How to use UGC to promote your business

What’s the first thing most people do when considering purchasing a product, visiting a restaurant, or hiring a service company to work on their home? They check the reviews.

Whether those reviews are on Google, Yelp, Reddit, an independent blog, or even social media like Instagram or Facebook, user-generated content (UGC) has become an important piece of the marketing puzzle for both B2C and B2B companies.

In this article, we’ll unpack the basics of UGC and how you can leverage it to promote your company and increase sales.

What is UGC?

User-generated content refers to any form of content that is created and shared by independent individuals rather than the brand itself. This includes blogs, customer reviews, TikToks, testimonials, images, articles, YouTube videos, and more. 

Brands can leverage UGC by commenting on and reposting social media content, encouraging Google and Yelp reviews, and posting testimonials on their owned media platforms. 

How UGC is different from influencer marketing

One thing to be clear about: UGC is not the same as influencer marketing. With influencer marketing, brands pay influencers to promote their products or services, typically giving them talking points and free samples of products to promote on their social media channels.

With UGC, brands have no control over the content that is created, and as a result, the content is viewed as less biased and more trustworthy.

Examples of user-generated content

Next, let’s look at some examples of UGC, including where you can source it and what it might look like:

Where can my business source UGC?

User-generated content can come from anywhere, but some of the most common places brands find UGC include:

Loyal customers

The goal of every company should be to create fans who are ravingly loyal, and to foster a culture where people are used to leaving positive reviews. Sometimes, getting started is as simple as regularly encouraging your customers to leave reviews on social media. You can do this in person if you have a brick-and-mortar location or on social media with simple calls to action, like:

• “Thanks for shopping here! If you had a great experience, please leave us a review.”
•  “Love our brand? Click here to leave a review on Google.”

Employees

Ideally, your employees are part of your company’s raving fan club. Customers tend to respond well to behind-the-scenes UGC from employees. For example, videos showing how something is made, what the creative process is like, or even a tour of your headquarters. While this type of content may still require a sign off from your company to ensure it stays on brand, it should feel different from the regular advertising your business is doing. 

UGC creators/agencies

UGC agencies are companies that help brands encourage their customers to generate content. For example, an agency might help you reach out to past customers to increase the number of Google reviews you have, or send out free samples to bloggers and video creators (although, this blurs the line between UGC and influencer marketing—but that’s not necessarily a bad thing).

What are types of UGC?

As already noted, UGC can come in any format, including:

• Images
• Videos/YouTube/live streams
• Testimonials/customer reviews
• Blog posts
• Tweets/reposts
• Social media comments

There really is no limit to the type of content that your followers might create. For example, if an artist mentions your product in a song, that’s also technically UGC.

Benefits of user-generated content

Establish brand loyalty

UGC fosters a sense of community among customers, allowing them to actively participate in the growth of your business. Increased brand interaction and engagement deepen the bond between your brand and its audience.

Build trust

Consumers trust real customers more than they trust brands. UGC serves as social proof, providing authentic testimonials and personal recommendations from peers. By incorporating UGC into your marketing, your online presence becomes more genuine and trustworthy.

Save money

UGC can be a more cost-efficient option when compared with hiring influencers or marketing agencies. In fact, even if you have a budget for a big ad campaign, it’s still smart to begin by encouraging and promoting UGC so that when new customers decide to research your brand, they find a wealth of positive reviews.

Keep your marketing flexible

UGC can be incorporated into multi-channel marketing campaigns, both online and offline. For example, you can feature testimonials in print ads, repost positive social media content, and leave comments wherever you are able. 

Grab attention

UGC has the power to capture attention and stop people from scrolling. Our eyes have adapted to gloss over overproduced marketing content from brands, so real people and their experiences can be a refreshing surprise that captivates and engages audiences. 

Tips for using UGC in your marketing

Here are five great tips for how to use UGC in your small business marketing efforts.

1. Get consent to share and always give credit

You need to ask permission before using a customer’s content to market your brand or products/services. Also, be sure to credit the original creator of the content you use. On social, tag them in your post and be clear about which aspect they were responsible for. This also helps signal to your audience that the UGC is actually user-generated.

2. Align on your UGC strategy

Before you collect any user content, you need to make sure you know how UGC plays into your larger marketing strategy. How will it align with your campaign goals? How will you measure success—conversions, brand awareness, site traffic? Analyze trends in what people are sharing about your business, considering who, what, when, where, why, and how.

3. Create UGC guidelines

What types of content are you looking for from customers? Be clear about what you want to share and how people can create content that fits your brand’s needs. You can do research ahead of time by searching on social media for the types of content people are sharing about your products/brand.

4. Adopt a custom hashtag

Your hashtag should encourage people to share about their experience with your brand. It should be easy to remember and type out. And it’ll help organize user posts so you can easily monitor what types of content customers are sharing. You can even promote this hashtag for social sharing in your physical locations or on your website.

5. Highlight UGC on your website

UGC can be a conversion-driver when it comes to the online experience. If your business has an ecommerce site, you can easily feature UGC to celebrate your most loyal customers and showcase your products in a genuine way. This is also a great way to feature the diversity of your customers and appeal to a variety of audiences.