User-Generated Content: How to Capitalize on User Generated Content

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If you’re looking to increase engagement on your website or blog, then user-generated content (UGC) could be a great option for you. UGC is any type of content that is created by users, rather than by the company or organization itself. This can include blog posts, comments, social media posts, and more.

There are a number of benefits to leveraging UGC on your website or blog. First and foremost, UGC can help to boost engagement levels. In fact, studies have shown that user-generated content can increase engagement rates by up to 80%. Additionally, UGC can help to build trust and credibility with your audience. People are more likely to trust the content that is created by other users, rather than by the brand itself.

In this post, we’ll explore each of these topics in more detail. By the end of this guide, you should be able to leverage user-generated content on your company blog to increase engagement rates, build trust and credibility, and improve SEO results.

What is User-Generated Content?


User-generated content (UGC) is the user’s own input, feedback, or output that they share with a company. It can be anything from reviews to social media posts and YouTube videos. User-generated content has been proven to have a positive impact on companies’ marketing efforts because it can increase brand awareness and engagement as well as improve customer service. But how do you capitalize on user-generated content for your digital marketing efforts? In this blog post we’ll discuss best practices for leveraging user-generated content in order to create more successful digital marketing campaigns!

UGC can also help to improve SEO results. By including user-generated content on your website, you can increase the number of inbound links to your site. This can help to improve your site’s rank in search engine results pages (SERPs). Additionally, UGC can help to improve click-through rates (CTRs), which can lead to a significant increase in website traffic.

If you’re looking to include UGC on your company blog, there are a few things that you’ll need to consider before diving in. These include:

·     The types of user-generated content that you’ll want to leverage

·     How you’ll solicit user-generated content from your audience

·     How you’ll filter through submissions and select the best ones to publish

Examples of user-generated content

There are a variety of different types of user-generated content that you can leverage on your website or blog. The most common types include:

Blog posts

Blog posts are a great way to tap into the power of user-generated content. By soliciting guest posts from your audience, you can give them a voice and allow them to share their thoughts and opinions with your readers. Additionally, you can also include user-generated content in the form of blog comments. This can help to increase engagement levels and allow readers to have a dialogue with one another.

Social media posts:

Social media is a great channel for user-generated content. By soliciting user-generated content from your audience on social media, you can give them a voice and allow them to share their thoughts and opinions with your followers. Additionally, you can also use social media to amplify user-generated content that has been published on your website or blog. This can help to increase its reach and get it in front of more people. Videos: Videos are becoming an increasingly popular form of user-generated content. By leveraging user-generated videos on your website or blog, you can give users a voice and allow them to share their thoughts and opinions with your audience. Additionally, user-generated videos can also be used as an additional form of user-generated content that you can amplify on social media.

It’s important to keep in mind that user-generated content doesn’t have to be text-based. Rather, it could be any type of user-created content – such as images, video, infographics or podcasts.

How will you solicit user-generated content from your audience?

If you want to leverage user-generated content on your website or blog, then the first thing that you’ll need is a plan for how users can actually submit this type of content. There are a variety of different ways that you could do this, including:

·     Online submission forms

·     Social media submissions

·     Email submissions

·     Phone submissions

Each of these methods has its own set of pros and cons. Let’s take a closer look at each one.

Online submission forms: 

Online submission forms are a great way to collect user-generated content from your audience. By providing an online form where users can submit their content, you make it easy for them to do so. Additionally, online submission forms also allow you to track user submissions and see which ones are the most popular. However, there is one downside – not everyone will be comfortable submitting content online.

Social media submissions:

Social media is a great way to collect user-generated content from your audience. By providing a submission form on social media, you make it easy for users to submit their content. Additionally, social media submissions also allow you to track user submissions and see which ones are the most popular. However, there is one downside – not everyone will be comfortable submitting content through social media.

Email submissions:

Email submissions are a great way to collect user-generated content from your audience. By providing an email address where users can submit their content, you make it easy for them to do so. Additionally, email submissions also allow you to track user submissions and see which ones are the most popular. However, there is one downside – not everyone will be comfortable submitting content through email.

