But what exactly is User-Generated Content (UGC)?

These days, it refers to a person’s online or social media postings that come in the form of photos, videos, and text (i.e. blogs, reviews, and chat threads). Of course, “traditional” UGCs such as column reviews or photos published on physical newspaper or magazine copies are very much still a thing.  

Nevertheless, these traditional UGCs have also made sure to incorporate themselves into the online world. Having an online presence is just something that is so vital and needed now especially if one's goal is to push an idea or market products to others. And although, to some in the older generation, the choice to go online may be an unnecessary movement by companies that have already garnered a loyal fanbase in the years back — in a logical perspective, it's simply a matter of adapting in order to continue surviving this ever-changing world of ours.

But surely there’s more to just mere adaptation and survival in the act of having UGCs go online?

The answer: yes! There’s a lot more than just exposing yourselves on the internet for views when posting and sharing UGC — even if that is the usual goal. As mentioned, it can also be a way to market all sorts of things to people across the globe. 

Although before we dive into that, did you know UGCs weren’t originally used to gain the attention of others or as a marketing strategy? Rather, they were for collecting information! A result of this was actually the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. The words that were collated into this lexicon were contributed by the general public which makes a whole lot of sense given they originated from nowhere else but us in the intellectual need to establish a common language for communication purposes. 

Eventually, as the World Wide Web took a sweeping improvement by the 2000s, more and more UGCs were shared online and even evolved into some of the most iconic information databases that we know of today such as IMDb.

One could say we became so enamored, and even quite obsessed, with the prospect of sharing everything and anything on the interweb that as the technologies which provided us access to it advanced then so did our need to contribute online information but by tenfold. Eventually, this act reached one of its first peaks back in 2006 with the boom of sites like MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and Wikipedia. Time Magazine even noted this “new digital democracy” by naming us, the very people who spend as much as a minute to an entire day online, as their 2006 Person of the Year!

Not to mention, apart from the need to share information, we’ve also developed a sort of dependency on online UGCs especially when it comes to making decisions. For example, most of us have this habit of making sure to first read the comments and reviews of others in order to determine whether or not we should buy something. Video reviews or the so-called “unboxing videos” are also regularly seeked out as we still tend to follow the whole “to see is to believe” consumer attitude. 

So what do these UGCs mean for the companies or brands of today in which the majority of them have an established online presence? 

Well, this is where we go back to our discussion of UGCs as a marketing strategy. More specifically, let’s discuss the benefits of when brands share User-Generated Content.

 

For starters, there's the most obvious benefit of boosting and strengthening one's online presence since sharing UGCs are a form of audience engagement. Your current customers will definitely be impressed upon seeing that you're keeping a sharp eye on those talking about your brand because it shows that you’re all for active communication. Plus, they'll be more driven to share their own brand-related content in the hopes that you'll pick theirs to highlight on your official page. You see this kind of interaction a lot on Instagram especially when it comes to food and makeup - just take a look at official pages of The Cheesecake Factory and ColourPop Cosmetics!

Meanwhile, potential customers will be more enticed to check your brand out especially if they see actual people talking or showcasing whatever it is you're offering. This can lead to an increase of views simply because people are, by default, pulled into checking out things that are being raved about by others. As this blog post from Shopify eloquently put, “People trust people more than brands and UGC is content created by the people.”

Even better, the more known the person behind the UGC you shared is then the greater the views will be! So try and collaborate with popular, legitimate influencers mainly for the high consumer trust level they already come with alongside their genuine interest in what your brand has to offer.

It's important to remember that you're aiming to promote the creation and sharing of positive UGCs because, regardless of whether you share them or not, they'll be floating online for anyone to view. If a brand's not careful with the quality and reliability of what they're offering then negative UGCs, usually in the form of reviews, will scatter like wildfire and ultimately ruin their reputation.

Going back, another pro of sharing UGCs is better brand relevancy. The actual application of your products or services presented via photo or video UGCs can allow potential customers to picture themselves in the same scenario and determine whether it'll be of any use to them or not. Shared user blog posts and chat threads highlighting your brand can be just as helpful to them. According to a 2017 study, 90% of consumers find UGCs as a major influence when it comes to their purchasing decisions. 

It’s also a way of proving one's credibility and transparency since these are contents that are actually from the customers themselves. It gives your brand the impression of confidence since you're very much down to re-posting, with permission, your customers' opinions. One research even notes how 70% of consumers trust UGCs more than the professional contents a brand shares.

And, when it comes to the online content your brand generates, UGCs can become your additional postings. They can reduce the burden of having to come up with new content every single day and save you precious time plus money when it comes to the production of marketing materials as sharing UGCs are essentially free!

Finally, by sharing UGCs, it gives your brand an opportunity to further understand all kinds of consumers since it's basically a firsthand look at how they're applying your products or services into everyday life. Use this to an advantage in order to improve and even customize your products or services!

Suffice to say, the overall benefit of sharing User-Generated Content is that it definitely puts you on the radar of potential consumers worldwide! When done properly, your brand can receive greater engagements, conversion rates, earn more fans, as well as become more trustworthy. 

In any case, being in an age where the internet and social media has become the bread and butter of many, who doesn't want to join in on this particular success?

---

Sevensharp Creatives elevates businesses from different industries to a whole new level! Our team offers 360 digital marketing solutions that includes the current online vital social media platforms, website design and development, software development, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, email and SMS marketing, photo and video shoot and more for small, medium, corporate businesses, and public entities. Get your free consultation with us to jumpstart your digital marketing journey! Contact us at +63 917 146 2603 (Viber, Whatsapp) or email us at hello@sevensharpcreatives.com.