User-Generated Content: Understand This Digital Trend

The internet was built out of the efforts of its own users. Nowadays, it is very easy to express yourself through user-generated content. Making your own experience known to others is possible and proves to be a powerful marketing resource for the brands mentioned. This can be highly advantageous for your company. Think of all the visibility potential you are able to achieve with content generated by your customers, such as testimonials, social media posts, and reviews.

With so much competition for public attention amid so many marketing pieces in this dispute, a striking sign of authenticity can be emitted from user-generated content. You need to rely on this feature among your communication tools.

Find out, in the following article, what is the importance of user-generated content for a marketing strategy and how to leverage it in your company.

What is user-generated content?

User-generated content is a term used to refer to any marketing piece that is not created by your brand, but by your audience. It is an excellent way to convey more authenticity and credibility from the brand. This is the case, for example, of posts on a social network that uses a thematic hashtag of a brand in which users show the use of a particular product they have purchased. It can also include videos created by customers in which they highlight their opinions about the company and even reviews left on the internet.

The common denominator in all examples of user-generated content is the authenticity of something not developed through a traditional marketing strategy. As it is the customers themselves who produce the material, it is also distributed in the digital medium through its own channels.

Why is user-generated content important?

With more and more competition for public preference, it is necessary to employ the resources that are capable of humanizing the experience of using your products or services. User-generated content makes it possible to do just that, making it clear how much your own audience is very pleased to have contact with your brand.

Still not convinced? Here are the main reasons for working with user-generated content in your company.

Increases your credibility in the market

Let’s face it: companies of any quality level can implement a good marketing strategy and sell themselves as unmissable options in the market. However, the public is not so easily mistaken.

To gain the credibility that your company needs to be taken seriously and considered by a large volume of customers, it needs user-generated content. The public that sees other people talking about your brand starts to see it with different eyes.

Does not require large investments

Having effective marketing channels that don’t cost that much of your budget is quite valuable. One of the reasons for working with user-generated content is that it is not expensive. The low investment required involves only the effort related to planning the strategy dedicated to encouraging the creation of user-generated content. After that, just monitor your mentions to detect the returns obtained.

Helps to get engagement

If your content does not inspire engagement, something needs to be urgently revised in your strategy. Fortunately, user-generated content serves as a great help in this regard. As it is created by people and not by a brand, the tendency is that this type of publication attracts more public attention. This goes for both the friends of those who made the publication and for others impacted by the post.

How to use user-generated content in favor of the brand?

In view of the benefits that user-generated content can bring to your company, the next step is to implement this idea in the right way. After all, as the point is to convey authenticity and credibility, any failure can be highly damaging to your brand. Below are the main ways to use user-generated content as part of your marketing strategy.

Start an incentive campaign

As much as user-generated content is spontaneous, it does not mean that you cannot implement efforts focused on encouraging it. This is the case, for example, of a marketing campaign that defines a hashtag for the public to share their own posts using their product.

For this, it is worth considering what quality user-generated content consists of and what arguments would make sense to convince your audience to create it. That is why many companies condition participation in promotions to the use of promotional hashtags.

Monitor your mentions on the internet

Part of the work with user-generated content requires competent monitoring of it. You need to be aware of everything your customers are producing associated with your brand. A simple way to optimize this work involves hiring a tool capable of carrying out this monitoring. This is the case, for example, of Scup or OpenSocial, two platforms that can perform constant searches for the terms defined by you.

Emphasize user-generated content

Those who publish user-generated content may be looking for their 15 minutes of fame on the internet. To encourage more and more people to create this type of publication, you can start to highlight them.

For example, many brands are in the habit of republishing their customers’ posts using their products on social media, which is often called a rule. They gain more visibility while your company proves to be more authentic.

The use of user-generated content is no longer just a trend to become reality in multi-segment companies. Take advantage of the tips above to implement a strategy focused on this valuable resource and start enjoying the benefits of placing your client in the position of publicizing your business.