UGC Marketing Guide
User-Generated Content Marketing Guide For Marketers — 2021 Edition
User-generated content is everywhere. From social media accounts of micro-influencers to high-profile celebs to common people; there is not a single place where the power of UGC marketing is not felt.
Why is that case, one may ask! Well, for starters user-generated content is leading the game because of its authentic factor. The raw, genuine and honest elements of customer experience with the brand make user generated content the ultimate marketing tool.
Business studies have revealed that in the coming years there will be a dip in organic reach and with that digital ad costs soar high. As achieving brand visibility gets costlier and ineffective with each passing day, brands are going to find their salvation in smart usage of content created by their consumers only.
How?
Let’s understand more-
In regard to achieving higher organic reach, brands can use user-generated content to promote customer advocacy. By depending on consumers and their social media following, brands can go a long way in terms of brand exposure and visibility.
As far as advertising costs are considered, businesses can instead use pics and videos from their own consumers in marketing campaigns. The content creation cost is saved when businesses employ UGC marketing to promote their products and services.
Here’s how businesses are using user-generated content marketing to build brand trust among their target audiences-
#1 By Selecting the Right Social Media Channels
Knowing where the majority of the brand audience spends their social media time is important. The chosen social media channel should have a target audience along with the content compatibility. Not all forms of UGC work on all social media platforms.
While selecting the apt social media channel for a marketing campaign is a child’s task, figuring out the kind of UGC to share on the same is a bit challenging. Here’s how to go about different channels-
Facebook: great for posting video content as they are more likely to get higher engagements here. Facebook ads can be made more authentic by placing user-generated content on it.
Twitter: with 280 character count, let the images do all the talking here with a catchy caption. Humor and witty lines work well on Twitter.
Instagram: Stories, pictures, and IGTV- there is so much brands can do on Instagram. Except for boring textual content, pretty much everything reaps profits on Instagram.
#2 By Outlining User Generated Marketing Goals
Using User-generated content comes under the content strategy part. With a focus on word strategy, having pre-defined marketing goals works well with UGC. Businesses generally incorporate user-generated content in their campaigns without any idea about the end-goals.
Here are the few tips brands can follow-
- Higher Brand Engagement: Likes are equally important as comments when it comes to user-generated content. By merely posting content and not encouraging users to participate is not going to drive results.
- Boost Conversion Rates: The basic reason behind using user generated content marketing in the first place is to increase sales and conversions. Therefore, do not forget to showcase consumer reviews in social media posts from time to time.
- Educate Your Target Audience: Listening to users’ concerns and addressing them on social media is important for a successful UGC campaign.
#3 Encourage Audience Participation
To know what kind of content aligns with your brand objectives is of paramount importance. As user-generated content is created by consumers it is wise to create specific marketing campaigns that would not only ensure audience engagement and participation but also leave you with desired content for future brand promotions. Do not forget the hashtags that should be used with shared content. Social media contests are a popular way to get consumer content along with hashtag campaigns that allow the audience to spread the campaign message with their followers.
#4 Focus on Building Brand Community
User-generated content sparks conversation and brands can take a step ahead and use these conversations to strengthen their bond with consumers. A brand when using UGC marketing should not only focus on creating new relationships but also know how to nurture the old ones. Because brand advocacy relies on a two-way connection and takes time and effort to really reap results. Brand credibility can only come with giving recognition to existing users and humanizing the interactions. With that, it is necessary to note that just because UGC is about your brand doesn’t mean you can use it without taking consent from the user. Incorporating healthy right’s management policies will ensure that a brand is not interested in profits only, it really cares about its consumers.
#5 Keep A Track of UGC Campaign Analytics
No marketing campaign can successfully thrive without measuring its performance among the target audience and UGC campaigns are no different. Monitoring and effective analysis of user-generated content campaigns give insight into how well the audience is engaging with the brand. There are various social listening tools in the market that lets the brand collect social data and help in creating fruitful marketing campaigns.
Taggbox- A Comprehensive Solution
We understand that the above-mentioned tips can seem a lot to even the most talented of marketers. Fret not! There is a single solution that would take care of all the marketing shortcomings around UGC campaigns.
Taggbox, a smart social media aggregator and UGC platform not only helps in the right curation of the UGC but also helps in moderating it according to the campaign needs. It helps in getting the rights management from consumers to brands so that they could repurpose the content without any legalities. With that, it also provides analytics on UGC campaign performances and lets the brands know about what the consumers are looking for.
Conclusion
UGC is the next big thing in the marketing world. With businesses getting to know more about it, it is important to keep certain tips and strategies to harness the potential of user-generated content in marketing. By using a smart UGC tool the planning and running of UGC marketing campaign becomes a lot easier and let the brands focus on other crucial components of content marketing.
