User Generated Content (UGC) is any content created by consumers themselves — that is, by people who have already used the product or service you offer.
You could say it’s a digital form of old-fashioned word-of-mouth marketing, where a customer tries a product, recommends it to others, and those people become interested in buying it too. The difference today is that word-of-mouth happens online.
Why is UGC so important? Because it gives your products and services greater credibility with new customers, since the one doing the promotion is another user, not the store itself.
The internet has turned every consumer into a potential creator and distributor of information. Whether on social media, messaging apps, websites, or forums, people consume, research, share, comment, and produce content. That reach can extend from friends and family to complete strangers who use it as a basis for their purchasing decisions.
Consider how UGC affects consumer decision-making: studies consistently show that the vast majority of online shoppers research reviews and user opinions before making a purchase. This demonstrates that people seek out information from other customers to feel more confident about whether to buy a product or service.
Benefits of UGC
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Social Commerce and Social Media Reach
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Brand Awareness and Free SEO Content
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Greater Credibility
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Low Cost and Increased Engagement
Social Commerce and Social Media Reach
Social commerce is a form of e-commerce conducted through social media platforms. This type of e-commerce has grown alongside the increasing influence of social media in recent years.
You’ve certainly come across ads in your social media feed designed to catch your attention and lead you to make a purchase directly within the app.
You’ve also likely noticed how many of your friends share almost everything that happens in their daily lives — including purchases, restaurants, brands, books, and campaigns.
Consumers have become powerful brand promoters, with a universal reach, since the possibilities in the online world are enormous. Use social media to your advantage, as a large portion of UGC happens there.
To help you get started, check out our articles covering everything you need to know about social media and how to supercharge your online store.
Brand Awareness and Free SEO Content
Brand awareness measures how well a brand is recognized by consumers. Increasing brand awareness means gaining recognition, visibility, and credibility among customers.
Brand awareness and improved SEO go hand in hand — the more well-known your brand becomes, the more people will search for it.
With user generated content, the advantage is even greater, since it doesn’t require heavy marketing investment, given that your audience does the large-scale promotion for you.
Over time, the volume of content linked to your store and how frequently it’s published will improve your SEO. Getting people talking about your online store is what will help your website rank well on Google.
Read our article on Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Greater Credibility
Unlike ads created by the store or brand itself — which will naturally highlight the positives — UGC is created by customers, people who have no obligation to praise products they didn’t enjoy.
According to research by Invesp, 90% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a store and 88% of those consumers trust reviews from other consumers. When your store is well-reviewed, it builds credibility around the quality of your products and services.
Low Cost and Increased Engagement
The costs of investing in UGC are low. As mentioned above, it’s more about your ability to engage your audience so that they do the promotion at scale for you.
To increase engagement, build a loyal audience that regularly interacts with your brand. This interaction turns users into content creators who influence other customers, who in turn influence others, and so on.
How to Use UGC in Your E-commerce Store
Social Media
Social media is by far the most natural environment for UGC, given the enormous number of spontaneous brand advocates who connect your brand with other users through their own posts.
Shareable Content
Shareable content is excellent for encouraging participation. Quizzes, quick tutorials, videos, and photos featuring your products are all great tools to promote user generated content.
You can draw inspiration from others, but the more creative, simple, and fun your shareable content is, the more motivated people will be to share it.
Remember to also repost content created by your customers, acknowledging their engagement and giving credit to these organic influencers.
Contests and Hashtags
You’ve probably been tagged in a post or even participated in a brand contest on social media at some point.
Typically, the brand offers a prize to followers and sets a few simple rules they need to follow to enter the giveaway.
One of those rules is often tagging friends in the post, which means those friends see the publication too and discover the brand.
Another very common sharing method is hashtags. Using impactful words preceded by #, has real power online and is a way to bring a group of people together around a specific topic.
It’s important to use simple hashtags that aren’t too long or confusing. On the internet, straightforward is the greatest guarantee of success.
Video Content
YouTube ads are great for brand exposure, but since users aren’t there for the ads, they might simply skip them. Also, YouTube video content tends to be longer, which doesn’t appeal to a large portion of internet users.
Instagram and Facebook, on the other hand, attract users who want quick, direct information, making them excellent platforms for short video content, such as stories.
The social network most focused on video and growing exponentially is TikTok. Everyday users, digital influencers, celebrities, stores, and major brands are already on this platform and have discovered the reach it offers.
TikTok is also known for trends — viral content that gets shared and replicated by users. Check out our article on TikTok to discover how it can help your business.
Influencer Partnerships
Once limited to cinema and TV, celebrities have taken on a new form with the internet and social media. Everyday people can become famous in the digital world and influence legions of fans who value their opinions, habits, appearance, and everything else about that content creator.
UGC with influencers is typically done by voluntarily sending product samples for them to use and vouch for the quality of your brand.
But remember: for it to truly be user generated content, influencers aren’t bound to give only positive reviews — they are free to share their honest opinions and experiences with their followers.
Reviews
Reviews are also a form of user generated content. The direct opinion of consumers is very important, whether through star ratings or written messages, as it builds trust with potential customers.
Your store must have accessible mechanisms that encourage customers to leave a review. Equally important is making sure existing reviews are easy to find on your page.
It’s also essential to pay attention to negative UGC content and posts. If they appear, don’t ignore them. Try to understand the root cause of that customer’s dissatisfaction.
Engaging with negative feedback shows that you care about your customers, which can turn a bad experience around — and it will help you improve your products or customer service.
4 Success Stories from Brands Using UGC
Here are 4 examples of user generated content campaigns from major brands that have achieved incredible results with this strategy:
1. Coca-Cola
Remember the Coca-Cola campaign where bottles and cans were personalized with people’s names?
The company’s marketing team compiled the most common names among young adults, and came up with 150 names for the campaign.
The idea was for consumers to share photos and videos with their personalized cans. The campaign was a huge success and went viral quickly.
2. Starbucks
Another UGC success story is Starbucks’ 2014 campaign. The brand held a contest asking customers to create their own artwork on the iconic white cup.
In just the first few weeks, over four thousand photos of original artwork were shared on social media.
3. Lay’s (Do Us a Flavor)
The snack brand has run multiple contests where the public could suggest new flavors, and the most voted would become real products. Lay’s also guaranteed a percentage of sales would go to the winners.
The contest attracted thousands of participants who voluntarily generated massive buzz on social media.
4. PlayStation
PlayStation.Blog, the official blog of the PlayStation brand, regularly posts news ranging from software update announcements to new game launches.
One of their UGC initiatives is encouraging players to share photos of their favorite games on social media using the hashtag #PlayStationMoments. Every week, the best images are published on the blog.
Now that you understand how important user generated content is for boosting your business, stay tuned to social media, your audience, and the latest UGC marketing trends.
Invest time in developing creative and viral ideas and make sure your customers are your greatest allies in promoting your brand.
