Ugc content what. How to work with user-generated content and why it stays relevant
Did you know that almost any resource consists of approximately 25% user-generated content? Whether it's a news portal, a scientific community, a humorous public or even an online store. We are used to absorbing information in a complex way, often without thinking about what exactly is on it. this moment read. However, if you look closely at online materials and try to classify them, you will notice that a large part was created by the audience. By the way, holivar in the comments that you scroll for the second hour, fervently supporting one of the sides - this is also an element user-generated content (UGC).
Pros and cons of UGC
Advanced marketers realized back in the 20th century that an ordinary representative of the target audience would become interested in a particular product much faster if he heard about it. positive reviews or somehow finds out that his opinion is important for manufacturers. With the advent of the Internet in every home, producing UGC has become a hundred times easier. Now everyone can participate in the life of a loved one trademark, magazine or TV project without getting up from your chair. Thus, people have the opportunity at the same time to amuse their vanity, and to render a service to manufacturers. And, since there are a lot of such applicants, the resource fills up by itself.
It should be noted that the presence of user-generated content is no longer a pleasant addition to an advertising campaign, but rather a necessity. If it turns out that there are no visitors on your site and they do not write anything, how potential clients will they believe you? Where is the evidence that you are an honest specialist, and not just another scammer? Why should they choose you if there is no evidence that your product is better than the competition?
The importance of UGC is hard to overestimate. However, oddly enough, it also has its downsides. One of the drawbacks that often worries site owners is that it's not the most aesthetically pleasing shape. Indeed, your readers are not specialists, not professional photographers and not clip makers, so their work may be of average quality. But that's the whole point. Perfect user-generated content immediately leads to thoughts of fakeness. And something that's done simple but heartfelt sure to resonate with the average reader.
User Content Types
You should decide which UGC will be needed to move the project forward. To do this, you need to understand its types. Start doing it right now!
1. Comments.
The holivars mentioned above are, in fact, very important element the popularity of a particular resource, especially if it is news or journalistic. And even though they look like a waste of time to many, the opportunity to enter into a debate with someone attracts a decent part of the audience. Encourage your readers to comment on content. Leave a column with an invitation to discussion under each update. This way you will be able to interest people who like to express their opinions and argue. There are many, you can be sure.
2. Reviews.
If you're selling something online, testimonials are a must have. No one wants to buy the product first. It is important for everyone to know that someone has already purchased it and was satisfied with the price-quality ratio. People tend to trust their own kind more than marketers who lure buyers with beautiful descriptions. So take care of every review. Collect them, arrange them, proudly post them on social networks. Remember to ask the audience for feedback. And do it often - the public is forgetful, you know.
Photo and video reviews are also a kind of reviews, only even more powerful. Everyone understands at the edge of consciousness that verbal messages can be faked, unlike visual evidence, where you can’t hide poor quality, weak functionality or poor design. Many companies specifically pay vloggers to make “what’s in my bag” videos. It will be very cool if you manage to get at least one video with a response. To do this, you can even announce a competition and draw prizes between those who take part.
3. Competitive content.
By the way, about competitions. Very often, young and not so young resources offer the public to come up with a slogan, name or logo for a fee. To some, this may seem too immodest. They say that copywriters and logomakers take huge fees for similar projects, but here a similar job is offered for a symbolic gift. However, there are those who wish. I personally know a designer who got his fill by drawing avatars for free for various communities.
4. Photo and video.
This is not exactly the same as the reviews with the photo. The latter is a purely utilitarian thing, the purpose of which is to demonstrate the functionality of the product as much as possible. Artistic photos are designed to draw the viewer's attention to the beauty of the subject. Look at how many interesting pictures with cups from Starbucks are on Instagram. But this is how you can present any brand, and yours is no exception.
5. The rest of the creative.
This includes everything that is difficult to describe in one or two paragraphs. It can be absolutely any atypical content. What it will be depends only on your imagination and on the creative abilities of your audience. The most banal example is the “Why we love Xiaomi” events, where people talk about the advantages of this smartphone model in short videos. You can come up with something radically new, different from others. Don't be afraid to experiment.
