Kseniya I. Content Marketing Expert

How to create user generated content

In this article, we will talk about how to create an endless source of content and increase consumer brand loyalty.

UGC is the content that consumers of the brand create. It is better known as user generated content.

Pros of UGC

Using user generated content in a brand development marketing strategy is good because:

- this is an endless source of the content

- this is a powerful social proof

UGC has disadvantages as you cannot control its quality and tone. Let's say you have a coffee shop, the barista serves too hot espresso to the customer. The client writes an angry review about it. The barista is to blame, and the brand lives with a negative review.

Source of content

Everyone who works in SMM experiences times of inactivity. Unlucky individuals sit, slurp coffee, and are at a loss for words. User-generated content is helpful in these situations. I look at the hashtag results to get fresh ideas, and occasionally I just publish user-generated stuff.

Social proof

On occasion, I watch movies in the evening. I use the movie search or ask my friends to help me choose which movie to watch. In other situations, I act similarly. I rely on reviews and recommendations when I have a vast choice and the distinctions between each particular good or service are negligible or unclear. Such guidance is provided by user-generated content; the more UGC a brand has, the more likely I am to believe it.

Research confirms that 93% of consumers rely on reviews before making a purchase decision.

Source of information for marketers. Users can uncover product benefits that company marketers never even thought about.

For example, regular baking soda is a baking product. But thanks to user comments, manufacturers have found and included many other uses in content marketing as baking soda eliminates odors, absorbs moisture, it can even be used to make children's safe plasticine for modeling.

Reaching a new audience

There is a good chance to increase the reach, as people love to share their creativity with friends and family. And they may well repost to a personal page from the brand page where they were mentioned in the publication.

Savings on promotion

When people post a product review on their page, it's free advertising for the company's product.

It turns out to be such an interesting thing. A brand that motivates subscribers to create user generated content provides itself with an inexhaustible source of content and builds credibility. A good SMM manager in KPI always has a metric for the amount of content generated by users.

User content types

Reviews. Motivate users to leave reviews in hashtags, on special sites, in social networks, in the brand community. If your product can be presented in aggregator stores there will always be a section with popular reviews.

Recommendations. Exceptionally positive and often emotional feedback. Unfortunately, often custom.

When I buy something, my default expectation is that it will work and be useful. If it is, I am satisfied, everything is as it should be. But if something went wrong, I can’t be stopped, I’ll climb all the sites and write negative comments. I’m not the only one doing this, so it’s almost impossible to find positive reviews about the work of the Internet provider and mobile operators on review sites.

Comments. Yes, comments are also examples of user-generated content. When users comment on blog articles or social media posts, it says that they are interested in the topic and have something to say in response. Positive comments have a good effect on the brand image, and negative ones too. True, only if the negative is quickly worked out and the user's problem is solved. This will show that the brand does not give a damn about its customers, and everyone can make mistakes.

Reviews. Typically, reviews are written by experts. Reviews consider products and services from the technical side, sometimes the personal opinion of an expert is connected, and a review-recommendation is obtained.

Ratings or comparisons. Lists of products or services compiled according to some principle. Next to the ratings there is a comparison format, where product A and product B are compared. How they will cope with the task.

Guest postings. Unique content that can not be attributed to any of the above. Bloggers who had nothing to publish came up with such content, and they turned to colleagues. Look at the city public of your city on Instagram, 90% of the content is guest posts. Guest posting is used by almost all major brands, so do the official real accounts GoPro, Red Bull and others.

Photo. Users share photos more often and more willingly than full reviews. Even if the user is too lazy to leave a comment, then adding a stylish mug with the company logo to your Instagram photo with a beautiful breakfast can be easy.

Video. Also a popular type of user generated content. The principle is the same as with the photo. These can be videos with unpacking goods, an unusual way of using them, or an emotional reaction to a gift.

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