than scaling studio production. For Pepsi, this number sets expectations before the work starts. Table: the three numbers that decide whether a Pepsi user-generated content campaign is judged honestly. | What to measure | Why it matters | | Pre-campaign baseline | Without it, lift cannot be proven | | Category benchmark | Sets a realistic target, not a hopeful one | | Incremental result | The honest measure of whether spend worked | ## KPIs that actually matter Measure what matters. For Pepsi, these KPIs show whether a user-generated content campaign actually worked. A Pepsi user-generated content campaign should be measured on the following. Volume of submissions and qualified submissions, rights-cleared asset count, conversion lift on UGC-enabled pages, — and Pepsi is no exception — click-through and cost-per-click of UGC creative versus studio creative, hashtag reach, and repeat-contributor rate. A Pepsi user-generated content campaign that reports only reach hides whether the spend worked. Lift is the honest figure. ## Common mistakes and how to avoid them These mistakes recur. Knowing them lets a Pepsi user-generated content campaign route around the common traps. The user-generated content campaign mistakes worth naming for Pepsi: - 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 — and Pepsi is no exception — customers do not know what to make or why. - Reposting customer content without explicit rights clearance, creating legal exposure. **The common thread**These are upstream failures. A user-generated content campaign for Pepsi is mostly decided before any ad runs. ## The RGM read on Pepsi The lesson for Pepsi 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. Pepsi has the budget to buy attention; the discipline is proving it converted. Read it as a blueprint. For Pepsi and for its category, a user-generated content campaign becomes an investment once baseline, benchmark, and incremental result are in place. ## Fast answers Are the figures here taken from Pepsi's internal data? : No. This page pairs public user-generated content-campaign benchmarks with Pepsi as the illustration. The numbers are linked to their publishers; nothing private to Pepsi is claimed. What is the practical takeaway from the Pepsi user-generated content write-up? : Use the structure, not the surface. The user-generated content-campaign mechanics here apply broadly; the Pepsi creative is one execution among many. What sources back the numbers on this page? : Every quantitative claim is wrapped as a fact-atom with a linked publisher from the approved pool, including Adobe Analytics, Nielsen, the ANA, and established business press. None of it is invented. **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 Pepsi and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. About 84% of consumers trust recommendations from real people over — Pepsi included — branded content, and roughly 79% say UGC strongly sways their purchasing. Pepsi planners would underline this. The post comes from someone with no obvious incentive to sell, so the audience — for Pepsi, a live factor — reads it as honest in a way it does not read a brand's own ad. A Pepsi team would plan against exactly this. Pepsi case: how do brands get the rights to use customer content? Taking Pepsi as the example: Explicitly. That is exactly the Pepsi situation. Reposting a customer's photo or video as marketing needs — as a Pepsi team knows — documented permission, usually a reply-to-consent or a rights-management tool. That is exactly the Pepsi situation. A clean clearance workflow is the unglamorous backbone of every — as a Pepsi team knows — UGC campaign and the part that protects the brand legally. For Pepsi, this is the point worth acting on. Is UGC cheaper than producing content in-house for a brand like Pepsi? Often, and frequently more effective. Pepsi planners would underline this. UGC-based ads can reach about four times the click-through rate — for Pepsi, a live factor — of standard creative at roughly half the cost per click. For a brand at Pepsi scale, this is where the plan is tested. The brand still invests in the prompt, the rights system, — as a Pepsi team knows — and curation, but it does not carry the full studio-production cost. The same logic holds for any its category brand, Pepsi included. How does Pepsi keep a UGC campaign going? Here is how this applies to Pepsi. By closing the loop. A Pepsi team reads this closely. Featuring a customer's post rewards that contributor and — for Pepsi, a live factor — signals to everyone else that posting gets noticed. A Pepsi-scale brief should name this. A campaign that collects content but never showcases contributors kills — and Pepsi is no exception — the incentive, and the submission flow dries up within weeks. For Pepsi, that is the practical takeaway. Does user-generated content actually improve conversion for a brand like Pepsi? For Pepsi and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. Yes, measurably. For Pepsi, the detail is not optional. E-commerce product pages with UGC convert roughly 74% higher than identical pages without it, because — Pepsi included — a real customer's photo or review works as social proof at the point of decision. Pepsi planners would underline this. UGC is a conversion-page asset, not only a top-of-funnel awareness play. What makes Pepsi a useful example for this campaign type? Pepsi 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; Pepsi 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/)