(abbreviated CC or in Russian User Content) are modifications, files and items for the game created by third-party users / players / fans, that is, NOT an official developer of Electronic Arts. User content means any third-party mods, skins, items for the purchase and construction mode, repaints, default replacements, textures (patterns) and much, much more. Such content is also created in third-party utilities developed by The Sims fans. You always install user content into the game at your own peril and risk, since you cannot be sure of its quality and stable performance. Sometimes it just has to do with low level performance, sometimes depends on the program in which the thing or mod was created, and sometimes on the version of the game, the engine and its “perception” of third-party files in general. There are situations when things of different people or even works of the same person from different sets cause conflicts between themselves.
People who create user-generated content are most commonly referred to as creators (creators), makers, or modders. Hence the name of the very process of creating SS - creation, maker, modding.
User Content in The Sims
User Content in The Sims 2
User Content in The Sims 3
User Content in The Sims 4
The main categories of CC in all parts of The Sims:
- Ready Sims (Characters)
- Clothing and footwear
- Accessories (earrings, glasses, bracelets, rings, pendants, bags, scarves, etc.)
- hairstyles
- Genetics (skintones, eyes, eyebrows, etc.)
- Cosmetics (lipstick, shadows, eyeliner, blush, makeup, etc.)
- Repaints and patterns (a category of recolors for in-game items or texture samples in the Sims 3 game)
- Objects for shopping mode ( cushioned furniture, cabinets and tables, decor, objects, lighting, household equipment, plumbing, electronics, etc.)
- Build mode objects (windows, doors, doorways, floors and wallpaper, columns, fences, soil, trees and greenery for the garden, stairs, roofs, awnings, etc.)
- Finished lots and districts (community lots, residential lots, finished houses, new cities and districts, etc.)
- Hacks and mods (poses and emotes for sims, animations, new careers, global mods that change gameplay, new traits, new food in recipes, new functional additions, default replacements, graphics mods, etc.)
Works created without the use of User Content are usually marked with , which literally means no Custom Content. Such examples include a residential building, in which only initially game objects are involved. Creations of such a plan are very much appreciated, because they work for almost any player, do not require downloading unnecessary unknown files, and behave in the most stable way.
Sometimes each of us needs a muse to start moving forward. We have prepared for you an adapted translation of the article by Amy Milwood from the Yotpo agency with 8 examples of advertising campaigns created using user-generated content and a few tips on how to replicate such success.
By using user-generated content, you will not only increase consumer loyalty, but also become the subject of word-of-mouth marketing.
How to encourage users to create content? And most importantly - what to do after it is created? How to distribute it to other potential users?
The following few examples will give you new ideas for launching user-generated content campaigns and help improve the bottom line.
Ideas for crowdsourcing (on the example of Lay's)
As part of Lay's "Do Us A Flavor" campaign, customers were invited to come up with their own flavors and then let fans of the brand vote for their favorite new items. The winner of this user-generated content campaign was offered a very attractive prize. Lay's promised to pay one million dollars for the top three flavors.
A huge number of participants gathered (to be more precise, 3.8 million applications were submitted). Lay's went further: having selected the top three flavors, the organizers invited users to choose the winner themselves by voting for it on Facebook and Twitter.
Users were well motivated in this epic campaign, and as a result, companies of all sizes can learn some valuable content advertising tips.
- Allow users to be creative, give them the opportunity to create unlimitedly, enjoying the creation of content.
- Make your content really interesting: let the share counter go off scale! People love to share with others what they like.
- Extend the duration of user engagement: invite them to participate in the process at several stages in a row, fueling interest in the brand. For example, Lay's asked customers to come up with content, vote for it, and then share it on social media. The more steps a user has to participate in, the more likely they are to stay in the process.
Brand philosophy as a way of life for users (on the example of Lululemon)
The brand Lululemon selling sportswear and yoga clothes, a huge and loyal audience. They were able to wisely use this advantage in their campaign. #theweatlife.
