The Virtues of User Generated Content

Welcome to Monday Marketing Briefing, where the week begins with a quick jaunt through the marketing world. Stick on the kettle, grab a chair, and enjoy the latest news, insights, and opinions (all of which are my own).

Let's be honest, the comments section of social media posts has become the equivalent of the kitchen at a house party: it's the place to be, with users scrambling over one another to be heard. And just like a house party after midnight, I'm ready for a bit of peace and quiet. So I've decided to make a stealthy exit from social media to spend a bit of time with myself, far from the maddening mire of other people's opinions.

Once upon a time, however, this wasn't possible - and I've a feeling many of you will understand why. Turn the clocks back to 2014 and I was getting pinged at 3am as customers responded to an Australian client's Facebook post. Or there was 2016, when I was glued to my phone tracking every click on a particularly intriguing Twitter campaign. Or even as recently as early October this year, when I struggled to put some space between myself and Instagram while helping with the album launch.

So how can marketers get a little break from social media when it's so integral to their job? I don't have a definitive answer (sorry), but I do have some suggestions:

• Share the load with someone else on your team, splitting platforms or active hours between you
• Use a digital hygiene app to keep work and play separate, and to add quiet time
• Get a separate device loaded with marketing apps
• Automate and schedule ahead of time - there are a bunch of tools and features to help with this
• Or, as I've done, move the apps to the furthest screen so at least they're out of sight and you can limit personal consumption.

And, of course, remember to look after yourselves. The party will still be there when you've recharged.

The term 'User Generated Content' (or UGC if you're feelin' flashy) is rather self-explanatory - it describes collateral created by consumers and shared by brands. And if you've been keeping your ear to the ground in the marketing world lately, you may have heard rumblings about UGC's growing popularity.

Despite finding itself thrust into the spotlight after Zara recently incorporated customer photos into their campaigns, UGC has actually been around for a long while. In fact, this marketer's starting to wonder if everybody has collectively forgotten that UGC has been around almost as long as social media itself.

Regardless of the carbon dating results, UGC remains largely unchanged. In 2023, it's also easier than ever to incorporate into strategies, thanks to the way users and brands can share, reply, and remix content from the likes of Instagram reels and TikTok; almost everything seems primed for UGC.

If you're one of the marketers who does remember using UGC as part of Facebook campaigns back when the dinosaurs scrolled the Earth, you'll be familiar with many of the benefits on offer today - though you might also be enamoured with a few neat additions to the mix. Or, as I like to call them, the 'Virtues of UGC'. Such as...

1. Including the Community

One of my key marketing principles is that people love to be involved - it's why comments sections are so lively these days.

Consumers have always craved attention from brands. From rabid groupies to users replying to celebrities on Instagram in the hopes their comment will get pinned, consumers want to be included.

And why shouldn't they be? Not only does this build engagement, it also builds loyalty. Look at Taylor Swift as a great example. Back in the days of Tumblr's prime, Tay-Tay was chatting to her fans and making them feel included in the conversation. Fast forward to today and her army of loyalists have turned her into a billionaire and a Kingmaker - just ask Nicki Minaj.

For brands, leveraging UGC is a surefire way to let customers feel like they're part of the story - it gives them a story to tell their friends, they feel special, and they're likely to remain loyal when the competition comes calling.

2. Faster, Cheaper...Better?

We truly live in the Age of the Influencer, reflected in how much they've pumped up their prices in the last couple of years. For smaller brands and marketers with tight budgets, however, influencer marketing can be somewhat off limits.

UGC, then, is a much more affordable (i.e., free) approach to publishing influencer content - because let's be honest, your customers are the best influencers to be working with; they're the ones who will tell their friends about their purchases, and will advocate for your brand.

Aside from cost, UGC also has the benefit of being more authentic - a feature which is coveted by discerning contemporary audiences, who are rejecting the likes of greenwashing and brands paying lip service to causes they care about. And because they're already taking selfies in your brand's clothes or posting from your location, or even tagging the band in their Spotify Wrapped, user content is being generated - and becoming available - at a much faster rate than a small marketing team might be able to create a whole raft of original content.

3. A World of Opportunity

So, we know that UGC can benefit customers by making them feel included, and it can benefit brands by giving them authentic content to humanise their campaigns. But is there a way both can benefit together? Yes, in short.

UGC - and in particular, sourcing it - can open the door to a whole raft of opportunity. The kind you'll most likely be familiar with is Experiential Marketing (please never ask me to say the first word aloud; I'm trying to right now at my desk and failing). One of the greatest virtues of UGC is that it's a perfect excuse to build shareable experiences for customers, allowing them to engage with the brand in a whole new way, while also creating a bunch of content for the brand to leverage.

What's more, UGC isn't just limited to B2C marketing, inviting creative diversity into B2B campaigns as well. Think video reviews, user-generated FAQs, and guest bloggers (all great ideas from Precision Marketing Group's article on the subject) and you're on the right track to UGC success in a B2B environment.

In short, user generated content has the ability to ramp up engagement, success, and loyalty - and we live in a time when it's easier than ever to bring UGC into your campaigns, thanks to the wealth of platforms consumers are using.

If you'd like to get started with UGC and you're after some pointers, I really recommend this article from Adobe as a starting point. Good luck!

Things are looking up this week in the marketing world, with plenty of triumphs to rave about.

First up, Mattel's 'robust marketing' seems to have paid off as Barbie sales soar. Ken sales are probably still the same.

Congrats to Unilever's Esi Eggleston Bracey, who's been promoted internally to the role of Chief Growth and Marketing Officer.

And finally, Amazon has upgraded its ad suite to include AI image generation and more - much to the benefit of NBCUniversal.

TikTok has announced its 'Out of Phone, Out of Home' ad solutions for brands, taking advertising opportunities outside.

Marketers in the FMCG space might enjoy Marketing Week's read about how they can better capture audience's attention with visual excellency.

Unilever's CEO has pledged to stop 'force-fitting' purpose with their brands after stakeholders raised objections.

Join me as we take a look at the tools and tips that belong in every marketer's toolbox.

What is it? Buffer, a social media scheduling tool.

Who is it for? Marketers juggling multiple social media platforms with a packed calendar. In particular, it's useful for marketers at smaller companies, freelancers, and anyone with a restricted budget (there are paid and free versions).

Why does it belong in the toolbox? Honestly at this point a social media management/scheduling tool should be in every marketer's toolbox, but there are cases where the tool you think you should be using (I'm looking at you, HootSuite) is way out of budget and it's difficult enough to convince your colleagues you're not just scrolling LinkedIn for the fun of it. Buffer is a great tool to start with, thanks to its straight-forward usability, the variety of platforms it can schedule to, and the clarity of its layout. There are also some oft-unsung features that deserve a mention, such as the AI-powered idea generator for your posts, the customisable 'start page', or the approval functionality. Personally, I'm a big fan of being able to tag posts to track campaigns, as well as seeing the whole month's content on a dynamic calendar.

It's Halloween and I go all-out when it comes to the season. That's why we're hosting a partner-facing webinar around the frightful topic of cybersecurity (complete with the spookiest slide deck you've ever seen), supporting on our security team's themed Lunch & Learn, and doing many fun things with the phrase 'zombie accounts'.

Thanks for tuning in and have a great week!