A Marketer’s Guide to Using User-Generated Content on Social Media
Any content—text, videos, photographs, reviews, and so on—created by individuals rather than brands is known as user-generated content (UGC). UGC is frequently shared by brands on their social media profiles, websites, and other marketing channels. Any content—text, videos, photographs, reviews, and so on—created by individuals rather than brands is known as user-generated content (UGC). UGC is frequently shared by brands on their social media profiles, websites, and other marketing channels. Instagram is the principal channel for user-generated content (UGC) for many marketers. Users publish and share posts about your brand, bringing your products and services to the attention of their followers.
Why user-generated content?
What exactly is user-generated content, and why should your company be concerned? Here are three compelling reasons why user-generated content (UGC) is an essential marketing tactic.
Promote authenticity
When compared to brand-created material, consumers are 2.4 times more likely to believe user-generated content is real. Because only over half of brands develop real content, this gives brands a significant reputation boost. More than 15,000 people liked this adorable photo of a baby wearing Warby Parker spectacles, prompting comments like “I die of cute.” If the brand had staged the event.
Create trust
Modern consumers expect to know exactly what they’re getting before they order something, whether it’s a product, a service, or an experience. For example, 30% of millennials would avoid going to a restaurant if the establishment’s Instagram presence was lacking. They simply do not believe that the experience will provide them with what they need.
Drive purchasing decisions
All of the previous advantages of user-generated content lead to this one: the influence on purchasing decisions. It’s a major deal. UGC has a strong influence on about 80% of people’s purchasing decisions. When publishing user-generated content with the goal of driving sales, don’t forget about Instagram Stories. You may combine the immediacy of Stories with the long-term impact of Highlights.
3 key ways to use user-generated content on social media
1. Create brand desire
Humans are naturally envious creatures. Sharing outstanding user-generated material is a terrific approach to pique interest in your brand. It’s extremely effective for tourism and leisure marketers to present their destination through the eyes of visitors. On its Instagram account, Destination British Columbia leverages user-generated content (UGC) to display gorgeous views from across the province in a way that feels approachable to everyone.
2. Showcase (and inspire) brand loyalty
It’s all about getting people to try your brand for the first time when it comes to creating desire. It’s all about cultivating long-term relationships that result in many sales over time when it comes to building brand loyalty. Users who develop and distribute user-generated content are likely to be some of your most ardent supporters. They’ve most likely purchased from you before. If they’ve just made one purchase, it was most likely a small one.
3. Build a content library
Creating new, fresh, and visually appealing material for your social media channels can be a constant task. User-generated content initiatives are a great way to expand your content collection and ensure you always have fresh information to offer. The hashtag #WholeFoodsHaul is used by Whole Foods to encourage customers to share images of what’s in their shopping cart. It’s a fantastic, ever-changing source of information.
Best practices for sharing user-generated content
Always request permission
A branded hashtag, like demonstrated above, is a terrific approach to collect user-generated content. Even if a post has your tag, it’s a good idea to ask for permission. People may use your branded hashtags without knowing you’ve linked them to a user-generated content campaign because hashtags can take on a life of their own. It’s against the law to re-share that stuff without explicit permission. When you ask for permission, you show the original poster that you value their work and encourage them to share it with your audience. You also stay out of legal trouble when it comes to copyright issues. Furthermore, it is the correct thing to do. Users of Hootsuite have access to TINT, an app that handles rights requests for user-generated material.
Credit the original creator
Make careful to give explicit credit to the original creator when you share user-generated content on social media. They’ll be tagged immediately in the post. Indicate whether you’re using their images, words, or a combination of both. Give credit where credit is due at all times. If you’re going to distribute user-generated content on social media, find out how the creator wants to be recognized on each network.
Offer something of value in return
You must provide something in return if you want your fans and followers to provide you with user-generated material. A social media contest can be a terrific method to quickly generate a large volume of UGC. But don’t get too hung up on awarding awards to UGC developers. According to one survey, just 32% of consumers generated and shared UGC in order to win a prize.
Be clear about what kind of content you’re looking for
Creators of user-generated content (UGC) want you to share their work. That is, they want to know what kind of content you are most inclined to share. Only 16% of brands provide specific guidelines for the type of user-generated content they want their fans to develop and share. When it comes to UGC, however, more than half of customers want brands to tell them exactly what to do. Don’t be scared to be as descriptive as possible.
Use search streams to find user-generated content you might have missed
You’re missing out on a lot of potential content if you only collect user-generated content when people tag you or use your branded hashtag. Even if you aren’t tagged, you should monitor all mentions of your brand or products on social media as part of your social listening programme. If you come across a piece you’d want to share with your audience, contact the author and request permission. They might not be as enthusiastic as someone who has tagged you or used your branded hashtag, but they can’t say no. If they agree, tell them about your UGC-branded hashtag and urge them to utilize it in future articles.
Learn from the submitted content, whether you share it or not
User-generated content is a terrific source of customer research in addition to being a potent marketing tool. Allow time to examine the UGC created by your audience and study it for lessons that might help you enhance your social marketing efforts. For example, you can learn that your customers are using your products or services in unexpected ways.
How to Legally Leverage User-Generated Content in Your Marketing?
Do you want to use the photos that your customers and admirers share on social media?
