UGC stands for user-generated content. In ads, it means video and images that look like they were filmed by an ordinary person on their phone. Here’s what it is, why it works, what it doesn’t fix, and how to get it.
By Jona Helgen, Arcads · Updated September 28, 20263 min read
Real UGC ads we have made
UGC stands for user-generated content. In practice, it’s video and images that look like they were filmed by an ordinary person on their phone. Someone unboxing a product on the kitchen counter. Someone talking straight into the selfie camera about something she’s tried. Natural light, slightly uneven sound, no studio.
Still, most of the UGC you see in ads isn’t made by random customers. It’s made by creators who get paid for it, or cut from raw footage the company has collected. “User-generated” describes how the content looks, not necessarily who made it.
On Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, your ad competes with content from friends and people users follow. Anything that looks like a commercial gets scrolled past. A person talking straight to the camera looks like what people are there to see, and so gets a few more seconds of attention. Those seconds are what the ad has to say something.
What separates a good UGC ad from a bad one is rarely image quality. It’s the first two to three seconds (the hook), that it’s shot vertically (9:16), and that it has on-screen text for everyone watching without sound. Meta and TikTok also find the audience based on what’s in the ad, so a focused video performs better than a broad one.
UGC isn’t always the winner. For Mokki (sunglasses for kids), simple image ads also worked well. CMO Mattis Ohana Goksøyr wrote to us: “Wow, even the statics are working so well! Great job, guys, fantastic.” That’s why we always test several formats against each other.
When we ran the ads for Leid.no (trailer rental), we made UGC, image ads and Snapchat formats side by side and let the numbers decide. The account ended up at 4.73x ROAS across channels, on more than NOK 100,000 a month in ads. It wasn’t one video that did it, but enough variants to find the ones that worked.
Want to see what we would do for you? Send us your website and get a free proposal for ads and a landing page.
Get the proposal →An influencer lends you their audience. You pay for their reach, and the content lives on their channel. A UGC creator makes content you use in your own ads, aimed at your own audience, and doesn’t need a single follower. You’re buying the content, not the reach.
The two can be combined. With partnership ads, you run the ad from the creator’s profile, but with your budget and your targeting. For Mokki, we recruited creators with detailed scripts and ran the ads that way.
If your tracking is broken or your landing page makes it hard to find the price or the form, it doesn’t matter how authentic the video feels. Fix the measurement and the page first, then the content. Clinics and aesthetic treatments have their own rules: no before and after images, not even in UGC.
The numbers come from our clients' own ad accounts.
profit year over year
Google Ads in Norway, Germany and DenmarkRead the caseROAS
From broken tracking to profitable scalingRead the case
ROAS
Meta ads, September 2026Read the case
leads in 90 days
NOK 163 per lead incl. branded searchesRead the caseBe next on the list. The proposal is free and comes with no commitment.
Campaigns, ads, landing pages and tracking. One partner, no middlemen, no freelancers to wait on.
Campaign pages for your online store and landing pages with forms for leads. Built for ad traffic, not for your website menu, and they're yours.
UGC video, statics and motion graphics. 10+ new ones a week, all made in-house.
Search, Shopping and Performance Max. Structure, negative keywords and scaling based on profitability, not clicks.
Google Ads agencyFacebook, Instagram and Snapchat, with ongoing testing of new ads every week.
Meta Ads agencyGoogle Ads, Meta Pixel and GA4 set up correctly first. Then you see every sale and every lead yourself.
Numbers you understand, every Monday. What was done, what it brought in, what we're doing next week.
You see the proposal before you've paid a single krone.
Arcads is a Norwegian performance marketing agency in Skien that runs Google Ads and Meta Ads and makes the ads itself, for clients all over Norway. We mostly work with online stores and service businesses that live on leads, often with multiple locations.
Victor is the one you meet on the first call. He builds your Google account and digs into the numbers. You get a report every Monday.
Victor on LinkedInJona makes the ads you see on this page. Videos, statics and concepts. 10+ new ones a week don't make themselves.
Jona on LinkedInWe got tired of agencies that invoice whether it works or not, so we built our own. No middlemen, no salespeople. You get us.
One partner instead of a slow agency, a freelancer you have to chase, or yet another evening in front of the ad account yourself.
| Arcads | Typical agency | Freelancer | Do it yourself | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payment | 100% performance-based | Fixed fee | Hourly rate | Your own time |
| New ads | 10+ a week | A few a month | One at a time | When you find the time |
| Landing pages | Included, made by us | Extra invoice | Rarely | Your website |
| Reporting | Every Monday, numbers you understand | Quarterly report | None | You make it yourself |
| Who you talk to | Victor and Jona | Account manager | One person | No one |
| Lock-in | None | Often 6-12 months | None | None |
| Ownership | The accounts are yours | Varies | Varies | Yours |
Send us your website. You'll get a proposal for ads and a landing page by email within a couple of days.
Victor and Jona reply personally.The proposal is on its way within a couple of days. If it's urgent, email victor@arcads.no.
