Why brands should make the most of UGC

Posted by on Jan 19, 2015 in Advice and Tips | No Comments

User generated content (UGC) is pretty much what it says on the tin. It is content created by real people, as opposed to marketers or journalists, it is a fresher way to engage people with products, ideas or whatever it is your marketing. When done successfully, UGC helps brands expand their following, encourage customer loyalty and, ultimately, increase sales.

Day Out-Judith Kana-4475-9773Scoopshooter: Judith Kana

Here are a few reason why brands should include UGC in their content and marketing strategies.

Affordable and accessible

UGC campaigns are far cheaper to run than hiring a production crew, finding a set, and models and all the extras that come with shooting for a campaign, be it a short clip or the perfect billboard shot! This is where UGC really makes it very easy for brands; they ask for certain content and people provide huge quantities for them to sift through, saving time, money and some brain cells! Take Bisto for example. On the lead up to Thanks Giving, Bisto ran a photo campaign with Scoopshot to encourage people to send in pictures of their roast dinners. The campaign generated over 600 photos and received 7,130 views, a bucket-load for Bisto to choose from and at a fraction of the hassle (and price).

Day Out-P.J. Rodriguez-5478-6544Scoopshooter: P.J. Rodriguez

Share and share alike

Over half of modern social media users seek out UGC before making big purchase decisions and over 85 per cent would confirm their decision to buy after seeing a good review. It makes sense, people trust other people and are more likely to rely on their un-biased judgement and recommendation than a brand campaign.  So if you have a dedicated fan base posting photos or videos of themselves using or enjoying your product online, take advantage of this. On Youtube, UGC fan videos get 10 times more views than brand vids, surely it’s a no brainer?! GoPro, a brand specializing in tough professional video cameras and software, used UGC to share customer content to show how they could put their camera gear to good use. By using UGC, GoPro have a constant supply of content from ‘real’ users which is likely to encourage interest in the brand and in turn, purcahses.

Scoopshot photo by David K. Coca ColaScoopshooter: David K.
scoopshot-1573-6452Scoopshooter: Anon

Holding Contests

The way brands use UGC depends on the outcomes they want for the company, be it an increased following, the introduction of a new product, or higher brand engagement. They may then choose to run photo, essay, blog post or video contests in a bid to meet their outcomes with the incentive of winning a prize or featuring on the companies social media. By using UGC, companies spark online users’ interest in the brand creating higher-user engagement which encourages a snowball effect of increased followers and coverage. The jewellery brand Pandora ran a UGC campaign which encouraged followers to tweet pictures of their stacked rings for a chance to win £500 worth of brand spanking new ones! The end result was that Pandora was left with a tonne of pretty pics to share across all its social media channels, as well as a wider following of jewellery lovers! WIN WIN!

Nikon 5100AScoopshooter: Omar Velazquez

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