In the age of digital media and online sales, people are engaging in online social experiences more than ever before. These digital engagements have evolved increasingly to include the shopper experience. Consumers now have the unique opportunity to engage in authentic product experiences from their peers through online reviews and social media, and an integral part of this exchange is the visual content users are generating online. User generated content including photos and videos paired with online reviews are becoming a necessary component in making purchase decisions. As a marketeer it’s important to understand the impact of user generated content, and how you can leverage it to your advantage.
UGC helps brands better understand how consumers are using their products
In harnessing the power of UGC and engaging your consumers to share photos, videos and testimonials on their product experience, your company can gain important insights on how consumers are utilizing your products. These insights can help you to determine key demographics and understand how your products are perceived by the public. In a recent activation conducted by The Insiders in the consumer electronics category, social media analysis found that the majority of consumers engaged were utilizing the product for multitasking, over its other more specific intended purposes. These insights allow the client the opportunity to highlight this use in their messaging to new consumers.
UGC builds consumer trust
Seeing real consumers engage with a product and provide a behind the scenes look via photos and videos shared with online reviews allows consumers a genuine recommendation that they can trust. In fact, a 2018 consumer review survey conducted by brightlocal found that 84% of people trust user generated review content as much as a direct recommendation from a friend or family member. The Insiders platform allows brands to activate UGC with a product review via targeted, one on one review coaching. In a recent 2019 Insiders activation, one on one reviewing coaching allowed us to seed 270 reviews across 9 retailer sites for our client’s product, 75% of which included robust UGC.
UGC increases engagement with your brand and helps consumers feel connected to the process
Let’s face it, UGC isn’t just beneficial to consumers, but even more so to the brands themselves. Stunning UGC can act as one of the most trustworthy forms of free advertising, helping to flourish the symbiotic relationship between brands and their consumers. By utilizing your consumers own photos and videos on your products, not only do you pocket some great free publicity, but you can also make your consumers feel heard, and connected to the brand experience. This can lead to increased loyalty and higher net promoter scores, effectively strengthening your base of die hard brand advocates.
Activating and properly utilizing user generated content in your brands marketing initiatives benefits both the brand and the consumer, helping to bring you closer to the people you serve.
