How to Include User-Generated Content in Your Marketing Strategy

When you post content about your new shoes or other fascinating newly bought items on your Instagram profile, YouTube channel, or wherever, you are unconsciously becoming a part of a marketing campaign, namely a user-generated content campaign. That’s how it works!

Oddly enough, user-generated content has a significant impact on the decision-making process of consumers, which, in turn, affects conversions on your website. So, UGC is definitely worth being discovered. Let's have a closer look at it.

In short, 

• User-generated content, or consumer-generated content, is nothing like authentic, brand-specific content created by someone who is not a part of the business. More specifically, it is content that has been created by existing customers, who have already bought your products, used them, and are ready to share their opinions with others by publishing about it on their social media profiles and other channels. 



Besides increased conversion, it provides businesses with a wealth of information, including feedback on products and services, customer insights, and new marketing ideas.

The beauty of UGC is that it’s seen as more trustworthy by consumers than marketing content or ads. That’s because people are more likely to believe what other people have to say about a product or service than what a brand has to say. It’s also unfiltered and unedited, which gives it a more authentic feel. As a result, most people trust reviews from other customers more than marketers, since customers have already used the products and marketers generally try to show only the best aspects of the products. 

Outstanding user-generated content examples

User-generated content (UGC) is any content that is created and posted on online platforms by employees, brand loyalists, or customers.



Customers

Any photos posted on Instagram and Facebook, or videos posted on TikTok and the YouTube channel, etc, can be considered as UGC made by your existing customers. It doesn’t matter whether they are encouraged by contests, a reward, or whether they’re to share feedback, such UGC is very valuable for every brand without exception.



Brand loyalists

Brand Loyalist UGC is content that is created by people who are loyal to a brand. They are customers who are so passionate about a brand that they’ll promote it even when they’re not being asked to and are excited to share their experiences with others.

Employees

Employees are a great source for UGC because they’re passionate about the company and have insider knowledge. They can share their thoughts about the brand, what it’s like to work there, and what products they use. This type of content is valuable because it showcases the company’s culture.

Apple’s #ShotoniPhone Campaign

In an effort to show off the power of the iPhone’s camera, Apple launched a social media campaign called #ShotoniPhone. The campaign invited users to submit photos and videos shot on their iPhones for a chance to be featured on Apple’s website and social media channels.



The campaign has been a huge success, with people from all over the world sharing photos and videos of amazing shots taken with their iPhones. The campaign has also generated a lot of publicity for Apple, with people talking about it all over social media. The campaign helped to build hype for the release of the iPhone 7 and drive traffic to Apple’s website and social media channels.

Integrating User-Generated Content into Marketing Strategies

Incorporating UGC into a brand's marketing strategy can be tricky. Since simply pushing out user-generated content across social media channels is not enough – brands must put in the effort to cultivate and curate UGC in order to ensure that it aligns with the goals of the marketing campaigns and see the best results. Here are eight ways how to integrate it perfectly:

Determine the goal of your UGC campaign

When it comes to user-generated content (UGC), it’s important to determine the goal of your campaign before you begin. Without a specific goal in mind, you won’t know how to use UGC properly and may not be able to run your campaign successfully.



Some common goals for UGC campaigns include increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, and generating leads or sales. Once you know what you want to achieve, you can develop strategies and objectives that will help you.

According to a B2B marketing and sales report, 93% of customers said that they considered UGC in the form of reviews very helpful in making a decision about what to purchase and they always read reviews before buying something. So allowing your users to write reviews about products on your website is a good idea!

Using hashtags in your UGC marketing campaign can fit your goal if you aim at boosting brand awareness. On the other hand, video UGC can increase your conversions. Therefore, determining the goal of your UGC campaign should be the very first step!

Make sure you are original with your UGC

In order to create content that will get users excited and engaged, you need to find a way to stand out from the competition. One of the best ways to make your UGC stand out from the rest is to analyse your competitors and come up with something better.

