UGC: What is it and how do I use it?

By integrating user-generated content into your marketing strategy, you'll reinforce your brand's authenticity, boost sales and seamlessly integrate your brand into the ever-growing creator economy.

What motivates your online purchasing decisions? Is it a compelling product description or brand loyalty? Or is it recommendations from other shoppers? According to the annual Shopper Experience Index study of changing shopper behavior, 55% said they are unlikely to buy a product without user-generated content (UGC), such as reviews, Q&As and customer photos.

What is UGC: user-generated content?

User-generated content, or UGC, is a form of content created by "real people" to promote your brand. This includesratings and reviews, photos, videos that customers, subscribers, ambassadors or even employees of your brand create and share on social networks. Thanks to new generations of smartphones and social networking practices, user-generated content has evolved to include professional-quality images, engaging videos and carefully written content that perfectly support your brand's identity. But while the days of grainy selfies and dull videos are long gone,UGC has retained its essential component: authenticity. Like a word-of-mouth recommendation, UGC is often more influential than an advertisement. According to one study, 84% of consumers are more likely to trust a brand's marketing campaign if it features user-generated content, and 77% are more likely to buy a product they've found via UGC.

User-generated content usually comes from your customers, brand loyalists, but also from your employees. A simple way to turn customers into UGC creators is to make it easy for them to leave reviews or add their own product photos.

Love them or hate them, the Crocs brand knows how to rally brand loyalists, with its very popular #croctok on TikTok.

The benefits of user-generated content

Not only is user-generated content more influential than traditional advertising, it's also free, authentic and engaging. All these advantages are highly profitable for brands.

UGC reinforces authenticity and trust

User-generated content shows how real people use products in real contexts. This creates authenticity for brands, enabling them to promote products without being too "commercial". Authenticity is a buying driver for consumers, especially younger ones. Nearly half of Generation Z cite social networks as their main source of inspiration, even ahead of family and friends. To increase impact, they prefer visual formats, which are very popular with buyers.

UGC increases search engine optimization scores

Search engines place a premium on fresh, relevant content. UGC often contains keywords and phrases that can improve your brand's visibility in search results, indicating that the content is of higher quality and more relevant to the reader, leading to more organic traffic to your site. More traffic means more MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads).

UGC increases engagement

User-generated content is all about connecting with consumers, developing an online community and creating a conversation between customers and a brand. So it's no surprise that your content generates 28% higher engagement when UGC is integrated into your classic publications, both marketing content and digital ads. When bed and bath brand Parachute integrated UGC into its retargeting ads, click-through rates increased by 35%. What accounts for this higher engagement? According to a joint study by Future Workplace and Elite Daily, 60% of millennials say that consumer loyalty to a brand influences their purchasing decisions.

UGC boosts sales

According to the Bazaarvoice network's analysis of over 12,500 brands, a 144% increase in conversion rate and a 162% increase in revenue per visitor was seen when shoppers interacted with UGC. Why is this? UGC provides social proof that consumers are making the right purchase, which mechanically translates into increased sales. In addition, further research has shown that visual UGC is more likely to convert than brand-created content.

UGC provides audience information

Constantly engaging with customers and analyzing the content they post about your brand allows you to better understand your audience. This not only allows you to improve the way you interact with customers, but also to adjust products and services based on their feedback. Brand hashtags often offer a wealth of information about what consumers expect. If you own a cosmetics company, try searching for product names on social networks to see what your target audience is saying. Do they want a more diverse range of shades, or sustainable ingredients? If many people are expressing similar concerns, it's time to act and adjust your product offering.

Example:

Vertbaudet noticed that several customers had left reviews indicating that a maternity dress was too small. In response, the brand re-evaluated the dress and corrected the cut size, which led to a significant increase in the average customer rating.

UGC synchronizes with social commerce

Advertising on social networks is not a new concept, but social commerce is developing at a breathtaking pace. According to the Shopper Experience Index, 69% of shoppers say that social networks have prompted them to buy products, and 52% have already made purchases via social networks. Consumers cite convenience and product photos as the main reasons for adopting social commerce. User-generated content as an authentic, buyer-approved recommendation aligns perfectly with social commerce. Social network users see the UGC on a TikTok or Instagram post, click on it, read the reviews and buy the product. A convenient process that doesn't require them to visit another website to proceed to payment.

