How 5 Make.com Scenarios + Base (Baselinker) Built an Automated UGC Collection System Across 7 Languages
This case study is meant to inspire and show what’s possible when you combine no-code automation tools to solve a real business problem.
The system described involves complex logic deeply integrated with the client’s environment across multiple platforms- handled through the straightforward, visual workflow design that Make.com scenarios provide.
It’s not a step-by-step tutorial, it’s a look at what thoughtful automation design can achieve when the tools are connected well.
The Background
An e-commerce store selling construction elements for DIY projects noticed something useful: some customers were voluntarily sharing photos of what they built with the store’s products.
These unsolicited project photos showed real results in real environments- far more convincing than any studio photography.
But voluntary sharing was sporadic. The company thought about a systematic way to collect it.
The idea: after a customer receives their order and has time to build, invite them to share photos of their finished project and describe what they built- in exchange for a store discount.
Collect the photos, gather project descriptions that reveal how customers actually use the products, reward the contributor, and deliver organized content to the marketing team.
The project descriptions were equally important- understanding what customers build and how they combine products helps the company craft better offers and identify niches they might not have considered.
Running this across multiple European markets, in 7 languages, with proper security, compliance, and zero manual processing- that’s where it gets interesting.
What the System Needed to Handle
This wasn’t a simple “send email, receive photos” workflow. To run autonomously across markets for months, the system had to solve several interconnected problems:
Timing. Invitations had to land at the right moment- after confirmed delivery, with enough time for the customer to actually complete their project. Too early: nothing to photograph. Too late: customer has moved on and forgets about recent purchase.
Security. Each submission had to be tied to a specific order. No duplicate submissions. No gaming the system. No way for someone without an invitation to use the form.
Multi-language delivery. The store ships across multiple European markets. The system needed to handle all customer-facing communications- invitations, submission forms, reward emails- in 7 languages: Polish, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, and Dutch.
Reward integrity. The campaign offered a discount for submissions, with two tiers: a higher discount for photo submissions, a lower one for text-only project descriptions. One reward per qualifying order from end consumers in a specific product category. Tracked and auditable.
Content usability. Marketing doesn’t need a random folder of photos. They need context: what products were ordered, quantities, what was built, what the customer said about it. Each submission needed to arrive as a complete, usable package. And the project descriptions needed to be accessible alongside the photos- not just for social media content, but for understanding what customers actually do with the products.
Legal compliance. Operating across European markets means GDPR compliance from day one. Customers must be able to opt out at any point- and once opted out, they must never receive another invitation, even if they place new qualifying orders.
Equally important: every submission includes explicit consent granting the company rights to use the submitted photos and descriptions in their marketing activities. The form handles this- no separate paperwork, no email back-and-forth, no ambiguity about what the company can and cannot do with the content.
Architecture Decisions
Several design choices shaped the system before any scenario was built:
Base (formerly Baselinker) as the trigger engine. This is worth highlighting because Base is more than an order management system- it has a capable built-in automation engine that many teams underutilize. The entire UGC collection flow starts with Base’s native automation rules: the system monitors order statuses, detects when delivery is confirmed, applies a configurable time delay, and then triggers the Make.com scenario via webhook.
No polling. No external cron jobs. No manual checks. Base handles the “when to invite” logic, which keeps the Make.com scenarios focused on “what to do with the invitation.” Having worked with Base since 2018, we know these automation capabilities well- and combining Base’s event-driven triggers with Make.com’s processing power is where the real leverage comes from.
Token-based URL security. Each invitation email contains a unique URL with a custom token tied to the specific order ID. Only the recipient can submit for that order. The customer never enters an order number- the system already knows who they are. This prevents abuse and eliminates duplicate submissions at the infrastructure level.
Two-tier reward structure. The system distinguishes between photo submissions and text-only project descriptions- each rewarded at a different discount level. Photos have obvious visual marketing value. But the text descriptions- where customers explain what they built, how they used the products, what worked- turned out to be just as valuable for understanding product usage patterns and identifying new market opportunities.
Softr as the customer-facing portal. Instead of building a custom submission page, we used Softr to create a clean form connected directly to Airtable and Make.com. Clean experience for the customer. Structured data for processing.
Airtable as the tracking hub. Every event- invitation sent, submission received, reward issued, opt-out recorded- is logged in Airtable. Full auditability and a debugging trail without needing a custom dashboard.
Google Drive for content storage. All submitted photos are automatically organized in a dedicated shared folder structure. When marketing is notified, everything is already accessible and linked.
How It Works- 5 Make.com Scenarios
Scenario 1: Invitation Generator
Base (formerly Baselinker) handles the timing logic natively- its built-in automation engine monitors delivery confirmations, applies the configured delay, and fires a webhook to Make.com when it’s time to invite a customer. Make.com then checks the customer’s opt-out status in Airtable. For eligible orders from end consumers in the qualifying product category, the system creates a tracking record, generates a unique URL with an order-specific security token, stores the token in the database (enforcing one per order), and delivers a personalized invitation email in the customer’s language.
