Crowdsourced content: A smart, budget-friendly strategy for B2B and B2B2C Marketing

1. Introduction to crowdsourced content

Crowdsourced content is an effective and budget-conscious strategy that allows businesses to create valuable, diverse content by leveraging the contributions of customers, employees, and subject matter experts.

This approach helps companies optimise their marketing efforts. While every company may benefit from this strategy, it is especially relevant when financial resources are limited.

How does it work?

• Identify target groups (customers, employees, experts) who can contribute.
• Use platforms (social media, surveys, email) to solicit contributions.
• Align crowdsourcing efforts with overall marketing goals to ensure relevance.
• Ensure a professional review of the outcomes by your (internal or external) content manager to guarantee tone, style and cohesiveness with your corporate communication standards.

2. The benefits of crowdsourcing content

Crowdsourced content provides numerous advantages, such as:

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2.1 Cost-effectiveness

Crowdsourcing helps businesses reduce their content creation expenses by drawing on external contributions instead of relying solely on internal resources or expensive copy-writers. However, you don’t want to miss your key copy-writers to coordinate and control the crowdsourced content!

• Select and keep your best copy-writer and content manager, while reducing the number of expensive content agencies, and draft a user-generated content plan.
• Create campaigns asking for testimonials, user stories, or reviews.
• Offer rewards like recognition or exclusive offers for participation.

2.2 Authenticity and engagement

Content generated by real users or subject matter experts brings a level of authenticity and deep technical and scientific knowledge into your pubblications, that resonates strongly with audiences, fostering deeper engagement.

• Ask customers to share their experiences or case studies.
• Involve and incentivise your subject matter experts to share their deep know-how
• Develop user-generated content campaigns with clear calls to action.
• Encourage honest and transparent contributions to build trust.

2.3 Diversity of perspectives

Tapping into the knowledge, expertise and real-life experience of a broad pool of contributors allows businesses to incorporate different viewpoints, resulting in richer content.

• Create expert roundups inviting in-house and external industry leaders.
• Ask for feedback from different market segments to reflect diverse needs.
• Feature success stories from various business verticals.

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2.4 Fostering community engagement

Involving your audience and stakeholders in the content creation process can foster a sense of belonging and community around your brand.

• Engage your community with participatory campaigns (e.g. hashtag challenges).
• Build long-term relationships by giving contributors recognition.
• Organise events or webinars where contributors are highlighted.

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3. Strategies for implementing crowdsourced content

To make crowdsourcing work effectively in B2B and B2B2C marketing, businesses can use several tried-and-tested strategies that maximise participation and value.

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3.1 User-generated content campaigns

Harness the knowledge, creativity and experiences of your audience to produce relatable, impactful content.

• Launch social media contests encouraging users to share product or service stories.
• Create specific hashtags to track user-generated content submissions.
• Feature top contributions on your website or in marketing campaigns.

3.2 Expert roundups

Gather insights from respected industry leaders to create authoritative, valuable content.

• Pose a thought-provoking question to a group of experts.
• Compile their answers into a roundup post, article or whitepaper.
• Promote the content through each expert’s network for wider reach.

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3.3 Customer advisory boards

Leverage your most engaged customers to provide feedback and generate content ideas.

• Select key customers to join a regular advisory panel.
• Ask for input on industry trends, product or service use cases.
• Include their insights in your blog posts or newsletters.

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3.4 Employee-generated content

Your employees are a wealth of knowledge. Invite them to share their expertise and behind-the-scenes insights.

• Encourage staff to write blog posts on industry challenges and solutions.
• Highlight different departments in social media series (e.g., "Day in the Life").
• Use employee testimonials or personal stories to humanise your brand.
• Produce these contents in various formats (text, infographics, audio and video), for higher impact.

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3.5 Collaborative whitepapers

Collaborate with in-house and external industry and subject matter experts, clients, or partners to produce comprehensive whitepapers.

• Define the project roadmap, goals and pool of contributors
• Divide the whitepaper into sections and invite experts to contribute, each on their topic of expertise.
• Provide co-marketing opportunities for participants to share the final product.
• Use the whitepaper as gated content to capture leads.

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4. Best practices for effective crowdsourced content projects

For crowdsourced content to be successful, businesses must provide clear direction, maintain quality, and ensure the legal and logistical aspects are managed smoothly. Experienced copy-writers and project managers are fundamental, to ensure good, authentic and authoritative outcomes.

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4.1 Clear guidelines and instructions

Set clear expectations for contributors to ensure content aligns with your brand's standards.

• Provide all stakeholders with your corporate branding style and the project roadmap.
• Set deadlines and communicate how content will be used.
• Offer templates or examples to guide contributions.

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4.2 Offering incentives

Incentives encourage higher-quality contributions and increase participation.

• Offer recognition, social media shoutouts, or feature contributors in company materials.
• Provide early access to products or services, special discounts, or exclusive content.
• Consider monetary rewards, scientific/technical advantages or in-kind compensations (e.g. access to proprietary data or knowledge, use of equipment or facilities, cost-paid participation in events) for high-value contributions (e.g., expert input).

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4.3 Ensuring quality control

Establish a review process by peers and your expert copy-writer to ensure all content aligns with brand standards and adds value.

• Set up an editorial team (including subject matter experts and your trusted copy-writers) to vet and edit submissions before publishing.
• Use a style guide to ensure consistency across different contributions.
• Provide feedback to contributors to improve future submissions.

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4.4 Legal considerations

Ensure that all contributors understand how their work will be used and that proper permissions are obtained.

