What Is User-Generated Content and How Can It Support Growth Strategy?

If you're looking for a cheap but powerful way to create content and drive traffic to your site, it's hard to beat user-generated content.

Not only does it allow you to create content at scale, but user-generated content also resonates with your core audience — because your audience creates it.

But how do you create user-generated content, and more importantly, how can it be utilized inside your business?

In this article:

• What is User-Generated Content?
• How User-Generated Content Helps Growth Strategies
• How to Get User-Generated Content
• How Can User-Generated Content Help You?

What is User-Generated Content?

Even if you've never heard of user-generated content (or UGC, for short), you most likely see it several times every day.

Video testimonials, reviews, podcasts, live streams, and even still images shared on social media are all forms of content created by a brand's loyal followers.

Occasionally, a brand will hire influencers to create this content or ask its employees to do so. Still, the creativity involved in creating the post must originate outside the marketing department.

Think of UGC as the modern-day version of word-of-mouth campaigns. Someone receives a product, experiences an emotion related to it, and then decides to tell their immediate audience about it.

The bigger the audience, the wider the reach, and the more impactful that content can be for your business.

Source: i7marketing

The main thing to be careful about is copyright and privacy.

User-generated content that features children under the age of 13, for example, risks violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

Preserving internet safety for kids is an important topic (for several reasons), so make sure your brand guidelines for UGC don't run afoul of these types of restrictions.

How User-Generated Content Helps Growth Strategies

Relying on user-generated content as a key component of your marketing channel is scary. What if they don't like the product? What if a dissatisfied customer leaves a scathing review that also goes viral?

Since a single negative experience can take years to recover from, most brands are very careful about how they advertise their products.

The truth is, users are already creating this content for your brand, whether you've asked them to or not. Helping steer that process is your company's only hope of leveraging this massive flow of content to your advantage.

Stronger authenticity

Brands like to control their image. Most businesses believe the content they create and deliver to customers is just as valuable—if not more so—than content created by customers. In reality, the inverse is true.

According to one study, customers are 2.5 times more likely to view UGC as authentic than branded content. That's not to say they don't value branded content, but it does mean they trust UGC much more.

Source: Business Wire

Younger generations value this authenticity much more than older generations. They don't want to see a product's shine as much as its real-world, everyday application in the hands of real users.

97% of Gen Z consumers view social media as a primary source for shopping decisions. Social media, by contrast, is almost entirely UGC-based.

Content on autopilot

The future of SEO is uncertain, but most marketers agree it will involve a lot of content. But creating substantial amounts of good content on a reliable schedule to stay competitive is expensive.

StuDocu is an example of a website geared toward user-generated content.

Students upload study guides to the StuDocu website for anyone to access, providing a steady stream of material for their audience without paying writers to conduct research and write in-house.

Source: StuDocu

For that reason, having a good UGC strategy is a bit like a snowball.

Once you build it up and push it down the hill, it continues to grow and gain steam until something larger knocks it off course.

Content flexibility

While having a lot of good content is great, having flexible content that you can use on various platforms is even better.

You'll get the most bang for your buck if you can use the same information for a paid ad, blog post, and Instagram story. User-generated content can be used at any stage of the marketing funnel, but it's particularly effective at the bottom.

Driving traffic to a landing page featuring several customer reviews can tip the scales for a potential customer to make a purchase decision.

Source: Bizzabo

Alternatively, you can ask people to send in videos of themselves using your product — some in ways you never anticipated — and then compile them into a video ad.

If one submission highlights a use case that is relevant to a particular industry, then isolate that video and use it as a case study presentation on your website.

With this virality comes an opportunity to strengthen your SaaS branding. Showcasing a range of applications reinforces who your brand is and the problems you’re trying to solve.

Creates dialogue

User-generated content encourages your audience to have a conversation with you about your product.

You asked for their input on your brand, and they delivered, allowing you to learn more about your product and how it can better serve your customers.

This dialogue increases buy-in and trust, which is really important in a world dominated by "fake news."

Source: Gallup

But just as important as opening that dialogue is listening to the concerns your brand loyalists have raised.

If enough people are calling for a specific improvement, use it as an opportunity to strengthen your relationship by incorporating their suggestions.

Many brands are already trying to build this type of relationship through influencer marketing, but it can be extremely expensive for even mid-tier influencers.

Asking your users to create content for you is usually free and can reach a wider audience, depending on who responds.

How to Get User-Generated Content

Since people don't usually do something for free, finding a way to get your users to create content for you can be challenging.

There usually needs to be some kind of incentive attached, whether that's fame or a financial incentive. Below are some of the best ways to encourage your audience to submit content.

• Run a Contest. Ask your customers to submit photos of themselves using your product, with the promise that the best photo will appear on your website's homepage. Make sure you give them the tools that they need to do this task, such as a background changer that lets them show how your product would look during a moon landing or on the Serengeti.
• Use a Survey. Surveys are valuable for gathering important feedback on your brand and can also serve as a source of reviews and testimonials. Incentivize this process and get more responses by offering a discount to those who complete the survey. A tool like Paperform survey maker, Zonka Feedback, SurveyMonkey can help with this process.
• Tap Your Community. If you've got a Facebook group or form that is already active, pin a post requesting input. Use the right hashtags and repost or tag top contributors.
• Celebrate a Cause. Aerie, a side-brand of American Eagle, launched a campaign promoting body inclusivity. They asked their customers to share photos of "real women" wearing their clothes and promised not to Photoshop or retouch the images. The result was not only a massive increase in exposure but also in revenue, achieved through user-generated content.
• Share a Story. If your product helps people in their everyday lives, highlight some of those stories in an ad campaign. Record videos of individual customers talking about a certain struggle that includes your product or service as an aid to their transformation. The best stories can be truly inspirational and shared like wildfire.
• Host a Takeover. While this should never be done without strict oversight, allowing one of your customers or another brand to take the reins on your social media can be a great way to create original content. Let them devise the conversation topics, spark dialogue, and interact with your customers. You never know what they might come up with.
• Use Social Listening. Listening to social media can help you find UGC from customers who post pictures of your products without mentioning your brand. This way, you can showcase authentic experiences with your product as the person sharing it didn't even think you'd find it. Reach out to those customers via DM to ask whether they would be willing to share the photos with your brand.

Here are some inspiring user-generated content examples that testify to its potential.

How Can User-Generated Content Help You?

The best part about employing UGC in your brand is that every company's audience is unique.

Brand loyalists decide to follow you for a reason, and letting them share that reason can create a one-of-a-kind experience that other businesses won't be able to replicate.

While every piece of user-generated content is valuable, every once in a while, you find a nugget that really resonates with your crowd.

Once you identify those valuable insights, they can accelerate your growth strategy and become a cornerstone of your marketing plan for years to come.

FAQ: User-Generated Content (UGC)

Author Bio

Shane Barker is a digital marketing consultant who specializes in influencer marketing, content marketing, and SEO. He is also the co-founder and CEO of Content Solutions, a digital marketing agency. He has consulted with Fortune 500 companies, influencers in digital products, and several A-list celebrities.