What if we told you that we discovered a strategy that drives sales, boosts exposure, enhances your relationship with your current customers, and doesn’t cost you a dime? You’d probably say, “Sure, ok. What you talkin’ bout Willis?” And we’d say that our name is not Willis and that what we are talking about is word of mouth marketing. (WoMM) WoMM’s the bomb! In the online world, WoMM comes in the form of user-generated content. Should you choose to accept it, the mission is to entice people to generate content for you and then use it to your advantage. You will be paid handsomely if you succeed, AND you’ll be adding hundreds of people to your content creation team… for free. Bing pot! *Brooklyn Nine-Nine TV show reference. If you don’t get it, you should.

What Is UGC?

Well, it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Thanks for reading and we’ll see you next time! Wait, don’t go! That was a joke! User-generated content is photos, videos, and/or text that promotes a product, service, or brand instead of the brand doing it themselves. If you’re anything like us, you probably use Yelp before trying out a new restaurant. It may or may not make your decision for you, but it will at least give you hints about what you can expect. UGC is like a Yelp review for your products! When potential customers see existing customers getting excited about a product, they are more inclined to try it out.

Did you know that 79 percent say UGC highly impacts their purchasing decisions, while influencer content has only a nine percent impact? And that 80 percent of consumers are likely to purchase a product online if its website features videos and photos are from real customers. So what is UGC? It’s basically a superpower that acts as a magnet for new customers. You know you always wanted a superpower. Ours is that we can eat an entire large pizza by ourselves. ????

So how do you get it and how do you use it? We thought you’d never ask. Let’s look at a couple of examples of successful UGC.

Apple

What a shocker! A company with one of the most successful marketing teams in the world did a good job using UGC? We’re speechless! (Never… ever.) You’ve probably seen those cool commercials about how great iPhone cameras are nowadays. These can be traced back to when users complained about the quality of images taken on iPhone cameras, particularly in low-light situations. So what did Apple do? They silenced the haters. Well, kind of.

Apple started a #ShotOniPhone campaign that was very successful. The goal was simple: gain back customer trust using existing customer photos. People posted all of these incredible photos and videos, which were (you guessed it) #ShotOniPhone. Now the hashtag has over 24 million posts, showing that Apple successfully regained trust while simultaneously marketing its product using real people instead of actors or content creators. We’ll have a slice of that! (Get it? Like an apple slice? Not every at-bat can be a home run, ok? Give us a break.)

REI

UGC doesn’t always have to be focused on a product. Stand out from your competition by letting your brand values make a statement. That’s what REI did with their #OptOutside campaign. They made a move that many retailers would consider to be insane and they shut down their stores nationwide on Black Friday. Instead, they encouraged people to spend time outdoors with the hashtag #OptOutside. Over a million people posted photos of them spending time outside instead of in-store. That’s over a million photos that REI could use in future marketing campaigns! It was a bold strategy that may have cost them some sales, but it ultimately strengthened brand loyalty and generated interest from a lot of new customers.

Your Turn

To start, think about the product you want to focus on or what your statement will be. Then you can come up with a hashtag to go with your campaign. Make it something simple that’s easy to spell and isn’t hard to remember. If you’re not an Apple or an REI, you should also consider doing some sort of contest or giveaway to further motivate people to participate. If you are, OMG, we’re fangirling so hard! Hi!

The easiest way to think about it is to develop ways to get people to post content about your brand or your products. What would motivate you to post about it if you were in their shoes?

What will your success story be? We can’t wait to hear it.

Want to get your UGC campaign started but need to get your social media game on point first? That would be smart! Let us build up your following for you! We’ve worked on social media in so many different industries we’ve lost count! Contact us today to discuss your marketing goals.