• Use clear terms of use for content submission.
• Obtain signed permissions or agreements from contributors for the use of their contributions, personal data and image, where necessary.
• Ensure compliance with copyright and intellectual property laws.

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4.5 Establishing a feedback loop

Providing feedback and showcasing contributors' work enhances engagement and encourages future participation.

• Share the outcome (links, etc.) with all contributors.
• Thank contributors and let them know how their input was valuable.
• Offer constructive feedback where needed to improve future content.
• Feature top contributors in newsletters or blog posts.

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5. Measuring success of crowdsourced content campaigns

To track the impact of crowdsourced content, businesses need to monitor several key metrics that indicate engagement, reach, and ROI.

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5.1 Engagement and reach metrics

Measure the effectiveness of your crowdsourced content by analysing audience engagement.

• Track social media interactions such as likes, shares, and comments.
• Use analytics tools to measure website traffic generated by crowdsourced content.
• Assess the number of new followers or subscribers gained through these campaigns.

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5.2 Lead generation and conversion

Determine the success of content in driving business goals by monitoring leads and conversions.

• Monitor the number of leads generated from articles, whitepapers, blog posts, or testimonials.
• Track conversion rates from those leads to actual sales.
• Use landing page analytics to assess content performance.

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5.3 Website traffic and SEO

Crowdsourced content often boosts organic search performance and brings in new visitors.

• Track increases in website traffic from blog posts, reviews, or case studies.
• Monitor inbound links to your site from contributors’ networks.

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5.4 Cost savings analysis

Evaluate the financial impact of crowdsourced content versus traditional content creation.

• Compare the cost of external content creation with crowdsourced alternatives.
• Track the ROI by assessing content reach, lead generation, and sales impact.
• Compare and analyse the reduction in production time and effort for your internal teams and external agencies used in the past.

6. Real-world examples of successful crowdsourced content

Several companies have successfully implemented crowdsourced content strategies to enhance their marketing efforts.

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LinkedIn’s user-generated professional content

#LinkedIn harnesses the collective expertise of millions of professionals worldwide by encouraging them to share posts, articles, and insights on its platform.

Users contribute content by posting about industry trends, personal career experiences, and professional advice.

This vast repository of user-generated organic content enhances LinkedIn’s value as a knowledge-sharing hub, benefiting both individuals and organizations looking for insights and connections in various fields.

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ProPublica’s crowdsourced investigations

#ProPublica effectively crowdsourced contributions from its audience to gather valuable data for its investigative journalism efforts. This participatory approach resulted in detailed reports that resonated with the public.

ProPublica encouraged readers to share their personal experiences on specific issues.

The data collected formed the backbone of many successful stories.

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The Guardian’s open journalism model

#TheGuardian has embraced an open journalism model where readers contribute content and ideas, fostering engagement and adding fresh perspectives to their reporting.

Readers are invited to provide insights, tips, and story ideas.

The Guardian uses this input to expand its coverage and engage a broader audience.

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HubSpot’s content creation challenges

#HubSpot regularly runs content challenges, inviting its users to share marketing tips, strategies, and insights, which are then featured across the company’s content platforms.

Users contribute by sharing personal experiences with HubSpot tools.

HubSpot features top contributions, providing visibility and recognition to its community.

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Waze’s community-driven navigation

Waze, a GPS navigation app, leverages real-time user data to optimize routes and alert drivers to hazards, traffic, and road closures. Users provide live updates about traffic conditions, accidents, and speed traps. #Waze integrates this crowdsourced data into its system to improve navigation accuracy for all users.

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LEGO ideas platform

LEGO's ideas platform invites fans to submit their own designs for potential new sets, which are then voted on by the community. Fans submit original #LEGO designs, and if a project gains enough votes, it is considered for production. LEGO has released several sets created through this platform, rewarding the designers with royalties and recognition.

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Duolingo’s language incubator

#Duolingo crowdsources course creation by allowing native speakers to contribute to building new language courses. Volunteers help design and refine courses in less common languages. This model has enabled Duolingo to expand its language offerings rapidly, reaching more users worldwide.

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Threadless community-driven designs

#Threadless online clothing retailer, relies on its community to submit and vote on T-shirt designs. Winning designs are produced and sold on the platform. Artists submit designs, and the community votes on their favourites. Top-rated designs are turned into products, with the artist receiving a share of the profits.

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7. Conclusion and key takeaways

Crowdsourcing content offers a smart, budget-conscious solution for businesses in B2B and B2B2C sectors.

By tapping into the collective knowledge of customers, employees, and industry experts, companies can create rich, authentic content that drives engagement and fosters community, all while reducing (or controlling) costs.

Implementing effective strategies, ensuring quality, and tracking success metrics are key to revealing the full potential of this practical approach.

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Key takeaways and future of crowdsourced content

• Leverage internal and external contributors to reduce content creation costs.
• Enhance authenticity and engagement through expert- and user-generated content.
• Broaden content perspectives by incorporating diverse voices.
• Strengthen community ties by involving stakeholders from different departments, external partners and customers in the process.

Sources and recommended reading

• FIPP - Crowdsourcing in Media by FIPP, 22 March 2021. https://www.fipp.com/news/crowdsourcing-the-guardian-propublica-vox-media/
• Crowdsourcing Content Creation by HubSpot, HubSpot Blog, 18 June 2020. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/crowdsource-content-creation
• Crowdsourcing for Content Marketing by Redbooth, Redbooth, 12 April 2022. https://redbooth.com/hub/crowdsourcing-for-content-marketing/

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