User-Generated Content- Best Marketing Strategy For Businesses

“The thing that usually breaks through all of the noise is when you see real users sharing real content on social media."

(Dom Garrett)

Every business in this world recruits a special team to work on the best marketing strategies and build the name of their brand. But do you feel is it sufficient to plan out strategies someday and execute your whole team for any plan that may have a very less success rate? And if your brand is satisfying the needs of its customers then why do you have to execute your team for marketing rather than asking your customers to spread the word about your products and services?

Don’t be stressed out with these questions becauseasking questions will always end with better ideas and solutions!Today, Rannkly has come up again with an informative blog for its readers and enlightening them on how their customers can become theBrand ambassadorsof their product and enhance the brand name with the power of social media. In technical terms, this process is called USER GENERATED CONTENT or UGC. Let us delve into this neo-marketing process and aim for better customer-oriented and customer-generated marketing.

WHAT IS USER-GENERATED CONTENT?
 

Marketing is an integral part of any organisation to build a name as well as fame to increase the reach of their product. They opt for various methods of marketing like posting product-related content on social media, advertising on different platforms, collaborating with influencers to spread the word about their services, etc. But how much does this affect the product buying decision of a customer? Are they influenced by these branding techniques?

About 92% of the buyers believe in the recommendation or the referral from their friends and family on any product or service rather than an organisation’s branding.

This is the human psychology to trust more humans than any brand or organisation. So, when anyone informs others about some product with a notion of personal experience or recommendation then people tend to believe more and make their decisions accordingly. So, this can be a great idea to implement in the marketing of any organisation and going back to our very own and loyal customers to ask them to explain to others about the product or brand. Such activity comes under User Generated Content.

USER GENERATED CONTENT is a form of marketing that is done by someoneoutside the marketing circleof the organisation. This is completely original brand-related content created by the customers, hardcore fans, or employees to raise the awareness of the brand on social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, LinkedIn, Twitter, and so on.

The organisation may ask their customers(loyal ones first!) to generate such content that brings awareness about the quality and service of the product and that content can be in any form which is acceptable by the above mentioned social media platforms.
 

“60% of the customers trust user-generated content more than any Ad or brand awareness campaign.”

WHO CAN CREATE USER-GENERATED CONTENT?


It is always good to create more and more UGC (user-generated content) and repost it by mentioning the name of that person so that he/she can receive credit for their actions and ultimately engage other viewers also to do the same (because everyone loves fame and popularity). There are 4 categories of people who, if post something about any brand, will be considered as UGC:-

• LOYAL CUSTOMERS:-The customers who repeatedly believe in your products and buy them as soon as they are out are your brand loyalist or loyal fans. They should be contacted first to generate some content in the form of images or videos while using that product like wearing a T-shirt, applying makeup of some company, unboxing any digital device like mobile phones, etc. and that content should be reposted by the organisation on their social media handles or even website also.
   
• GENERAL CUSTOMERS:-The customers who may come for the first time to buy the services of the organisation but feel satisfied and happy can also be contacted. If they find the product great and useful then they can share their reviews on various review platforms and even post their pictures using that product.
   
• EMPLOYEES:-Employees can also contribute to user-generated content but that should be done through their social media handles! They can post stories while using the product and thank the organisation for making them a part of this great idea. They can also post images of upcoming products and engage their following by telling them the benefits of new products.
   
• OTHER BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS:-Directors and Founders of different companies in the same industry can also communicate by sharing each other's content that will not only promote their brand but also build a healthy relationship between the two businesses of the same industry.

WHAT FORM OF CONTENT CAN BE POSTED AS USER-GENERATED CONTENT?
 

The user can spread the word about the brand in whichever way they feel comfortable and easy. There is not any kind of foundation from the organisation’s side but this must be the responsibility of the organization to recognize the efforts of the individual and give them special credit for/her generous act. If a person takes such a pain to make his close ones aware of the brand and that too, without any hope of incentive initially, then this act must be praised and appreciated.

Once the customer post about the product on social media, the content of the post can be posted in various forms like:-

• SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS-that can be the profile picture or any normal post also.
   
• VIDEOS-this can include a small description of the product and the quality of the product.
   
• REVIEWS-if any customer reviews the product positively then it can also be used as content to post on the organization’s social media accounts.
   
• TESTIMONIALS-this can be a small descriptive experience of any customer or a business client who explains how much they like the product.
   
• YOUTUBE VIDEOS-small video clips that include the unboxing of the product are the perfect user-generated content.
   
• LIVE STREAMS-while live broadcasting, if viewers show great interest and react positively to any product or service then that can also be presented on the social media handles of the organization.
   
• INSTAGRAM STORIES-the user may put good feedback in his/her stories section of Instagram.
   
• BLOG POSTS-many bloggers talk about the product and services of some organizations in their blogs.
   
• PODCASTS-people also talk about different brands’ services in their podcasts to bring awareness.

WHAT IS THE ULTIMATE BENEFIT OF UGC?
 

Lastly, what do you get from User-generated content? This is an important question to answer because though this task may look simple but needs a lot of your time to ask the people to post about the brand and then repost the content by mentioning and giving them credits for it or just building such fine quality product that people promote it without even asking for it!

1. AFFORDABLE FOR ANY BUSINESS
 

This is the biggest benefit of user-generated content. It is encircled with two benefits- first, though being a highly effective marketing strategy, it costs next to nothing for the organization! And second, it builds good mutually beneficial relationships between the customers and the organization.

2. BUILDS TRUST
 

When people see anything about the products on the social handles of their close ones, like family and friends, then it creates a better impact on the company’s services. This is because people trust more on other people rather than brands or their advertisements. And other than this benefit, people also get encouraged when they are appreciated on social media platforms and by the big reputed organisations. Gradually, they develop more trust in the brands and their services.

3.BOOST CONVERSIONS
 

More visibility, more customers!! If people could see the name of a brand or the product everywhere, not only on the organisation’s handles or recommendations of their family and friends but also on the social media platforms of the customers then it brings authenticity to the brand services. When people have trust in the company then they never hesitate to spend their money on the product! So ultimately, brand awareness through customers boosts conversions and brings more customers into theloyalty category.

WHAT ROLE CAN RANNKLY PLAY TO CREATE MORE USER-GENERATED CONTENT?
 

Rannkly can work in two ways to boost your UGC. It has a tool to GENERATE REVIEWS in which the organisation that uses Rannkly’s dashboard can ask their customers to give them reviews and ratings on public platforms like Google, Tripadvisor, Zomato, etc. After getting a good response on that, the reviews can be used as user-generated content on their website as well as social media handles.
 

Rannkly has also developed the UNIVERSAL QR CODE feature where the user can ask for reviews, feedback, follow back on social media, and many more such features that will help to leverage the position of the organisation.

Startled with the power of UGC? Try this method for yourSocial media marketing tool strategies in the future. And if you find it successful, share your amazing stories in the comment section below. For more blogs, visit: rannkly.com