In our recent blog post, we look at what user generated content was and the benefits of it, which you can find here: Revolutionise your Online Presence with User-Generated Content
In this blog, we’ll be diving a bit deeper into UGC, shining a spotlight on how you can maximise it for your brand.
From all important product reviews to authentic social media posts, UGC has the unique ability to build trust and a sense of community around your brand. Here we’ve looked at practical ways that you can make the most of it to boost your brand’s visibility and foster a loyal community of consumers.
Best Practice when it comes to UGC
Now you understand the basics of UGC as well as the difference between UGC and influencer partnerships, let’s deep dive into best practice.
- Understanding your Target Audience
Before diving into UGC, it’s key to understand your target audience to ensure you’re sharing content that will really resonate with them. What are their interests and preferences? What do their lifestyles look like? It’s a good idea to create an audience persona – an example of a person that represents the majority in your target audience.
- Setting clear guidelines
These guidelines should outline what is acceptable and what is aligned with your brand’s values and purpose. This will help you to maintain quality content and consistency.
Spend time choosing the right UGC to share on your social platforms, not just posting anything and everything customers create about your brand. This goes without saying it should be positive content that won’t reflect a bad image on your business.
- Encourage Authenticity
Whilst you should stick to these guidelines, it’s important to make sure content doesn’t look too polished as this can affect your audience’s view of the brand. It needs to be authentic and relatable enough for the audience to believe the post is genuine and not a paid partnership – that’s where the more polished content can come in!
- Engage and Interact
Actively engage with users who create positive UGC related to your brand. Responding to comments and thanking them for their reviews and other contributions will increase the likelihood of them producing more content as well as encouraging others to do the same. This is how people will begin to form relationships with your brand, feeling a sense of belonging and community.
- Obtaining Consent and Rights
Before sharing any UGC, you should ensure that you have the necessary permissions from creators that allow you to share their content, reviews, and experiences, always respecting copyright and other rights.
Maximising the Benefits of UGC
- Leverage Social Media Platforms
Social media is the natural platform for a lot of UGC, especially TikTok and Instagram Reels which have recently skyrocketed. You could create branded hashtags and encourage users to add these to their posts when sharing content around your brand, ensure you monitor this regularly. Repost UGC on your brand’s profiles to showcase good product or service reviews.
You could also organise competitions for your audiences to motivate more users to post about your brand.
- Integrate UGC into your Website
You could feature UGC on your website’s product pages, such as customer testimonials. This provides social proof and credibility for potential customers, building trust and resulting in more purchases.
- Repurpose UGC
Don’t limit the use of UGC to a single platform. Repurpose content for various marketing channels like blog posts, newsletters, email marketing, adverts and more.
By implementing best practice and strong UGC strategies, you can increase your full-potential to grow a loyal community and your brand’s authenticity, amplifying your brand’s reach in a heavily populated digital landscape.
If you’re interested in learning more to boost your brand’s potential, why not read another blog?
- Five Ways to Repurpose your Video Content
- How to use Social Listening as Part of Your PR Campaigns
- The 5 Biggest Mistakes to Avoid in Social Media Video Marketing
At Prohibition, we work with a range of B2B and B2C brands across all sectors to create engaging social media marketing strategies that allow brands to stay up to date with the latest trends and updates. Get in touch today to find out how we could help you.
