Leverage User-Generated Content to Improve Brand Engagement

What is User-Generated Content?

User-generated content (UGC) is any form of content created by users of a brand's product or service. UGC formats include reviews, photos, videos, comments, blog posts, social media posts, and more. Sprout Social notes that UGC “refers to unpaid or unsponsored social posts that people across every network share when they’re using or raving about a product or service.”

Why is it important to pay attention to UGC?

Incorporating UGC in social media campaigns can effectively help brands build trust, increase engagement, and create a more authentic connection with their customers. Recent marketing studies have highlighted an important consumer trend for marketers: Consumers want to interact with brands that share UGC and incentivize participation through giveaways and contests on social media.

• Results from a study by TurnTo Network’s show that 90% of consumers “report UGC influences their decisions to make a purchase, outranking all other forms of marketing, including search engines (87%) and promotional emails (79%)... Notably, shoppers are also willing to pay more (81%) and wait longer (81%) for products paired with UGC.”

• “Almost 7 in 10 consumers (69%) are likely to post on social media after having a positive experience with a brand.” (TINT, 2022 Survey)

• “64% of consumers have tagged a brand or used a [branded] hashtag on social media... and agree that when brands they like [re-share] content by customers, they are more likely to [post] content about the brand or its products.” (TINT, 2022 Survey)

• “75% of consumers report that they are likely to search for reviews and testimonials before making a purchase.” (TINT, 2022 Survey)

• “72% of consumers believe that reviews and testimonials submitted by customers are more credible than the brand talking about their products.” (TINT, 2022 Survey)

• “78% of consumers feel that they can tell when a brand is advertising to them.” (TINT, 2022 Survey)

• “73% of consumers agree that they wish more brands would run contests or giveaways.” (TINT, 2022 Survey)

Conclusion

By sharing user-generated content on social media and website platforms, both small businesses and nonprofits can enhance brand reputation and generate greater stakeholder trust in their brand's service or product. Sharing UGC is an effective, low-cost marketing strategy that will yield a high return on investment by saving time otherwise spent on creating content from scratch and reducing the expense (employee or contract labor expenses) of content creation.

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