USING USER GENERATED CONTENT IN YOUR BUSINESS MARKETING STRATEGY FOR 2023
One trend predicted for social media in 2023 that is set to rise is the popularity of user generated content – and is something that I am looking at really utilising this year for our clients.
If you haven’t heard of it before, user generated content (UGC) is a marketing technique that harnesses the voice of customers to promote a brand. It encompasses any form of content created by customers, including reviews, social media posts, and feedback, which can be used in marketing efforts.
With the rise of social media (and even more so in 2023), UGC has become crucial as consumers seek trustworthy recommendations from peers before making a purchase – it comes back to the know, like and trust factor which is imperative online.
By sharing UGC, brands demonstrate that they value customer opinions, helping to build trust and credibility with potential customers and ultimately drive sales. To incorporate UGC into marketing strategies, businesses can use social media, customer testimonials, product reviews, influencer marketing, polls or giveaways.
Here are some ways that you can incorporate UGC into your marketing strategy –
- On social media – Encourage customers to share their experiences with your brand on social media platforms perhaps using a carefully planned hashtag, and then re-share the content on your own accounts. I would store this content somewhere also so you have a repository bank for future content.
- Customer testimonials or results – Collect customer testimonials and showcase them on your website or in advertising campaigns and organic marketing campaigns. This can help build trust with potential customers and increase conversions.
- Product reviews – Encourage customers to leave product reviews on your website or on e-commerce platforms like Amazon. These reviews can help potential customers make informed purchasing decisions. Take these reviews and turn them into content for your social media platforms.
- Influencer Marketing: Partner with social media influencers who have a large following and ask them to create content that showcases your brand. There are many companies you can use for this. TRIBE is a great one here in Australia.
- Giveaways and competitions – Run campaigns or contests that encourage customers to create content that can be shared on your social media accounts or used in your marketing efforts. Encourage audience participation by making it easy for them to share or provide them with a link to share. There are many free tools or software out there that you can use to create links for this kind of content, and can even give users ‘points’ for sharing which can make up part of your giveaway.
By leveraging UGC in the above ways, you can tap into the power of social proof and increase the credibility of your brand – social proof is everything online.
One last point I want to add that I think is really important, is use USG to create a movement – and best way to create a tonne of raving fans who do the selling for you is to create a movement, and you achieve this by bringing your audience into your world!
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Regards, Melissa
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