User-generated content has been a big deal for a while now, with brands from multiple different industries embracing it as part of their marketing strategy. It’s successful because it taps into the concept of social proof, which is essentially the idea that we trust what friends and family members say about brands more than we trust what brands say about themselves.
The statistics tell a story of their own. That’s because UGC-based advertisements get a 4x higher clickthrough rate and a 50% drop in cost-per click versus the average, while brand engagement increases by an average of 28% when people are exposed to both branded and user-generated content.
But why exactly is user-generated content so valuable in the first place? Well, on top of the social proof, there’s also the fact that it feels more authentic. It’s hard to sing your own praises without looking arrogant, and it’s much more socially acceptable to amplify something nice that somebody else said about you.
How UGC Boosts Your ROI
When you work in marketing, you start to realise how much time and money it costs to create content. This is especially true for video content, which often requires a full crew and the hire of expensive equipment. When you’re working with user-generated content, though, you don’t have to worry about it. All of that is covered by the creators.
Sure, the end result might not be as sleek and polished as it would be if you’d created it yourself, but that’s what gives this content its authenticity. And make no mistake, UGC doesn’t come for free. You’re still going to need to push out some advertisements and your marketing team will need to spend time to moderate submissions and identify the best of them.
Still, user-generated content campaigns are great because they typically cost less overall to create while simultaneously delivering greater engagement and conversion rates than regular content. When it costs less and delivers better results than regular content, you can start to see how using user-generated content can give you a much improved ROI. And it’ll help you to increase your engagement and to improve the sentiment that people have towards your brand, too.
Conclusion
UGC is a great way to level up your marketing and to improve your ROI, but it isn’t a magic bullet and you shouldn’t rely on user-generated content alone. Instead, make it a part of the marketing mix and use a mixture of branded and user-generated content to give your followers a comprehensive view of what your company is all about. Keep an eye on how it affects your bottom line and do more of what works and less of what doesn’t. Good luck.
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Dane
Dane Cobain is a published author, freelance writer, book blogger, poet and (occasional) musician from High Wycombe, UK. Before going freelance, he worked as a social media marker, now specialising in writing about publishing, technology and marketing.