Consumer-Generated Content Promotes Your Brand and Improves Customer Loyalty
When your customers post about your brand on social media, you know their hype about your products and/or services is real.
But have you ever thought about returning the favor? Posting consumers’ content on your business’ Instagram fosters customer loyalty, showcases brand popularity, and allows you to market your products organically.
Reposting consumer-generated content establishes a great relationship with your customers
Businesses like Chargrill Charlie’s, Blenders Eyewear, Rep Your Water, and Hotel Ketchum uses consumer-generated content all the time. And it looks good, too.
In a business’ buyer cycle, customer experience and feedback are important. It gives insight to your business on what you are doing well and what you can work on. Additionally, you can use customer experiences to add credibility to your business.
Reposting consumer or user-generated content, commonly known as UGC, is the exact same thing. When you repost UGC, it provides credibility to your brand and fosters a trustworthy environment for your customers. Studies show that 45 percent of purchases are driven by UGC.
Posting UGC excites more customers to keep buying what you are selling. When UGC is posted on your social media profiles, it shows the popularity of your brand and allows customers to relate to your business better. The content drives more reach and speaks to the quality of your brand — so make sure the people that are interacting with your brand are showcased so those special customers receive a little bit of love back.
USG brings in profit
You might be thinking, “That’s a cool tactic, but what is it going to do for my profit margin?”
If fostering customer loyalty isn’t enough for you, here’s more of a business-oriented reality check.
Shoppers who interact with USG are more likely to buy your product, and spend even more money on it when they feel an authentic and personalized connection with it.
Related: Building a Tactile-Advertising Brand Experience
Still don't get it? Let's break down UGC
UGC is when your customers share their experiences with your business on their social media platforms.
Instagram has the advantage of being the most used platform for UGC. Thanks to the visual nature of the channel by primarily sharing photos and videos, it is easier to see tagged businesses or showcase a brand in other users’ profiles.
While Instagram is the most used platform for UGC, you can implement UGC on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn in so many different ways. Here are the best ways to implement UGC with each of these platforms.
- Look at your tagged photos, stationed at the top right of your feed bar (shown here in the picture below), and see what users are posting about your business. You might be surprised — there may be a lot more content to work with than you think.
.jpg)
- Most often users post right after they purchase or experience a product/service or brand. Check out your direct messages to see if anyone has tagged you in their Instagram stories or posts. If so, repost the content on your Instagram as a way to thank the customer and elongate the customer experience. Doing so also sends a strong message to your audience that you care about your customers on a different level.
- Interacting with your customers through their content is a great way to establish an ongoing relationship beyond something merely transactional. Tips to do this include:Like their photos that feature your product/service and/or brand.Comment on their photos with positive statements, reinforcing the brand experience.
- Like their photos that feature your product/service and/or brand.
- Comment on their photos with positive statements, reinforcing the brand experience.
- Like their photos that feature your product/service and/or brand.
- Comment on their photos with positive statements, reinforcing the brand experience.
- You can see who tags your business in a tweet. Retweet, reply, or quote good tweets that mention your brand and showcase it in a way that is representative of it. For tweets that offer constructive feedback, address those by following up with the user via a direct message.
- A retweet reposts a tweet on your business’ profile.
- Reply to a tweet sends a message back to your customers — it wouldn’t hurt to tweet out a thank you.
- A tweet Quote reposts a tweet with a little subtext on how you feel about it. This tactic is the most impactful for UGC because it allows you to say something as a business, while directly reposting UGC on your profile. It’s a reply and retweet combined — the best of both worlds.
- Sharing photos of content that consumers post is the best way to optimize UGC on Facebook.You can share Facebook photos by sharing someone’s post. The share button is on the bottom right of the post. You are able to share it with your Facebook friend/followers or publicly on your Facebook timeline.Like photos that your customers tag your business in.Comment on customer’s photos with positive feedback like “So happy you are wearing our merch!” or “Lookin’ good!”
- You can share Facebook photos by sharing someone’s post. The share button is on the bottom right of the post. You are able to share it with your Facebook friend/followers or publicly on your Facebook timeline.
- Like photos that your customers tag your business in.
- Comment on customer’s photos with positive feedback like “So happy you are wearing our merch!” or “Lookin’ good!”
- You can share Facebook photos by sharing someone’s post. The share button is on the bottom right of the post. You are able to share it with your Facebook friend/followers or publicly on your Facebook timeline.
- Like photos that your customers tag your business in.
- Comment on customer’s photos with positive feedback like “So happy you are wearing our merch!” or “Lookin’ good!”
- Repost consumer’s articles about your business by hitting the share button on the very right of the bar. When you share an article, add some insight to the post, which to a customer feels validating and as if the brand is patting them on the back; it tells them their voice is being heard.
- Repost photos that users have posted about your business and/or products by using the share button.
Not all UGC is positive
Addressing constructive feedback on any of these social channels is critical to close the feedback loop for your business. Many customers find it is easier to share their feedback when their experience is extremely positive or extremely negative.
Be sure to handle both sides of this coin professionally, in a timely manner, and respectfully. Handle negative comments in a more private setting by first acknowledging the customer publicly, thanking them for sharing, and apologize for the negative experience. Tell them you will follow-up with them privately.
Follow up with them using the channel’s direct message features to dial-in on the underlying problem. Often times, this can be a great way to find ways the business and the products or services it sells can improve.
Run a social media campaign to create UGC
It’s hard to promote UGC when you don’t have users generating it.
- Do you have promotional products consumers can purchase to showcase their brand loyalty?
- Is there quality custom merchandise that your customers want to buy that identifies their values with your brand's?
- Do they know how to share their insights and experiences? Make your audience aware of your social channels and how and when to share their feedback/experience.
These could be reasons why you’re not seeing a ton of UGC flooding your socials.
Think about running a social media campaign that is centered around branded merch or promo products for your business.
Related: Custom Merchandise: The Secret Sauce to Brand Loyalty
Here are a few ideas to jumpstart a social media campaign to make sure your company has UGC for days:
- Find people to rep your branded products. Commonly known as brand ambassadors, they can produce pictures and have influence in their community about your product or service — increasing reach and awareness of your brand. Give them some free merch and let them proudly market your brand.
- Run a social media giveaway. The customer that wins the giveaway, will be excited and share their win on their social media platforms, most likely tagging the business.
- These social media giveaways usually are posted on Instagram, and consumers have to tag three or more of their friends in the comments to even get considered for the giveaway. This way, more people are seeing your business profile.
Think about promoting UGC in your next marketing campaign
Establishing your customers as the spotlight provides authenticity and a holistic human approach to your business.
UGC helps your marketing strategy and fosters customer loyalty. If you have consumers already tagging and posting your brand on social media platforms, give back some love and repost the UGC on your own page. If not, think about starting a social media campaign centered around promo merch.
Need custom merchandise that your customers will love?