Leverage User-Generated Content in Your Marketing Strategy
The phrase "content is king" still holds true (to an extent). But the rules surrounding content production as well as our understanding of it has changed. Quality over quantity.
There are many advantages to having complete control over your content, it doesn't always work well to build trust with your audience because it isn't "peer reviewed". In some cases, owned media can also end up being over-technical, product-centric, and self-serving hence the lack of appreciation from users. There's only so much a brand can achieve if all their conversations and interactions are one-way.
In terms of building awareness and trust, earned media can be a gold mine. It helps build your community through social proof and provides you with user-created value that leads to more opportunities for engagement. Not only does it facilitate improved ways to learn about your prospects/customers, it opens up a dialogue for two-way conversations so users can interact with your brand.
Oh yeah, it's also free.
Will you encourage fans to send you videos on social media, host a content-related contest, or directly ask your clients to promote a product via email?
Why wait for people to start talking about your brand when you can create a channel for them to make themselves heard and facilitate User-Generated Content (UGC)?
Every piece of content a user produces on your website or site's outpost becomes branded UGC. Brands can provide a means for their users to collaborate with them via their website, forums, and social media platforms to power up these channels with activity.
For the users, they create UGC to express themselves and gain recognition. It's a win-win situation, as brands greatly benefit from the buzz. Here are just some of the advantages for brands:
UGC helps brands understand their target audience better.
UGC improves site engagement and time spent on the website.
UGC increases customer satisfaction through conversations.
UGC provides means for other users to connect, which then builds a stronger community.
UGC improves the brand's search engine ranking and online visibility.
UGC is inherently peer-reviewed, making it more trustworthy.
Think about companies like Uber, Airbnb, Facebook, and Alibaba. The nature of their business models depends entirely on their communities. The larger they are, the more value they provide to individual members. But, keep in mind that these are extreme cases whereby the products are essentially the communities themselves.