Why The Best Content Doesn’t Feel Like Marketing

In February, I was part of a shoot for NUEOS, an oral health brand, which felt slightly surreal considering not that long ago I was a student and now I’m standing in a house full of influencers, photographers, and people who are really talented at what they do. It’s safe to say, I felt quite lucky to be there.

I was on the accounts team, which basically meant I had a really good excuse to be everywhere. Following photographers around, capturing behind-the-scenes moments, and watching how everything came together.

It was also my first time being on a shoot like this.

And honestly, I didn’t realise how much goes into creating something that, on the surface, looks so simple.

On The Day

We shot in a gorgeous house in Teddington, with plenty of different spaces that we could really make the most of. It was actually also the first day of spring, so we had some lovely sunlight coming through, which made a huge difference.

Every space felt like an opportunity. There were different setups, different moods and different types of content.

And you could see how that translated into what we captured. Everything felt varied, natural, and not repetitive.

My day mostly consisted of following and helping the photographer, Rachel. Watching how she approached each shot, how she used the space, and how she adapted things as she went.

She wasn’t just taking photos, she was constantly thinking:

How do we use this space?
What kind of content can we get here?
How do we make each shot feel different?

We were getting everything from product shots to more influencer-led content, all in the same space, just approached differently. It made me realise how much planning and thought goes into something that ends up feeling effortless.

And, by the end of the day, I found myself starting to suggest ideas for content as well, which was a great feeling.

The influencers we worked with were genuinely just really normal, down-to-earth and very easy to work with.

They weren’t waiting for direction from us all the time. They were creating their own content as well, in a more natural user generated content (UGC) style.

And that was interesting to watch, because even something like a 10-second video can take quite a few attempts.

But when it works, it just feels like a moment, not a piece of marketing.

Different Content, Same Goal

At the same time, there was another setup happening downstairs.

Annemari, the founder of NUEOS, was filming with a videographer and our Creative Director, Claus.

They were creating short, TikTok-style clips which were more Q&A-based, answering questions about the product, how it works, and the benefits.

So upstairs you had this more fluid, influencer-led content and downstairs, something a bit more structured, but still designed to feel natural and easy to watch.

It was a good reminder that different types of content can work together, as long as they feel right for how audiences’ actually watch and engage with them.

Before this, I definitely underestimated how much goes into creating content.

How many people are involved? How many moving parts there are. How many attempts it takes to get something that looks simple.

But also how much of it isn’t overproduced. There was a lot of raw footage being captured. Moments that weren’t overly planned or things that just happened and those were often the best bits.

Why UGC Actually Works

This is the bit that clicked for me during the day.

It’s not just that UGC looks more natural.

It’s that it works with how people actually make decisions.

Most people don’t decide to buy something because of a perfectly produced ad.

They decide because:

It feels familiar
It feels trusted
It feels like something someone like them would use

UGC taps into all three.

It creates what behavioural science would call social proof. You’re not being told something is good. You’re seeing someone use it which in turn also lowers resistance. Highly produced ads can trigger scepticism. You know you’re being sold to.

But UGC doesn’t feel like that, it feels like discovery which changes how people respond. Instead of thinking “this is an ad”, people think “ hmm this looks interesting”.

That small shift is what drives engagement, and ultimately, action.

Why This Approach Worked

I spoke to Claus afterwards to get his perspective, and it made a lot of what I’d seen during the day make more sense. 

What felt quite relaxed and spontaneous on the surface was actually a very different way of working.

As he explained, it’s much faster and more reactive. You’re responding to what’s happening in the moment, rather than trying to control everything upfront.

That was something I’d noticed with Rachel as well. She wasn’t just taking photos, she was already thinking about how that content would be used, almost shaping the idea as she went.

And that’s quite different to more traditional shoots, where everything is planned in detail beforehand. Here, it was looser. Not unplanned, but less controlled. Because the goal isn’t perfection, it’s believability.

Claus pointed out that if you look at platforms like TikTok, most of what performs well doesn’t feel like an ad at all. It just feels like content. This is where a lot of brands struggle. They create something that looks like marketing, so people treat it like marketing and scroll past it.

The moments that stood out most on the day weren’t the most polished ones. They were the slightly unexpected ones. Like the shot of two girls in robes, on a bed, with the lightbath, not because it was perfect but because it made you stop and look. And even though it all feels quite natural, there’s still a lot of thinking behind it.

It’s quite simply designed, to feel effortless.

My Key Takeaways

1. The best content feels natural, not staged.

2. UGC works because it feels real and relatable.

3. Small moments often perform better than perfect ones.

4. A lot of effort goes into making content feel effortless.

If you're thinking about your own UGC shoot, we'd love to help you get it right. Get in touch.