How to increase engagement with UGC?

Organize challenges and competitions

Organizing gift challenges or competitions is a classic way ofinvolving your customers directly in your marketing campaigns and generating user-generated content. A good "reward" doesn't have to be an expensive gift or a large sum of money.

Example:

Starbucks, for example, has launched the #WhiteCupContest, encouraging customers to doodle on their cups and upload a photo to social networks with the associated hashtag. The reward? The winning designs were duplicated in limited-edition reusable plastic cups. The competition generated a great buzz on social networks: in three weeks, over 4,000 scribbled cups were shared on Twitter and Instagram.

Example:

Hilton Grand Vacations encourages guests to upload their vacation photos to social media with the hashtag #myHGV for a chance to appear on their Instagram feed. These beautiful images provide authentic inspiration for potential guests looking to book their next hotel vacation.

Developing an authentic and inclusive brand message

Building an emotional bond between your products and your customers is one of the best ways to improve customer engagement and forge lasting relationships with loyal buyers.

Example:

Womenswear brand Aerie has launched the #AerieREAL campaign to promote body positivity and inspire women to feel good about themselves. The brand encouraged users to post photos of themselves in Aerie swimwear. Customer photos were shared with authentic captions. As part of the company's initiative to promote women's real bodies, the campaign aimed to empower women and combat the idealized body type and morphology stereotypes promoted by fashion brands. Aerie leveraged UGC to create an inclusive community of brand advocates on social networks. By spreading the message of body positivity to its customers, the brand's image was also considerably strengthened.

Collaborate with influencers

Influencer marketing is a great way to generate buzz and awareness around your products. Collaborations enable brands to tap into an existing audience and drive purchasing decisions. Collaborations with influencers or micro-influencers are known as IGC.

Example:

Ahead of the release of the Samsung Galaxy A model, Samsung has collaborated with Blackpink to launch the hashtag challenge #danceAwesome. The challenge includes a short dance to the campaign's upbeat music, "Awesome screen" to highlight the smartphone's features. The brand then teamed up with influencers like TikTok influencer @hollyh - who has around 16 million followers - to spread the word about the challenge. These user-generated content videos went viral on social networks, resulting in 4.7 million user videos with a total of 16 billion views.

UGC best practices

Adding UGC to your marketing strategy is an easy decision, given the value it brings, but you need to keep a few rules in mind.

Developing a UGC strategy

With so many different types of UGC available, and with the countless ways your brand can use it, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. However, developing a user-generated content marketing strategy will help you research, organize and publish the most effective UGC for your specific brand.

Provide clear guidelines

Tell your target audience exactly what type of content you're looking for. Only 16% of brands provide clear guidelines on the type of content they want their fans to create and share, but 53% of consumers want specific instructions on how to proceed. Include calls to action on site, on social networks, in e-mails, receipts, packaging, in-store displays... If you really need UGC, cast a wide net.

Ask permission (and give credit)

Just because a customer tags your brand in a publication or uses your hashtag doesn't mean you can reuse it. So, before republishing a user's creation, contact them (whether by e-mail, comment or direct message), indicate that you like the content and ask for permission to use it. Once you've received permission, keep a record of it in case problems or questions arise in the future. Always credit the original source of the content and tag it if possible.

Moderate it

User-generated content is considered quality if it is created by real, unpaid users and conforms to your brand and community guidelines, government regulations and audience expectations. Any poor-quality UGC (blurred images, typos, etc.) or prohibited UGC (nudity, hate speech, etc.) must be filtered, flagged and discarded. Content moderation can make or break your brand. Wanting a high volume of UGC is understandable, but quality is better than quantity.

Share diverse content

Diversity and inclusiveness are essential in marketing. Not only does it help your brand reach more customers, it also makes it more accessible. Social networks are accessible to people from all walks of life, and the diverse visual content found in UGC looks more like native social media content than advertising.

Follow content

Keep an eye on all the UGC around your brand, even the content you don't exploit. UGC is like a continuous feedback loop that you can use to stay on top of what's being said about your brand.

Evaluate content performance

The UGC cycle doesn't end with distribution, it ends with review. Systematically compiling product reviews on your product pages that nobody sees is a waste of time and money. That's why it's essential to evaluate the performance of your UGC campaign and monitor the data.