A customer who likes you is your best marketer. Many consumers trust recommendations from friends and acquaintances, as well as random Internet users. User-generated content (UGC) allows you to use trust to your advantage.
UGC: What does it mean?
UGC stands for User-Generated Content, i.e. content created by users. These are publications that are not made by hired copywriters, but by your clients, readers, viewers.
For example, a customer shares photos on social media showing their positive impression of a product or writes a detailed review on your website or a review site. This is user-generated content, or UGC — live, authentic stories that inspire trust and resonance among potential buyers.
Customer experience expressed in videos, reviews and photos looks more convincing than advertising slogans. Positive reviews and recommendations from other people work to increase the authority of the brand and motivate other users to buy.
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Why UGC is used by marketers
What is UGC as a marketing material? The living voice of your audience, which can become a tool in marketing campaigns. Here’s how user-generated content can work for you:
- Increase visibility: UGC allows you to share your posts across multiple platforms, bringing attention to your brand.
- Drive sales: Real customer stories and testimonials influence future buyers’ purchasing decisions.
- Build a community: User-generated content helps engage your audience in a dialogue and create a sense of belonging to your brand.
- Optimize your ads: By analyzing UGC, you can understand what your customers care about and like so you can create more relevant ad creatives.
- Reduce your promotion costs: UGC is a free source of content that you can use for your marketing purposes.
- Increase trust: Customer testimonials and stories about your product are much more persuasive than any advertising.
- Increase traffic and improve rankings: Potential customers often “search” for products and services through a search engine by adding the word “reviews” to the product and brand names.
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Who creates UGC
Anyone who interacts with your brand can create user-generated content, such as:
- Your customers: photos on social networks with your product, video reviews of your service, posts about how you improved their lives.
- Employees: videos about how your company works, photos from corporate events, publications about your work.
- Partners: feedback on cooperation, blog posts about your brand.
- Fans: Fan art, creative works, posts about love for your brand.
Types and formats of user content
This concept includes publications of different formats – the main thing is that it reflects the experience of interaction with your brand.
UGC content in text form: what is it and what does it include
Often, content is in simple text form, and below we list the types of text publications that can reflect user experience:
- Reviews on websites: positive reviews about a product or service.
- Comments on social networks: answers to questions, reviews of a specific product, communication with other users.
- Blog posts: Bloggers and fans of your brand can write about their experiences with the product, share their opinions and recommendations.
- Thank you letters: Personal letters from satisfied customers expressing gratitude for good service or quality of product.
Images and videos
It’s visual proof: people interact with your brand, use your products, and are happy. Real photos and videos taken by real people are more trustworthy than “perfect” advertising images.
Visual UGC content comes in different formats, here are some examples:
- Social media photos: Users share photos of your products in beautiful locations or in realistic and convincing home settings.
- Video testimonials: customers share their experience of using your product, show it in action, talk about their impressions.
- Stories and video stories using your products: people share moments in their lives where your products play an important role for them, whether it’s beautiful makeup or comfortable clothes.
- Screenshots and screencasts: Users show how easy and convenient it is to use a program or application, demonstrating the interface and functionality.
- Video tutorials: People share their knowledge on how to properly use your product or service by showing step-by-step instructions.
- Tutorials: Clients create videos with tutorials on makeup, hair, cooking using your products.
- Lifehacks: Customers share their tips and tricks for using your products, showing them in unusual situations.
- Reviews and comparisons: bloggers with a certain audience compare your product with those of competitors.
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How to get UGC
To get genuine user-generated online content, you need to ignite a desire in your customers to participate in its creation. Offer rewards: discounts on future purchases for those who share their experience or just a positive review, as well as exclusive offers for active users.
Unite people who like your brand in a separate space on social networks. Let them communicate with each other, share experiences, get inspired and motivate each other to create UGC. Reply to comments, like, share posts with UGC. Show your customers that you care about their opinions. Share stories about how your brand helps people, solves their problems, makes their lives better. Perhaps this will encourage other users to show creativity and share their own stories.
