Handling UGC and Customers' Posts: Getting Permission and Japan's Stealth Marketing Rules

What is UGC?

UGC stands for User Generated Content, meaning posts made by users. In the context of a company's official account, it refers to photos of products, impressions of visits, try-it videos and the like that customers posted on their own social media. A short definition is also in UGC.

UGC is valued because it's an experience told in their own words by someone outside the company. A customer writing "I stopped in on a rainy day and it was fresh out of the oven" feels more real to readers than the company saying "it's delicious." Featuring it on your official account gives other customers something to base a decision on, and it's a happy moment for the customer who posted.

But UGC belongs to the customer. Before featuring it, there are things to check from the standpoint of rights and rules.

Three things to check before using it

Get permission from the person who posted

Photos and videos customers took and text they wrote carry copyright belonging to whoever took or wrote them. Just because something is public on social media doesn't mean a company can use it freely. When you want to feature it on your official account, ask the person who posted directly and use it after getting their permission.

Ask in a reply or DM to their post, saying specifically where and how you'll use it, for example: "May we feature this photo on our official account? We'll credit your name (account name) too." Their decision may differ depending on whether it's only on the official account's posts or also on your website or flyers. If you want to widen the use, ask again.

Check the consent of people shown

A customer's photo may include people other than the poster, such as family, friends or other customers. Even if the poster agrees, the people shown may not. When faces are clearly visible, check that too, or choose a photo where nobody is identifiable. Be especially careful with photos showing children.

Check whether there was a request or a reward

Posts the company asked for, or posts written in return for something, may be treated as the company's advertising rather than a customer's spontaneous impressions. This relates to the stealth marketing rules explained in the next section.

Relationship to the stealth marketing rules

Since October 1, 2023, advertising disguised as something else, known as stealth marketing, has been a violation of Japan's Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations. The rule applies to businesses that provide products or services, in other words advertisers. Third parties such as influencers who post on request are not subject to the regulation. That's exactly why the company handling UGC needs to be careful.

A spontaneous post is not the company's representation

Under the Consumer Affairs Agency's operating guidelines, whether a third party's post counts as the company's representation is judged by whether the company was involved in deciding what the post says. If a customer writes an impression of their own accord and the company features it as is, without being involved, it isn't treated as the company's representation. A customer posting with content they decided themselves in order to enter a social media campaign or prize draw run by the company is also given as an example that is not treated as the company's representation. The rules for campaigns are explained in social media campaigns and Japan's premiums and representations law.

Be careful how you select and cut

The guidelines say that even when a company uses a third party's post on its own website, it is not treated as the company's representation if it quotes the post without picking passages arbitrarily and without altering the content. Conversely, if you extract only opinions that improve your reputation without making clear that you did, or take only the good points from a post that mentions both good and bad, it is judged to be the company's representation.

In practice, that means don't cut out only the flattering parts. Show the post as it is, or present it in a way that makes clear you selected it.

Label posts you asked for as "ad" or "PR"

Posts you asked influencers to make, and posts written after you provided them with products, are the company's representation. In that case, it must be clear that it's the company's representation, using words such as "ad," "advertisement," "promotion" or "PR," or a sentence like "I'm posting after receiving the product from Company A." The guidelines give burying "PR" among a large number of hashtags as an example of an unclear label. How to work with influencers is also touched on in influencers.

Also avoid presenting an influencer's post, which counts as the company's representation, as "customer voices." Writing "customer voices" makes readers take it as spontaneous impressions.

Making UGC more likely to happen

UGC isn't something you ask people to write, but you can make it more likely to happen.

Create moments worth photographing is the shortest path. If there's something customers can't help but photograph, such as the plating of a dish, a product's wrapping or a corner of the shop, posts naturally increase. Decide on your own hashtag and display it in the shop or on products so customers' posts are easier to find. How to make tags is explained in how to use hashtags. Thank people who posted too. Even a single reply from the official account makes them want to post again.

When you give a discount or similar as thanks for posting, the premise is that you don't interfere with the content. Under the guidelines, even when discount coupons for the next purchase are handed out as thanks for reviews, it is not the company's representation as long as there is no exchange at all between the company and the buyer about what to post and it is recognized that the buyer decided the content of their own accord. Avoid conditions on the content, like "a coupon if you write something good."

How to write when featuring a post

When you feature a post with permission, keep these points in mind.

1. Add the poster's account name so it's clear whose post it is
2. Don't alter the text or photo. No cropping or color processing either
3. Add a word of thanks
4. Record internally that you received permission

The fourth point, the record, is for when someone later says "I don't remember saying you could use that photo," so you can check when and for what scope permission was given. Keep it where anyone in the company can see it, so it's clear even if the manager changes.

Handling UGC with SNS TOWN

In SNS TOWN, for X accounts you can quote another person's post from the compose screen to feature it. With a quote, the other person's post is displayed as it is, so you can feature it without cutting or altering it.

Put photos you've received permission to use in the Library within the scope the person agreed to, and write in the description what they may be used for, so you won't hesitate when creating a post. You can leave an internal note on a featured post, such as "Got permission by DM on [date]. Official account posts only," so other members know.

To create a reason for customers to post, you can use Campaigns. On X you can run a prize draw or instant win that requires a reply containing a keyword, so customers' voices gather as part of the entry flow. When offering prizes, check the campaign rules as well.

Frequently asked questions