Old-school user-generated content (UGC) just isn’t hitting like it used to. Those scripted testimonials, faux-enthusiasm demos and influencer ads that used to do wonders for referrals? Users now see right through them. But what’s replacing them isn’t some glossy brand campaign; it’s a new wave of performance creative that actually feels authentic.

I’m talking UGC-style performance creative: content that actually fits into people’s feeds, entertains or teaches first, and builds real trust.

Apps that nail this UGC-style approach aren’t just getting clicks, they’re building a trusting community that compounds results: lower acquisition costs, better subscribers, and way longer retention.

When ‘authentic’ UGC stopped working

In the last year, many subscription apps saw their ‘authentic’ testimonials tank. Those ring-light videos with polished lines that used to crush? We watched as cost-per-trial skyrocketed, and trial-to-paid conversions fell off a cliff. Formats that absolutely killed it in 2020–2021 were now destroying unit economics. So what’s changed?

When UGC first blew up around 2019, it worked because it felt different: shaky iPhone footage, unscripted testimonials, real experiences. It was raw and caught you off guard. But success breeds copycats. Pretty soon, the testimonial format became a formula:

  • Ring-light testimonials: “I literally can’t live without this app”
  • Robotic feature walkthroughs with forced enthusiasm
  • Influencers clearly reading off a script

The data tells the story: AppsFlyer’s 2025 Creative Optimization Report analyzed 1.1 million creative variations across $2.4B in ad spend, and found a massive gap between what gets funded and what actually performs.

For example, when advertising for social media apps, creatives like tutorials and app reviews generate 45% higher IPM (installs per thousand impressions) and 17% better day seven retention compared to testimonials, yet testimonials still capture the majority of budgets.

Why the disconnect? Because most teams are still funding yesterday’s playbook. Testimonials are familiar, easy to produce, and historically worked. But user behavior has shifted, and creative fatigue is real. Today, they see right through those testimonials. 

People learned to scroll right past, conversions dropped, churn spiked, and the impact on our metrics was brutal. This version of UGC wasn’t just ineffective, it was actively killing our unit economics.

The shift from ‘fake UGC’ to authenticity

The smartest growth teams didn’t ditch UGC altogether. They asked a better question:

What if the problem isn’t user-generated content itself, but content that FEELS generated (staged, formulaic, lifeless) instead of genuinely useful?

That’s what led us to focus on UGC-style performance creative. This approach prioritizes value for users first, and selling second. It’s simple: if users feel like they’re being sold to, they scroll. If they see genuinely useful or interesting content that features an app, they click. Our UGC-style creative doesn’t announce itself as an ad. It blends into the feed, entertains, educates, or surprises, while naturally showing what the product does.

  • Old UGC = interruption marketing disguised as authenticity
  • Our approach = value-first content that earns attention

Think of it like the difference between a jingle you skip and a Netflix scene you actually want to rewatch.

Why this economic model compounds

Old UGC optimized for one metric: the click. This new approach optimizes for the entire journey, creating two compounding loops:

1. The paid performance loop (how views convert to LTV)

This starts by earning the view. An ad that feels authentic and adds value isn’t skipped. This builds trust before the click, leading to a higher-quality click and better install conversion on the App Store.

This immediately lowers the cost-per-trial/customer acquisition cost (CAC). And because the ad set clear expectations, the user sticks around, leading directly to higher trial-to-paid conversion and longer-term retention and lifetime value (LTV).

2. The organic trust loop (‘non-paid’ value)

When the content is genuinely good (by being entertaining or educational), it also gets organic shares, saves, and comments. This builds social proof and brand trust at no extra cost. This organic loop then feeds back into the paid loop, making all our ads perform better and lowering our blended CAC even further.

In short, the economics improve across the entire funnel, not just at the top.

When old (aka formulaic) UGC still works

Traditional testimonial-style UGC isn’t completely dead. Users don’t have creator fatigue, they have format fatigue. The perfectly-filmed, polished editing, scripted-with-keywords format can still work when that format is what conveys most value to the user. 