Using their Instagram profile as a starting point, they asked users to tweet or post an Instagram photo of them exercising or just moving around in Lululemon. The hashtag #thesweatlife must be included in the application.
This campaign became successful due to the fact that the organizers emphasized the lifestyle approach: the main advertising message here is to be active with us. For the main core of the audience, such content is not advertising, but a way of life. So, for example, users were happy to publish photos where they demonstrated not only the products of the brand, but also an emotional connection with it.
By launching ads featuring user-taken photos, Lululemon ran one of its most successful campaigns to date. social campaigns. The Lululemon website has a separate tab with user photos, now a potential buyer can view them if he wants. In addition, the gallery can act as a visual bait, showing the customer what the product looks like in motion. And if you click on the photo itself, the site, using hashtags, will direct you to the page with the brand's products, where you can immediately buy them. This makes the buying process much easier.
There are many more examples of how brands implement a lifestyle approach, and this technique works great.
- To touch the user's emotional connection with the product, launch campaigns that focus not only on the product itself, but also on the brand philosophy.
- Encourage fans of your brand to post photos and reward them publicly with gifts for using your products.
- Create a couple of campaigns with catchy hashtags that showcase your brand philosophy.
- Make it easier for the customer to purchase the product directly through user-generated content.
Use funny and useful content (using the example of Lowe's)
In just six seconds, Lowe's perfectly demonstrates the creativity of customers. Lowe's launched a social media campaign called "Fix in Six" in which users filmed and posted vines - six-second videos.
According to news site AdWeek, of all marketers, Lowe's employees have found the best use for short-format videos.
The vines proved to be really popular and helped Lowe's to refresh the brand and attract the attention of a younger generation of buyers. In the Fix in Six campaign, users filmed six-second stop-motion videos demonstrating how they can quickly and easily improve their home decor.
The videos they shot were informative and creative in equal measure, helpful and a bit silly, giving users a fresh look at the old brand.
When it comes to a user-generated content campaign, it's incredibly important that it be implemented on a specific social platform: Lowe's did an excellent job of this.
- Experiment with new social networks to reach new new audiences.
- Turn on creative thinking to show your brand to users from a new side. This way they will keep their interest longer.
- If you want to collect new fans, look on the resources that they use.
- Useful - not necessarily boring. Be sure to think about how to create a campaign with engaging and valuable content.
Grow your fan base with real-time advertising campaigns (using Old Spice as an example)
Old Spice launched a user-generated content campaign that evolved in real time. This happened after Isaiah Mustafa, now known as “The Man Who Smells Like a Real Man,” became the face of the brand.
Users' attention was captured by provocative descriptions and eccentric commercials. Further, the campaign developed on the basis of user-generated materials, the hero of which was exclusively Mustafa.
The members of the Old Spice team were able to respond to user requests as quickly as possible, which provoked the fastest growth in the popularity of the brand on social networks in a short period of time.
- Don't be afraid to step away ready plan. If there's something in your customer acquisition strategy that deserves attention and piques their interest, go for it.
- Find ways to get customers to dive deeper into the world of your brand and keep that connection constant by answering their questions quickly and personalizing each one.
- Respond to users on social media in real time to show that you are really discussing the campaign, and not just waiting for user reactions to it in order to continue promoting the product.
Personalize like Coca-Cola
As a result, thousands of people printed personal messages on bottles (birthday greetings, marriage proposals). This campaign has filled the lives of thousands of people with positivity and reminded them of their love for the Coca-Cola brand.
Users participated in the campaign virtually, they had many opportunities to share the material, but at the same time they also had a real product as a reward for their efforts on social networks.
- Simple campaigns with a positive attitude are incredibly powerful.
- Campaigns that involve many people naturally spread around the world.
- Create a platform for your product where users can see it in action and smile or connect with brand fans.
- You should not thank the user solely with coupons or posting their photos on your site. Think about why and how you can give them your product.
Release fun seasonal content (using T-Mobile as an example)
One of the most unusual campaigns is T-Mobile's breakup letter. “What is special about her?” - you ask.
