2022 Wrapped: Big Year for UGC, Here's What We Did

The end of the year is always a funny time. But not in a trendy TikTok kinda way. It’s full of that contagious otherworldly woo-woo-like tarot cards and palm reading. Probably because of all that reflecting on the old and trying to imbue the new with some meaning.

And as much as we like to think we’re not into that stuff, here we are, getting caught up in all that reflecting and planning for what’s to come. And boy, do we have big things planned. So yes, you may want to grab that chilled champagne you’ve been saving, just in case.

@bambassad0rs We have the best team ever! We love working with all our content creators and clients on their brands. What a year! Cheers 🥂 to a successful 2022! We can't wait to see what 2023 has in store. #ugc #marketing #creatormarketingtips ♬ Bejeweled - Taylor Swift

Okay, but before we get to 2023, we owe it to this year to throw some hard-earned TLC its way. Coz you know, 2022 kinda earned it. So 2022 was a big one for us! We’ve come a long way in the last 12 months, and while some crazy devastating stuff was happening in the world, we grew like fivefold! You read that right: FIVE fold! We now have team members spanning the globe from Cape Town and Tel Aviv to Kentucky, Montreal, Albay, and many, many places in between.

@bambassad0rs 🥂 #ugc #creatormarketing ♬ original sound - Bambassadors

But this is only part of the story. 2022 was also about growing our footprint and coffee. Oh, so much coffee. Always coffee. We showed sooo many brands new to user-generated content (UGC) just how powerful real-people videos are. We also worked with many new rockstar creators whose creativity never ceases to fascinate us. And many of them have come to feel like family to us. Cheesy, but it’s true.

It’s easy to get caught up in all this growth. But that sort of misses the point. For us, all this growth is a sign that UGC is here; it’s explosive, and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

2022 for the UGC Ecosystem: Growth! Growth! Growth!

Many of the 2022 trends we see in Bambassadors are echoed by the UGC ecosystem. It seems growth really is everywhere. This makes us super optimistic about what’s to come. And in many senses, it proves there’s a real need for this kind of content. People just can’t get enough of UGC. And that isn’t at all surprising. Because when it comes down to it, real, authentic content wins every time.

When you poke around online, it’s not unusual to see predictions about how UGC will become more important than ever in 2023. Yay! And while we don’t necessarily disagree, we have a slightly different take. A more thoughtful and nuanced take, we like to think.

As opposed to seeing UGC as the next trendy thing, we believe it’s already here. And it’s already taking the B2B space by storm because it boosts growth exponentially. More about the power of UGC here.

Our Turn. Our 2022 Wrapped

We could tell you about our 2022. But where’s the fun in that?! Instead, we thought we’d let you experience it for yourself. We have three different experiences for you.

First off, if our year was a Spotify playlist (we ❤️ #SPOTIFYWRAPPED), it would sound like this:

Experience #2. Another way to put that would be, in 2022 we:

💰Paid over $1M to our creators

📹 Produced 2,000 videos

🌟 Brands spent about $4M promoting Bambassadors videos

🤝 Worked with 201 brands

✨ Worked with 5093 creators

😮 Grew fivefold

🌍 Saw our team span the globe:

Cape Town (South Africa)
Tel Aviv (Israel)
Jerusalem (Israel)
Kentucky (US)
Montréal (Canada)
Naga (Philippines)
Rionegro (Colombia)
Lima (Peru)
Ontario (Canada)
Cavite (Philippines)
Belgrade (Serbia)
London (UK)
Goiania, Goias (Brazil)
Legazpi City, Albay (Philippines)

✉️Sent 14968 emails

☕ Consumed 15600 cups of coffee

👋Has 126 team meetings

📩Sent 126 creative briefs

⚙️Edited 1742 videos

And now for the cherry on top. A UGC treat, because what would a Bambassadors blog post be without a dose of UGC? And because authenticity, right?! Here our talented content creator, Ilana Saltzman, does what she does best and gives you a taste of how we did this 2022. Yum!

@bambassad0rs Here's our 2022 wrapped! We have seen so much growth as a team this year 🥂 . We are so excited to see what creator marketing has in store for us in 2023! If you haven't tried out creator marketing yet, consider making user generated content a part of your new 2023 marketing strategy. If you need help, just say 👋 #ugc #usergeneratecontent #contentmarketing #contentcreator #contentmarketing #advertising #2022wrapped ♬ original sound - Bambassadors

What Does All This Mean for Your Brand?

UGC is becoming too important to ignore. And, of course, maybe we’re biased. But in all likelihood, this is what was missing from your marketing strategy in 2022. What your customers so desperately want is for you to connect with them authentically. Cue the UGC. So, what are you waiting for?