Phone submissions:

Phone submissions are a great way to collect user-generated content from your audience. By providing a phone number where users can submit their content, you make it easy for them to do so. Additionally, phone submissions also allow you to track user submissions and see which ones are the most popular. However, there is one downside – not everyone will be comfortable submitting content over the phone.

So what method should you use? That all depends on your business’s unique needs and objectives. Let’s look at some examples of companies that have successfully used user-generated content in each of these submission methods…

Forms

Using user-generated content is an essential part of Dell Canada’s Marketing Strategy  Dell Canada runs an entire user-generated content program, called Dell Voices, which is designed to leverage user-generated photos and videos about their products. On the Dell Canada website, visitors can submit user-generated content in a number of ways:

·     They can click on “submit your story”

·     They can write an email or tweet out to @DellCanada

·     They can fill out an online form

Additionally, Dell also has user-generated content submitted using social media throughout their entire site. For example:

·     The landing page for the Dell Canada Twitter account features user-generated tweets and retweets about their brand and products

·     There’s also an entire user-generated content gallery on the Dell Canada website that features photos and videos about their products

Dell’s user-generated content submission methods make it easy for visitors to share their thoughts and experiences about Dell products. By providing a variety of different submission methods, Dell is able to reach a wider audience and collect more user-generated content.

Social Media

Starbucks is no stranger to user-generated content  Starbucks has had a number of successful social media campaigns that have leveraged user-generated content. One recent example is the Frappuccino My Way campaign, where Starbucks encouraged customers to create their own Frappuccino recipes and submit them online. Here’s how it worked:

·     Customers could visit the Frappuccino website and create their own recipe

·     They could then submit their recipe to the website

·     Starbucks would feature a number of the submitted recipes on their website

The Frappuccino My Way campaign was a huge success, with over 1,000 submissions. By giving customers the opportunity to create their own recipes and submit them online, Starbucks was able to collect user-generated content that showcased the creativity and diversity of their customer base.

Email

Apple has been using user-generated content in their marketing for years  One of Apple’s most successful user-generated content campaigns was the “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” commercial series. The commercials featured real people discussing which computer they preferred: Macs or PCs.

Here’s an example of one of the commercials:

The success of these user-generated content campaigns is largely due to the fact that they featured everyday people who represented their target market (you can read more about this in our free eBook on user-generated content ). Rather than hiring actors, Apple used user-submitted photos and videos from real customers to illustrate the points they made. This resulted in user-generated content that was honest and genuine – not something you often see with marketing tactics!

Labels make it easy for visitors to submit user-generated content  Aside from Dell, Starbucks, and Apple, there are many other businesses using user-generated content as part of their marketing strategy. For example, Labels, a clothing company, uses user-generated in a number of different ways:

·     They have a user-generated content section on their website where visitors can submit photos and videos of themselves wearing Labels clothing

·     They also have a social media campaign called “Share Your Style” which encourages customers to share photos of themselves wearing Labels clothing on social media

Labels’ user-generated content submission methods make it easy for visitors to share their thoughts and experiences about the brand. By providing a variety of different submission methods, Labels is able to reach a wider audience and collect more user-generated content.

How can user-generated content help your brand?

Your company’s marketing strategy should include leveraging user-generated content for digital marketing efforts because it helps you reach consumers through their preferred communication channels while increasing consumer engagement on desired topics at minimal costs.. Although advertising still drives revenue into companies, there are ways to minimize costs and also cut down on traditional advertising.

User-generated content is an essential part of any marketing strategy. By using forms of user-generated content like social media, email, and user-generated content sections on websites, businesses can collect honest and genuine feedback from their customers. This feedback can then be used to improve the customer experience and create more effective marketing campaigns.

Capitalizing on user-generated content can help improve digital marketing efforts in many ways, so make sure to use it in some capacity in all of your campaigns.

What are the benefits of using UGC? 