T-Mobile has made it easy for its competitors' customers to "break off" relationships with mobile operators. The organizers of the action suggested that everyone who wants to go to their service pay a commission for them for a unilateral termination of the contract with the old operator, and at the same time describe the reasons for dissatisfaction.
What is the result of the campaign? It's really amazing: 80,000 people posted a breakup letter! T-Mobile not only found an original way to attract new customers, but also gained valuable knowledge about what their customers really want.
- Think about how you can connect a user-generated content campaign and storytelling to your brand. Such campaigns are The best way learn all about the needs of customers directly from the mouth.
Cavendish Hotel and #ValentineVine
The hotel chain Cavendish Hotels launched a competition in which they invited participants to rent a romantic vine. As a result of the competition, the winner was promised a free stay in one of the hotels.
Campaign from Cavendish Hotels is another great example how well the visualization of goods and services in social networks works. In addition, the prize offered was relevant to the needs of the audience filming the vines. This feature is what made the campaign such a big success.
The hotel chain Cavendish Hotels was one of the first to use vines in its activities to promote the brand. They managed to combine running a contest and promoting their brand through simple short-form videos.
- Don't be afraid to experiment. The hotel chain has clearly demonstrated the success of someone who is not afraid of experiments. They hoped for the success of the new social platform, launched an original campaign and did not fail.
A contribution to greatness from Pizza Hut
Another great hashtag campaign #CommitToGreatness(literally - "Contribution to greatness") in honor of St. Valentine's Day was held by Pizza Hut.
They created a dedicated OKCupid profile on Instagram and Vine and asked their clients to propose to them on the networks.
Turning to your regular customers In a fun, intimate way, the pizzeria has managed to spread the holiday spirit among a huge number of people and get a lot of natural responses from those who love their pizza.
Images and videos are a great way to launch a fast and powerful campaign. So Pizza Hut easily found a lot of participants for their campaign by simply asking them to take and post their photos and videos.
- Visual content is the type of user-generated content that never goes out of style. Campaigns that focus on photos and videos quickly resonate with users and remain in their memory and soul for a long time.
How best to use user-generated content
Now let's discuss how best to use user-generated content to get the most response and the best result.
It is important not to constantly create as much content as possible, but to be able to use existing content in different ways.
Now we will tell you how several brands cleverly reused their old publications. This strategy will help you reduce resource wastage and increase your return on investment. The following examples show how to use user-generated content in marketing and advertising in new ways to get the most out of it.
Distribution of user-generated content on social networks
Social networks are the most obvious place to start distributing user-generated content, because in them it automatically falls under the strongest user protection. User-generated content is the key to a) generating and maintaining user trust in your product on social media, b) selling it more effectively, and c) getting more targeted traffic.
See how retail store Wet Seal uses the #WSonMe hashtag to bring their social media collection to one place:
They show their post on both Instagram and Twitter, doubling the traffic from the same photo:
Your user-generated content will also be useful to share on social platforms, but you should not stop there. Create collections of your user-generated content around different themes, products, or sales, then run individual campaigns to promote relevant seasons, discounts, or holidays.
Use user-generated content as advertising fuel
The use of user-generated content in advertising is not just an example of good branding, but also advertising benefits. The ROI is always higher for user-generated content ads than regular branded ads. This difference is especially noticeable in social networks.
- CTR (click-through rate) is 300% higher
- CPC (cost per click) lower by 50%
- CPA (Cost Per Action / Conversion) 50% lower
Advertising, in order to remain in front of the eyes of users, must not only be bright, it must fit into the environment. Be sure to combine social experience and real user feedback in your Facebook ad to make it slimmer and more attractive.
Dilute marketing content with user-generated content
Everyone wants to become popular on the Internet for at least 15 minutes. By sprinkling your newsletters, blog articles, and other marketing materials with user-generated content, you become the hero of free social media marketing and increase your brand's fan base with those who want to get noticed.
People who like your posts are more likely to share them on their social media pages.
