User Generated Content (UGC) is the leading digital marketing strategy today because customers appreciate authentic content more than fabricated material.
Don’t believe us? Let's take a look at some numbers before we go into the realm of UGC.
90% of customers claim that user-generated content (UGC) has a bigger impact on their purchasing decisions than other types of material, such as promotional emails, and search engine results.
Consumers are 92% more likely to believe a suggestion from a third party than sponsored material.
User-generated content is a terrific method for consumers to learn about new items, according to 48% of consumers.
A whopping 86% of marketers claim to have made an effort to include user-generated material in their marketing.
Consumers claim to trust internet reviews as much as personal recommendations 84% of the time.
What Is User Generated Content?
Any content produced by web users or customers and published online, such as through social media platforms, is known as user-generated content (or UGC). Branded content, on the other hand, is typically written by the companies that make the products or services they represent. A web user creates content and increases the exposure of your brand and products when they publish a picture, a video, a review, a remark, or an answer on a forum that somehow pertains to your business.
5 Benefits Of User-Generated Content
Helps build trust
Aside from the validity of user-generated content, this type of content demonstrates that other people utilize your products. Using your customer's journey as a case study example seems more convincing than paying a model to promote the product on your page.
Authenticity
The more someone relies on the success of a business or product, the less genuine their endorsement appears to be. After all, a salesperson will go to tremendous efforts to promote their items. There is cause to be wary, especially in light of the numerous instances where employees of the organization have willfully deceived clients.
The word of a consumer, though, is the most genuine of all. Often, these clients have spent a substantial amount of time using the product or, in the case of services, have seen what the organization is capable of. People often give their fellow consumers' opinions a lot of credence as a result.
Varied and innovative content
Your internal marketing team is not the only source of diversity and originality. If anything, your users can be more creative. Staff, while creative, lack depth of view, and their jobs are dependent on the overall profitability of your organization.
End-users, on the other hand, do not see your products in the same light. It is one thing to promote the benefits of your products as defined by the firm, and quite another to feel the benefits as a user. However, for B2B businesses, end users' occupations may be directly related to the success of your products. Users, in any case, have different ideas than your internal staff, simply because they are different individuals. Using this will help to diversify your marketing material and keep it from becoming repetitive.
More conversions
Did you know that websites with user-generated content have a 29% boost in web conversions? That is plenty of revenue, and all you have to do is give them the choice to submit user-generated material, such as reviews or testimonials. A famous example is Shein, where anybody may leave a review of a product on its page and many other eCommerce sites, including those tied to physical places, do the same.
Cost-effective
If you don't have to develop the material yourself, you're not wasting money on content production for every marketing tool you employ. Depending on how you utilize the content, you may incur merely distribution charges, if any at all. Some tools, such as GMB and review sites, are free or low-cost. And, by providing a tiny incentive, such as a discount, you may generate more UGC and repeat business.
5 Different Types Of User Generated Content To Employ
While we’ve covered the benefits of UGC marketing, the question remains. How do you leverage it for your business? To fully utilize the potential of UGC, you must first understand what types of content are accessible. Many businesses employ these popular choices with great success.
Share your followers' content
When the ability to sell anything hinges at least partially on how it appears, images are a wonderful kind of user-generated content. There are many additional examples, such as house decor or fashion. Images not only assist in visualizing possibilities but are also simple to add to product pages and websites.
Let’s talk about how for many businesses, video content appears to be rather complex. After all, you feel compelled to take a video, edit it, and even apply special effects. User-generated content, on the other hand, is supposed to be amateurish, and some video genres are not designed to be edited. Videos created with your product are excellent and simple to share on social media, whether the user creates a tutorial, promotes your product, or performs a task.
You can use all these marketing materials and share them on your social media or websites. This is an effective and genuine strategy, similar to video testimonials, that just requires you to publish it. It shows actual individuals using your product.
Besides that, if you locate an image that represents your business well, you may even utilize it in your advertising strategies.
Collaborate in a hashtag campaign
Starting a hashtag campaign is a great approach to involve your audience, especially if you're advertising your company on social media.
Your hashtag campaign may be driven by encouraging consumers to submit photographs that highlight your brand; frequently, this is enough of an incentive, but you can add another incentive and generate genuine buzz by putting your community to the test with a contest-based strategy.
All you need is a creative concept that will appeal to your target market and benefit both your company and the audience; rewards might be cost-free goods, memberships, or services.
This strategy encourages individuals to spread the word about your brand via word of mouth and demonstrates to them that you are open to their feedback and willing to return some favors, both of which help to establish trust.
Let your clients speak for themselves
There is no better method to use UGC than through genuine product reviews. After all, prospective clients can learn about how fantastic your product is. Furthermore, if relevant, reviewers will typically inform readers what difficulties the product helped them overcome. You may submit reviews in a variety of areas, ranging from a link on your website to an advertisement snippet. If possible, make an effort to get product evaluations from a range of user types to maximize your outcomes.
SO, WHERE DO YOU FIND THIS PARTNER?
Well, aren’t we glad you asked! We at DigiCom are obsessive data-driven marketers pulling from multi-disciplinary strategies to unlock scale. We buy media across all platforms and placements and provide creative solutions alongside content creation, and conversion rate optimizations. We pride ourselves on your successes and will stop at nothing to help you grow.