What Is UGC? How Social Proof Could Benefit Your Business
Looking for a way to quickly deliver marketing content about your products and services? If that’s the case, UGC might be right for your digital marketing strategy.
However, if you’re more interested in growing engagement at a consistent pace to attract loyal customers by using marketing content that feels organic to your business, there might be a few reasons to avoid using UGC as it could be detrimental to your brand’s long term reputation and conversion rates.
- Digital Marketing
- eCommerce marketing
- Social media marketing
- User-generated content
What Is UGC Content?
'User-generated content' is brand-specific marketing material sourced from actual consumers who can provide genuine feedback from their experiences with a product or service. UGC is often purchased through a talent management company, public relations or digital agency that can provide detailed briefs that ensure positive and timely outcomes for clients seeking UGC for their business. Commonly produced in video or image format, with the intention of engaging social media audiences.
If you browse through your own personal social media platforms with this in mind, it likely won’t take long until you’re to spot the difference between UGC and in-house content. Testimonials that swear by a brand’s new product begin to stand out, the question is if this is beneficial for your business when considering using User-Generated Content for your own marketing strategy and growth.
5 Pros & Cons Of UGC Content
User-generated content tends to fall into one of two categories, being it either performs incredibly well or so badly that it completely breaks any trust between a business and its customers. Narrowing down why these outcomes are so different can help you decide whether it’s right for your brand.
Pros -
1. Less labour spent creating and editing new content
2. Potentially more affordable than in-house marketing
3. Content is sourced from customers of your business
4. Convenient for promoting new product campaigns
5. Ideally much faster to outsource marketing content
Cons -
1. Reliant on third-party to ensure content is brand-specific and on time
2. If done poorly, UGC can come off as incredibly inauthentic and dishonest
3. Copywriting miscalculations can lead to additional hours spent with creators
4. The potential for UGC to come across as incohesive to your brand story
5. Finding the right creators and agencies isn’t easy for most businesses
If the pros aren’t matching the level of cons for your business, this might be a good starting point to investigate and update your current marketing strategy and avoid UGC altogether. However, if the pros seem to stand out when considering your business goals, this might be the perfect fit.
Confident Your Product Can Sell Itself?
Established brands looking to expand their audience demographic who’ve already demonstrated the quality of their products are great candidates for UGC. Customers of well-known brands already know what to expect in terms of product quality, you just need to keep them informed about what’s coming next. UGC content is unreliable in its detail and believability, but for what it lacks in those areas it makes up for in being a great asset for mass-marketing campaigns. Whether it’s for a new product launch, or launching existing products in a new marketplace, if you’re confident your product will still hit sales targets and speak for itself if the content creators can’t, the exposure alone makes User-Generated Content a beneficial tool for you.
Is Authenticity Part Of Your Marketing Strategy?
"92% of marketers believe most or all of the content they create resonates as authentic" - Businesswire
Consumers are now more than ever, becoming increasingly self-aware of marketing strategies, algorithms and whether or not your marketing content comes from a place of transparency. If your business is aimed at demographics that frequent popular social media platforms like TikTok or Twitter, authenticity is essential to maintaining your existing clientele. With the ever-growing trend of users posting content to expose untrue marketing claims made by large brands about their products, it’s not worth trying to fool your customers. With information at their fingertips, authenticity is no longer something appreciated by consumers, but instead an expectation.
"yet 51% of consumers say less than half of the brands [they are exposed to] create content that resonates as authentic.”
So if you already know your target audience and feel like social proof is something that could work well for your business, you'll need to refine your options and skip finding generic faces with average copywriting to sell your product and look towards more interactive alternatives. Here are some of the best examples of User-Generated Content marketing strategies from companies able to boost their sales and engagement, whilst maintaining a sense of authenticity.
- Starbucks ‘#WhiteCupContest’ asked customers to draw their best Starbucks cup design on a blank white cup and submit it under the hashtag with the potential to have their design come to life and be sold across participating Starbucks locations.
- ASOS ‘#AsSeenOnMe’ feature on their website allows participants to have their own images displayed on the official ASOS website, growing customers' Instagram followers.
- Apple ‘#ShotOnAniPhone’ encouraged customers to showcase Apple’s camera quality by posting images taken on their latest iPhone, bringing in 24 million participants.
Still not sure UGC marketing is for you?
Now that you’ve got an idea of what UGC is and can do for your business, If you’re still curious about how social proof could impact your brand messaging, why not chat to a member of our digital agency Melbourne team and book a consultation to learn more about incorporating user-generated content into your marketing strategy.
