This blog is for all of you preparing to impress your interviewers to get your dream job in the marketing department,
Or even all those working day and night, planning for that oomph-worthy marketing strategy for your beloved organization.
Lo and behold,
I come bearing gifts- sugar and candies and whatnot.
One primary key that helps you charm your panel and make things super easy for you:
Incorporate UGC- be it in your conversations to make them fancy and hotshot or in your policies to get quick and highly effective results.
User-Generated Content is the James Bond of the coming times;
The lovechild of everything you’ve learned so far in marketing books and everything about to happen in the world of marketing.
Trust me, fellas,
You adapt UGC, and you see miracles happen in your business.
And, by miracles, I mean like those unbelievable ones that leave you feeling on cloud nine for a very long time.
Like getting to bathe in profits and boost your clientele like no-nonsense. Have I got you intrigued, or have I got you intrigued?
Journey To The Heart Of UGC. All Onboard.
Let’s enter UGC's world, where I offer you crazy persuasive reasons why you need UGC in your firm right this instant.
Trust me; as your content marketing professional, I think I've got the skills to have you agree wholeheartedly with me by the end of this heart-to-heart session.
You know, google searches tell you a lot about what’s happening around the globe.
Research shows that 25% of search results for today's twenty biggest firms revolve around user-generated content. A quarter, fellas. That’s HUGE.
That is the signal to believe that UGC is slowly but steadily becoming the oxygen tank of marketing strategies.
Changing times- in this digitalized globe-means, you adapt yourself accordingly. And those who fail to do this end up becoming a failure in this competitive environment themselves.
Hence, now that the top organizations are focusing their activities on UGC, it's high time you start the same.
The next part of my guide is coming up, folks. And this one is where we delve deeper into reasoning.
All people categorized into being logical according to their MBTI personality test; this section’s especially for you.
Why Is UGC the Ethan Hunt That Companies Need To Make Their Impossible Possible
Honestly, I cannot stress enough just how big of an asset UGC is for e-commerce businesses.
Social media today is already big of a concept enough; why not make the best of it as you promote your products, right?
Here I present the sensational seven reasons why UGC should become your most powerful marketing tool and,
Why is it soon going to be the Jay Gatsby to rule over Wall Street that is the future marketing universe.
Buyers are more trusting towards other buyers than you.
Imagine browsing through an online store, wanting to buy something. What’s the first thing you do?
While I can’t say the same for you, but at least I go through social posts, featured customer reviews, experiences, and photos even before checking the product description. (Paranoid, I know. I can't help it.)
Another example, you see a product that you wanted, but the manufacturer is someone with whom you did not have satisfactory experience before.
But you happen to come across an Instagram post by an influential person you follow. The post was about the exact product by the same firm that you were indecisive about buying.
What will your reaction be?
Chances are, you will think of giving the brand another option. Why? Because a consumer told you of their pleasant experience that made you want to give it a go as well.
Even stats prove this;
Trends show that almost 70% of buyers find UGC reviews and ratings to have a significant impact on their buying decisions. Also, on average, 41% of such people read 5 to 6 UGC reviews to understand more about the item they’re thinking of buying.
Moral of the story:
We, as buyers, can be easily influenced by other buyers. You can use this fact to your benefit and play the game according to your rules. According to Nielson, 92% of buyers find the feedback of fellow buyers highly valuable, even if it's from strangers.
Shocking, right?
Trust me when I say, word of mouth, positive reviews, hype on digital media- this all works wonders for you- be it you as a business or you as a consumer.
The speed at which perceptions change because of user reviews is no joke.
Furthermore, around 48% of buyers report that user-generated content is one of the most effective approaches that help them know about new brands.
Lifetime relations? Yes, please.
Any-and all-kinds of relations- whether between spouses, you and your parents, you and your friends,
Need that one secret ingredient: trust.
How do you accomplish this with UGC? Well, when you offer user-generated content about your business or products, you reach out and talk to your consumers. They get to know more about the specifications of your brand and clarify any concerns, questions, or doubts they might have about the item.
The critical point of user-generated content is that your audience gets to hear stuff from someone possessing product experience. This thing, my friends, is the deal sealer. Period.
Also, UGC gives off the impression that you are genuine; you have got nothing to hide. It's the thing that you are transparent with the data you're sharing with your consumers.
"When you've got nothing to hide, you have got everything to show." As you make others believe that you follow this rule, you gain your consumers' trust that goes on for a long, long time.
The absence of customer reviews also gives bad vibes to your traffic. A study states that 35% of people are less likely to buy products with no customer reviews.
