The fact that you can utilize user-generated content (UGC) in marketing in endless ways makes it one of the most potent weapons in the hands of an intelligent marketer.
What’s more, as a small business, you don’t have to spend a share of your digital marketing budget or manpower to create this organic and highly engaging content.
According to the “State of Social and User-Generated Content” report by TINT, authentic UGC is the most trustworthy content that marketers can use at different stages of a marketing funnel to boost sales and brand reputation.
That’s because 80% of consumers consider ratings and reviews, and UGC in general, before making a buying decision.
Sadly though, the same report also states that a whopping 93% of marketers are not fully optimizing user-generated content in marketing.
Are you guilty of the same? Are you looking for result-driven techniques to utilize UGC to create an impressive online presence for your small business? Take note of these six practical tips to create a strong UGC marketing strategy for your brand.
UGC is all over the Web. It is in the form of images, reels, videos, reviews, ratings, forum comments, podcasts and whatnot. It is generated by customers, clients, influencers, employees and UGC creators.
Here are the top expert-recommended techniques to use user-generated content in marketing to generate leads and grow your brand.
1. Power Up Your Website
If you are looking for an innovative way to use user-generated content in marketing, your website is the best place to get started.
This vibrant and diverse content can breathe new life into your website, attracting more organic and high-quality leads. User-generated content can be integrated into the website by creating an exclusive gallery where users can directly post their videos and photos.
It’s also a great way to populate your website with content if you’re just starting out. Use a mix of UGC and AI-powered content writing tools to build content for your website. Here’s a list of the best AI writing tools by Attrock to help you choose the right options for your business.
LEGO went a step further and created a special page – LEGO Ideas. Here fans of all ages can submit their entries and vote for ideas shared by others too. This page not only helps the brand collect innovative ideas but also creates an active community of buyers.
When you use user-generated content in marketing this way, it reduces the bounce rate and boosts your website’s dwell time.
What’s more, when your potential customers see products in action, they’re more likely to want to try them. That’s why using user-generated content in marketing is more beneficial than paid ads.
2. Build Authenticity
You too would agree that before you buy a product or service from a brand, you want to look at the reviews. It could be in the form of a Google review widget or customer reviews and ratings on the website.
This user-generated content in marketing can give a huge boost to your authenticity as customers are more likely to trust reviews by real people than branded content. Reviews increase product dependability, website traffic and even your conversion rates.
Let’s say you offer a SaaS product like live chat software. You can leverage the benefits of UGC by showcasing your ratings from top reviews sites on your website to boost authenticity and credibility.
3. Level Up Your Email Marketing Content
User-generated content can be used in multiple ways to boost the impact of your email marketing campaigns. Let’s say, a top blogger has written a post on the types of CRM tools as mentioned in the SmallBusiness HQ curated list. You can either add its screenshot or share the post link with your email subscribers to build trust and nudge them to try your tool.
You can thus use user-generated content in marketing to provide a sense of credibility, reliability and trustworthiness to your leads.
4. Enhance Brand Awareness
Do you know that 78% of the world’s eligible population uses social media?
Irrespective of your industry, you will find a huge target audience on social media and if you want to introduce your brand and products to them, using user-generated content in marketing is a great choice.
5. Boost Engagement on Social Media
Social media is a treasure trove of UGC. And it’s no surprise that using user-generated content in marketing is an immensely effective technique to drive engagement on social media. You can repurpose user-generated images and videos to create fresh, exciting and engaging social media content.
You can use user-generated content in marketing to create polls, contests, contactless marketing and even shoppable posts. These will not only enhance your social media engagement but also boost your sales.
6. Provide an Exclusive Perspective
User-generated content is not only created by users or customers. You can encourage your employees to get involved and create some exciting and organic content for your brand.
As part of your employee advocacy program, you can ask them to create behind-the-scenes videos, images, reels and shorts, which they can share on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and other platforms. Employees can also go to LinkedIn and other sites and post positive reviews about their experience in your company.
This UGC can provide an exclusive perspective of your brand, work culture and products to your customers and clients. Such content can be promoted on different platforms to build a strong brand reputation, both offline and online.
Users today put their trust in what real customers have to say about a product or service more than branded messages. When you incorporate user-generated content in marketing techniques, you can create the best brand impression.
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