The 4-Phase UGC Strategy for Black Friday Through New Year Sales 🛍️

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

TODAY’S EDITION

• A 4-phase framework for UGC campaigns this holiday shopping season

• Instagram's new Retention Insights help creators pinpoint exactly when viewers drop off

• Instagram follows up TikTok's Campus Verification with a feature of its own to connect college students

• YouTube's latest educational resource aids creators in video ideation

• Spotify's new Direct Message feature continues its transformation into a social platform

• LinkedIn doubles down on BrandLink with expanded programming

DEEP DIVE

The 4-Phase Holiday UGC Framework

August is winding down, but brand marketers are already deep into their Black Friday and holiday planning. It's often the make-or-break moment that determines whether brands thrive or get lost in the promotional chaos.

With shoppers pressed for time and overwhelmed by choices, trust signals and curation help them navigate decisions and relatable UGC often influences purchase decisions in ways brand creative cannot.

Here's a framework for a phased UGC strategy that maps consumer psychology, content types, and campaign objectives to every stage of the Black Friday to New Year shopping journey.

Phase 1: The Foundation Phase (October - Mid November)

Objective: Seed awareness and build anticipation before the rush

The Psychology: Holiday planning begins months before actual shopping, with consumers curating wish lists and developing emotional connections with products. This phase is prime real estate for product discovery before competitive noise intensifies.

Content Strategy: Focus on aspirational, pre-holiday content that positions products as must-haves. Create wish lists and gift inspiration content that helps shoppers discover products before the rush begins.

UGC Types:

• Wish list creation content

• Product discovery posts

• Seasonal transition lifestyle content

• Early holiday inspiration

• "Products I'm excited about" testimonials

Creator Brief Prompts:

• "Building my holiday wish list"

• "Products I'm excited about this season"

• "Adding this to my must-have list"

Example Implementation: Partner with 15-20 creators to showcase 5-7 products each that will be featured in holiday sales. Deploy as Instagram and TikTok carousels and use Instagram Stories highlights to create  "Must-Haves" collections by category.

Phase 2: The Acceleration Phase - Black Friday & Cyber Monday (Mid November - November 30)

Objective: Convert high-intent shoppers with urgency and social proof

The Psychology: Purchase decisions happen at lightning speed as shoppers navigate overwhelming deals and promotions. Consumers need immediate validation and social proof to cut through decision paralysis and customer voices become the most trusted source when every brand is shouting about deals.

Content Strategy: Deploy high-energy, deal-focused content that creates urgency while maintaining credibility. Real-time shopping content performs exceptionally well because it captures the immediate excitement that hesitant shoppers need to purchase quickly.

UGC Types:

• Shopping hauls

• Unboxing videos

• Deal reaction content

• Product demonstrations

• Before-and-after transformations

Creator Brief Prompts:

• "I couldn't pass up this Black Friday deal"

• "Perfect Cyber Monday find"

• "Why I'm buying this for [specific person]"

Example Implementation: Launch TikTok Spark Ads using creator unboxing and demonstration videos with 3-5 second hook rates. Target warm audiences with "Shop Now" CTAs, urgency messaging, and countdown timers. Amplify top-performing organic haul content as paid ads within 24-48 hours of posting.

Phase 3: The Gifting Phase (December 1-24)

Objective: Capture gift buyers with relationship-specific recommendations

The Psychology: Shopping focus shifts as consumers transition from deal-hunting to purposeful gift-giving. Buyers need confidence they're choosing the "right" gift, making customer testimonials about successful gifting experiences incredibly powerful. Gift selection pressure combined with shipping deadlines creates urgency around proven products.

Content Strategy: Feature gift-focused UGC with clear recipient targeting. Customer stories about successful gifting experiences and relationship-specific recommendations become the primary drivers of purchase confidence.

UGC Types:

• Gift guides by customer type

• Unboxing videos for gift recipients

• Testimonials from both givers and receivers

• Last-minute gift solutions

Creator Brief Prompts:

• "Perfect gift for the [person] who loves [interest]"

• "This was such a hit as a gift last year"

• "Last-minute gifts that don't feel last-minute"

Example Implementation: Create dedicated "Gift Guide" landing pages with UGC testimonials organized by recipient categories, and price point Feature 3-4 video testimonials with quotes as social proof headers.

Phase 4: The Extension Phase (December 26 - January 31)

Objective: Monetize post-holiday engagement and New Year motivation

The Psychology: This period represents a highly engaged but often overlooked opportunity. Audiences have increased social media activity while relaxing during holiday break. Consumers have gift cards to spend and are motivated by fresh starts, creating perfect conditions for personal purchases.

