Why User-Generated Content Should Be Part Of Your Social Media Strategy

Did you just find a new yogurt shop that you have to share with your followers? Or did a new dress just make your day? If you shared that content on your social media feed, congratulations, you just generated content that marketers drool over. 

Boiled down to its essence, User Generated Content (UGC) is a vote of confidence from your fans for your brand. This can take the form of a picture complete with hashtags that they share all over their social media to reviews and blog posts that promote your offerings without prompt. Its brand-specific content that can help tap into hidden markets and expand your business faster than you can imagine.

What User-Generated Content Can Do For Your Business 

Whether you own a small business or an established one, UGC can help you expand your offerings in several ways. Here are some benefits you can get with a strong strategy:

Stretch Your Budget - Supplement Branded Content 

If your marketing budget is stretched thin, you need to get creative if you want to keep your brand top of mind. Visual content can make a lasting impact, but not as much if generated by an in-house marketing team dependent on a small budget. 

This is where UGC can prove to be invaluable. For one thing, it’s free since you can source images directly from your fans via their social media feeds. With millions of people sharing pictures and videos, your marketing team has access to resources on an unprecedented scale. In addition, most people provide access to their content for free, provided the process for doing so is clear-cut and fair. 

Take Coca-Cola’s Share a Coke UGC campaign, for instance. The project involved fans sharing a coke with their names with friends, family, and even strangers across the globe. With a clear call to action (#ShareACoke) driving engagement, the idea paid off big time. Not only did the brand make a killing-off sales, but it also increased its social media traffic. 

Use UGC alongside branded or commissioned content, and you can hit two birds with one stone – remain within a fixed budget and increase brand engagement. 

Cut Through the Noise 

Your brand isn’t the only one vying for specific customers. So many like yours are bombarding them daily with ads and content they click ‘Skip’ on more often than not. The good news is that you can cut through all of that noise and re-engage that audience with a strong UGC strategy without making their space out.

User-generated content is organic rather than salesy. Unlike traditional ads, these are generated by people from your target audience. Since UGC is far from promotional, it engages audiences on a personal level and on a larger scale. Think about it. Would you rather get pancakes advertised on a banner or praised in a Tweet by a genuine customer? 

That’s not to say that you cannot pair UGC with traditional advertising strategies. On the contrary, if done well, these two can place your marketing strategy on autopilot. For example, user-generated pictures in ads are known to increase click-through rates by at least 50%. 

Top Tips on Improving Your UGC Strategy 

A UGC strategy can only bear fruit if it is used properly. Here are some ways you can give yours a boost and get organic traffic:

Determine Your Platform First 

There are several major social media platforms you can use. But you don’t have to stick with just one. The key to a sound UGC strategy is targeting audiences that gel with your brand. For example, Facebook users are different from those who spend most of their time on Instagram. By spreading your brand message across platforms, you can cast a wider net and increase engagement on a larger scale.

Here is a simple breakdown of each social media platform and how you can capitalize your UGC strategy using it:

• Facebook – Curated content and videos.
• Twitter – Latest brand updates GIFs and blog post links.
• Instagram – High-res pictures, stories, quotes, and small videos.
• Pinterest – Step-by-step tutorials, infographics, and guides. 

If on the other hand, your go-to platform is LinkedIn, UGC content may not work well. Instead, I recommend posting professional interviews with thought leaders. Find out who is talking about your brand by looking for your hashtags and approaching them for organic content. 

However, if no one is talking about your brand, try searching for relevant conversations and industry-relevant hashtags and add your insight. Once people start talking about you, you can get sufficient user-generated content to make your strategy work. Even a simple poll or survey can add value to your business. 

Ask for Ideas

A simple request is all it takes to get content for your UGC plan. Sure, you can spend hours scouring social media channels for content, but by encouraging customers to send you content, you can reduce that time significantly, besides preventing usage rights violations.

It’s true. While UGC may seem like it’s up for grabs, that is far from the case. When you ask for user-generated content, you give users a choice. Most will give it freely if they are asked just to see their names associated with a brand. In fact, they are also the ones who will cry foul if you use their content without their permission. Go figure. 

For example, take inspiration from Starbucks’s red cup UGC campaign and announce a contest with an enticing reward at the end in exchange for compelling content. Make sure there is no purchase required to get maximum engagement.

In Conclusion 

We can say without a doubt that with the absence of a UGC campaign, your brand will remain flavourless. User-generated content can be the bacon to your eggs (read: existing marketing efforts) and the peanut butter to your jelly (read: sales strategy), provided you use it right. If your strategy is to increase sales figures only, it will fail. 

A successful UGC campaign can help you develop brand awareness, trust with target audiences and connection between your brand with clients on a personal level. A personalized experience can do more to attract a loyal following than any traditional media can. Ready to start displaying authentic user-generated content across your social channels and get real results? Hootsuite can help you manage your campaigns with our advanced Streams, Analytics, Insights, and integrations.