So studio Marc by Marc Jacobs launched an Instagram campaign, inviting users to upload their photos and get a chance to become their model.
Fans of the brand not only applied for participation, but also shared it on social networks, increasing campaign traffic hundreds of times.
Play on people's desire to be known by simply including user-generated content in regular marketing posts from your brand.
Use User Content to Create an Interactive Product Catalog
One of the most effective ways reuse old materials - launch visual online merchandising based on user-generated content. In this way, you not only recognize brand advocates, but also learn what your customers are actually wearing or using your products from your collection.
By using user-generated photos or descriptions, you can create a custom catalog that naturally promotes your brand and builds the trust of potential buyers.
For example, IKEA launched an Instagram campaign asking users to take photos of their favorite products. After that, the Finnish company was constantly discussed on social networks, as IKEA created a unique Digital catalogue, which showed photos of users and their favorite products:
Modest user-generated content can remain relevant for a very long time. Using old user-generated content in your posts can be not only effective tool but also an incentive for fans of the brand.
Conclusion
Give users more freedom. Of course, it is very important to monitor whether the ongoing campaign matches the style of the brand and whether it helps to achieve the set goals, but it is also important to allow the user to independently and freely express themselves, enjoying the process. In addition, be sure to include the user in participation on different stages campaigns, not just one.
Learn marketing trends and come up with new ideas for using user-generated content. Look for inspiration for new marketing campaigns in the latest advertising trends in social networks. This way you will find new platforms and strategies to make your unique campaign stand out.
We have released a new book, "Social Media Content Marketing: How to get into the head of subscribers and make them fall in love with your brand."
I'm willing to bet that before looking for a smart dentist on the Internet, you ask where your friend went for dental treatment last month. And if he starts praising a clinic on the other side of the city, you will go there, because you trust a friend. Today we understand how it works on the Internet and talk about user generated content (or User Generated Content). First, let's figure out what it is and how to use it.
What is user-generated content
These are all posts, comments, reviews, reviews, photos and reviews that are left by your site visitors or group subscribers on social networks.
Custom is good because it involves the audience in interaction with the brand, and this increases customer loyalty and makes them buy more often and more. But this is not its only plus. UGC also affects those who are not yet personally familiar with your business. 8 users out of 10 study reviews about a product or company before buying. People trust people so one real review a real person might be worth five advertising texts. If you have positive feedback from “live” customers, and posts on social networks are regularly commented on by subscribers, this is a plus - each such post is a signal that everything is OK with your business.
Let's look at examples.
We have an online store. And each product card from the catalog has a block with reviews, where you can rate and write a short review of the product. This will be user-generated content. Ideally, behind each review there should be a living person with his own story.
Example number two: we have a group of the same Vkontakte online store. Each comment or photo review is also UGC. At the same time, it is not so important whether it is useful for other users, the involvement and trust of subscribers increases in any case.
An example of reviews on the website of a photography store:
Let's summarize. User Generated Content is:
- direct interaction between customers and brand;
- a tool that increases user loyalty and trust;
- a couple of extra points in the SEO piggy bank - the more comments and reviews on the site, the more search engines like it.
How to get the most out of user-generated content
Try to use it wherever possible. The main thing is to give users an incentive to create new content. The percentage of people writing reviews out of sheer boredom or pure altruism is vanishingly small.
Now let's take a closer look.
SMM
Let's start with the holy of holies - reviews. You can work with them in different ways:
- Encourage users to take pictures with the product. And here there are also several approaches: you can ask to take photos with hashtags (the most for Instagram), you can create a separate album and upload photos from there to the main page. In any case, you get live pictures of real people, and they are valued more than staged and photoshopped images on product cards. The main disadvantage is that photo reviews are not suitable for all topics, because some things cannot even be touched. What to photograph if you sell, say, software? But otherwise, it's a great option.
- Text reviews. It's the same here - you can select a special discussion, or you can simply publish all the reviews on the main page of the group. And it is not necessary to work exclusively with reviews from social networks. If you get a flurry of thanks on your e-mail or website, post reviews from there. The main thing is that there is no order – fake posts are immediately visible.
