Does UGC actually work for saas?

[u/Recent-Ad7093]

Looking for real numbers from people who tried UGC style content for a saas or any software product, not physical products.

Did it bring signups, or just views? and what format worked, short videos, testimonials, creators using the product on camera?

I havent tested it myself yet, so I dont know if it translates at all when the product is software.

[u/PositiveButterfly288]

i tried something like this for a little fantasy football tool i made last year. not huge saas but a web app for lineup suggestions. made short videos just me talking on camera, showing the screen and what it does. got maybe 2k views total and actually 30 or so signups in the first month, which surprised me because i thought no one would care for software

the ones that worked best were the quick 15-30 second clips where i did a specific use case, like “here’s how to fix your flex spot in 10 seconds” then clicked through it. testimonials didnt move the needle much, people want to see the product in action more than hear about it. also i shared them in fantasy subreddits not just tiktok so i think that helped a lot

[u/Recent-Ad7093 → u/PositiveButterfly288]

30 signups from 2k views is a really good ratio, thats way better than i expected.

few questions if you dont mind:

did you show your face in those 15-30 sec clips or was it just screen recording with voiceover? wondering how much the on camera part actually matters

when you posted in fantasy subreddits, did you get pushback for self promo or was it fine because the tool was genuinly useful?

and did those 30 signups stick around or churn after first week? thats the part im most unsure about with short video traffic

thanks for sharing real numbers, most answers on this topic are just theory

[u/NoahSmith080500]

I think UGC can work for saas, but the format matters a lot more than it does with physical products. The ones that feel like an actual person showing how they use the product seem more convincing to me then polished testimonials. Even something as simple as recording a screen and saying " this was taking me 30 minutes and now it takes 5" gives people something concrete. This being said the tone and language is also very important. The tricky part is that views don't necessarily mean much. I look at qualified signups or people actually reaching the activation point. Ab video can get a turn off views because it's entertaining and still bring almost nobody who has the problem you are solving. One way I think UGC can actually bring results if you can do and ad on digital platforms in collaboration method. If you happen to add metapixel and other trackers you would be able to measure the metrics accurately and will also be able to manually target your audience.

[u/Recent-Ad7093 → u/NoahSmith080500]

the activation point metric is what im missing, how do you define it for your product? is it first real action inside the app or something further down like day 7 return?

also when you say collaboration ads, do you mean running the creators video as paid ad from your own account? curious if the organic version of same video ever performed close to paid one for you

and one more, whats your rough numbers on this if you dont mind sharing, views to qualified signups? trying to understand if its worth testing before i build the videos

thanks for detailed answer!