Buffer has created an entire community around it. Wayfair uses it to show you how their products look in real life. Aerie has created a movement around it. What is it? User-generated content. If you haven’t started using it in your marketing strategies, now is the time to start.
What is UGC and How Did It Become Popular?
User-Generated Content (UGC) is any form of content produced by consumers or end-users on an online system or service that is openly available to others. In other words, it includes everything from tweets, posts, updates, reviews, blogs, testimonials, and comments to videos, pics, gifs, audio files, wikis, hashtags and every other possible form of media. While the term UGC didn’t hit mainstream until the mid-2000s, publicly recognizing the views of consumers is part of our history: journalistic opinion pieces, focus groups, newspaper ‘letters to the editor’, etc.
UGC today is closely tied to brand development, but its popularity was ignited from other worldly needs. A noteworthy pioneer of its use is the BBC. In 2005, they adopted a user-generated content platform for their website following the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami, coining its contributors as ‘citizen journalists’. That same year, a collection of tech entrepreneurs in California launched a company that later became a beacon for another use of UGC: YouTube.
Why should I use it?
Embracing UGC as a strategic marketing tool is a topic that’s turning heads across brand development conversations. People share for so many reasons, whether to inform, entertain, or inspire and all to people who are equally as excited to listen. When it comes to asking why you should use UGC, the answer is simple – your audience already lives for it. On average, people spend over two hours a day on social media, the biggest source of UGC. The content people are viewing, and sharing, has become the most authentic and trusted form of media available. By plugging into what your target audience loves to do best, the possibilities to engage with them are infinite.
How can I get it?
UGC is everywhere! But it’s important to remember that in short, just because content is posted publicly, doesn’t mean it’s free for anyone to use. Always make sure you ask permission before you repost something. To gather UGC, you can run campaigns with specially designed branded hashtags and asking users to contribute. By doing so, you are inviting them to be part of your brand and collecting UGC in the process. In turn, you can then leverage their content across your brand’s platforms, strengthening your bond with them, and appealing to new users at the same time. Another way is to utilize a hashtag campaign in your bios. It is simple and users are posting with the goal of being featured on your page. Don’t forget to find UGC in these easily missed places, too!
Remember, people already love to share, all you have to do is ask.