Are you trying to figure out how to get permission to utilize your customers’ content? If you wish to incorporate user-generated content (UGC) in your marketing, you must take precautions to avoid legal issues. You’ll learn how to use fan material lawfully in your social media marketing in this post.
#1: Know When You Need to Obtain Rights
DRM (Digital Rights Management) may appear to be a term that only attorneys should be concerned with. That was the case until lately. DRM, or digital rights management, is essentially copyright protection for digital property such as music, video, pictures, and printed materials. DRM was created to safeguard brands a few years ago. It was partly a reaction to the widespread copying of commercially produced material via peer-to-peer sharing. When we sign up for a social media account, we all agree to (but probably don’t read) the terms of service. Most network agreements contain language allowing them to share and display content that has been posted on their network. Instagram’s blog, for example, has authorization to use the photographs its users share on the platform. However, this does not grant Starbucks permission to use the image.
#2: Seek Permissions on Individual User Posts via Comments
The good news is that securing the rights to your users’ material isn’t too difficult. You can simply ask users for permission by leaving a remark. For example, PetSmart monitors dozens of hashtags relating to pets and leaves a remark asking the author to reply with #yespets when they notice an image they’d like to use on their social media platforms or for other marketing objectives.
#3: Streamline Permissions Requests via UGC Contest Software
You have their implied permission to utilize anything they publish if you’re conducting a hashtag contest in which people enter by using your specified branded hashtag. However, it’s still a good idea to get their approval in writing. Here’s an example of a recent contest run by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s film firm. To enter, participants had to record a short video in which they did their best slow-motion Baywatch impression and label it with the hashtag. But what if someone discovers your branded hashtag on social media and uses it to publish a photo or video, inadvertently entering your contest with your unique hashtag? This person hasn’t visited your social media pages or website, and is unaware that you’ve posted terms and conditions explaining how you’ll use their content in the future. What is the solution? Before you use someone else’s content on your social media pages, be sure you know who they are.
User-Generated Content: Why It’s Effective and How to Use It in Your Marketing Campaigns
Do you want consumers to pay a higher price for your product? According to new research, you should employ user-generated content to market it. According to a TurnTo Networks survey, 90 percent of consumers believe it has a greater impact on their purchasing decisions than advertising emails or even search engine results.
They’re correct, based on previous campaign results. User-generated material has the ability to have a significant influence.
What is user-generated content?
User-generated content (also known as UGC or consumer-generated content) in marketing refers to content about your brand provided by someone who isn’t an official representative of your company. It could be a status update on social media, a review, a video, a podcast, or a variety of other formats. It’s user-generated if it involves your brand and none of your workers or associates developed it.
What makes user-generated content so effective?
Marketers and advertisers, unfortunately, are fundamentally untrustworthy. We’re tasked with presenting products and services in the best light possible, and in the process, we remove aspects that could influence consumer purchasing decisions negatively (and sometimes we take it a little too far). We can make fast food look appealing using smoke and mirrors (or hairspray and shoe polish?)
User-generated content examples
Dune London’s product pages
While UGC may be used effectively across the consumer journey, the product page is one of the places where it has the biggest influence. Dune London noticed this after putting shoppable Instagram photographs of real consumers wearing and adorning their items to their website. They discovered that sales increased by 82 percent when customers interacted with UGC.
FAQ’S
Can you use UGC in ads?
User-generated content (UGC) is frequently used by marketing departments. It aids in the creation of a perception of authenticity and social proof for brands. When it comes to producing customer-winning marketing, these are essential assets.
What does UGC stand for in marketing?
User-generated content is what UGC stands for. User-generated content (UGC) is defined as any type of content—text, postings, photographs, videos, reviews, and so on—created by individuals (not brands) and uploaded to an internet or social network.
How can UGC help marketers?
- Create Trust and Reliability.
- Showcase Authenticity and Brand Advocacy.
- Increase User Engagement and Interaction.
- Drive Conversions and Revenue.
How can I get customers from UGC?
Campaign hashtags, social media contests are just a few examples of strategies to increase UGC. You can pique your audience’s curiosity and encourage them to generate content inspired by your campaign with just one hashtag. Yeti utilized the hashtag #BuiltforTheWild to collect and share photos of people enjoying nature.
How effective is UGC?
User-generated content is 42% more effective than branded material, with a 6.9x greater engagement rate than your own branded postings. Both of these data have been mentioned previously, as well as how leveraging UGC is a necessary for increasing engagement and a greater conversion rate from your social media advertising.
Conclusion
Your finest marketers are those that genuinely care about your company. When customers tell stories about their experiences with your products and services, it lends credibility to your brand and can persuade their friends and followers to check out and buy your goods. Retailers, in particular, are adopting more user-generated content (UGC) into their ecommerce marketing efforts because they’ve discovered that two of UGC’s trademarks, a high level of engagement and a high level of engagement, are two of UGC’s hallmarks. It’s easy to see why consumer-generated content is so effective: it’s not coming from us, the marketers and advertising who lie, photoshop, and spoil kids’ days. We don’t have to make any guesses, either. UGC, according to TurnTo Networks, delivers a more “genuine” shopping experience for two-thirds of consumers. Product reviews, Instagram photographs, and unpacking videos are all examples of unvarnished communication.