User-Generated Content Works: But Why?

Promoting your business or a product can be quite an endeavor. There are many ways you can go about accomplishing it, but there is one method that many people tend to overlook. Have you ever thought about promoting your business or product with user-generated content? Chances are, you haven’t, but you should! Why do you ask?

Well, user-generated content comes with many benefits for your business that can help it grow! It can cast quite the wide net and gets your business some much-needed traction. You might even get some benefits that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to get if you just stuck with creating your own content. 

What is User-Generated Content?

User-generated content is any type of content that involves your brand and was created by someone other than people and employees from your business. In more simple terms, think of it as marketing content you can use that you didn’t make. 

There are many forms of user-generated content out there that you can use in your campaigns. The only nuance would be requesting and receiving permission from the person who created that user-generated content. If you don’t request and receive permission from the individuals and use it in your campaigns, then that can lead to some more issues down the road. Be sure you receive permission to use user-generated content.  

Some examples of user-generated content are:

Reviews

Reviews and the medium that they appear in are created by people who’ve used or plan to use a product or service that you are offering. They do this to give other people an idea of how your product or service is and whether or not they should get it. Since the review was created by someone who is not part of your business, then it is a form of user-generated content. 

Be on the lookout for more positive reviews about your brand and product as these reviews can be used in your future marketing campaigns. Customers like to know if your products are worth buying, so be sure to let them know that they are with reviews!

Podcasts

Podcasts are another form of user-generated content that is commonly found in an audio form with some even offering video recordings of it. If someone were to talk about your brand on their podcast, then they are likely promoting your products or services. That is a great way to get your brand identity across to a mass audience that you otherwise would have to pay to reach out to. 

Blogs and Blog Comments

Blogs and blog comments are a form of user-generated content that many people tend to engage in. When it comes to blogs, someone might write about their experience with your brand, and if it is a positive one, it can lead them to recommend you to other people. This is a big win for your brand as it lets people know that you are legit. 

Blog comments are another type of user-generated content in which people leave comments on your blogs. These comments can range from questions about you or your products, to even praise about your brand or blog post. These comments can also make your brand appear more knowledgeable and trustworthy to other readers of your blog as they found great value from reading it. 

Video

Videos are a common form of user-generated content that is a great way for other people to promote your brand. It is popular amongst people who use or are interested in your products as the ideas for videos are nearly limitless. Some common videos are reviews and how-tos which might include some advertising for your brand. 

If your brand has products that have the potential to be tested by users, then be sure that whatever the results they reach are positive. You don’t want a video out there that just speaks negatively about your brand and your products. It is simply bad for business. 

Social Media Posts

Social media posts are a popular way for people to connect with their audience. A great example of social media posts as a form of user-generated content is when users reference your brand or product on their social media accounts. They can do this through posts and even tagging you in some of them to let you know that they are talking about you! Simple exposure can lead to more brand recognition for your business! 

As you can see, there are different types of user-generated content that your business can use to its advantage. It all depends on how other people talk about your brand and product to determine if you can use it. From there, you can incorporate them into your future marketing strategy!

How User-Generated Content Can Help Your Brand

Now that you know what user-generated content is, you might be asking yourself, “Well how is it going to help my brand?” Like any other good thing, there are many answers to this question. You just need to determine which ways you want to use user-generated content. It all depends on what you think can help your brand.

Here are some of the best ways that user-generated content can help your brand. 

It Can Help Your Brand Appear More Trustworthy

Trust is a huge part between a brand and its customers. If there is no trust, then why should customers engage in business with your brand. User-generated content can help you in this aspect by making your brand more genuine and legitimate. 

A way that user-generated content can do this is by people, who aren’t affiliated with your brand, posting photos of them using something they bought from your brand. This can help other people who are interested in your brand to end up doing business with you since they feel more comfortable engaging with it. 

Make Your Brand More Engaging

A key part of being more trustworthy to customers is by offering them the opportunity to engage with your brand. Engaging with your brand is a surefire way for customers to engage with you. When more and more customers start engaging with your brand, then others might start doing the same. 

From there, people will see that customers are actively engaging with your brand and aren’t simply bots that were paid to appear. Take time to be more engaging as it develops that customer-brand relationship that many businesses try to achieve.   

Gain Insight Into Your Audience 

Another way to view and take advantage of user-created content is by using it as a mine of insightful data about your audience. Some types of content to take note of are reviews, comments, what they’re uploading, and so on. What you need to do when evaluating all of the insight is somewhat of a content audit. 

With this content audit, you can learn what your audience likes, dislikes, and thinks about your products and brand. These insights are an invaluable tool as you can use them to improve or store new ideas that can improve your business, thus leading to a better customer experience ideally. 

Higher Conversion Rates

One of the best benefits of using user-generated content is that it can lead to higher conversion rates for your business. Going back on trustworthiness, sometimes people feel the need to read reviews and testimonials about your business. These people are trying to make a well-informed decision about whether or not to engage with your business. If they don’t trust your business, they likely won’t make a purchase.

If that same person sees that you have a decent amount of reviews and followers, then they might feel that your business is more legitimate. The more and more reviews that your business receives, the higher the chance it has of turning potential customers into conversions. 

Your Audience Works For You

Of course, you can do your marketing and promoting, but why not let your audience do that for you? That is where using user-generated content can be very beneficial in your marketing strategy. You can utilize reviews and other statistics created by current customers whenever you are looking to encourage new customers to buy your product. 

Your business can start growing without having to exclusively rely on your in-house marketing. If people are just posting all kinds of pictures about your brand, then other people might be more inclined to learn more about you. People will learn to recognize your brand and become followers, and hopefully become customers. This can help your brand have more brand recognition. 

User-generated content can work wonders for your business when you learn how to utilize it properly. Some businesses might not even use user-generated content at all as they see it as just that, content. This is where it pays to know about the full advantages of user-generated content.  

It’s Time to Incorporate User-Generated Content!

As you can see based on what you just read, many benefits come with using user-generated content for your business. From your own webpage to social media, there are many forms of user-generated content out there that you can explore. The next question you should ask yourself is, “How can I use it?”

Like most other marketing strategies, it depends on what your goals are for your business. From there you can decide on how to incorporate user-generated content into your business. 

Looking for help with your marketing strategy? Contact us here to learn more about how we can help your business!