User-Generated Content – The Future of Marketing

But what exactly is user-generated content, and why should your business be using it? Read on to find out.

According to Forbes, user-generated content is

“Content created by users that reflects their personal experiences and perspectives and is shared on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.”

When used correctly, user-generated content can be a powerful means of connecting with customers and building trust. It can:

• Be highly engaging and entertaining for users.
• Be very cost-effective to produce.
• Connect brands with a large audience of active followers
• Build brand awareness and loyalty.

This blog post will introduce you to the world of user-generated content and explain how it can benefit your business and marketing strategy.

Types of user-generated content

By harnessing the power of user-generated content, you can create engaging and immersive Facebook ads, Instagram ads, and TikTok ads that are sure to capture the attention of your audience. User-generated content can come in many forms, such as:

• A funny story shared by a friend.
• An interesting video uploaded by a user.
• Customers-recorded video reviews of your product or your service.
• Customers-recorded testimonials for your business, product or services reviews using video
• A “Behind the scenes” video featuring a visit to your company or offices.

The biggest brands have already embraced it

The Internet is full of user-generated content shared on social media platforms. But recently, brands have begun to use this online content to build their own marketing strategies. They use this content to create buzz and generate conversations around their products and brands, primarily through hashtag campaigns.

This generates hype and gets conversation around the product or service going. The most successful brands are killing it at their digital marketing game by successfully leveraging user-generated content. User-generated content helps companies connect with their customers, generate brand awareness, increase the value of their brand, and build a sense of Tribe.

Successful user-generated content stories

Airbnb

The authenticity of Airbnb's marketing is well-known, and they've found a sweet spot with user-generated content. They don't post branded content on their main Instagram account. Instead, their Instagram account serves as a gallery of guest photos, showcasing a wide range of unusual lodgings from around the world. Theirs is perhaps the most effective example of brand-building through organic marketing. All that they ask of their customers is tag their photos with #airbnb and share their stories with @airbnb.

The brand also carries out digital campaigns to invite user-generated content.

Pepsi

Pepsi, a multinational company that makes soft drinks, developed a new brand image with the help of user-generated content. Pepsi asked its customers to share photos of them drinking Pepsi rather than Coca-Cola on Instagram and other social media platforms, in addition to a mini-website that was specifically designed for the promotion.

They awarded numerous prizes, one of which was a free supply of Pepsi MAX for an entire year to the participants with the best submissions. The campaign ended up being a huge success, just as everyone anticipated. The website had more than 50,000 individual visitors as well as more than 7,000 submissions. Even more impressive was the fact that the typical visitor spent about six minutes on the website; this demonstrated that customers were highly engaged with the business.

The campaign even spawned contributions such as this from independent content creators.

Netflix

Netflix, however, are the reigning champs of leveraging the power of user-generated content. They unleash a storm of hashtag campaigns on social media platforms whenever any of their popular shows returns with a season.

On Twitter, Instagram, Facebook — Netflix users will flood their timelines and spam their friends’ feeds with Netflix-related content.

Netflix’s Altered Carbon campaign drove 803K engagements, 398.5M impressions, and 150k social media followers — helping the show to become the second most Googled TV-show in 2018, and winning awards for best digital marketing campaign.

How user-generated content benefits brands

When it comes to making an impact with your ads, user-generated content is one of the best tools you have in your arsenal. It generates a high level of engagement and can help you reach a wider audience with better results. In fact, studies have shown that user-generated content can result in a 12% higher click-through rate (CTR) than ads without user-generated content.

Additionally, user-generated content helps you connect with potential customers on a personal level, which can help increase the conversion rate for your ads. So, if you want to get the best results from your Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok ads, make sure to invest in this strategy!

• User-generated content can provide an authentic voice that resonates with your audience and boosts customer trust and confidence in your brand.
• It helps generate leads, drive sales, raise brand awareness and drive referral traffic.
• Businesses that actively collect UGC have been found to have better reviews than those that don’t.
• Customers are the best salespeople. They create user-generated content and share it on their social medias, tell their friends and family about their amazing experience with your product or service. This helps expand their market and help their product and service reach new potential customers.

How you can use user-generated content to build your brand

1. Use hashtags

Creating a unique hashtag that is specific to your brand is an effective way to promote it on social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. In order to achieve the best results possible with social media marketing, you can also make use of tools for managing social media. At the same time, it assists you in discovering posts that were published by your customers on their individual accounts.

2. Get customers to share their stories

A growing number of companies are using their social media platforms to solicit customer stories for their blogs, videos, and other forms of user-generated content. Typically, these are only a few sentences long and posted to the company's social media pages. Doing this will help your brand too. You can feature a series of great customer stories on your social media channels. You can even have your customers could contribute to the company story by sharing their own personal experiences using and loving your products.

3. Hold contests

If you decide to hold a contest on Instagram, that platform has the potential to become a rich source of user-generated content for you. Even if the content doesn't make the cut for your page, there's a chance it could still be useful in some other context. Your competition's rules, including those pertaining to how participants can take part, need to be stated very clearly.

In the comments section of your posts, you should make it as simple as possible for your readers to tag you and follow you. It is a fantastic method for getting your audience more involved with your page if you engage them with user-generated content that is generated as a result of contests.

4. Rope in a few influencers

Your company will reap benefits in two different areas if you collaborate with influencers who are also your customers. Because of the high level of interest that these types of influencers have in what you have to say, you will have a greater amount of influence over them. They are aware of the types of content that will be well received by the audience you are trying to reach.

In this way, you can ensure that the user-generated content hey will be creating in the form of short and punchy vertical videos will be productive. Your influencers will be more interested in providing you with valuable content, which will result in better results for your brand. Your brand and product will receive a boost as a result of the fact that they already have a significant following and are highly respected within their particular field.

5. Snoop on social media conversations

Customer satisfaction is contagious, which means that your products and services will be talked about on social media at any time. Platforms for automating social media interactions can assist you in monitoring these conversations as they unfold in real time. You will then be able to show your appreciation for their kind words and also inquire as to whether or not it will be possible for them to collaborate with you on the production of a UGC.

These tools come equipped with social media analytics, which will make it possible for you to monitor and assess the performance of user-generated content across various social media channels. You can contact these users and work out an arrangement so that they can continue using your service by using the data that you have gathered.

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