Need win for your business? Want to boost your already strong content marketing strategy? Let’s talk about the importance of User-Generated Content (UGC).
In this post, we’ll answer the following questions:
- What is User-Generated Content?
- Benefits of User-Generated Content for your business
Studies have shown that 92% of consumers trust branded content with recommendations from people they don’t know. As a merchant, this is where User Generated Content (UGC) comes into play.
If you’re excited to learn more about user generated content, then make your way through this detailed blog.
What is User Generated Content
User-Generated Content (or UGC) is any content—text, posts, images, videos, reviews, etc.—created by individual people (not brands) and published to an online or social network.
It is essential to note that brands do not pay customers for user-generated content.
Exclusive user-generated content is organic and posted on social media (mainly Instagram). Customers usually post a product picture and tag the brand, and/or use a hashtag that the brand has created specifically for UGC purposes.
The main goal of user-generated content is marketing the brand to users rather than promoting their own products or services. User-generated content has been hugely successful for various mega-brands in the past, making it one of the most potent marketing strategies in today’s world.
Benefits of User-Generated Content
1. It Embraces Authenticity
60% of consumers say that user-generated content is the most authentic form of content. And according to Elite Daily, 43% of millennials rank authenticity above content when consuming news.
With UGC, your customers can pay attention to how real people use your products and share their passion for the brand.
2. Social Media Users Trust UGC more than Branded Content
Consumers upload millions of content every day—it’s just a matter of tapping into what’s relevant to your brand. With UGC’s reach to such a vast area, you can take the constant pressure off your marketing and content creation teams for new, relevant content.
Also, social media users trust UGC more than branded content, and you now have a compelling argument for why you should be using UGC.
3. It Increases Conversions & Revenue
It is the ultimate goal marketers have in mind when creating a marketing campaign. Conversions and revenue ensure the survival and success of a brand.
User-generated content is the best solution to increase your conversions and revenue. UGC increases user engagement, and engagement is directly related to conversions.
Also, people trust UGC much more than brand advertising when it comes to buying products/services. Hence, UGC will provide recognition and credibility to your marketing message, driving users towards conversion and increasing revenue.
4. UGC Puts your Customers at Front and Center
One of the best advantages of user-generated content is that it’s a win-win for both you and your fans.
When you use content users produce in your marketing campaigns:
- You’re letting their voices tell their story
- Your marketing messages come from individuals rather than brands
- You’re no longer marketing to your audience; you’re marketing to yourself.
- You spotlight the people who have helped shape your brand!
5. It is Authentic
User-generated content significantly boosts brand credibility, as users consider UGC to be 2.4 times more credible than brand-generated content.
Creating authenticity in the users’ minds has become extremely important as it is the only thing helping the brands stay ahead of the curve.
Moreover, it also plays a role in the buying decisions of buyers as 86% of them, especially Millennials and GenZers, take this into account in their future purchases.
6. Driving Purchasing Decisions
According to Hootsuite, 90 percent of consumers say that UGC has a massive impact on their buying decisions, and many successful UGC campaigns prove this. It’s a no-brainer, then!
7. It Keeps the Brand Relevant
When a current cause or trend is already happening, the brand may not create content around it at short notice. However, with UGC, the chances are that you already have the content you want at your fingertips.
The chances are that customers are already talking about the trend on social media, and you can readily tap into that by inviting them to share their work. It would help you get quick content as you draw it from the work that consumers are already creating around a trend.
8. UGC is Cost-Effective
It is sometimes cheaper to source hundreds of pieces of UGC than it is to make a single piece of in-house content. With UGC, customers are creating assets for you – and bringing in their own audience as a result. Last year, Nest Cam launched one of its most successful user-generated content campaigns of all time. Throughout the year, it encouraged customers to submit clips from its 24/7 live streaming cameras with the hashtag #CaughtOnNestCam. The brand compiled the best submissions into year-end videos – a great way to show off what a camera can do in a fun, innovative way. The final video garnered over 1.2 million views on YouTube, 3.1 million views on Facebook, and reached over 4.5 million people—all in an effort that cost little.
Conclusion
Collecting valuable user-generated content takes more than just coming up with hashtags. Good UGC adds value to the brand.
It can show people the potential of a particular product or service, spread awareness, and promote social proof during the buying process.
Always connect all your ads to personalized post-click landing pages to reduce your cost per customer acquisition. Start building your dedicated post-click pages by calling us today. We are here to help you. Call now!