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User-generated content is the new marketing trend for brands. UGC means any text, videos, images, or reviews that are created by people, not by brands. Consumers trust content made by fellow consumers, and is one of the most powerful means of building brand loyalty, boosting engagement, and driving sales. With the rise of social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, UGC can be accessed and become more effective than ever.
Why User-Generated Content Matters
UGC taps into the growing demand for authenticity and relatability in advertising. According to one recent study, 79% of people said that UGC highly impacts their purchasing decisions, while 90% of consumers trust recommendations over branded content.
Because trust in traditional advertising is in decline, consumers rely more than ever on their peer-generated content for validation.
The algorithms of social media have always favored content pieces that receive high levels of engagement. UGC is innately shareable, and it usually outperforms brand-created content in terms of organic reach, better engagement rate, and scale of the community with more loyal followers. Brands taking priority on UGC in 2024 will likely see:
More interaction and reach: UGC is more authentic, relatable, and shareable, meaning more likes, comments, and shares.
More trust and credibility build-up: If users create content on behalf of a brand, then it tends to act as social proof that other people find the brand fit to be trusted and engaged with.
Higher conversions can result in as much as 4.5 times higher conversion rates.
Here’s how you can integrate UGC effectively in your digital marketing strategy.
Encourage Customer Participation
One of the easiest ways to create UGC is by asking your customer directly, deliberately, for contributions or some testimonials about the usage of your product or service. This can easily be done via contests, challenges, or simple call-to-action. For a coffee brand, you may encourage customers to post photos of their coffee cups for a chance to win something, like a contest. With every click, that simple action creates a huge volume of free content while increasing brand exposure at the same time.
To maximize engagement:
Hashtags: It will take a unique and memorable hashtag that unifies your UGC campaign. They help solidify content and make it easily searchable on various social media platforms.
Offer Incentives: Encourage customers by offering discounts, free products in exchange, or featuring them on any one of your brand’s social media handles.
UGC Showcase on Your Platforms
One of the most powerful uses of UGC, however, is to showcase it on your platforms. By showcasing customer content on your website, social media, or even in ads, you build not only credibility but community around your brand. GoPro has made UGC its most important marketing tool, hiring user-shot footage time and again to demonstrate just how good its cameras are.
How to effectively integrate UGC:
Social Media Feature: Repost or share user-submitted content through your brand’s social media accounts. The fact that you truly care about the experiences of your customers will make others want to share too.
Run Real UGC Ads: Include actual UGC in your paid ads. Customer-supplied content tends to be more relatable and may drive better conversions than a shiny, on-brand ad.
Boost Engagement and Community Building
Not only does UGC help strengthen the bond between the brand and the consumer, but it can also be considered a strong way to build an engaged community. The more customers see their content popping up and getting liked and shared, the better their attachment becomes with the brand. Brands have built communities through the frequent interaction and regular featuring of UGC on their social channels.
Community building
Engage with Others: Like their creations, comment, or share when others create UGC posts. It encourages people to contribute more.
Challenge Creation: Add interactive challenges that have users create content with your brand, further building the community aspect.
Leverage UGC for Social Proof
UGC is a sort of social proof and helps to validate your product or service. Consumers have much more trust in what their fellow customer peers have to say about advertisements. Reviews, testimonials, and customer stories are different forms of UGC that greatly help build trust and increase conversion rates.
Display Reviews: Display positive reviews and testimonials on product pages, social media, and ads.
Case Studies: Converting customer success stories to case studies would give the buyers of your solution deeper social proof.