Instagram has released a UGC (user-generated content) feature that allows businesses to associate content that they've been tagged in with specific products, and feature this across shopping surfaces, such as product pages, shops and shops storefront. UGC brings authentic lifestyle imagery created by the community into the shopping experience, helping people feel confident in making their purchases.

Benefits of UGC

• Source authentic content for everyone's products. Brands will be able to source content across the Instagram community. When a user tags a brand in a post, that brand will have the ability to request permission to feature its products in that post.
• Engage the community. Users that tag businesses will probably appreciate that the brand would like to feature its products in its content. It will also allow their content to surface on brand-owned spaces, such as the product's PDP or the shop on Instagram.
• Help buyers make informed purchase decisions. Buyers like to discover products from other users and make informed purchase decisions. UGC lets buyers discover products from other users and see how people are using them.

How UGC works

• Select an eligible post. Most posts are eligible for brands to request with the following exceptions: if a post already has products tagged, the account is private, there are multiple brands and businesses tagged in the post or the user has specifically turned off permission requests.
• Request permission. Once a brand has selected a post, it can use the UGC feature to allow the content creator to accept or decline their request. Only the brand tagged in the post will be eligible to request permission to use on shoppable content.
• Content creator accepts or declines. If the original content creator declines the request, then brands will receive a notification and the post will not appear on any shoppable content. Posts that have declined permissions are not eligible to be requested again.
• UGC is shared on shoppable surfaces. UGC may be shown on product pages such as in the "From the community" module on the product page, and across shopsshopaces that feature photos and videos that have a specific brand tagged.