User-Generated Content (UGC) is content – whether it is text, audio, video, or images – posted to social media or websites by users. It is different to company or brand-created material although brands can curate and repost user-generated content.
Types of User-Generated Content
Ten types of user-generated content:
- Reviews of Products
- Comments
- Photos uploaded to social media that use your business page or branded hashtag.
- Tweets to your brand or about your brand.
- Contests
- Showcase social media material about the brand or product
- Requested reviews and testimonials
Benefits of User-generated Content
UGC has the following benefits:
- Builds trust with potential customers
- Improves customer satisfaction
- Raises brand or product awareness in a wider community
- Improves brand or products SEO rankings
- Helps with website engagement
Problems of User-Generated Content
- Managing negative reviews
- Copyright when re-using posted material
- Ensuring retain authenticity
- Stopping legal and privacy issues.
Interest Examples of User-Generated Content
- Toyota leveraged UGC for their “Feeling the Streets” Facebook ad campaign and was able to increase their total ad engagement by 440%
- Tourism Queensland ran a campaign encouraging users to apply for the “best job in the world” and be a caretaker for a tropical island, with the aim to increase social activity and exposure. More than 35,000 people created video applications, resulting in $368 million worth of media coverage, 8.4 million unique website visits, and 55 million page views.
- Nike has had many great UGC campaigns. One was an app where runners could track their activity and which was linked to social media so users could share their results increasing brand visibility.
- During the Xmas season, Starbucks runs the #RedCupContest allowing its customers to share their customized coffee cups and win a Starbucks gift card.
Stats on User-Generated Content
USG has the following interesting statistics:
- 28% higher engagement rate
- 84% of millennials impacted
- 90 percent more time on websites with UGC
- 73% increase in email click-through-rates
- 79% of people say UGC highly impacts their purchasing decisions,
- 90% of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding which brands
- 50% drop in cost-per-click than average. UGC-based ads get 4x higher click-through rates and a
- 80% of brands say that their community-building efforts have resulted in increased traffic
- 88% of consumers trust online reviews written by other consumers as much as they trust recommendations from their personal contacts
- 70% of consumers will read UGC reviews or ratings before buying
- 29% increase in web conversions when websites featured user-generated content.
- 73% more positive comments with Ads featuring UGC
- 25% of search results for the biggest brands are linked to ugc
- But …. Gen Z and millennial generations watch more user-generated content than Gen X and Boomer generations.
Software to manage User-Generated Content
User-generated content (UGC) platforms help brands collect visual product or company mentions from social media and other sources to repurpose for marketing efforts,
Examples Are
