February 5, 2025

Leveraging Testimonials and User-Generated Content in Building Materials Marketing

Content Marketing
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Why Customer Perspectives Are Worth Their Weight in Gold

Trust.

It is a driving force in the matrix of construction project specifications.

Budget, material needs, timelines, and product quality are priorities for any job. However, when you can build trust with your buyers and key decision-makers, your likelihood of being selected skyrockets.

Why?

The stakes are high in the construction industry. From hefty price tags to the simple fact that buildings must perform, stand tall, and protect occupants for decades, choosing the right building materials is priority number one. For those reasons, buyers – builders, architects, designers, specifiers, and installers – need to know they can trust your products. Otherwise, you risk losing your spot among preferred suppliers, giving your competition the edge.

When you can build trust amongst your core audience and customers, the likelihood of them recommending you to a colleague (or to the rest of the world via the internet and social media) increases dramatically. With word-of-mouth endorsements serving as such a meaningful form of advertising, this type of authentic promotion cannot be overlooked.

Building material brands can take advantage of testimonials and other user-generated content (UGC) by merchandising it in their own marketing efforts.

After all, others are shouting your name from the rooftops. Why not hand them the megaphone through your brand’s marketing channels?

Why Testimonials Matter

Leveraging testimonials in your marketing strategy can be as simple as written quotes utilized on your website, or as professionally executed as full production customer testimonial videos. You are elevating the voice of your customer as they talk about you, your brand, and your products, but it is from their perspective and based on their experience.

No matter the format, the impact remains the same. It is real-world proof that your products perform as promised. In an industry where credibility is everything, hearing directly from builders, contractors, and specifiers who have successfully used your products carries a lot of weight. In effect, they are staking their reputation on the trust they have placed in you and your brand’s solutions.

Beyond building trust, testimonials humanize your brand. They showcase the relationships you have established and the success stories behind your products. The goal with using testimonials in marketing is to engender trust with your brand, products, and people. Show prospects that you are not just a supplier but a valuable partner that will ensure their success.

Your happy customers are the proof.

Through positive testimonial content, you are not just relying on your own words to convince prospects that your brand is the right choice. You are letting satisfied customers do the talking for you.

Your customer receives a payoff with a testimonial. They are not paying for the promotion because it is on your dime, yet the exercise itself can help to amplify their voice on a variety of marketing channels. This can help them to drive credibility, and it can go a long way toward building an even more productive partnership with a customer.

Utilizing User-Generated Content (UGC)

UGC is becoming more and more prevalent in the digital age. It is any content – photos, videos, reviews, message board content, etc. – created by customers rather than the brand itself. In the building material industry, it can be a valuable tool to further showcase the belief people have in your products. It is one thing for a manufacturer to claim durability or ease of installation. It is another for customers to see real-world images of the product in use on a job site, or to hear first-hand accounts from contractors who rely on it daily.

UGC provides powerful proof that demonstrates your materials perform on the job site. The biggest differentiator between UGC and traditional brand advertising is that there is no fluff. It is also not going through the filter of your own brand. Authentic user-generated content tells the story from the perspective of the actual user on their platform and in their environment.

Consider some examples:

  • A builder shares a photo of a completed project using your siding on social media and mentions your brand.
  • A contractor posts a time-lapse video of an installation, noting that your product was the one being installed.
  • An architect writes a review about the longevity of your insulated metal panels for commercial applications.

You then take these organic, customer-driven assets to reinforce your brand’s credibility in a way that is real and trustworthy.

Beyond building credibility, UGC encourages online engagement. In fact, you can create a real sense of community by sharing this content on your website, social media, and in other marketing materials. It signals that your organization values its customers word and experiences, making others more likely to share theirs. This kind of interaction can help strengthen customer and prospect relationships and keep your brand top-of-mind. The key is to tag or share the content through the lens of your own brand (on your website, on social media) but to leave the original content intact and authentic.

In today’s ultra-digital age, UGC helps expand your reach when shared on social media channels. It can amplify the voice of your customers, thereby amplifying yours.

This applies to all social media channels. Consider YouTube alone. According to a 2025 article by Global Media Insight, there are more than 720,000 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every single day. Eventually, there is a good chance your brand will be mentioned in the many hours of uploaded video content, and it could be valuable for your brand to merchandise it in the right ways.

With that in mind, not everything needs to be reshared. All posts that tag or mention you on social media should pass through the filter of your dedicated marketing team or agency. Think of smart, simple ways you can take advantage of the content for your brand.

By harnessing the power of UGC, building material brands can create a marketing strategy built on trust, authenticity, and engagement, turning satisfied customers into some of their most valuable advocates.

In Action

How do you take full advantage of testimonials and UGC in your marketing strategy?

Gathering these assets is one thing, but strategically integrating them into your marketing channels is where organizations really begin to see the payoff.

Consider these examples:

  • Showcase customer testimonials prominently on your website to build credibility and influence decision-making.
  • Incorporate UGC into social media posts to encourage engagement and add a layer of authenticity to your channels.
  • Leverage customer testimonials in email marketing to waterfall your message and drive clicks.
  • Add UGC to sales and training materials to provide real-world proof points and ultimately drive business.
  • Encourage customers to share their experiences by offering small rewards or incentives such as branded gear or exclusive discounts. This gives you an avenue to build up a library of even more testimonials and UGC.

Turning Trust into Brand and Business Growth

Finding the right balance of how much UGC you incorporate into your marketing efforts is key. If you are new to it, consider starting by becoming more active on social media in a way that encourages customer participation and see what kind of responses you get. You can then determine how you utilize the content.

Another effective approach is to get buy-in from customers to produce a series of video testimonials. Their brand – and their people – then become the carrier of the message. It is another great way to highlight your relationships and share authentic messages with a broader audience. Identify a few of your top customers and invite them to share their experiences.

By successfully incorporating customer testimonials and user-generated content into your marketing efforts, you can tap into the power of authenticity and the experiences your customers have had with your organization, products, and people.

Ultimately, UGC and testimonial content are effective because they don’t just scream, “Buy now!” They are genuine and organic.

Both tactics can be used to cultivate deeper relationships with existing customers while gaining new prospects by positioning your brand as a trusted partner. In the building materials industry, this can make a big difference in driving growth and sales.

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