Content Strategy: Pivot from gifting themes to self-care and personal improvement messaging. New Year resolution content performs exceptionally well when paired with customer transformation stories.

UGC Types:

• Self-care content

• Transformation stories

• Goal-setting with products

• Gift card utilization ideas

• "Treat yourself" messaging

Creator Brief Prompts:

• "Using my gift cards on this self-care essential"

• "New Year goals with [product]"

• "Post-holiday reset routine"

Example Implementation: Deploy email sequences after Christmas: "New Year, New You" welcome email featuring transformation UGC, mid-sequence "Goals in Action" content with creator success stories, and final "Treat Yourself" offer with gift card utilization ideas and 15% self-care discount.

Ready to Get Started?

Implementing this framework requires creator recruitment, diverse creative assets, multi-platform deployment at scale, and seamless campaign management. Insense can support both organic and paid UGC strategies for BFCM and holiday campaigns.

With Insense, you can save 40+ hours per month through:

• Access to a vetted marketplace of 68,500+ UGC creators and micro-influencers from 35+ countries

• Streamlined workflows for sourcing, communicating, and automating payments with creators

• Managing diverse campaign types in one place—from UGC to product seeding, influencer posts, and Meta and TikTok ads

• One-click connection to Ads Manager for Meta Partnership Ads and Spark Ads codes within the chat feature

Insense is trusted by 2,500+ DTC brands, including Beauty Pie, LARQ, Bones Coffee, and Parivie. 

Book a free strategy call by September 5th and receive $200 toward your first campaign.

NEWS, TRENDS & INSIGHTS

Instagram Adds Retention Insights for Reels

Instagram is adding Retention Insights for Reels, showing the percentage of viewers who continue watching a Reel at each moment. The View Rate metric is also being replaced with Skip Rate, which measures the percentage of viewers who choose to skip a Reel within the first few seconds.

Why It Matters: This update provides creators with more granular performance insights, helping them double down on what works and refine strategies for stronger results. In recent weeks, Instagram has also added the ability to see the exact moment when a like occurs on Reels and Carousels, along with post-level demographic data.

Instagram Launches Student-Only Experience

Instagram announced the launch of a new school experience. College students in the US can add their school to their profile as a banner, after verifying their email via UNiDAYS, and then be able to see a school directory of other confirmed students, organized by graduation year.

Why It Matters: The feature is Instagram's take on TikTok's Campus Verification, which launched about a week ago. It allows students to connect with others on their campus — from making new friends, to finding creators to collaborate with, to recruiting peers for brand ambassador programs.

Instagram and Spotify Roll Out New Music Integrations for Stories & Notes

Instagram and Spotify introduced new integrations. When songs from Spotify are shared to Stories, audio previews are now included, and users can see Reels that use the track, and save the track directly to Spotify. Notes can also display what someone is listening to on Spotify in real time.

Why It Matters: This enhances Instagram’s role in music discovery by letting people preview songs, explore tracks through Reels, and save music directly to Spotify. Spotify benefits from added promotion across Instagram while artists gain more opportunities for their music to be discovered.

YouTube Shares Eight Tips for Video Ideation

YouTube shared eight tips to help creators generate new video ideas. Highlights include brainstorming solutions for audience problems, tapping into trending topics, diving deep into search data, and leveraging the platform's AI-powered Inspiration tab.

Why It Matters: YouTube has been steadily rolling out resources to help creators succeed, including guides for its Shopping program. This latest initiative provides practical strategies that can help creators thrive on the platform and many of these approaches work well beyond YouTube too.

Spotify Adds Direct Messaging

Spotify is adding Direct Messaging. Users can have one-on-one conversations to share Spotify content and react with text and emojis. They can access DMs through their profile photo and, when listening to a song, podcast, or audiobook, tap a share icon, select a friend, and send it directly.

Why It Matters: Building on features like comments, profiles, and short-form video clips, Spotify continues its move into social media territory. This not only helps users build community, but also creates new discovery pathways for creators, allowing their work to circulate more widely within the app.

LinkedIn Expands BrandLink With New Shows

LinkedIn expanded its BrandLink program with four new shows presented by AT&T Business, IBM, SAP, and ServiceNow. Each show will feature exclusive content from creators and publishers, who will earn a share of revenue.

Why It Matters: As B2B buyers increasingly rely on creators and video content to inform decisions, LinkedIn is doubling down on its first direct creator monetization initiative. Creator payouts have tripled year over year, showing strong momentum, although the program is still largely limited to established names.

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