No matter where you look in the scope of the marketing world, the term UGC will appear. UGC or User-Generated Content has been placed deservedly into marketing plans with consistency for the past few years, and it’s here to stay.
We know what you’re thinking. What is user-generated content? Why is it so essential, and of course, how could it benefit your business?
What is UGC? 🤔
Well, a logical place to start would be explaining what UGC actually is. UGC is content produced by your end-user or customer that can be valuable to your social media marketing campaigns. Anything from videos of your delicious food being eaten, to the unboxing of your new designer trainers, can fall into the category of UGC.
Why is it essential to my business? 👍
Creating content can cost a lot of money. If your customers produce content for you, it’s a huge win-win situation. The beauty of UGC is that in taking that picture or capturing that boomerang, your customer is showing a commitment to your product that you can’t buy.
Having UGC in your marketing plan shows that you believe in your product to such a degree that you think the end-user will covet owning it. That’s special. And when they do, you are sure to get some brilliant content, because the social media sector doesn’t skimp on photo-quality.
How can you use UGC? 👌
In general, UGC is incredibly popular in the fashion and beauty sectors, and in recent years, the entertainment sector. Who doesn’t love looking at a piece of cheesecake? The primary use of any UGC your loyal followers produce is as content for your own social media feeds.
User-generated content gives potential customers a less edited version of what your product looks like, how it works or how delicious it is. Customers will always want honesty from a brand, UGC promotes this, and in-turn creates confidence in your business.
The content you have produced in a studio with a professional photographer can sometimes feel too professional. UGC shows your customer what it would be like to buy and have the product themselves, through the eyes of another customer!
One particularly good example of honest, un-edited UGC is an ethical clothing company Lucy & Yak. They champion their products being worn by the people who have bought them. Showing their clothes on various people gives their customers an idea of how it would look on their body type. It looks brilliant, check them out.
Online 💻
During the lockdown, fashion giant ASOS took UGC to a whole new level. As they began to use the UGC they received as actual product listings on their website. Due to not being able to run fashion shoots as they would usually, they reached out and filled their website with shots of people’s purchases being worn at home. Brilliant job from the ASOS marketing team, making the most of a bad situation, and building some extra brand confidence in the meantime.
What else should I be thinking about? 🎁
For your customers to produce user-generated content that’s as fantastic as your product, you need to tailor your focus to user-experience. If you are an online retailer, the user-experience includes countless factors that can often be overlooked. For example, what packaging does your product arrive in? Long gone are the days of the nondescript cardboard box, now its all about packaging design, and we love it!
When a product arrives at our front door, we want that excitement we got when we first order it to multiply. This is much more likely if the packaging is of high quality and is memorable as part of the user-experience as a whole. Packaging can also rectify bad experiences so don’t overlook it. For example, will your customers remember the clunkiness of your website when they post an image of your perfectly presented product?
If you have any questions about anything you read above, or if you are worried about other facets of your business. Simply give us a call, send a message, or once we are back to normality, pop into our office. We would love to chat about all things UGC, marketing, web design, graphic design, and you name it; we’re there!
Getting ready to launch your business and not quite got the UGC you’d like yet? Create8 are a branding, digital marketing and web design agency that can help you get started on your next big campaign. We are ready to take on your social media management to gain brand awareness and spread the word about your products and services! Why not give us a call or send us an email.
Take a look at some more of our blogs for helpful tips, tricks and advice:
