The most effective product seeding programs are built on a foundation of genuine relationships, not transactional exchanges. While everyone agrees that getting authentic User-Generated Content (UGC) is crucial for building trust and driving sales, there's a clear divide on how to best achieve it. The core tension lies between sourcing content from pure, unpaid fans and paying creators to produce it on demand. Navigating this requires a thoughtful, systematic approach that prioritizes authenticity above all else.
There's a healthy skepticism among experts about the authenticity of content from so-called "UGC platforms." On an episode of The Bottom Line: Ecommerce Tactics for Profitable Growth, guest Taylor Lagasse made a sharp point: if someone is a truly talented content creator, why don't they have their own following? This sentiment is echoed by operators like Mark Ritz, who expressed his own challenges with the declining authenticity in the space. This thinking draws a clear line between a paid creator executing a brief and a genuine customer sharing their experience. One guest even introduced the term "Customer Generated Content" (CGC) to specifically mean content from people who are already proven fans of your product. This is seen as the gold standard for authentic content because it comes from a place of genuine affinity.
On the other side of the coin is the pragmatic view that content creation is a machine that needs to be fed. On the Ecommerce Coffee Break podcast, Paul Benigeri argued for starting a seeding program from "day zero," sending out product samples even during the prototyping phase to get early feedback and content. This approach treats seeding as a fundamental part of demand generation. On the 2X eCommerce Podcast, Kunle Campbell describes a system that sources content from multiple streams, including UGC, influencer-generated content (IGC), and branded content, to constantly fuel and test new ad creative. This mindset is less about waiting for spontaneous posts and more about building a reliable engine that produces a steady flow of assets.
So where do you actually find these people? The strongest advice is to start with who you know. Your most authentic content will come from your existing customers. Kunle Campbell specifically points to leveraging your customer reviews platform and your loyalty program members as prime sources. This is your lowest-hanging fruit and what some would call true CGC. These are people who have already voted with their wallets and are likely to have a real story to tell about your product. Only after exhausting this channel should you move on to seeding micro-influencers who demonstrate a clear and pre-existing alignment with your brand's values and aesthetic. The goal is to find people who would genuinely be customers, not just hired guns.
Building out this process requires a system. Adam Dornbusch noted on the 2X eCommerce Podcast that generating brand-appropriate UGC consistently is a lot of work that requires both real community building and the right technology. You can start small and manually with a simple spreadsheet to track outreach, statuses, and links to the content received. As you scale, you may want to invest in a creator relationship management (CRM) platform to stay organized. For the CGC component, the right loyalty or reviews app can turn this into what Kunle Campbell calls a "set it and forget it" system, automatically prompting customers for content post-purchase.
Perhaps the most critical element for ensuring authenticity is the creative brief, or rather, the lack of one. Giving creators a prescriptive list of shots and talking points is the fastest way to get content that feels staged and inauthentic. The entire point of a product seeding program is to see how a real user interacts with your product in their world. You should provide them with your brand's mission, key value propositions, and any necessary compliance information, but then step back. Their unique perspective is the value. You might discover new use cases, surprising benefits, or compelling hooks that your internal marketing team never would have considered. You are seeding for their creativity, not for a pair of hands to execute your vision.
