Over the past few years, Influencer Marketing has been an extremely successful strategy when executed correctly.
This type of marketing seems pretty new, as it’s only become popular over the last couple of years. However, forms of it have existed for over 15, starting from when the marketplace used to pay bloggers for their branded content. From there, it’s grown into the huge marketing tactic we know today, frequently seen on social platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
But in a world where everyone is a content creator, a rival tactic has emerged, with User Generated Content now being just as viable!
User-Generated Content is exactly what it sounds like, a brand-endorsing post created by your audience. Capturing your brand in a more genuine light, it can come in a myriad of forms, such as social media post, review, reel, or even a podcast!
The reason UGC is so effective is that it comes directly from the consumer without any input from the brand, making it completely trustworthy to the viewer. In fact, two-thirds of consumers say UGC creates a more “authentic” buying experience, giving people extra confidence to purchase.
It means marketers now have yet another great form of content creation at their disposal… But could it possibly replace influencer marketing altogether?
Since Influencer Marketing came about, the Advertising Standards Authority insisted that when promoting products and services through social media platforms and online blogs, it must be obviously identifiable as an advertisement. This is usually through using #ad on the influencers post.
Unfortunately, this shatters the illusion of a genuine review and makes it obvious to your audience that these influencers are being paid to promote the brand’s products. They’re less authentic and harder to believe…
UGC, however, is a review from the consumer and an unfiltered version of your brand, which automatically establishes more trust in the viewers. It’s also completely FREE, meaning you can invest your marketing budgets elsewhere!
That being said… It’s not without its faults.
For one, UGC is much harder to obtain, as it needs to come from consumers who love your product enough to shout about it!
So…. How do we encourage them?
Here are a few tips:
- Make your product/service something worth talking about – 75% of customers will share their positive experience with a brand.
- Incentivising the creation of UGC – something like offering a prize for the best creations using your brand’s product.
- Create a community of loyal customers – a forum where people can talk and share tips and images of your product/service and then you can use their discussions to your advantage.
For example, at Brilliant, we’ve created a huge community for our client Beanies called ‘Beanies Café’. Here people post all about their favourite flavours and what they want Beanies to bring out next. This community now has over 3.8K members, all sharing their favourite things about Beanies….it’s free content and information right on our doorstep!
Overall, at Brilliant we feel that user-generaed content and Influencer marketing is extremely beneficial to a brands marketing strategy. However, we strongly believe that UGC is on the uprise and should be utilised more often.
References:
https://instapage.com/blog/what-is-user-generated-content
What is User-Generated Content? The Ultimate Guide to UGC Marketing