Most event UGC strategies aren't strategies
They're prompts. Put a hashtag on the signage, mention it from the stage, hope people tag you. That's a social media tactic, not a UGC strategy. The difference matters because a hashtag campaign produces content you don't own, can't control, and can't reliably access after the event.
A real UGC strategy means deciding in advance how you'll collect footage, from whom, under what terms, and what you'll do with it. This guide covers how to build one that actually produces usable content.
Start with the end use case
Before you plan anything, decide what you actually want to do with the footage. The answer shapes everything else.
If you want a highlights film, you need a high volume of footage from across the event. You'll need clips from multiple stages, crowd shots, and reactions. The collection prompt needs to go to everyone, not just VIPs or the front row.
If you want sponsor activation content, you need footage that shows your crowd engaging with the sponsor's presence specifically. That might mean a targeted prompt at a particular zone or moment in the programme.
If you want social media clips, you need short, punchy moments. A prompt timed around peak moments in the programme, rather than a general all-day invitation, often produces better raw material.
Defining the end use first means you're not drowning in unusable footage, or worse, collecting nothing because the brief was too vague.
Plan the collection points
UGC collection happens in three windows: before the event, during, and in the immediate aftermath. Each requires a different approach.
Before the event. Set expectations in advance. Tell ticket holders in your pre-event emails that footage will be collected and what it's used for. This isn't just good practice for consent, it primes people to have their phones ready and feel part of something.
During the event. This is where most of your footage will come from. The key is making the upload path visible and simple. QR codes on screens and signage, a mention from the MC, and ideally a physical prompt like a wristband insert or welcome card. The upload window should stay open for the whole event, not just one moment.
After the event. Keep the upload link live for 24–48 hours after close. Some attendees will want to contribute footage they captured but didn't get round to uploading. This is especially true for footage from the end of the event, when people are tired and moving.
Consent is not optional and not complicated
Every piece of footage you use from attendees needs to have come with their consent. This sounds more complicated than it is.
A UGC platform handles consent at the point of upload: attendees agree to the terms before they contribute anything. You don't need separate contracts or follow-up emails. You need a platform that has this built in and a clear statement of what you're going to use the footage for.
What you cannot do is scrape footage from social media and use it in your own content without the creator's permission. Even if someone tagged your official account. Even if they used your official hashtag. The content is theirs until they explicitly give it to you.
For a full breakdown of the legal side, the event video consent and GDPR guide covers what you need to have in place.
Brief your team on curation before the event ends
The curation step is where most UGC strategies slow down. The footage comes in, someone has to review it, and there's no system for deciding what's good.
Before the event ends, assign someone to review the incoming footage. Give them clear criteria: what makes a clip usable? What are you looking for? If you're building a highlights film, you want variety, clear subjects, and clips that are at least 5 seconds long. If you're cutting social clips, you want single strong moments with energy.
The review doesn't have to happen on the day. But having one person responsible for it, with a brief in hand, means you're not starting from scratch with a folder of 300 unnamed files on Monday morning.
Make the footage easy to work with
A well-organised UGC collection should give your edit team something they can actually work with. That means footage that's tagged by time and searchable, not a flat dump of files.
When you're briefing the video editor, give them access to the starred or shortlisted clips rather than everything. The curation step exists so your editor isn't spending three hours watching unusable footage before finding the good stuff.
Measure what worked
After the event, take note of a few things:
How many clips came in and from what proportion of attendees? If your event had 2,000 people and you got 40 clips, that's a 2% contribution rate. A well-executed UGC prompt at a similar event should be closer to 5–10%.
What prompted people to upload? If you ran multiple prompts, which ones drove the most uploads? This tells you where to invest next time.
How much of what you collected was usable? If you're throwing away 80% of the footage, the brief needs tightening. If you're using nearly all of it, you might be able to be more selective.
For an example of a UGC strategy executed from end to end, the Vig Festival case study is worth reading. 640 attendees, one event, a film that came from the crowd.
Book a demo to talk through what a UGC strategy looks like for your specific event.
