The biggest mistake brands make is simply expecting customers to create unboxing videos for free, forgetting that great user-generated content is earned, not just asked for. You're asking for someone's time and creative energy, and as Boris Zlatkin mentioned on Ecommerce Coffee Break, people have busy lives. Asking for five minutes of their day to film a video is a significant request. The cost of this passive approach is silence. You miss out on valuable social proof because you haven't made a compelling trade. The fix is to think like a customer. As Paul Benigeri suggested on the same show, you can set up automated post-purchase emails or texts that make a clear offer: a discount, store credit, or some other incentive in exchange for sharing their experience. It frames the relationship as a two-way street.
Another common pitfall is treating your packaging purely as a cost center. When you're just shipping a product in a plain brown box, you’re not giving anyone a reason to pull out their phone. You're missing your single most emotional touchpoint. As Tyler Delarm discussed on the 2X eCommerce Podcast, he finds that a great unboxing experience is key, and argues that personalized unboxing drives customer loyalty, with 80% of consumers saying they'll come back to a brand that creates a special feeling upon delivery. The cost of a boring box is a forgotten experience. Investing in that experience through better packaging design is a direct investment in marketing. Philip Akhzar and Steve Hutt consistently make this point on eCommerce Fastlane. It doesn't have to be expensive. Even small touches like branded tissue paper, a nice insert, or a handwritten-style note can make the delivery feel like a gift.
Many brands also fumble the request itself with a clunky process or bad timing. Sending a generic email blast three weeks after delivery isn't effective because the initial excitement is gone. On the other side, making the submission process a confusing multi-step ordeal creates too much friction. Nick Trueman shared a brilliant, direct strategy on Honest Ecommerce: create a small focus group of loyal customers and just ask them for everything. Offer them free product and ask them to film the entire process, from the delivery to the unboxing. This makes them feel like valued insiders. When you do ask, be specific but simple. As Cody Wittick suggested on The Bottom Line: Ecommerce Tactics for Profitable Growth, you can even have the founder record a video inviting customers to join in, then use a tool to make submissions dead simple. Debarshi Chaudhuri also pointed out on Ecommerce Coffee Break that short, sweet, authentic videos often perform best, so make your request feel just as personal and easy.
When you make the experience itself a gift, customers are far more likely to give you the gift of their content in return.