This format can still work for:

  • Utility apps with instant value (parking, weather)
  • Emerging categories where education isn’t needed yet
  • Viral features that genuinely surprise users

But honestly? These cases are getting rare. For most subscription apps, this new, authentic approach is now table stakes.

Four performance formats that actually move metrics

So, we know outdated UGC isn’t converting. But what does this new UGC-style performance creative actually look like? 

Well, from thousands of creatives tested across subscription apps in 2023–2025, these are the formats we’ve found that consistently outperform traditional testimonials. What do they have in common? They educate, entertain, or build curiosity first, rather than just saying “trust me, this app is great”.

1: Expert commentary: the ‘podcast clip’

For apps that require trust or behavior change, this format mimics a ‘hot take’ from a podcast. It feels like high-value advice, not a sales pitch.

  • Example:  Jumpspeak, a language learning app
  • Creative: Visually, it looks exactly like a clip from a high-production podcast (mics, studio lighting, multiple angles). An authoritative ‘expert’ guest argues that popular language learning apps are just ‘passive learning’ that make you feel productive but fail in real life situations.
  • The pitch: The ‘expert’ anchors the value of Jumpspeak against a $60/hour private tutor, and positions it as a scientifically-backed alternative, stating: “Immersion activates 85% more neural pathways”.
  • Why it works: It appeals to logic and authority. By citing the National Training Labs and using specific stats, it bypasses the user’s ‘sales filter’ and builds trust. 

Source: Jumpspeak Meta Ads Library

2: Scenario-based skits: sell problems, not features

Instead of stiff testimonials, skits dramatize relatable struggles and show the app as the natural solution.

  • Example: Mojo, a video editing app
  • The creative: It dramatizes the frustration of slow, manual editing software, then uses a second character to mock this old way before revealing the app’s ‘Auto Edit’ feature as the magical solution.
  • Why it works: People don’t buy features. They buy scenarios they recognize themselves in and the emotion that comes with a solved problem. 

3: Viral surprise: the ‘pattern interrupt’

This format relies on a plot twist. It starts as a piece of viral entertainment (a fight, a public moment, a POV) and surprises the viewer by pivoting into the product.

  • Example: Muzz, a Muslim dating app
  • The creative: A POV-style video with subtitles: ‘POV: A hijabi hit your car’. It opens with high tension: a man getting out of his car after an accident to confront another driver (the POV), before starting to flirt with her, attempting to turn the car crash into a meet-cute. She shuts him down, but… 
  • The twist: The person recording breaks the tension by saying, “Listen, if you want to get married so bad, just download Muzz”, then dropping social proof: “more than 600k couples met on Muzz”.
  • Why it works: It captures attention and catches the viewer off guard. They watch because they want to see the outcome of the car crash (the drama), then the brand message arrives as a plot twist rather than a sales pitch.

Source: Muzz Meta Ads Library

4: Street interview: the credibility hook

This format isn’t just about ‘asking strangers questions’, it’s about confrontation. It creates a micro-moment of truth where the participant (and the viewer) admits to a struggle, creating the perfect opening for the product.

  • Example: Gronda, a cooking app
  • The creative: The interviewer approaches strangers with a simple challenge: “Rate your cooking level from 1 to 10”. Interviewees admit the truth, one girl says “3”, another admits he’s a “toast chef”. This builds instant relatability. 
  • The pitch: The interviewer doesn’t just talk about the app; he shows the phone screen with Gronda’s masterclass in plating. We see the interviewees go from self-doubting to impressed: “Wait, that makes it look so easy”. 
  • Why it works: It capitalizes on relatability, social proof, and anchors the viewer in their current state (bad cook) then uses the app to bridge the gap to their desired state (pro chef). It validates the viewer’s insecurity and immediately solves it.

Which creative format should you use for each platform?

Which format you go for depends on the social channel you’re using. AppsFlyer’s report emphasizes the need to diversify creatives per media type, as the same creative concept can deliver completely different results depending on the media type.