Improving relationship with existing consumers, building more with the new ones, and ensuring that deep bonds can be formed with the future ones,
Yeah, that’s what I mean when I say UGC can take you places- great places.
The public ADORES for UGC-themed advertisements.
User-generated content plays with emotions. Furthermore, advertisements with UGC are becoming effective at getting your message across while piquing your targeted audience's interest.
Ads with UGC in them are leading to firms getting four times more click-through rates. Because of this, even their cost-per-click and cost-per-acquisition is decreasing by almost half.
Though we still cannot pinpoint a specific reason why these UGC-themed ads are getting viral each day, I can only think it is due to them having that emotional element- the fact that you get to see or listen to customer experiences, testimonials, etc.
They also do not resemble those spamming sponsored ads that we see on our social media accounts. Those annoy and irritate me for some reason, to be honest.
The UGC ads feel like other people just like you, as if the advertisement is designed specifically for you, to be relatable by you.
It’s the people trying to connect with you and assuring you that the product is a safe choice for you to buy and indulge in. This might be what lures the traffic into checking the product out and buying it.
The thought of a brand being considerate to target YOU by making unique and not generic ads, for YOU, is the quality that makes consumers choose a brand.
Shower your brand with leads and conversions
Right, so connecting to all the points I have listed and explained so far,
The benefits of user-generated content all lead to a vital component: profitability.
Before earning revenues, though, comes one more part: enhancing awareness of your brand. And to achieve this milestone, you ought to increase your click-through rate, leading to higher chances of lead generation and conversion rate.
The Domino effect is what this world is, after all.
User-generated content is not merely about picture posting on social media, videos, or reviews. The concept also comprises of basically everything that tells more about the brand or product.
Offering look books and links on the Instagram page to directly go to the e-commerce store and place orders are some such ways.
Putting creative shoppable social media feeds works flawlessly in enhancing the conversion rate.
Studies also show that websites that feature UGC experience a 50% increase in their conversion rates. Even the click-through rate multiplied by almost 5%.
That, to me, sounds quite persuasive on why you must employ UGC in your next marketing plan, eh?
You buy what you follow.
You are what you eat and, similarly, in the business world. You buy what you follow and keep tabs on.
A 2016 report concluded that almost 75% of digital media users ended up purchasing a product they saw on the social media page. Besides, 57% of consumers tend to purchase brands they follow on social media.
The goal, my dearies, is to make your store well-known everywhere.
Tweet regularly, become a pro at LinkedIn, increase your followers at Instagram.. Plus, customizing your posts for the product according to the demographics of your audience seals deals.
Make sure that your UGC is as relatable as possible and use that platform where your audience is the most active.
Most of the consumers of today have access to social media, the internet, and smart gadgets. Observations show that millennials browse through different kinds of media at least 18 hours per day. 30% of this time is used to watch user-generated media.
Furthermore, millennial buyers also consider UGC to be 35% more catchy and unforgettable than other kinds of media.
Therefore,
It doesn't matter if you're a startup or a large and flourishing firm,
The fundamental factor is to engage with your buyers the most- with the level of quality that gets the, intrigued enough to buy from you.
The more UGC you offer through channels with the most active target audience, the most optimal your results will be.
Cost cutdowns win you battles.
Because UGC helps boost your customer base and enhance lead generation,
It comes as no surprise that UGC also assists in making your firm cost-effective.
The result: your brand gets to experience high profitability. More revenues and reduced expenses- that's the equation for happiness and even more happiness.
In addition to this, UGC is a lot less expensive compared to other marketing tools that are included in promotional plans. That is because a considerable portion of the creative workload and content making costs almost free.
Posting online is hardly an expensive task, after all.
Apart from this, monitoring the efficiency of UGC is easy as well- hashtags are more than enough to keep track of how reputable your brand is on the web.
Final Thoughts
Sigh, time does fly when you're enjoying yourself. I was so immersed in my discussion with you that I didn't even realize it was time for me to check-out.
With my cart overfilled with reasons highlighting the importance of UGC, I hope I conveyed them to you in a way that charmed you and left you in a trance.
Technological advancement is no joke today. With the speed competition is rising, you need to outshine others to make people choose YOU instead of your competitors.
For this, you must let go of a few conventional methods and adopt even more advanced marketing tools.
User-generated content is a spectacular approach. Start incorporating it in your policies from today to reap benefits in no time. From cost-effectiveness, customer relations to profitability, and high brand image, UGC is sure to deliver promising benefits.
Happy UGC marketing, you all.
