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Abbreviated as UGC, user-generated content is currently a marketing goldmine. If you take your time to understand UGC and use it correctly, you can count on this strategy to gain more engagement and social media followers. Reports have shown that more than 90% of online shoppers trust user-generated content more than traditional advertisements. Ideally, this means that potential buyers would rather get reviews on your product or services from your customers than get the same opinions from you. Read on to understand more about UGC and how to use it in social media.
What is UGC?
User-generated content can be termed as any content: videos, reviews, or images created by a brand’s audience rather than the brand itself. Sellers will share this content on their social media platforms as proof that people indeed trust what they have to offer. UGC has proven to be more efficient in marketing compared to conventional content.
Using UGC for marketing is beneficial both to you as the brand and to your audience. As the brand, UGC provides you with fresh marketing content that would have taken you days or even weeks to generate. The best part is that the content does not demand a lot of cash investment.
On the other hand, users benefit from user-generated content by getting a chance to collaborate with their favorite brands and express themselves. In return, they may get free services and discounts.
Why is UGC So Powerful?
In the digital era, where nearly everything is done online, shoppers spend most of their time engaging with content on their socials. The most frequently used social media platforms are Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. The buyers check their feeds daily and rarely think of traditional media such as listening to the radio, reading newspapers, or watching TV.
Millennials make the most significant percentage of online buyers, and studies have shown that over 50% of them tap UGC before making a purchase decision. So, what makes UGC a powerful marketing tool?
Social Proof
Again, in an era where people spend most of their time on social media, social influence has significantly impacted buyers’ behavior. They tend to make purchase decisions based on other people’s behaviors. They count on influencers’ reviews to establish if a product or service is worth spending on. They trust influencers to give them the go-ahead on how a product works and its effectiveness. Therefore, by using an influencer to generate marketing content, you are assured of an increased conversion rate.
UGC Builds Trust
Buyers trust this approach because, unlike the traditional advertisement campaigns, which are mainly geared towards making sales, UGC is based on honesty. Not only will using user-generated content boost your brand’s trust and credibility, but also, you are assured of making sales.
How Can I Get Good UGC?
Taking your time to understand your audience and the type of content they need is the first step towards generating good marketing content. Luckily with UGC, you get to bring the audience into your content creation process. Instead of creating for your audience, you create with them, which makes UGC an efficient tool for increased conversion.
You have a range of options to help you generate content from your audience. You can opt for customer surveys to generate insightful information on what the customers expect from you. Community hashtag has also shown effectiveness in UGC creation. This is where you create a hashtag contest or encourage your fans to share an experience with your product or service and post it on their socials using a hashtag.
You cannot go wrong by using pixlee.com, a UGC marketing platform that allows you to leverage customer content across different channels, thus maximizing customer engagement. The platform provides you access to a pool of high-quality content generated by real customers, hence saving both your time and money.
Direct influencer outreach is also a trustworthy tactic whereby you collaborate with influencers to review your brands. Influencers have loyal followers who count on their reviews before making a purchase decision.
What Type of UGC Should Be Used?
Like any other marketing campaign, UGC aims to convince prospects to convert into real buyers. The content you put out there should highlight the product features and benefits. It should be authentic to help you build trust. You should not highlight false information, especially on the benefits section, to lure buyers as that will ruin your brand credibility.
When creating UGC, make sure the content is identifiable with the core audience or ideal customer profile. Buyers are likely to make a purchase if they find the information relatable to the problems they are hoping to solve by buying your product or service.
How Should Brands Use UGS?
UGC acts as social proof. If used strategically, it’s a great way to promote your company’s message, boost your audience’s trust and credibility, increase your social followers, and improve SEO. All these benefits are equivalent to increased sales.
There is a range of effective ways of incorporating UGC for marketing. The ideal method depends on the type of products or services you have to offer and which content your targets are most likely to resonate with. Some ideas include;
- Organic Social –This content is visible to your platform visitors without any promotion attached to it.
- On-Site Testimonials – On-site testimonials come from your product or service users and are a great way to showcase your brand’s reliability. They may include reviews from your site or comments regarding what you have to offer.
- Paid Socials – These include dark posts and Facebook brand’s collabs. In this case, you have to pay for the ads to increase the post’s visibility.
Final Thoughts
If used appropriately, user-generated content is the cheapest yet most effective way to spread brand awareness, improve your brand image, boost credibility, and obtain a competitive edge. With the guide above, you can easily leverage UGC for marketing and build a strong online social media presence.
We are a reliable marketing agency, and you can count on us for further guidance on the same. Contact ATTN Agency and talk to a strategist about how you can use UGC in your organic and paid customer acquisition strategies.