In this post, I want to talk about six ways in which you can use user generated content to promote your brand. Some people get a little confused on the types of UGC you can use for your brand, so let’s clear that up today.
After reading this post, you’ll have a better understanding of what is considered to be user-generated content and how you can create this type of content that will yield more engagement and sales for your own brand.
Users Who Post Photos/Videos Of Your Brand With Branded Hashtags
Fashion brands were one of the first to adopt this type of UGC as they were experimenting with ways in which they could increase their engagement and segment their audience based on the hashtags they would use on their posts.
Fashion brands are dependent on having a lot of content as they tend to have large product portfolios, whilst simultaneously running multiple branded campaigns.
One example when combining UGC with hashtags, was to encourage customers to post image/video content and use the branded hashtag if they want to participate in a contest or show love for the brand and the fashion they purchased recently.
Customers would flock to create simple, yet effective UGC and publish it on their social profiles. The brand would get great exposure from this type of content and have their follower and engagement count increase as well as an increase in sales.
What I really like in particular with this type of UGC is the benefits it can offer when running ads. If you have multiple examples of your customers showing off their satisfaction with your products via image and video, it’s very likely to grab the attention of your target audience and win more prequalified clicks to your site.
You can also repurpose this content for your emails, stories, posts, reels etc.
Share Stories That Are Published From Your Customers
If your customers are digging your products, there’s a very good chance they mention your brand in their stories and the experiences they get when purchasing from you. For example: sharing reviews about you and your digital experience via their social media stories.
So why not use this type of content to improve conversions?
Similar to what I mentioned above in the last point, you can use UGC to help improve your sales conversion rate. An interesting example would be to use your customers’ stories and include them on your product pages to use as social proof.
You can embed stories into product pages in the images section. This type of social proof really helps to generate an improvement in your sales conversion rate. I would even go as far as testing your default image as a really good shared story from a raving customer if it makes sense.
Utilise Direct Messages
Another great way to utilise UGC is to use positive conversations that your brand has acquired over time on your social media DM’s. Use this content as social proof on how your customers are getting results for your product line.
You might get text Dm’s that look something like this from satisfied customers –
“I just received my hoodie in the mail today. I can’t tell you how much I love the fit and the design on the bottom right is so quirky and unique. I just love it! Surprised it arrived so quickly too!”
This can be a gold mine for UGC because you can use text conversations to demonstrate to your audiences on how people are getting value from your product line. Your customers will tell you in DM conversations the desired outcomes they are receiving, why they purchase your products, what they desire outside of your product range (ideas for product development), their unique experiences travelling threw your sales funnel, problems they have experienced when using your product or issues they have experienced in your customer journey (fix these issues through customer support to show your high end customer support)
This type of UGC format is a little different to the typical image/video content you would normally see. It stands out from those formats and can be a great way of acquiring attention.
Another benefit to DM’s in general, is that it keeps engagement high with your followers, which in turn helps to keep you in front of more eyeballs. Be as active as possible and try to attend to DM’s as quickly as you possibly can.
Use Customer Reviews As Social Proof
Perhaps my favourite type of UGC. Using customer reviews and testimonials is a great way to sell more products. I’ve said this in the past with other content I have created…
“Nothing sells your product better than your customer”
This type of UGC is super powerful as it provides social proof and significantly increases your conversion rates throughout your sales funnel.
Imagine this…
Take a moment to picture you as the consumer. What is the one thing you checkout after the price of a product you’re interested in buying from a website? It’s most likely the customer reviews.
We’re very much influenced by how others in our “tribe” have experienced the product we’re interested in purchasing. Their experiences help us to decide whether it’s worth the investment. Whether that’s the actual product being the same as advertised, the speed of the delivery, the support they have received from the brand’s customer support team post purchase, etc.
Your goal is to create an amazing customer experience that will encourage your customers to leave reviews about the products you sell, the outcomes that are achieved and the purchasing journey from start to finish. The more satisfied customers you’ve got reviewing their experiences of your brand, the better!
Customer Interviews
This one is a little outside of the box, but definitely worth testing out. If you’ve got some brand advocates that rave about you online, why not go out of your way to actually interview these people.
This is very much like sharing a story with your audience. Who doesn’t love a good story?
You can interview them physically or on a Zoom call.
What’s the benefit you might be asking?
Well this goes back to the angle of social proof, but in a more in depth way. Customer reviews are great for showcasing peoples experience with your brand. But if you go a step further and actually interview your customers on the street or via a video Zoom
call, you get a more enhanced experience of UGC.
With interviews, you can ask your customers questions on why they like buying from your brand, what makes them purchase with you over your competitors, what they think of your new collection, what’s their favourite item that they’ve purchased from you in the past.
When prospects and existing customers see this positive exchange of conversation going on, it’s likely to engage them further and deliver more in depth value to them. Customer interviews can be as little as a 2-3 minute conversation, all the way up to 15 minutes plus. It’s good to test out different length times.
If you have interviews that are in the 15 minute range, you can always cut up specific parts of the conversation and use them in your stories and reels. Make sure these specific parts are providing value to the viewer.
You can see how valuable this type of UGC can become when you actually have a representative from your brand asking your brand advocates these questions and the positive answers you are going to receive back. This angle of social proof delivers a different type of engagement and influence. Test it for yourself and see how it resonates with your audience.