There are a number of benefits to using user-generated content in your digital marketing efforts, including: 

-UGC is engaging and encourages customer interaction 

-UGC is authentic and provides an honest perspective of your brand 

-UGC can be used to drive traffic and leads 

-UGC can help promote your brand and products 

-UGC can help you understand what customers want and need 

-UGC can improve SEO 

Best Practices for Leveraging User-Generated Content for Digital Marketing Efforts

User-generated content (UGC) is user-published user-consumed user-shared user-edited user-discussed user-liked user-favourited user-generated content. It’s one of the most powerful types of online content, and when leveraged correctly, it can turn your website into a powerhouse and generate a lot of traffic and conversions for your business.

Too many digital marketers and advertisers forget to leverage user-generated content in their marketing efforts. Why? For starters, it’s not easy to achieve. But you know what? It’s worth it. That’s why we’ve got 20 best practices for leveraging UGC for successful digital marketing campaigns to help you out!

1. Identify the platforms where your target audience is most active.

This could be forums, social media sites, or blogs.

2. Create or enlist user-generated content that is relevant to your target audience.

This could be customer reviews, user-generated images or videos, or customer questions and answers.

3. Promote user-generated content across your social media platforms and other digital marketing channels.

This could include sharing customer reviews on social media, featuring user-generated images or videos on your website, or answering customer questions on a blog.

4. Make it easy for users to share your content across their social media networks. 

This could include sharing customer reviews on social media, featuring user-generated images or videos on your website, or answering customer questions on a blog.

5. Monitor user-generated content for engagement and virality.

It is important to monitor user-generated content for engagement and virality. This could include measuring how often customers are sharing your content on social media, analyzing the number of views or shares a piece of user-generated content has received or tracking the response rate to customer questions and answers.

6. Use user-generated content to create targeted marketing campaigns.

This could include using customer reviews in targeted ad campaigns, featuring user-generated images or videos in email marketing campaigns, or responding to customer questions on social media specifically targeting certain demographics.

7. Analyze user-generated content to understand your customers’ needs and desires.

This could include studying customer reviews to see what people are saying about your product or service, analyzing user-generated images or videos to see what people are interested in, or reading customer questions and answers to see what people are curious about.

8. Use user-generated content to create a more personalized digital marketing experience for your customers.

This could include using customer reviews in targeted ad campaigns, featuring user-generated images or videos in email marketing campaigns, or responding to customer questions on social media specifically targeting certain demographics.

9. Repurpose user-generated content into other forms of content, such as blog posts, infographics, and videos.

10. Integrate user-generated content into your website and other online properties.

It is easier to design a website that fulfils the needs of your customers than it is to come up with those designs on your own. Utilize customer reviews, user-generated images or videos, and other forms of content by integrating them into websites using things like blog posts and social media campaigns.

11. Use user-generated content to create a stronger connection with your target audience.

This could include using customer reviews in targeted ad campaigns, featuring user-generated images or videos in email marketing campaigns, or responding to customer questions on social media specifically targeting certain demographics.

12. Celebrate user-generated content as a valuable asset for your digital marketing efforts.

Digital marketing efforts can be greatly enhanced by user-generated content. This could include sharing customer reviews on social media, featuring user-generated images or videos on your website, or answering customer questions on a blog.

Social Networks as a Source of UGC

Social networks have been a powerful tool in user-generated content marketing, with Facebook being the leading user-created content platform. Instagram has been an up-and-coming user-generated content option, but both platforms have a major flaw. They don’t always offer a revenue-sharing model or a way to reach an audience outside of their network’s reach with user-generated content.

YouTube

YouTube is a powerful user-generated content marketing tool, as it allows you to share videos that can be embedded on other websites, as well as reach a large audience outside of your social media networks. LinkedIn offers some opportunities for user-generated content marketing, but it has been mostly used for BtoB lead generation efforts rather than consumer branding initiatives.

Twitter

Twitter is great for real-time user-generated content, but Vine and Periscope offer more creative ways to share user-generated video content. Tumblr also offers unique ways to share user-generated GIFs and photos. In order to make the most out of these platforms, it’s best to find user-generated content influencers who are already sharing user-generated content on these platforms.