Scenario 2: Submission Processor
When a customer clicks their unique link, they land on a Softr-powered form where they can upload project photos and describe what they built- what products they used, how they combined them, what the finished project looks like. The submission triggers Make.com, which validates the token, confirms it hasn’t been used before, stores the response in Airtable, and saves files to Google Drive.
Scenario 3: Content Package Generator
After a successful submission, the system pulls original order details from Base (formerly Baselinker)- products purchased, quantities, order context- and merges them with the customer’s submission: photos, project description, feedback. It generates a complete brief with direct links to Google Drive and notifies the marketing team. The result is a ready-to-use content package: not just images, but the full story of what was ordered and what was built with it.
Scenario 4: Reward Delivery
The system determines the submission type (photos vs. text-only), assigns the appropriate discount tier, identifies the customer’s language, selects the correct email template from 7 variants, delivers the promo code, and logs everything in Airtable.
Scenario 5: Opt-Out Handler (Compliance)
Customers can opt out of campaign communications at any point. Make.com processes the request and permanently flags the customer record in Airtable. The system ensures no further invitations are ever sent- even if the customer places new qualifying orders in the future. During 6 months of operation, dozens of opt-out requests were processed automatically, keeping the client fully compliant with European data protection regulations without anyone touching anything.
This scenario is worth calling out specifically. Compliance isn’t something we add at the end if there’s time left- it’s part of the system design from the first conversation. Every invitation checks opt-out status before sending. Every record is auditable. When you’re automating customer communications across multiple European markets, this isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a requirement.
And it’s a standard part of how we approach every project.
The Results
Over 6 months of autonomous operation:
- Over 150 unique customer projects documented with photos, descriptions, and feedback- each one showing real products used in a real build
- Several hundred project photos collected across European markets
- A double-digit response rate on post-purchase invitations- above typical post-purchase email engagement
- The majority of issued promo codes were redeemed, meaning contributors came back and purchased again
- 7 language variants handled automatically- Polish, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, and Dutch
- Dozens of compliance opt-out requests processed- zero manual intervention
- Zero manual processing throughout- from delivery confirmation to content package delivery to marketing
- Zero security incidents- no duplicate rewards, no unauthorized submissions
What the system actually produced went beyond photos:
The customer project descriptions became a source of product intelligence. People described what they built, how they combined different product lines, what worked well. This gave the company direct visibility into use cases and product combinations they hadn’t specifically marketed for- helping them refine their catalog positioning and identify niche opportunities they would have missed otherwise.
The promo code redemption pattern showed something else: content contributors were more likely to return and buy again. What started as a content collection mechanism also functioned as a retention tool.
The Content Cost Perspective
For context on what this kind of content costs to produce through traditional channels:
UGC images are typically priced at $25–200+, and they generally cost less than video because there isn’t as much preparation and editing time required.
Lifestyle images- which is what these project photos essentially are, can cost a few hundred to a few thousand dollars depending on the complexity.
For construction/DIY project documentation- where you’d need someone traveling to customer locations to photograph completed builds- costs climb further.
The system collected over 150 projects’ worth of equivalent content with usage rights. The exact savings depend on market and production approach, but the gap between automated collection from real customers and commissioned content production is significant regardless of how you calculate it.
What This Demonstrates
This system was built for a specific client with specific needs. It’s not a template. But the underlying ideas apply broadly:
Post-purchase engagement doesn’t have to be manual. The gap between “order delivered” and “customer shares their experience” can be bridged with automation. Base (formerly Baselinker) handles the timing natively. Make.com handles the logic. The customer just clicks a link.
The simple-looking parts often matter most. The opt-out scenario is the least exciting of the five. It’s also the one that keeps the client legally compliant across 7 European markets. Building it in from day one costs almost nothing. Retrofitting it after a complaint costs a lot more.
Content plus context is more valuable than content alone. Photos are useful. Photos merged with order data- what was purchased, in what quantities, what the customer built and said about it- are a complete content package. The merge happens in seconds inside Make.com. Without automation, someone would be cross-referencing spreadsheets for every single submission.
Customer feedback reveals things you weren’t looking for. The text descriptions weren’t originally the main goal- the photos were. But those descriptions ended up showing the company how their products are actually used in the field, what combinations work, and where untapped niches exist. Automation doesn’t just save time. Sometimes it surfaces information you wouldn’t have collected manually.
Structured data opens doors you haven’t walked through yet. Every submission- photos, descriptions, order details- is stored in a structured, queryable format in Airtable. Today that data feeds the marketing team. Tomorrow it connects to PowerBI for campaign analytics or feeds AI tools for pattern recognition across hundreds of projects. And as image analysis capabilities keep improving, a system like this could go further: automatically evaluating photo quality and project complexity, then dynamically adjusting reward tiers- better photos, more impressive builds, higher discounts. The foundation for that isn’t some future rebuild. It’s the structured data you’re already collecting now.
The tools are available to anyone. The difference is knowing how to connect them.