User-generated Content: What Is It? And How Can It Grow Your Business?

How User-generated Content Can Enhance Your Marketing Strategy

Most brands looking for an online business growth accelerator will quickly notice how user-generated content is on the top of most lists as one of the best marketing strategies you can apply.

Today, there are dozens of different strategies you can apply to your marketing strategy, but if you want brutal marketing for your brand, one of the best ones you can consider is UGC.

The thing about user-generated content is that it doesn’t truly depend on the brand itself but rather your customers and partners. Considering the nature of UGC, it’s considered organic content, so what makes it special for your brand?

This page will outline everything you need to know about user-generated content and how it can be an excellent marketing strategy for your company today.

Table of Contents

• What Is User-generated Content?
• Who Uses User-generated Content?
• What Makes User-generated Content Special for Your Business?
• Do You Need User-generated Content?
• How Can You Grow Your Business with User-generated Content?
• Increasing Social Proof
• Improving Trustworthiness
• Making the Most Out of Your Company’s Budget
• Growing Your Community
• Boosting Conversions
• Crediting the Creators and Asking for Consent
• Make Sure You Align the UGC with Your Company’s Marketing Goals
• Bottom Line

What Is User-generated Content?

First, let’s go over the basics. User-generated content (or UGC) is any type of content that people create showing your brand and its products. Some of the most common content pieces you can find include:

• Text
• Videos
• Images
• Reviews
• Podcasts

The thing about user-generated content is that it’s not the same as a paid advertisement. Here, customers will showcase your brand or product free of charge.

A vital factor in identifying user-generated content is that the content itself is considered amateur. You won’t find UGC with particular templates or guidelines. Here, the customer will upload what they consider appropriate to showcase your brand.

Who Uses User-generated Content?

Generally speaking, most of the people who engage in user-generated content are social media users. Social media apps are an excellent space for people to recommend products or services, so you’ll likely find most reviews on platforms like Instagram or YouTube.

User-generated content is particularly prominent in the crypto world. People marketing crypto companies, for example, will upload a photo or a tweet showcasing the virtual benefits of a particular coin. Keep in mind that the content can either be positive or negative, depending on the person’s sentiments toward the product or service.

Generally speaking, you will get user-generated content from the following types of users:

• Employees
• Customers
• Brand loyalists/fans

In most cases, customers are the most common source of UGC for your brand, whether you asked them to review your product or they decided to do it themselves. On the other hand, your fans are more likely to provide good reviews about your brand, especially if you ask them to review your products.

Regarding employees, having these people showcase their experience with your product or company, in general, may be an excellent way to establish your brand identity.

What Makes User-generated Content Special for Your Business?

User-generated content is one of the most effective ways to boost your engagement and conversion rates. Whether you go for social media, emails, or landing pages for your UGC, your business should pay attention to what people are saying about it online.

Another vital thing about user-generated content is that it typically goes toward a positive sentiment. In the case of Instagram, for example, the review will likely get accompanied by a picture of the product. Not many people will upload a picture of something they don’t like to their feeds, which is something important to consider.

Do You Need User-generated Content?

Every brand needs user-generated content if it wants to increase its brand awareness, boost engagement, and increase its conversion rates. The more people you have talking about your product, the better, especially if it’s mostly positive reviews.

How Can You Grow Your Business with User-generated Content?

We want to help you understand the benefits of user-generated content, so below is a list of all the benefits you can get from getting UGC into your brutal marketing strategy.

Increasing Social Proof

Regarding marketing, social proof is a term that refers to people who copy other people’s actions to emulate particular behaviors. In other words, if someone is looking for a product online, they will likely want to read what other people are saying about that particular product.

This is why most customers go for products with several positive reviews instead of products with no reviews at all. Getting user-generated content for your brand will get people to see organic content from other consumers, which will increase your credibility as a company and its social proof.

Improving Trustworthiness

Following up, we have your company’s trust. Unfortunately, not everyone trusts branded content, especially social media users since they believe this content is biased. On the other hand, UGC will make your potential customers trust your company more.

According to a study, more than 72% of customers are more influenced by Instagram pictures than other branded content. Generally speaking, UGC feels more natural and human, which is why the average user will trust it more.

Making the Most Out of Your Company’s Budget

Not everyone has a considerably high budget to spend on marketing strategies. Many brands go for influencer marketing since it’s a popular way of getting your brand or products recognized.

Unfortunately, influencer marketing is expensive, and even if you have the money to afford that, remember that not many users trust branded content. The solution to this is UGC.

Asking your customers to share posts if they enjoyed your product will likely cost you nothing. If the customer is happy, they will be more than willing to share their experience on their social media profiles.

Growing Your Community

One of the best things about user-generated content is that it allows your customers to participate in your brand’s story and growth. A lot of people enjoy feeling that they’re part of something, and sharing their experience with a product may help them feel heard.

Allowing your customers to share their experiences, and sharing these experiences in your company will build a strong and engaged community. Moreover, it will make your relationship with your customers much stronger.

Boosting Conversions

As mentioned before, user-generated content can considerably influence a person’s purchasing decisions. In fact, UGC is considered to be one of the most influential factors in a buyer’s final stages of the purchase.

To put it simply, if your potential customer sees someone just like them consuming your product, they will be more likely to purchase it. The fun thing about UGC is that you get to be as creative as possible to share your brand.

Some brands don’t necessarily use humans for UGC; many brands also show pets wearing beautiful products, and as many people know, pets are among the most favorite things on social media.

Crediting the Creators and Asking for Consent

There’s a vital factor in UGC, and that is credits and permissions. While it’s great if someone makes a post using your product or service, that doesn’t mean that you’re free to share it without permission.

Even if you’re allowed to share these pieces of content, many people don’t like when brands take their content without permission and post it on their accounts. On the other hand, when you ask the original creator for permission to post their content, it shows that your company appreciates the content, making the creator more likely to keep sharing in the future.

Now, when you re-post someone else’s content, you must ensure that you give clear credit to the creator, whether it’s tagging their profile on your post or linking to the creator’s website. This helps other people notice when the content you post was made by your brand or by someone else.

Make Sure You Align the UGC with Your Company’s Marketing Goals

While user-generated content is an excellent way to boost your marketing strategy, you cannot rely on any piece of UGC. Your business must be clear on what kind of content it’s looking to share.

It may not seem like it, but many consumers like it when brands tell them how they would like to get promoted. While you shouldn’t set guidelines that are too strict, feel free to talk to your consumers about how you would like them to share their experiences.

When you start drafting your next marketing strategy, create a statement specifying the type of content you’re looking for. Then, feel free to share it with consumers. Keep in mind that you can have different goals as a company, whether it is boosting conversions or increasing brand awareness.

Once you determine what your goals are, identifying the content you want people to share will be much easier.

Bottom Line

As you can see, user-generated content is an excellent way to grow your business, as long as you plan a decent strategy for it. Remember that the key to getting this organic content from your customers is to deliver the best service possible so that they are more likely to share their experience.