In the digital era, quality content has value and demand. User-generated content is one such type that has been highly popular among businesses and customers. Some examples include short reels on Instagram or detailed YouTube videos. Mostly created by customers, user-generated content strategy is one of the most sought-after by businesses to tell engaging stories and connect with their customers. Let’s learn more about this and why it is so indispensable for marketers in this blog.
Before we dive in, let’s understand what UGC is all about. They are organic content created by customers who are not part of your brand. These contents are shared by the people who created them or through a paid partnership program where the influencers create it on behalf of the brand.
Despite its popularity, user-generated content has been around since the 1990s, back when social media and influencers didn’t exist. Initially, it appeared as electronic bulletin boards and some of these were eventually converted into websites, with one such being the IMDB. However, with the rise and popularity of the world wide web and the Internet, user-generated content focused on websites. This led to the creation of popular websites, including Wikipedia, Flickr, etc. However, most of those contents were texts. Videos, especially the user-generated ones, were popularized by YouTube in 2005.
Now that we know the history, let’s learn how UGC fares today. Most of the B2B & B2C businesses are adopting UGC marketing. According to Grand View Research, the global UGC platform market size was valued at USD 4.4 billion in 2022 and is projected to achieve a substantial growth of 29.4% from 2023 to 2030.
Source: Wiser Notify
From the above image, it is pretty much clear why is UGC important. Since users are the ones creating it, they are more authentic, and it isn’t fabricated by any means. It essentially acts as a word-of-mouth strategy that brings in customers organically. With that said, let’s understand the importance of this unique strategy.
When buying a product for the first time, people always have hesitations and often look for validation even after watching reviews, going through promotions, etc. This is where user-generated content is crucial. If an existing person uses the product and shares an authentic experience, newer customers are more likely to trust it and make the purchase.
Posting user-generated content on your social media channels drastically increases brand awareness. Contents like these make customers genuinely excited, and they engage by sharing their authentic experience about your brand’s specific product/service and sharing it with maximum people.
The thing about a user-generated content strategy is its freshness and variety. UGC can be created in different forms, such as social media posts, testimonials, blogs, memes, GIFs, and so many other variations. Due to this fact, when brands utilize UGC, it helps showcase their unique engagement method.
To understand user-generated content clearly, we have curated some well-known examples you all might be familiar with. Let’s explore those and see how these brands achieved tremendous success through these user-generated content examples.
When users vouch for your product by creating their user-generated content strategy, nothing beats that. Apple thought about this in 2015 and launched a brilliant campaign that still exists today, the famous “ShotOniPhone”. The campaign was all about regular people and photography enthusiasts clicking low-light shots and videos with their iPhones and sharing them on social media.
Not only were these content spotlighted under the “Shot on iPhone” banner, but it made customers feel special when their photos became Apple’s global ads. This UGC marketing campaign brought immense success for Apple in terms of sales, brand loyalty, and customer engagement.
Netflix is now a household name when it comes to streaming original TV shows and movies. One of their User-generated content strategy for promoting upcoming movies or web series is by encouraging users to create a post about their favourite movie/show and share it using hashtags related to the titles of these shows. An approach like this generates curiosity among users who happen to visit Netflix’s official webpage. In case you didn’t know, this worked for the second season of Stranger Things in 2017, where it generated nearly 2 million Instagram posts with the hashtag #strangerthings2.
The benefits offered by user-generated content are immense. It is no wonder that many users and brands are utilising it to their fullest. So, what are these benefits? Let’s learn what they truly offer:
Trust is one of the most critical factors every brand must ensure with their customers. People always choose brands they trust and believe in. With UGC in digital marketing, it makes brands easier to show proof of trust instead of repeatedly talking about themselves. Collaborating with real people who can share their first-hand experience on a particular product or the brand itself generates positive results.
One of the major reasons why users trust brands is because of UGC. Apart from the usual marketing tactics brands use, user-generated content is mostly created by outside people who often give people a real review or experience that feels authentic. This makes newer people invest in this brand or share their stories with others, making it one of the top benefits of user-generated content.
UGC in digital marketing ad campaigns tend to get higher click-through rates. Since user-generated contents are appreciated by most people, whenever they see such content from your brand on their social media feed, the chances of them clicking and interacting with your brand are higher. That’s why CTR is important—a higher click-through rate means better engagement and more visibility for your campaigns.
The more customers interact with user-generated content, the higher the conversion rates. As UGC often delivers trust and authenticity, it provides social proof, thereby minimizing the user’s perceived risks. Also, the content is mostly real-life experiences and perspectives, this builds credibility that encourages hesitant buyers to convert and make a purchase. In other words, UGC humanizes the brand and creates a trustworthy shopping experience.
UGC in digital marketing is highly effective and offers substantial brand growth in the long run. Being created by users, this content often has a high degree of trust and credibility among newer customers. Due to this, utilizing them as part of your digital marketing strategy greatly benefits your brand and helps get loyal customers. Getting in touch with a well-renowned digital marketing company in UAE helps you get started with the process and, in turn, grow your business.
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