User-Generated Content is universally considered to be the nirvana of digital marketing. This blog explains why.
Why User-Generated Content Marketing is so Effective for Businesses?
User-generated content has become one of the dominant players in the marketing world because of its successful result. A study says that UGC influences consumers’ buying decisions more than promotional emails and search engine results. Customers do not trust marketers; they trust users who share their real-life experiences. This is why brands rely on their customers to share their products rather than creating ads.
More than 90% of consumers trust brands that showcase UGC because they find it realistic and trustworthy. Others’ recommendations act as the driving force behind consumers choosing your brand over competitors.
User-Generated Marketing, undoubtedly, acts as social proof to promote your brand. It improves engagement, strengthens relationships, boosts trust in your target audience, and increases sales.
Here are a few effective methods to incorporate in user content-generated marketing, which will be worth your time and effort.
Reviews
Positive reviews play a key role in enhancing the credibility of your brand. Customers read reviews online before buying any product, so UGC has a high impact on their buying decisions. When customers give ratings and reviews, it improves the traffic to your website and conversion rate. You can always encourage your customers to write reviews for your brand by offering them coupons, rewards, points and gift cards.
Your customer reviews help in building your brand image and your product appears authentic to your customers.
Hashtag Contests
There are numerous ways to use user-generated content marketing in your business. Another popular type of user-generated content is hashtag contests. When your audience will share content with a unique hashtag to win a prize, it will keep them engaged, boosts brand awareness and ultimately sales. The content can be anything, for example, photos and videos coupled with a particular hashtag.
You should use simple hashtags, including branded ones in your campaign to get an excellent result.
Video Content
Videos garner more engagement with the possibility of going viral in user- generated content marketing. User-generated videos have increasingly become more popular as compared to official videos on YouTube. The videos offer tremendous potential for shareability, 92% of users tend to share what they have seen with others.
Users prefer and learn more from video and also it is more memorable than any other type of content. The user-generated video has the power to attract the attention of viewers as it gives full insight into your products. User-generated video marketing increases the credibility of your brand.
Is it really worth your time and effort to invest in UGC? Before you dive in or opt-out, here are a few user-generated content marketing statistics to keep in mind.
User-Generated Content Marketing Statistics:
- UGC increases revenue: Research shows that companies that incorporated UGC into their websites see an 18% increase in revenue.
- Customers are more likely to buy: 60% of customers are more likely to buy from a site with UGC presence.
- Customers trust UGC: People trust UGC 1200% more than commercial content from manufacturers. In an age where consumers no longer trust traditional advertising, UGC may be the only way to reach your clients.
- UGC increases conversion: Data shows that UGC can increase conversion by 161%.
- UGC is dominating the Internet: Reviews for popular businesses like Airbnb are up 140% while Pinterest pin creation has increased 75%.
- Customers spend almost as much time with UGC as they do sleeping: Between Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, customers generally spend 5.4 hours per day with UGC.
- People can snap judge: 40% of consumers form an opinion reading just one to three reviews, while other customers will read as many as six reviews before deciding on a product.
- Influence over millennials: When compared to baby boomers, millennials are 30% more likely to trust UGC. While the millennial market is hard to crack, UGC seems to be working. In fact, as many as 50% of millennials demonstrate their brand preferences via hashtags.
- UGC makes people feel better: 68% of customers say that UGC such as ratings and reviews or questions and answers make them feel more secure in their purchasing decision.
- Our brains are 90% Visual: Of the information transmitted in the human brain, 90% is visual information. Humans are also able to process a picture 60,000 times more quickly than text.
- Video viewership is growing: As many as 55% of individuals report watching videos daily, and the number is set to increase with websites like YouTube growing in popularity.
- People trust reviews: As many as 84% of people trust reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends or family. In a way, reviews are beginning to become equivalent to personal referrals. But while a personal referral reaches a few people, a review can be seen by thousands of browsing consumers with a similar effect.
- Bad reviews can be helpful: 95% of consumers suspect deceitful practices such as fake reviews or censorship when they can only find positive reviews about a business. While that negative review may hurt your pride, it may actually convince your customers that your positive reviews are valid.
- Promise of resolutions: 95% of customers are also satisfied if a company can resolve an issue. So, you can actually respond to that negative review and potentially even retain that dissatisfied customer.
- Interaction is key: Customers who interact with brands online via ratings and reviews or questions and answers are 105% more likely to make a purchase on that site.
- Videos can convince people to buy: 90% of shoppers say that viewing a video is helpful in their purchasing decision.
- User video trumps brand video: While brands may have the budget to make a high-quality video, consumers are 10 times more likely to view user videos. With the ever-improving technology of smartphones, use high quality video that can then be shared, viewed and distributed for consumers provided that the brand takes appropriate action.
- Unanswered questions cost you sales: As many as 56% of shoppers will abandon a cart or leave a retail website if they are not able to quickly find answers to their questions. While some shoppers are more persistent than others, most will not stick around.
- Compatibility is key: 73% of shoppers prefer to look up statistics on their phone instead of a speaking to an employee.
- Stand out with user content: Out of 250 surveyed companies, only 9% reported utilizing UGC on their product pages.
So if the medium is so successful what are the advertising opportunities?
What are the advertising opportunities, once one has a large store of robust, curated user-generated content?
Brand Take Over
A brand takeover is a full-screen ad which is displayed when the user first opens Tik Tok. … The ad can be linked to a brand’s landing page or a Hashtag Challenge within the app. These takeovers are exclusive to different categories each day – so only one specific brand can take over a category each day
Top View Adds
Top-View ads capture user attention by appearing at the top of their ‘Home Page’ for when they first open the app. This ad format allows your video ad to be up to a set number of seconds long, offering an immersive viewing experience without any other competing content.
In Feed Video
In-Feed ads are a standard ad format on many platforms, which allows embed video ads to auto-play to targeted audiences’ ‘Home Page’. These ads give the ability for users to like, comment, share, follow, and shoot videos within the same look and feel filters as an example.
Branded HashTag challenges
This tactic asks viewers to share videos of themselves completing a challenge. The video is shared on the platform with a specified branded hashtag. To promote the challenge, brands usually buy banner ads, connect with influencers, and set up a challenge page on the platform
So User-Generated Content is a great marketing tool because people trust real people. It is at the heart of Tik Toks viral phenomenon. The social app boasts its ability to democratize content creation and crown world-class creators out of everyday people. The future for social media platforms points firmly in this direction.
About the author
Quentin Anderson is Executive Chairman, DVC Consultants, CEO and Co-Founder of BankTotal, and Co-Founder of the social media platform Mifamilias.com. He has decades of experience in advising companies, and for 18 years was a CEO of companies in the WPP group.
Thought Leadership- Cogitare
Cogitare – Latin for “To Think” – is the collective name for DVC Consultants thoughts, insights and perspectives on a broad and eclectic number of subjects. From Brexit to Global Poverty, Islamic Banking to Subsistence Agriculture, Disruptive Technologies to The World Bank. It reflects the wide range of sectors and issues we consult on. We hope you enjoy reading them.
DVC Consultants: Exploring Unknown Unknowns since 1995.
0 Comments