My rule of thumb is that the more your content feels like it belongs, the better it performs. Look at what content does well on the platform you want to target, and go for that. If in doubt, these are my general suggestions:

  • TikTok and Instagram Reels: skits dominate – hook in three seconds or less, and use humor and relatability to win
  • YouTube Shorts: expert commentary performs best – longer clips, higher intent
  • Facebook and Instagram feed: focus on discovery and post captions; carousels showing processes also work well
  • LinkedIn: process documentation thrives, posts about productivity hacks feel natural in this space 

This also means that trying to re-use the same creative across different platforms is a recipe for failure. Each platform demands its own native format. Pick one platform, invest in creative testing, and focus on nailing that channel before you expand.

6-Point checklist for authentic performance

It’s all too easy to get ahead of yourself and click ‘publish’, but bad UGC can do more harm than no UGC. Before you launch, test every creative against this checklist:

  1. App-channel fit: does your app’s core purpose (e.g. a wedding app) naturally fit the platform’s audience (e.g. Pinterest)?
  2. Platform-native format: does the video itself feel native to the platform, or does it feel like an ad?
  3. Authentic voice: does the creator sound believable? 
  4. Trust building: does it educate and build credibility, not just hype?
  5. Creating intention: does it inspire actually trying the app?
  6. Expectation setting: will users feel the app matches what they were told? Do they know what success looks like?

Common pitfalls with UGC

Even solid ideas can tank. Here’s what to watch out for:

  • Pivot problem: your video has a great start, followed by an awkward, scripted sales pitch
  • Perfect life trap: unrealistic instant results – think before and after clips, perfectly-arranged backgrounds, and model-looking actors 
  • Feature laundry list: avoid overwhelming people with many benefits crammed in; keep it anchored on the core job-to-be-done (JTBD)
  • Platform mismatch: there’s nothing that screams ad more than a TikTok-style video dumped on LinkedIn
  • The one-shot myth: don’t expect your first creative to boom, performance is a numbers game; you have to test many concepts to find a winner

To solve most of these problems, the solution is simple: keep performances natural, keep the creators and information credible, and make sure the video doesn’t feel out of place. 

Three creative experiments for 2026

To move beyond stale UGC and capitalize on the shift to authentic performance, here’s three quick experiments you plan today and share tomorrow:

1. Skits vs. testimonials (problem-first vs. product-first)

Take your current best-performing testimonial and turn it into a scenario-based skit:

  • Same core promise, but framed as a real-life situation instead of a monologue
  • Run a clean A/B test on testimonial vs. skit: same audience, same budget

What to look at: CTR, IPM, cost-per-trial, and trial-to-paid

If your experience matches what we’ve seen across subscription apps, the skit will attract fewer curious clicks, but more qualified ones, improving down-funnel metrics.

2. Method-first vs. product-first hook

For one of your hero features, create two versions of the same ad:

  • Version A (product-first): introduce the app in the first three seconds
  • Version B (method-first): spend 15–20 seconds selling the method (the ‘how’ and ‘why’) before ever naming the app, like the Jumpspeak example

What to look at: trial-start rate, trial-to-paid, and early retention (day one–seven)

In most cases, method-first creatives generate slightly lower CTR, but much higher intent and LTV.

3. One concept, three native variants (platform fit)

Pick a single creative concept (e.g. frustration with the current solution) and adapt it natively for three platforms:

  • TikTok and Instagram Reels: fast skit, jump cuts, creator-led
  • YouTube Shorts: more structured explanation and/or commentary
  • Instagram feed: shortened cut + supporting carousel or strong caption

Keep the core narrative identical, but adapt the format, pacing, and framing to each platform.

What to look at: IPM, cost-per-trial, and view time per platform

This will show you where your narrative travels well as-is, and where you need a truly platform-native editorial approach.

Evolution, not revolution

The core insight of UGC was always right: people trust people more than brands. But execution matters.

‘Authentic’ doesn’t need to mean amateur, and ‘user-generated’ shouldn’t mean without strategy. The best performance creative keeps what made UGC powerful (relatability and a human voice) while moving past what made it ineffective (the stale, inauthentic formulas). Apps stuck on testimonials will keep burning budgets, while apps embracing this authentic performance model will build durable growth, stronger retention, and compounding LTV.

As we head into 2026, authenticity isn’t a style; it’s its own UGC strategy.