The 10 Commandments for UGC

User-generated content (UGC) is a marketing strategy where brands leverage photo, video and written content created by their customers to help achieve business objectives. Brand marketers are continuously allocating budgets toward UGC, which has been accelerated by the consumer demand for real customer voices and the popularity of platforms touting authentic content, like TikTok and its unique algorithm. As one of the most powerful content marketing strategies, I believe UGC will continue to gain momentum in the coming years. But knowing where to start and how to implement a successful UGC strategy can be challenging.

At TERRITORY Influence, we have created successful UGC programs for local and international CPG brands for many years. In 2022 alone, our social media marketing experts motivated more than 625k consumers to publish credible online recommendations for more than 770 brands. In this article, I'd like to share some important takeaways we've learned along the way.

Benefits Of UGC

Relevant, authentic and credible UGC offers brands a fantastic opportunity to engage with loyal shoppers, enhance users' experiences and attract new customers. Leveraging UGC can also provide an affordable, efficient option for brands to drive customer acquisition, retention and conversions across brick-and-mortar retail and online channels. According to a?study among 2,042 U.S., U.K. and Australian shoppers, 79% of respondents said UGC impacts their purchasing decisions. The same report found that 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase a product online if the website features photos and videos from real customers.

With the benefits of UGC being clear, let's review how brands can develop their UGC content marketing strategy from planning and sourcing all the way to implementation and measurement.

10 Steps To Leverage UGC For Your Brand

Step 1: Make sure the team has an understanding of your brand.

Before you start implementing UGC, it is essential to identify your business objectives, goals and target audience. Understanding your brand's tone and style is also critical. These important assets will help you as you identify the most appropriate platforms and channels to source and curate UGC.

Step 2: Define content requirements.

Break down the type of content you'll require in your UGC strategy that's in line with your brand objectives, past content performance and audience preferences. Did product reviews, recommendations or unboxing content perform better in the past? Will you require more?video, photo or text content? And on which channels do you want to leverage UGC?

Step 3: Set measurable goals.

Identify what you want to achieve with your UGC marketing strategy. For example, are you looking to increase brand awareness? Drive engagement? Boost sales? Make sure your goals are specific, measurable and time-bound.

Step 4: Identify UGC sources.

There are essentially two main approaches to consider from a content-sourcing perspective:

? Monitor social media channels and hashtags relevant to your brand and reach out to creators for permission to use their content. In my experience, most consumers are happy to agree for their content to be reused by the brand they love and will even tell all their friends about it.

? Proactively boost UGC by creating incentives for consumers to share their actual experiences using your product or service. One way you could do this organically is by running a user-generated contest on social media.

Step 5: Curate UGC.

Once you have identified UGC opportunities, it's essential to curate the content carefully. Choose content that aligns with your brand's values, message and style. Ensure that the content is high-quality, authentic and complies with relevant?legal requirements, such as usage rights.

Step 6: Leverage UGC.

Once you have curated your UGC content, it's time to leverage it across your marketing channels. You can use UGC to create social media posts, website banners, email marketing campaigns, in-store displays and more. Ensure that you provide proper attribution to the content creators and comply with legal requirements.

Step 7: Engage with your community.

Engaging with your community is critical for the success of your UGC strategy. Responding to comments and messages showcasing user-generated content and providing feedback will help foster a strong brand community and encourage further UGC creation.

Step 8: Evaluate content performance.

To evaluate the performance of your UGC marketing strategy, you need to track and measure key performance indicators (KPIs) such as engagement rates, reach, impressions, conversions or revenue generated. Engagement metrics such as likes, comments, shares and clicks provide a good idea of how your UGC is performing.

Step 9: Analyze, learn, improve.

Use analytics tools to track the reach and engagement of your UGC across different channels to see how they evolve over time. Learn by the best and worst performing content and adjust your content requirements, sourcing and distribution strategies accordingly.

Step 10: Repeat.

UGC marketing is not a one-trick pony and requires ongoing investments and improvements to deliver real business impact.

Summary & Conclusions

Implementing a successful UGC strategy requires careful planning, curation and implementation. By identifying UGC opportunities, curating high-quality content and leveraging it across your marketing channels, you can drive customer engagement, loyalty and conversion. Remember, the key to success is engaging with your community and valuing your brand lovers and content creators.