The power of UGC (user generated content)

Love it or hate it, the rise of user-generated content marketing as a powerful marketing tactic is undeniable. Like the phrase itself implies, this is content that’s created and published by your consumers, customers, visitors and/or clients. Types of user-generated content could be photos, videos, hashtags and even comments that are submitted to websites, blogs and social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest.

In today’s crowded marketplace it’s more important than ever to push authenticity and user engagement as top priorities. This is why many brands are now incorporating user-generated content social-media strategies into their marketing plans and these top 5 benefits certainly show why:

1.Take The Pressure Off Your Content Team

UGC is an effective way of easing the strain of creating custom content and supplementing it with an effective and powerful alternative. Whether you’re creating content in-house or outsourcing it to an agency, this can mean increasing your ability to share highly-targeted content far more often than if you were creating it all yourself.

2.Boost Your Social Media Reach & Growth

Successfully executing a UGC campaign can significantly strengthen your brand and build customer relationships across social media. There are a number of ways to do this. For example, create a custom hashtag or photo contest on Instagram, ask a question or create a challenge on Twitter or Facebook, or even launch a video contest on YouTube.

3.Gain A Few Search Engine Optimisation Perks

Getting your brand’s online assets ranked highly on search engines is always a concern. Particularly if your business relies on this to make sales or gain new clients. UGC can actually aid these SEO efforts. If users around the net are publishing content about your brand with backlinks to your website, this can in turn significantly improve your presence on search engine result pages for applicable terms.

4.Building Relationships With Your Audience

After all, what better way to engage your audience and make them notice your brand than to highlight their own content. Discover what makes your audience excited about creating content and engaging with your brand, then use this knowledge to bake personalisation into your marketing initiatives. You’ll have faithful brand ambassadors lining up in no time.

5.Create A Lifestyle Around Your Brand

Whether you choose to work with micro-influencers or celebrities, finding users who can advocate your brand while showcasing it as a part of their daily lives will bring immediate authenticity to your marketing. This transforms your advertising efforts by harnessing user-generated content to create a desirable lifestyle around it instead.