UGC or User Generated Content has recently taken over social media and is all over brand pages. And for good reason – when people see content coming from other users, and not just your brand or celebrity influencers, it means you’re doing something right!
What is User Generated Content?
User generated content is content about your product or service that has been created and published by your customers. This can include anything from blog posts and reviews to photos, videos, and social media posts. UGC is a powerful marketing tool because it helps to build trust and credibility with your audience.
Why Use UGC in Your Marketing Strategy
1. Helps You Forge Stronger Relationships With Your Customers
When you include UGC in your marketing strategy, you’re essentially giving your customers a voice. This helps to forge stronger relationships between you and your customers because it shows that you’re interested in what they have to say. In addition, when customers see that their voices are being heard, they’ll be more likely to continue doing business with you in the future.
2. Increases Trust and Credibility
UGC can help increase trust and credibility for your brand. After all, if someone who isn’t affiliated with your company is willing to speak positively about your products or services, that says a lot! This type of social proof can be extremely helpful in convincing potential customers who are on the fence about doing business with you.
3. It’s Cost-Effective
Another great thing about UGC is that it’s an extremely cost-effective way to create content for your marketing campaigns. If you’re struggling to come up with new ideas or just don’t have the budget to produce high-quality content yourself, why not tap into the power of user generated content? It’s a great way to get fresh perspectives while saving time and money!
How to Get Started with UGC
One of the best ways to get started with UGC is to encourage your customers and fans to share their experiences with your brand on social media. This can be done by running contests, offering discounts or coupons, or simply asking customers to post about their experience using a specific hashtag.
At Mapplinks, we work with our clients to run special UGC focused campaigns and then repurpose the content for social media ads.
Another great way to get UGC is to syndicate user-generated blog posts on your website. This is a win-win situation; customers get free publicity for their blog, while you get fresh content for your website at no cost! Simply reach out to some of your most active customers and ask if they would be interested in writing a guest blog post. If they say yes, be sure to provide them with some guidelines so that their post aligns with your brand’s voice and values.
You can also send out email campaigns to a specific segment of your customers who you feel will be likely to create UGCs for you.
These are just a few ways to get started.
Once you start getting tagged in UGC content, make sure you reuse it for your social media ads as UGC content performs way better than other content types for most of our clients.
As per Business Wire, consumers 2.4 times more likely to view user-generated content as authentic compared to content created by brands.
Here’s an example from boAt’s Instagram page of a UGC post and here’s an example of UGC video by Scripbox featuring a story of one of their users – who happens to be the author of this blog post!
UGC is a powerful marketing tool that should absolutely be included in your marketing strategy. By giving your customers a voice and encouraging them to share their experiences with your brand, you can help build trust and credibility while also saving time and money!
