USER GENERATED CONTENT: HOW TO NOT RUIN IT?

What is user-generated content?

Ultimately it all comes down to how your business is being perceived by the consumers. How they liked it is going to decide whether the products and services you are offering will do well in the market. 

Realizing the importance of ensuring a good customer experience has led to businesses adopting customer-centric digital marketing techniques. The goal to ensure customers get what they are looking for in a quick and easy manner and stay loyal to the business led to personalization. The same customer-centric approach has now given way to a new trend- User-generated content. A digital extension of word of mouth, user-generated content in the form of pieces created by the consumers, which promote a brand without brands having to reach out to customers to do so. 

Take, for instance, the famous ShareACoke campaign by Coca Cola or Speak the truth in #myCalvins, the I ___ in my Calvins campaign by Calvin Klein. Both the campaigns went extraordinarily viral and the brands saw a massive increase in sales with this marketing strategy.  

Consumers are tired of being fed ads because no matter how authentic the brand's message looks, knowing that it is ultimately a business trying to make money out of it takes the authenticity out of it. 

Too much self-promotion would lead to consumer unfollowing them- 45% agreed on this. 

The audience is looking for originality - a human element that makes them relatable and relevant to the brand. UGC helps in making that impact. 

90% of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding which brands they like and support (up from 86% in 2017).

• Seeing a fellow consumer vouching for the brand's products and services strengthens the audience's belief in the brand. 
• UGC is an excellent way of starting a conversation by addressing a common concern and boosting engagement. This then further enhances brand awareness and increases the count of followers and consumer base. 

UGC alone helped Toyota increase their Facebook ad engagement by 440%?

• UGC strategy, when executed correctly, can help boost a brand's credibility. When judiciously utilizing search engine optimization and social media marketing, a positive UGC can help boost a brand's visibility and generate online traffic. 
• UGC acts as proof that your product and services are worth investing time and money in. Evidence that the product is serving its purpose peaks customer interest in it.
• UGC is a cost-effective way of gathering information on the customers and using the same to create a campaign that will spread the message of the brand across. 
• Consumer advocating for the brand, will strengthen the credibility and result in increased conversions. 
• UGC also makes for one of the easiest and efficient ways to collect and access content, which can be repurposed for different marketing techniques. This increases the probability of engagement. 

A UGC can be anything from feedback, guest posts, testimonials, content to a forum post. Your brand can use these pieces in the form of content for marketing and brand promotion. But just like any other marketing strategy, you need to find a way to effectively execute it in a manner that encourages customers to create their content around it. To help you with successful UGC implementation, I have listed a few dos and don'ts that you need to be mindful of with UGC: 

There are many ways to execute a User-generated content strategy effectively. Using social media platform judiciously to start a hashtag or run a photo contest, reaching out to industry influencer. But equal are the chances of you going wrong with it. Make it a point to not make the following mistakes when devising and implementing a UGC: 

• Not seeking permission: 

Never overlook the contribution and distribution rights in the terms and conditions of the campaign. You can not just publish a user's content without their permission unless they send it to you voluntarily. Be clear that you are going to repurpose their images/content as a part of your User-generated campaign. This will save you from any worries of landing in a legal battle with the owner of the content. Have a stringent privacy policy in place and respect User's privacy. 

• Not monitoring and moderating the content

Unless you want the campaign to become a PR nightmare that haunts your business like we have seen many in the past, it would be in your best interest to periodically monitor the content and moderate it to avoid any embarrassing situation. Overseeing the campaign so that it does not turn offensive on any level is important to keep your business's reputation intact. 

• Poorly edited content

Nothing irks the users as a poorly edited content circulating on social media platforms. All it will take is a minor spelling mistake or typo to turn your campaign into fodder for the trolls, and no business wants that. Likewise, a content that has been edited with the intent to glorify the User's experience might turn people against you and questioning your business ethics.  

• Not monitoring the comment section

Do brands think what harm a comment section can do to their business's reputation? But you need to understand that users utilize comment section to share their experience with the product. But being an open platform, you can expect nasty comments, which should be immediately taken care of. Comment moderation necessary to keep the trollers and spam away, which does not mean deleting the bad experiences shared by customers. 

• Not engaging in conversation

After all, you are doing this for the User and are using their content to spread the word about your brand. Not engaging in a conversation will make you look like your only goal is expanding the base. Remember, User-generated content humanizes the brand, and engaging customers with the conversation will help in affirming it. Reply to feedback, address issues, and try to resolve them quickly. Healthy conversations will pave the way for customer's engagement and loyalty. 

A brand inspiring the consumer is the foundation of a successful UGC. Humanize your brand and make it relevant with an effective User Generated Content!

Share your thoughts on UGC in the comments!