Other types of user generated content are also best revealed in social networks. It is easiest to ask a question, write a comment on a post, or participate in a survey. Take advantage of this - hold contests and promotions, encourage the activity of subscribers and do not limit yourself to one social network. It pays off.
UGC on the site: what kind of content you need
There are fewer opportunities here, but they are there. Mandatory program - reviews. They are needed so that potential customers can evaluate the experience of other people and just make sure that they are buying from you. If possible, attach an extended rating system to the site, and not just standard stars. If, for example, you sell appliances, invite people to evaluate the design, functionality, reliability, and value for money. This will give people hints about what to write about if they feel like it.
Well, the standard scheme with mini-discounts for a review also does not hurt - this way people will have an additional incentive to create content.
UGC User generated content is content that users create. Everything belongs to UGC: reviews, comments, photos with your product and even videos.
Why do you need UGC User Content?
This content is more credible. Users have not only chosen your product, but are also ready to tell others about their choice. Photos in the feed with real people, albeit sloppy, unprofessional, are better than artificial photos from photo studios.
By the way, a similar thing happens with videos from ordinary people which suddenly become popular. People like to look at stories they can relate to. Simple furnishings and not fantastically beautiful models in the lead roles attract an audience.
In addition, you can observe how the audience uses your product. Perhaps you will understand that the target audience wider than you thought.
Small business advantage Content UGC also in the ease of its production. Using content from users in social media posts is much cheaper than regularly arranging photo shoots to create product posts.
Thus, the company receives a lot of diverse, engaging, credible (one might say - selling) content for free. But do users need it and how to involve them in content generation?
Why would a user create a UGC
Reviews
As you know, angry comments are written much more often than positive ones. Imagine: you went to a cafe, drank a cup of cappuccino, read the updates of your favorite channels in Telegram and left. The coffee was ordinary - and it's not so easy to surprise a cappuccino. The waiters did their job quickly. The music didn't interfere. You didn't have a negative experience, but nothing remarkable happened either. You don’t have a reason to find a coffee shop page on social networks and write a review in the spirit of “drank coffee, convenient, simple, average price.”
Therefore, if you want to get feedback about the company, ask users about it. You can use rewards for this: for example, coffee shops often offer a small dessert in exchange for a review. Think about what you can offer your customers.
Contests
Contests provide a huge opportunity to get UGC content. You yourself determine the format of materials: photos, videos or stories. Users are motivated to create work. And at the same time, you increase engagement.
If you need to find out what kind of engagement in a group or other indicators, for example, by (Vkontakte, Facebook, Instagram and other social networks), as well as find the best publications in any groups, Popsters will help.
Bloggers
The content that bloggers create can also be classified as user-generated. In addition, such content is usually of high quality. If you can't allocate a budget to work with popular influencers, find small venues that might be interested in bartering. For the cost of the product, you'll get a photo, review, and blogger reach.
How brands work with UGC
M.Video, together with Electrolux, is holding a contest to get live feedback on the technology. Benefits of the campaign: new reviews appear on the site, the audience is involved in the interaction, site visitors see that the reviews were definitely written by real people as part of the competition.
Purina Pro Plan regularly hosts contests in which users post photos of their pets and tell stories about them while also mentioning the brand. Of course, cats are a noble subject for social networks, but there's a lot to learn from Purina for such a variety of competition topics and audience engagement. The brand has more than 10,000 photos in the VKontakte community, and almost all of them were taken by users.
The Befree youth clothing brand motivates users to post pictures with hashtags very simply: the best posts get into the brand's account, and the buyer receives an active link to himself from a rather large page. Remember about psychology: people like to be "chosen".
Beauty salons on Instagram also work: girls take pictures with manicures, at the same time mentioning the salon account. The Handmade beauty bar does this very well: all it takes is a small postscript asking them to send photos of nails to WhatsApp. Almost all photos in the salon feed are taken from account marks.
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