This guide outlines the rationale and strategies to make UGC marketing work for your business.
If you’re a brand navigating the digital space and you’ve heard the buzz around UGC but aren’t quite sure what it is or how it can help you thrive online, you’re at the right place. We know all about it, and with the support of an expert TikTok agency from London, we’re ready to spill the beans.
User-generated content, or UGC, is any content (photos, videos, reviews, testimonials, etc.) created by your audience and not from your brand. It’s organic, authentic material from real customers and fans. Essentially, the role of UGC is to offer a genuine view of how your products fit into the lives of your customers.
If you want to establish a strong brand presence online, then UGC is the way to build the modern consumer’s trust and cut through the noise online. How to do it? Read on.
The value of UGC marketing
UGC is the building block of trust. Your audience is tired of overly polished marketing. They want to see real social proof in action. That’s where UGC marketing steps in.
It adds a human touch to your brand through real customer voices and breaks down the barrier between you and your customers. You’re not telling your audience why they should love you. You show it through people who already do.
Beyond trust, there are also actual cost savings that come with UGC. You don’t need to pay for an expensive photoshoot or content production. You get a steady stream of real-life visuals and reviews you can repurpose all across your platforms. So, if you’re a small or mid-sized business, UGC can be extremely valuable for your limited budget.
And finally, from an SEO standpoint, user-generated content can improve your visibility online, as reviews and comments often contain natural keywords that will help you boost your rankings.
What Are the Best Types of UGC Marketing for Your Brand?
What’s a good UGC? One that aligns with your brand identity and resonates with your audience. Social media posts are a popular choice and extremely effective if your business operates with lifestyle, fashion, food, and travel products and services.
Another type is the reviews and testimonials. There is nothing better than candid feedback and honest experiences to help customers feel more confident in their decision to buy. If you operate as an eCommerce, reviews can also impact your conversions and reduce return rates.
However, if you’re a brand in the tech, beauty or luxury industry, it might be better to consider unboxing videos and content that captures the experience of your products. Such UGC marketing creates engagement and builds excitement around your brand.
For B2B brands, user-generated blog posts or how-to guides offer a more in-depth, educational perspective on your product or service. In this way, potential customers gain the insights they need to make informed purchasing decisions.
Finally, contests and hashtag campaigns are a fun way to encourage wide participation from your audience. Invite customers to create content around a specific theme, and you’ll generate a lot of content quickly, amplifying brand reach and engagement in the process.
How to Encourage Your Audience to Create UGC
Now that you’re seeing the benefits UGC marketing can have on your brand, you’re probably burning to try it out. But gaining UGC depends on your customers. How do you go about encouraging them to participate?
One of the most popular ways is to launch a branded hashtag campaign. With only one memorably simple hashtag, you can track submissions and build a sense of community quickly.
You can also run competitions and giveaways. Of course, you need to offer a prize in exchange for the user-generated content. If the incentive is good enough, you’ll be able to generate high engagement and broaden your reach organically.
Content creation can also happen at key customer touchpoints, more specifically, post-purchase. A simple follow-up email requesting a review or inviting customers to share their experience on social media can go a long way.
Whatever you choose to do, remember to actively engage with and reshare the content you receive. Replying to or leaving your customers a thank-you comment can strengthen your loyalty and motivate others to join in the fun.
Integrating UGC Into Your Marketing Channels
You managed to hype your audience and now have piles of content. What to do?Firstly, you need to manage the content you’ve received. You can use tools like Flowbox, Yotpo, and Bazaarvoice to collect, curate, and display content across your digital channels.
However, before using anything your customer created, do ask their permission to use it, and remember to review it! UGC marketing has to fit with your brand tone and visual identity. Not everything your audience creates will reflect your values as a brand.
Once you’re happy with what you’ve gathered, weave it into all your key marketing touchpoints. Your website should be first, of course, with your homepage, product page, and blog taking centre stage.
Email marketing is another important touchpoint. There, UGC acts as a powerful specific proof, so don’t be shy. Add reviews, tagged images and quotes to your newsletters and see how conversions boost.
You can even integrate UGC marketing in paid ads. Yes, authentic visuals can outperform polished creatives. With UGC, ads become more memorable, and you’ll discover that connection often beats perfection.
Finally, UGC can become part of your regular social media content. Repost tagged content, highlight your community and use Stories features like polls and questions to deepen interaction.
Ah! There’s one more way to integrate UGC into your marketing channels: offline. Just add it to packaging, printed materials and in-store displays. After all, life still does happen outside of the digital world.
Final words
Now that you’ve armed yourself with all you need to start integrating UGC into your strategy, know that user-generated content thrives on consistent community-building.
This is not going to be a one-time campaign. Keep engaging with your audience so the energy runs high and the connection deep. When customers feel seen, they keep contributing.
And for ultimate success, remember to follow these three principles: stay authentic, reward participation, and keep evolving with your audience. You’ll quickly turn your brand into a community people want to be part of.
