Whether you’re an influencer who has a few products on the market or a brand selling a wide collection of products, chances are you’ve probably been tagged in pictures on social media in which customers are either wearing or talking about your products, and when they do, they are actually producing user-generated content that could be very beneficial for your brand.
If you’re unsure how to manage this type of content to enhance your own online presence, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered; just keep reading!
To start off, let’s start by explaining what user-generated content actually means. User-generated content, which is also known as UGC is original content related to your brand and is created by customers who then publish that same content on their social media profiles. Also, UGC manifests itself in many forms including images, videos, reviews, or even a testimonial.
You can expect user-generated content to be produced by different types of people but mostly your loyal customers, brand advocates and also employees who can give followers a behind-the-scenes look at your daily operations and even give them ideas on how to use your products.
But why is user-generated content so important?
1. Adds authenticity to your brand image
Nowadays, brands fiercely compete for users’ attention, which is actually pushing buyers to become more picky when it comes to the brands they interact with and purchase from, especially when we’re talking about Gen Z! However, you can still stand out from the crowd with a little help from your followers so just think of it as modern-day word of mouth.; what you could do is encourage them to post their opinions and reviews then re-share them on your profile to show your appreciation for their efforts.
2. It establishes brand loyalty and grows community
By giving user-generated content importance, you would be encouraging your customers to participate in your brand’s development instead of being recipients for the content you produce. In addition, UGC sparks multiple conversations between brand and consumers, which in turn does a great job at growing an engaged community that will greatly boost the brand’s reach.
3. It influences purchasing decisions
A buyer’s journey is not easy to predict; however, you can enhance it by adding a few elements here and there, and user-generated content can make a great difference. This type of content acts as authentic proof that your product is worth buying. For example, your target audience gets the chance to see that buyers just like them are liking your products, which pushes them to actually add them to their cart and click on the ‘complete order’ button.
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