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The UGC – User Generated Content represent all the content created by users and shared on the web. They are therefore not to be confused with branded content, content produced by companies. When a user posts a photo or video relating to your company on the Internet, leaves a comment, a review or replies on a forum, it creates content and contributes to the visibility of your brand and your products.
What are the advantages of UGC for your brand?
The use of User-Generated Content has a great impact on your e-commerce. After all, customers are more satisfied when they realize they can contribute to the brand. There are many ways to apply UGC, and these strategies deliver many benefits.
Come and learn about some of the advantages and apply UGC in your digital marketing strategy!
Greater credibility for e-commerce
It is quite common for consumers to be afraid to buy from an online store for the first time. However, when they observe that other people have already made purchases on the site and that everything went well, they feel safer to buy too.
Therefore, the reports of other people's experiences make your e-commerce more reliable. In this sense, encouraging the creation of content is a great benefit. You can create a hashtag for customers to tag the store when they receive their purchases, for example.
Increased engagement
Keeping a loyal audience that always interacts with your company is key to increasing engagement. Placing the user in the central role of content production engages and also exerts influence on other customers, increasing trust.
In this way, consumers create an identification with the brand. As a result, they are closer and more likely to become customers. That is, it is an interesting force for your marketing and sales strategy.
Other advantages of UGC are:
- Free and valuable content;
- Low investment with good returns;
- Collection of data and ideas given by users;
- Generates buzz and brand awareness ;
- Social proof trigger.
So, take advantage of UGC (User Generated Content) to take advantage of all these benefits to increase the reach of your e-commerce. When this strategy is well applied, you will notice the results in your business metrics.
Practical examples of user-generated content online
Let's get straight to the point: we have the meaning of user-generated content – content created by users – but let's give some concrete examples. Where are? Here are some cases of UGC that you always need to consider:
- Social posts.
- Reviews on Tripadvisor.
- Blog comments.
- Opinions on Amazon.
- Discussion on Reddit.
- Wiki pages.
- YouTube videos.
Many websites are born and developed only thanks to user content. Facebook, for example, relies on this mechanism. User-generated content is any form of written, audio or visual media created by users.
And when you write a LinkedIn post you are creating UGC, the same is true when you comment. At this point it may seem that every activity carried out online can fall into this family of contents, in reality, a UGC must respect some rules.
Tools for UGC
What are the different types of UGC that can be used to increase customer trust and sales? Here's a quick overview of all the user-generated content that can be right up your alley:
1. Textual UGC: the traditional format
Customer reviews and starlets are now everywhere on the Internet.
Consumers are increasingly willing to share their experiences. Opinions matter to both e-commerce conversion and search engines, which now display star ratings directly on the results page.
2. Customer ratings and reviews
Most users read reviews before making an online purchase! According to a recent study, 60% of people interested in buying read at least 3 customer reviews before deciding whether to buy the product. Opinions matter to both e-commerce conversion and search engines, which now display star ratings directly on the results page.
3. UGC written in forums and blogs
Forums and blogs are very important platforms for User Generated Content. Fueled by "long" and structured content, the pages that compose them stand out in search engines and have a big impact on the decisions of users who inform themselves online before making a purchase. The Q&A Quora forum sees 300 million unique visitors a month and answers very specific questions from users from all over the world, on all kinds of topics.
Today, many brands are “co-creating” their Q&A section with customers. In this way it is possible to identify the most important questions asked by the public, improving customer listening and providing excellent and useful answers to the community.
Community chats or C2C chats are springing up on many e-commerce sites. These are small chat windows that appear on the user's screen, with a customer advisor at the other end. Some brands offer similar solutions to a traditional chat, only that a consumer is on the other side of the screen.
4. UGC photos and social media
Social networks are full of consumer photos
Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest (to name a few) are practically inexhaustible sources of images uploaded by users, 20 billion messages and 17 billion photos are shared every month. Today various solutions collect this content and distribute it on company platforms (social bulletin boards, product sheets, etc.).
User Generated Content is increasingly important given the trend of consumers (and marketers) to no longer use the so-called "stock photos". Images are increasingly the first choice for brands to communicate authentically and powerfully.
UGC photos for e-commerce
You may have heard of 21 buttons. Founded in 2015 in Barcelona, it is halfway between a social network and a marketplace. Its network allows consumers, the Buttoners, to post their looks and earn a commission for every purchase that is made through them.
5. UGC videos: the best known
With the advent of social media and smartphones, consumers have found the tools to make videos, edit them and share them in minutes right in their pockets. The result is that it has become very easy to share one's opinion and experience with a product or service, useful for guiding a consumer like us during the purchase.
More than 18 million unboxing and haul videos were uploaded to Youtube in 2018.
Appearing for the first time in 2006, unboxings consist of videos featuring the opening of the box of a purchased product while sharing one's impressions. From technical specifications to packaging, everything is checked. The same principle applies to video hauls, in which vloggers present their purchases (cosmetics, clothes, decorations, etc.) to the public.
These formats, initially reserved for influencers, have become increasingly democratic and many consumers are starting to share their shopping experiences online via video format.
UGC tutorials
This is the more educational approach, where consumers share videos to show how to use a product.
Stories, Reels, Tiktoks…
It is now impossible to count the number of video formats that have appeared over the past few years to cater to the demand for content on social media.
One thing, however, is certain: they are the most viewed and shared content by online users. UGC evolves and transforms, having a cascading effect on the formats consumers use to make and edit videos.
UGC Platforms
For businesses and brands looking to engage with their audience and create an authentic online presence. UGC platforms provide tools and solutions to curate, manage, and leverage user-generated content across various digital channels. Here, are five notable UGC platforms:
- https://www.pixlee.com/
- https://archive.com/
- https://taggbox.com/
- https://www.trend.io/
- https://www.ttagz.co.uk/
Conclusion
The big brands realized, a long time ago, that consumers are also strong influencers. After all, ordinary people are more confident when talking about their experiences with companies' services or products. As such, UGC (User Generated Content) is an essential tactic.
Working with Digital Marketing presents daily challenges, as you may have noticed. Therefore, keeping an eye on trends is one of the alternatives to always being on top of the news.
However, in addition to internal services, have you considered how valuable your customers are in this scenario? Have you thought about adding them as content producers to promote your brand? Yeah, know that this is an increasingly used strategy in the digital world.
Do you want to understand what UGC (User Generated Content) is, its main advantages and how to apply it in your e-commerce? Then contact ttgaz, you're on the right track!
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