The world of marketing is spinning on its axis as change billows rampantly and unpredictably across the digital landscape. However, unlike other short-lived trends and buzzwords, user-generated content, or UGC, has withstood these winds of change and remains as important as ever for successful, engaging marketing campaigns.
What is User Generated Content?
UGC encompasses pictures, videos, retweets, testimonials, blogs and anything else that has been created and distributed by unpaid contributors or fans. Essentially, it is the art of encouraging users to promote a brand, rather than the brand promoting itself. We will cover a few examples of UGC later on in this blog.
How does User Generated Content work?
Audiences are no longer passive consumers led by commercials and billboards, so pushy marketing tactics won’t impress them. Instead, they are active participants that crave a connection, a story, and an opportunity for interaction. While traditional marketing tactics shoved a brand onto people, UGC brings the brand and the audience together in a community of shared affinity, culture and values.
Brands that do this well are creating moments and stories to engage with instead of pushing products and services.
Research conducted by Marketing Land highlights that brand subcultures are the reason sales are rocketing to heights unseen by polished traditional marketing campaigns. By tapping into the consumers’ egos, and placing them in the centre of a brand, they are made to feel appreciated and acknowledged, which will ultimately have a positive impact on your brand’s image (and sales).
Some examples of UGC
UGC encourages the consumer to step into the role of the advertiser, and this transformation transpires by:
- Encouraging people to share a product post
- Encouraging people to share your post as a part of a competition
- A retweet of your content
- A photo of a customer using your product
There are many ways to encourage UGC and when successful, your audience can propel your brand to dizzying heights with little piloting or intervention from the marketers’ side.
The TBC team are masters of meaningful content creation and we have shaped a community of users through a shared emotional connection that encourages our audiences to engage with us in a way that enhances our relationship with them, either through visually enticing images or compelling copy.
We love creating unique, attention-grabbing, eye-catching campaigns for the brands we work with. If you are looking for a social media strategy makeover, get in touch with us!