Reddit

Reddit is a powerful user-generated platform, but you need to approach it with caution because of its anonymity and free speech issues. On Reddit, users can submit links or text posts that other members vote up or down in order for the post to rank higher in their feeds. The more votes your user-generated content receives from individuals across this social network website, the better chance you have at reaching new audiences through user-created content marketing efforts here.

It’s important not to neglect Google search when leveraging user-created digital marketing tools since they hold most of the market share and continue dominating SEO rankings.

Why is content moderation important for user-generated campaigns? 

Content Moderation is important to user-generated campaigns because it ensures the quality of posts on your campaign. This way, you can make sure that any member with ill intentions does not post anything inappropriate or disruptive on your page.

It also helps in preventing spamming and addressing concerns raised by individual members about specific content they see while scrolling through their newsfeeds.

User-generated content can be a powerful tool for digital marketing, but only if it is properly moderated. By keeping an eye on the quality of posts, you can ensure that your user-generated campaign remains effective and engaging. This also helps to prevent any negative attention from being drawn to your page. So, keep those trolls at bay and focus on creating quality user-generated content!

Tips to generate UGC

Now that you know the importance of content moderation, how do you actually generate user-generated content? Here are some tips:

1. Ask your fans to submit photos or videos related to your brand.

2. Run a contest or giveaway and ask participants to create a piece of content about why they love your product or service.

3. Encourage customers to write product reviews and then share them on social media.

4. Collect user-generated content on special occasions (like holidays or anniversaries) and post it on your website or social media pages.

5. Make use of user-generated content aggregators like Yotpo or Olapic to collect user-generated photos and videos.

Do user-generated content campaigns help in increasing sales/engagement? 

According to a 2015 survey by Collective Bias, 91% of marketers agree that user-generated content is effective. However, only one third (33%) said their ROI on user-generated content was positive or very high. Why isn’t user-generated content-generating better returns for most companies? It’s difficult and expensive to achieve these results without having specific goals and strategies in place: 

Marketers need more than just the right tools; they also require expertise about how best to use them along with the budget needed to create engaging campaigns.

Thus, it’s important to make sure you have a strategy in place for user-generated content before you begin. Quality has a key role in this process–make sure you maintain a high standard to make user-generated content as effective and impactful as possible.

Strategies You Should Make

-Make sure you monitor user-generated content closely and respond quickly to any negative comments. Negative sentiment can spread like wildfire online, so it’s important to address any complaints as soon as possible.

-Use user-generated content to create social media contests or giveaways. This is a great way to increase engagement and encourage customers to produce more user-generated content.

-Partner with influential users who have a large following in your target market and ask them to promote your product or service using user-generated content.

-purpose user-generated content into other forms of marketing collateral such as sales letters, website content, and email campaigns.

-Embed user-generated content on your website to help increase traffic and SEO.

-Host user-generated content contests to generate leads and drive more traffic to your site. 

-Use user-generated content to create powerful case studies that show the success of your product or service.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to using user-generated content in your digital marketing efforts. By following these best practices, you can maximize its potential and see great results.

Why is user-generated content (UGC) is taken more seriously by consumers?

The consumer sentiment towards user-generated content is becoming increasingly positive. But why is user-generated content taken more seriously by consumers? User-generated content is vital for brands that are looking to reach social media users. According to a survey, user-generated video ads rank highest in user engagement compared to all other ads on traditional TV and YouTube. 

Conclusion

User-generated content (UGC) is one of the most effective and efficient ways to drive digital marketing success. UGC can come in many different forms, but all share a common goal: To create an engaging experience that encourages customers to interact with your brand. In order to capitalize on user-generated content, it’s important to understand what makes it so successful and how you can implement it into your own marketing efforts.

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Anup Joshi
Anup is an enthusiastic SEO professional who loves to put his best practices and research into his work to give the best results. He is the hand and brain behind the SEO at Top.

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