On your website or social networks, create a separate page or section where you will publish the best works of your users.
The generation of such materials can be supported by offline activities. Create a bright, stylish branded photo zone. It encourages passers-by or event visitors to take a photo and share their impressions on social networks. Unusual decorations, bright props, the opportunity to try something new encourage people to create publications and share them with others. Use motivating captions, for example: “Take a photo and share with the hashtag #brandname” or “Tag us in your story”.
Who works with UGC
The following may participate in the collection and processing of materials:
- Marketers: They set the goals of UGC campaigns, determine which platform(s) and tools will be used, and develop incentive mechanisms for users.
- SMM specialists: are responsible for interacting with the audience on social networks, provoke discussions, answer questions and comments.
- Content managers, editors: select, edit and publish user content on the company’s own platforms, monitor the quality of publications and compliance with brand values, and are involved in the visual presentation of material.
- PR specialists: distribute user-generated content in the media, track brand mentions, build connections with influencers.
- Account managers: encourage customers to leave feedback, participate in resolving problems and conflicts, and make interactions with the brand more personal.
Why You Can’t Create UGC Yourself
Marketers who are used to managing everything and everyone can be tempted to “help” clients with content generation. Consequently, they create “user-generated” content themselves or generate it with the help of third-party copywriters. Why are fake reviews an undesirable technique?
Client materials are filled with sincere emotions that cannot be faked. Potential clients will easily notice the falsity in fake reviews, and this will cause mistrust of your brand. In addition, marketers, with all their knowledge of the target audience, are not always able to understand the real values and motives of the client. If the company suggests creating UGC content independently, it must be said that this is incorrect and ineffective in the long term.
Meanwhile, the author of a real review, sharing his real experience, can start a whole wave. Such a client can mention your brand on his social networks, arousing the interest of his subscribers. Do not forget, word of mouth is the most effective form of advertising. A real review can become a starting point for recommendations that will bring new clients to you. And in the comments to the review, the author can share details of his experience, answering questions and dispelling doubts of potential clients.
Progressive marketers understand that user-generated, live content is not a field for manipulation, but a tool for building trust.
How to evaluate a UGC strategy
All marketing activities should ideally be analyzed in terms of effectiveness, and user-generated content is no exception. Let’s list what is important to analyze.
Brand mention frequency
Allows you to assess the popularity of the brand and the level of interest in it. You can track it using special mention monitoring services, for example, Google Alerts. It is important to track not only the quantity, but also the context of mentions (positive, negative, neutral).
Comments under the post
Their monitoring allows you to evaluate the response to publications and the level of interest in it. You can analyze, for example, using VKontakte’s internal analytics. It is important to monitor the ratio of positive, negative and neutral publications, answer questions and comments from customers.
Brand Reviews
They are accumulated on special review sites, as well as in geoservices, for example, in Yandex.Maps. Their analysis allows us to assess the general opinion about the company.
Post reach
This is a metric that allows you to evaluate the results of distributing materials, their impact on the viewing audience. You can monitor the number of views, likes, comments and reposts, analyze the characteristics of the audience (gender, age, interests).
Number of reposts
The metric allows you to assess the degree of audience interest in such publications and their potential for viral distribution . You can monitor the number of reposts, analyze audience characteristics (gender, age, interests), and evaluate the impact of reposts on reach and conversions.
UGC: What is it in Marketing – Key Points
User-generated content is authentic, unfiltered content on the web about a brand and its products. User-generated content in internet marketing is not created by a company’s marketers, but by ordinary users.
Using user-generated content increases brand trust and encourages sales growth. Real reviews and publications work like word of mouth. In addition, for marketers, UGC is a source of free promotional materials that can be published on the site, reposted and shared on social networks, and made viral.
These include many types of content, from reviews and comments to video reviews, blog posts, social media posts, and publications on forums and online platforms.
To encourage users to create them, companies can use various tools: hold contests with valuable prizes, launch hashtags and challenges, create special loyalty programs and offer discounts for participating in content creation. The main thing is to value the customer’s opinion and show it