User Generated Content is popular with digital marketers of late for many reasons, including –
1. It Boosts Engagement – Audiences are directly interacting with your brand in a two-way conversation.
2. It Provides Low-Cost Content – Audiences are providing you with free social media content to showcase on different handles. Plus, it saves you time that would otherwise be spent with design teams.
3. It Expands Reach – Audiences allow you to enter into their network, which will boost your credibility in new segments.
4. It Builds Credibility – Research indicates UGC has a high impact on the purchasing decisions of 80% of people – in fact, they are 137% more likely to buy a product if they see consumer photos of it!
According to SEMrush, 86% of businesses have tried obtaining user-generated content. However, GoodVid points out only 27% have a strategy in place to obtain such golden content and rest struggle with generating new and engaging content. If all of this catches your fancy, here are 5 tips to help you smoothly obtain user generated content –
1. Audit Your Audience Interests
Pay attention to the profiles of people who are already engaging with your brand on social media platforms. For example, you can click on the profiles of people who are liking your Instagram posts to see which hashtags they use in their own uploads (this will indicate topics they are interested in). This might seem like a tedious task, but it will offer you unparalleled insight into your existing audience base.
2. Audit Your Competition’s UGC
Browse through your competitors’ social media handles to see if they are already obtaining user generated content. If yes, find out what tactics competitors are employing to collect such content. You can also monitor if there are particular seasons, holidays or events that draw more UGC than others to help time your own initiatives.
3. Develop Meaningful Contests
One of the best ways to curate user generated content is by providing a solid incentive for audiences to take time out to put together pieces to share with you. Contests and giveaways are a great method to employ as it motivates users to go that extra mile. Free giveaways, special discounts, reward points – these are all possible prizes.
Here Are Some Contest Ideas –
* Submit your ideas for product names
* Submit your ideas for new brand logos
* Share a photo using a particular product
* Submit a video unboxing a product and/or using or reviewing a product
* Share a photo checking into your venue (suitable for shops/restaurants/spas/etc.)
* Submit a tip or review
* Participate in a poll/survey
* Become a brand rep
* Become the new “face” of a new collection
Pro Tip – Make sure you use a consistent hashtag per each unique campaign to make it easy to track responses. And, remember to promote this contest across your social media handles, at your venue (if you have a brick-and-mortar setup) and in official newsletters/drip email campaigns.
4. Develop An On-Ground Event
On-ground events are a great way to get a substantial number of your audience base into one place at one time. Not only can you obtain high res videos, photos and more at an event, you can also encourage consumers to upload photos live from the event and tag you – photo booths and on-ground contests are great ways to accomplish this.
5. Tap Into Micro-Influencers
Rather than reaching out to huge influencers who will be a bit too costly to work with, consider working with micro-influencers on a joint contest/promotion to draw more user-generated content from an audience pool you might not have had access to otherwise. In essence, you’ll be leveraging the goodwill and audience base of the micro-influencer.
We hope these tips help you acquire ample user-generated content to add a breath of fresh air to your social media feed, benefit from improved engagement and reach and build more trust with audiences.