After you analyse any significant competitors and their organic and ads traffic with competitor analysis tools like SE Ranking competitor analysis, you will have a good understanding of what's working for them and you can start to emulate their tactics and create content that is likely to resonate with your own audience. Remember, it's important to find a unique angle or voice that will set your content apart from the competition.



Create a system to collect User UGC

To collect user-generated content, you need to create a system that makes it easy for users to share. This could be something as simple as a hashtag that you use on all of your posts, or a specific landing page on your website for user submissions. 



However, using hashtags in your marketing campaign in order to collect UGC can be a little bit problematic, since you always have to ask for users’ permission to use their photos and posts from social media such as Instagram and Facebook. On the other hand, your app or landing page relieves you from such a need.

Share content created by a variety of users

When done correctly, UGC can be a great way to build trust and authority with your audience. UGC can also help you to humanise your brand and show off your company’s personality, and demonstrate diversity among your users.

There are a few things to keep in mind when sharing UGC on social media:

• Make sure that you get permission from the original creator before sharing their content.
• Make sure that you tag the creator in your post, and/or use a hashtag.



Encourage your users to share their UGC

Not only does customer-generated content help you to connect with your customers on a more personal level, but it also helps to build trust. When customers see that other people are sharing their content, they are more likely to trust your brand and buy from you.



When you encourage your customers to share their UGC, you shouldn’t forget about giving credit to the original creator. Oftentimes, people ask for compensation themselves. In addition, it would be a great idea to ask them how they want to be credited. For example, they might not have a profile on Instagram, so they’d rather have a Facebook page tagged in your posts or vice versa.

Host UGC competitions or challenges

Almost every person on earth wouldn’t mind a prize, especially if it is won in a rather hilarious way. That’s why carrying out contests or challenges and asking customers to take part in creating content to win a prize is not a bad idea!

All they will have to do is to follow the rules of the challenges for showcasing content via video or photo, and not to forget about tagging your brand. Holding such competitions increases your brand awareness and demonstrates your brand’s identity as being more trustworthy and valuable for users.



Publish UGC on your website

When you publish UGC on your website, you provide your customers with a voice. This gives them the opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings about your company, which can help to build trust and credibility. 

There are a few ways to go about incorporating UGC onto your website. You can add a submission form for users to send in their content, or you can set up a social media wall where users can post their photos and videos. You can also embed user-generated content directly onto your landing page.



Furthermore, you can create a blog post, add it to your website, or share it on social media. You can also compile user-generated content into a branded ebook or whitepaper. No matter how you publish it, UGC is a great way to strengthen the connection between your brand and audience and increase conversions.

Track the Success

UGC is a great way to connect with customers and get them involved in your brand. But you can’t just create UGC and hope for the best. You need to track it to see if it’s successful. Here are a few ways to track the success of UGC:

• Look at engagement metrics. How many likes, shares, or comments does the content receive?
• Analyse conversions. Does the UGC lead to more customers and purchases?
• Use social media tracking tools to see how much engagement your UGC is getting. 
• Use website analytics tools to see how much traffic is coming from UGC. 
• Use survey tools to ask customers how they discovered your brand and whether or not they found the UGC helpful.
• Use tools like Google Analytics to track how much time users spend on your website after clicking on a UGC link.



Conclusion

Since customers trust user-generated content more than they trust marketers and refer to it more frequently, especially before purchasing items from a website, it is clear that a UGC campaign is definitely worth paying attention to and implementing into your marketing strategy. 



Optimising your website to encourage customer-generated content will help you make sense of the customer market, drive more traffic to the website, and increase sales. If you are able to engage your customers well, you will be able to build a community around your brand.

However, you shouldn’t forget about authenticity, uniqueness, and honesty with your customers, since it can create confusion and you will lose trust if you try to pass paid content off as independent users’ opinions. Just be honest and help users to make unbiased content about your products for you!