You might be wondering what user-generated content (UGC) can actually offer your university, school or professional membership body. In this post, we explore how young people are redefining information gathering, why raw content drives engagement, and how your organisation can turn its own community into its most powerful recruitment engine.
Education and membership organisations might not have ‘typical’ influencers in the same way that commercial brands do. You aren’t partnering with fashion vloggers or beauty gurus to push a lifestyle product – and that is completely fine. In fact, it’s a huge advantage. Today’s youth don’t want glossy endorsements, they trust real-life reviews from people just like them.
When you are marketing a degree or professional qualification, you aren’t just selling a product. You are selling a career path, a lifestyle, and a future. This isn’t low-stakes purchasing like buying a new beauty product, it’s a monumental decision that can determine a young person’s future.
Because the stakes are so high, prospective students and members are desperate to know they are making the right choice. They don’t want an airbrushed corporate brochure, they want to know the reality of what lies ahead. This is where you can leverage your community, your current students and members, to create realistic, believable, behind-the-scenes content. By capturing the genuine, unfiltered highs and lows of the student or professional journey, you provide invaluable, honest insights for young people.
To influence this decision-making process, you must place your marketing exactly where young people are actively looking for information. One of those key places is TikTok. TikTok has boomed in popularity and it’s where the next generation of students and professionals go to find visual, authentic proof of what a career actually looks like before they commit to a membership, degree or qualification.
TikTok – The New Search Engine
TikTok has matured into a global powerhouse for discovery, career architecture and professional community-building. The way people search for and find information has changed drastically. Traditional search engines are no longer the first port of call for Gen Z and younger Millennials. Nearly 49% of consumers, including 65% of Gen Z, now use TikTok as a primary search engine.
If you have read our blog on how TikTok targeting really works, you’ll already be aware of the genuine interest groups that have formed organically around shared passions or ‘Toks’. ‘CareerTok’ is home to content with billions of views, showing niche professional insights. Users aren’t just looking for tips, they are looking for ‘day in the life’ transparency.
When researching new or potential career paths, 41% of Gen Z turn to social media first. If your organisation isn’t visible there, you miss out on the opportunity to be considered for their professional development.
So, why does this matter for Professional Membership Bodies and Educators?
TikTok’s 2026 trend report users are 1.5x to trust brands that show ‘Reali-tea’ – real stories from real people that are unpolished, honest and relatable. For membership bodies, this is a golden opportunity. Showing up on TikTok, building brand awareness with your next generation and being visible is a hugely powerful tool, even if it doesn’t deliver immediate returns.
The key focus should be on engaging your current students and/or members to act as the ultimate brand ambassadors. Their raw, lived experiences carry far more weight for this audience than any corporate copy. Your objective here is to leverage your communities, engage with them and encourage them to post. Their real, honest, relatable content will be what encourages your next cohort to choose you.
Day-in-the-life content is shared all over TikTok from people working in many fields. Education and membership bodies can leverage this trend to develop a fast-paced vlog of a typical day at their University or place of work. This authentically shares what someone’s day looks like on a particular course or in a particular role. Content like this provides added-value to your next generation by giving a real, honest view of what a career or degree might actually look like, helping them to make a truly informed decision.
Another TikTok trend that could be leveraged with your existing members is to share ‘expectation vs reality’ style content. This format thrives on vulnerability, which builds a huge amount of trust. Encourage your student creators or members to make videos such as ‘things I wish I knew before starting my course/qualification/membership’. Giving away real, actionable advice, whilst admitting that things can get tough, which proves your organisation supports real people, not just a glossy version of them.
How we put authenticity to work for ACCA to inspire the next generation of finance
The ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) faced a classic challenge: how to reach and inspire Millennials and Gen Z to stay motivated on their qualification journey.
Instead of pushing a traditional, top-down brand message, we designed a strategy built entirely around the power of peer-to-peer UGC. Our campaign leaned on three key principles:
1. Flawless timing
We launched the campaign on TikTok exactly as exam results were released, catching students at their most emotional moment, whether they were celebrating or commiserating. This helped to position ACCA as a career companion throughout their whole journey, recognising their hard work and confirming that ACCA will be there through it all.
2. UGC at the core
We delivered 20-second videos built entirely on authentic student testimonials. We showcased a diverse body of students with different motivations, from the drive for career progression to the dream of working abroad.
3. Platform-native content
Building on authenticity, we experimented with native TikTok music and animation styles to make sure the content felt like a natural part of the user’s feed rather than an intrusive ad.
As a relatively new channel for ACCA, we treated this as a brand-building opportunity. Moving beyond a single-use campaign to showcase the global benefits of a career in finance. By leaning into TikTok’s unique culture, carefully curating our launch strategy and leaning on our knowledge of native content, our campaign delivered upwards of six million impressions, over 37,000 likes and more than 15,000 direct page visits.
The Verdict: Mobilise your ultimate brand ambassadors
If your digital or TikTok content looks like a highly polished, brand advert, the next generation will scroll straight past it. To successfully recruit new students and members, you need to swap polished perfection for authentic connection. By championing your current community and optimising for the search behaviours of young people, you can inspire, engage and secure your next generation of students and members.
Get in touch if you’re ready to transform your membership body’s social strategy to see how we can help you lead the conversation on ‘CareerTok’.
