By Joshua Snape | 01/31/2018 10:30
The fact that 300 hours of video are uploaded every minute to YouTube proves that people want to have their say. Your customers want to talk about their experience with your product, too. It stands to reason then, that user generated content (UGC) about your brand should not be too difficult to collect and then incorporate into your digital marketing strategy.
Collecting User Generated Content
For business-to-business (B2B), a Twitter chat or online suggestion box works well. You can encourage participation in digital forums and invite your audience to leave a comment on your blog. You can also send automated review requests through a variety of platforms.
Seven Benefits of User Generated Content
Trust – According to the Nielsen Consumer Trust Index, 92% of consumers trust organic, user-generated content, more than they trust traditional advertising. The bottom line is that people are turning to UGC to help them make buying decisions.
Time Saving – Outsourcing content creation allows your staff to allocate time to other projects and marketing initiatives.
Money Saving – However you usually generate content and whatever personnel you use, UGC is most likely a less costly alternative.
Boosts Credibility – In today’s world of digital information overload, consumers naturally have high resistance to a business-centric approach. If you demonstrate that user content is important to you, this will enhance your credibility.
SEO Optimization – According to Kissmetrics, “25% of search results for the world’s top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content.” Publishing UGC will create additional indexable pages and give consumers more digital doorways into your site.
A Goldmine of Data – Analyzing the content your users share can generate key insights. Your UGC insights will be different to those of your marketing team, offering a fresh and oftentimes, complimentary perspective.
Increase Personalization – UGC will allow you to understand what resonates with your users; the next step is to give them what they want. You can take the feedback received from users and put it into your various outreach media, emails, newsletters, etc. This will make your brand more personal, genuine and relatable, allowing for consistent and quality lead nurturing.
Increasing your brand awareness and raising your levels of engagement with your clients and prospects leads to more sales. You need to create meaningful content but also draw on quality content from a variety of sources—one of which is your clients and prospects.
Are you ready to start allowing your users to add their voice to your brand? Connect with Strategis Consulting and get the support to make this happen.
Feature Image source: Vikki Carrel & Company
Joshua is an accomplished writer, blogger and marketing consultant. His successful track record includes sales and marketing across four continents—Europe, N. America, the Middle East and Africa. Josh is also a successful entrepreneur and established his own marketing consultancy in Cyprus, which serviced clients throughout the Middle East. He now enjoys living and working in Vancouver for part of the year, and spends the rest of his time in the Turkish Riviera working remotely to assist clients communicate effectively in a wired world. Connect with Josh at: joshua@strategisconsulting.ca.