Top 6 Reasons Why User Generated Content Matters?

Any content created, published, and submitted by users of a brand is called User-generated content (UGC). The contributors to this subject are unpaid enthusiasts who promote a brand and not the brand promoting itself.

There is no specified type of UGC, and typically it can range from images, clips, social media posts, online reviews, or happy customer testimonials.

A survey concluded that 86% of millennials believe UGC to be a good indicator of the quality of a brand and that 68% of social media users ranging between 18 and 24 consider the information shared online before making a purchase decision.

Also Read – What Is The Importance of User Generated Content in Marketing?

The Significance of UGC for Brands –

Here are top 6 reasons why user generated content matters and why you should not ignore UGC if you wish to capture audiences and amass a loyal customer base.

1. Prioritization of the Customer –

Customer-orientated industries are witnessing exponential growth because it has become a priority to keep up with the evolving trends of customers.

With such overwhelming competition from other brands, attention-spans can be snatched away if brands do not cater solely to their audiences.

2. Humanization of Brands –

The pushy sales tactics employed by brands that had once risen to unprecedented heights are no longer impressive enough, let alone driving conversion rate and acquire more customers.

People of the modern era fancy narratives, sentimental connections, and interaction with other humans, with actual people and not just advertisements or marketing campaigns.

Statistics conclude that about 92% of people will more likely consider a recommendation from a fellow individual over branded content because the line of trust between people and marketers has stretched.

3. Greater Legitimacy –

In a study conducted by Cohn & Wolfe, 63% of customers claimed that they would purchase from a brand they consider trustworthy over a competitor.

With the advent of social media, customers no longer are passive consumers driven by TV commercials and billboards. 

Bruno Estrella, growth manager at Webflow, considers UGC to be a key lever for growth mostly because of the trusting factor around seeing content from other people and not businesses. 

4. The Feeling of Belongingness –

Unlike brands operating against each other in every situation, UGC brings audiences together in one big happy family. People enjoy the feeling of belongingness. The following factors are essential in developing the impression of a community –

• Membership
• Integration and gratification of needs
• Influence
• Shared emotional connection

Influence as-well-as shared emotional connection holds the utmost value when it comes to rendering a sense of belongingness.

Influence must work both ways; members must feel like they influence the community. Shared emotional connection is pivotal because healthy communities associate themselves with a story that holds them together.

5. Cost-Effectiveness –

Users who are responsible for UGC are mostly unpaid and do it for several reasons, which could be wanting to share their experience, establishing a connection with a like-minded crowd, informing others of the brand and its unique products, and many others.

This promotional content is substantially economical than investing millions into prime-time TV commercials and Times Square billboards. Users run the show in the case of UGC, while marketers do not have to dent their budget on campaigns that might fail if not executed wisely.

6. Decent ROI Rate –

As per ComScore, brand engagements increase by 28% when consumers experience a blend of professional marketing content as-well-as user-generated content.

One such instance was the Starbucks’ White Cup Contest, where customers got encouraged to doodle on their white Starbucks cups and upload those images as entries for a competition to decide on a template for a limited edition Starbucks cup.

This contest led to 4,000 customers submitting their entries in just three weeks, implying that customers were ready and willing to interact with the brand.

Tips To Motivate Customers To Create UGC –

After considering the reasons why UGC holds preeminent importance, here are some tips that you can implement to motivate your customers to indulge in UGC –

1. Motivate consumers to create UGC during certain checkpoints of the buying process.
2. Create sharable content such as delightful experiences, physical spaces, and unboxing events.
3. Offer incentives in exchange for UGC.

Understand the above points in detail as follows –

1. Motivate Customers To Create UGC During Checkpoints –

Every company wants customers to promote and review your products as they use them. The key is to ensure that you help your customers create UGC.

Over 50% of the consumers want brands to educate them about the type of content to create and share. Here are some alluring parts of the buying process where you can have a call to action for your customers to create UGC –

1. Promptly after purchase.
2. After receiving their product/service.
3. After obtaining results from their product/service.

Provide them with an easy tweet to share or an Instagram story to upload after making a purchase, asking them to share their unboxing, and urging them after a few days or weeks of receiving their product to share their feedback on social media.

2. Create Sharable Content –

While users might want to give a shout-out to your brand, they often would be left baffled if they will not have something sharable to upload. Thus, you must create sharable content that includes captivating experiences, great aesthetics, and unboxing events.

People would be eager to share content that looks flashy and enticing, as this would have more people viewing their shared content online. This way, both your brand and the users will gain followers and recognition online.

3. Offer Incentives in Exchange For UGC –

Every time you run UGC contests, you will be in full swing to ask your customers to share their content specifically, hoping to be the winner of your grand contest.

There is no need to run campaigns on a colossal scale frequently, but only a few times a year to drive brand awareness through the UGC created by participants of the campaign. Running prize campaigns simultaneously alongside your ongoing UGC strategy can significantly increase the number of people creating UGC.

Conclusion –

With the advent of the internet and social connectivity, users have become more aware and need something more than just marketing tactics to convince them to promote your brand. Thus, it is imperative to implement strategies to create UGC.

With UGC, people are more likely to put their faith in your brand because of the human touch rendered by it. Not only is UGC effective to amass more customers, but is economical and yields significantly high ROI.

Also Read – Why Next Generation Is Considering Writing As A Full Time Career?