It’s 2020, and if your brand isn’t marketing on social media, there isn’t a better time to start. You need to be where your audience is, and you’ll find most of them online on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn, and the new kid on the block — Tik Tok.
More than just being on social media, it’s the content you create that really matters. Look at Instagram users, for example. They aren’t just double-tapping memes and hashtagging breakfast. They’re actively seeking out businesses and brands that they’re interested in. In fact, according to Instagram’s internal data, 90% of personal accounts follow a business.
The Age of Content
Yes, social media is a great place to market your product, but it’s not only meant for marketing. Online users are looking for real value from the brands they follow. For you to really engage with your audience and make yourself memorable, you need to have them engaged. The key? Diversified content. An article by Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business rightly points out that content needs to be relevant to your audience, which means not every post has to be promotional or a blinking ad for your next sale. Rather, people want to know more about your brand, see you interact with your consumers, and build a connection with you. A great way to do this is with user-generated content (UGC).
What Is User-Generated Content?
Word-of-mouth is still one of the most powerful marketing tools out there, and in the digital age, it’s taken on a new avatar: user-generated content. User-generated content refers to posts, blogs, images, and other types of content that are created by product users themselves and not brands. This sort of content makes for a cycle of “social proof.” When users see real people interacting with your brand, your business appears more credible resulting in more followers. With more followers, you increase your engagement as well as how credible you look to new followers — and the cycle continues.
With this in mind, UGC is social strategy gold. According to Hootsuite, three reasons UGC works for your brand include:
- Promoting authenticity: As a brand, you want to make content that truly reflects what you stand for. But does your consumer buy it? According to a 2017 Stackla survey, 92% of marketers feel their content is authentic and resonates with their audience, while a shocking 51% of consumers believe that less than 50% of brands create authentic content. How do you fill in the gap? By using real content from real people to give your brand a credibility boost with consumers.
- Building trust in your brand: By using content from real customers, you can show new, potential customers they can trust your brand. In fact, according to Hootsuite “92% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know, and 70% trust online consumer opinions”.
- Driving purchasing decisions: You might think “Okay, UGC helps my brand image, but does it help my sales?” We’re glad to tell you it does. The Stackla survey found that a whopping 79% of consumers say that UGC positively affects their purchasing decisions.
How to Use UGC for Your Brand
Now that you have the low-down on why you should add UGC to your social media marketing strategy, let’s explore how you can do it.
Drum up Brand Desire
FOMO (The fear of missing out) is a beautiful thing for marketers. Using user-generated content to create a desire for your product works wonders; when a potential customer sees so many real people enjoying your product, they want in. A great example of this is Postmates’ “The Receipt” campaign. Putting a spin on a typical influencer-led campaign, Postmates used a UGC angle to create brand desire. While using celebrities like Kylie Jenner and Post Malone, the brand created a lot of buzz with consumers who wanted to place the same orders. They got excited about ordering the same things.
Create a Community
Using UGC is a great way to create a community with your users. Creating social media property where you encourage users to regularly post something relating to your product and featuring select entries gives users something to look forward to. This fosters a sense of community between you and consumers as well as amongst the users themselves. The platform Instagram does this super well with their #WeekendHashtagProject, where they give Instagrammers a fun prompt or theme every weekend to which they can submit creative entries.
Create a Content Bank
Every social media marketers’ greatest fear is running out of content. It’s not easy coming up with new angles, trendy posts, or aesthetic pictures every day. Collecting and featuring user-generated content means you always have something to share on your feed.
Things to Consider When Using UGC
UGC can mean big things for your brand, but it’s best to keep a few things in mind before you begin:
More Traffic Means More Risk
A successful UGC campaign can mean a spike in traffic for your website or app. While this is amazing for your brand, it is also a signal to hackers. With most consumers using their smartphones to go from your social media to your website or app, it’s possible that compromised mobile security on your end can lead to dire consequences like identity theft and account hacking, and damage to brand reputation. With this in mind, consider investing in mobile application shielding technology that is integrated into your apps technology to protect it against malicious activity. Additionally, be sure to use multi-factor authentication like a fingertip or facial recognition to amp up mobile channel security and help prevent mobile account takeovers.
Ethical Concerns
It is best to use UGC in an ethical manner. Remember when sharing UGC content to always credit the original creator for their picture, copy, or idea. It’s the right thing to do and encourages creators to keep posting for your brand. You should also always ask permission before sharing content. While users may be posting about your brand, they may not want their profiles or content shared for privacy reasons. It’s important to ask their consent and make sure they are comfortable with you using their content.
In an increasingly privacy-conscious digital world, UGC provides your brand with the perfect opportunity to create a two-way relationship with your consumer without being invasive or self-serving. Leveraging content like this gives your brand authenticity and credibility and resonates deeply with your audience.
Image source: https://pixabay.com/photos/technology-smartphone-telephone-3353701/
My name is Luke Smith and I am an experienced writer from the Pacific Northwest. I cover a wide range of topics but I take a particular interest in covering topics related to business, marketing, and productivity.
