Unleash the Power of User Generated Content: A Game-Changer for Your Brand
If you're looking to up your social media game, it's time to pay attention to a little something called User Generated Content (UGC). In this blog post, we'll explore why UGC is a powerhouse strategy for brands and how Melbourne Social Co can help you harness its full potential.
First things first, let's break down what UGC is all about. User-Generated Content is any content – whether it's photos, videos, reviews, or social media posts – created by your audience rather than your brand. It's the digital word-of-mouth that can skyrocket your brand's visibility and engagement.
Now, let's dive into why UGC is crucial for brands in today's digital landscape:
- Authenticity is Key: In a world saturated with sponsored ads and glossy marketing campaigns, consumers are craving authenticity. UGC provides exactly that – real people sharing real experiences with your brand. This authenticity builds trust and credibility, driving customer loyalty and advocacy.
- Boost Engagement and Reach: UGC has a unique ability to spark conversations and foster community engagement. When your audience sees others like them interacting with your brand, they're more likely to join in on the conversation. Plus, UGC often generates higher engagement rates and extends your brand's reach far beyond your own social channels.
- Cost-Effective Marketing: Traditional advertising can be expensive, but UGC offers a cost-effective alternative. By leveraging UGC, you can significantly reduce your marketing spend while still reaping the benefits of high-quality, authentic content.
- Unleash Creativity: Your audience is a wellspring of creativity, and UGC allows you to tap into that creativity in new and exciting ways. From unboxing, DITL, POV and more, UGC showcases your brand through the eyes of your customers, adding depth and personality to your marketing efforts.
User-generated content is widely utilised by brands across various industries to enhance their marketing strategies. Here are some examples of brands effectively leveraging UGC:
- Airbnb: Airbnb's "Experiences" platform encourages hosts and guests to share their unique travel experiences through photos and reviews. This user-generated content not only helps potential guests make informed decisions but also serves as powerful social proof, showcasing the authenticity and diversity of Airbnb's offerings.
- Coca-Cola: Coca-Cola has run numerous UGC-driven campaigns, such as the "Share a Coke" campaign where they replaced their logo with popular names and encouraged consumers to share photos of themselves with personalised Coke bottles. This campaign generated a vast amount of user-generated content on social media, driving engagement and brand awareness.
- lululemon: lululemon often features customer photos on their website and social media platforms, showcasing individuals wearing their activewear in various settings, from yoga studios to outdoor adventures. By incorporating UGC into their marketing strategy, lululemon highlights the versatility and performance of their products while celebrating their diverse community of customers.
Now, you're probably wondering how to incorporate UGC into your brand's marketing strategy. That's where Melbourne Social Co comes in!
Our UGC packages are almost ready to drop, meticulously crafted to help brands like yours maximise the power of user-generated content. Our team of experts will work closely with you to develop a tailored UGC strategy that aligns with your brand's goals and resonates with your target audience.
With Melbourne Social Co's UGC packages, you'll receive:
- Strategic campaign planning by social media experts, with your brand, objectives and platform best-practice in mind
- Access to a diverse range of creators
- End to end management of the content production process
Join the waitlist today and be the first to access our UGC packages when they launch. Don't miss out on this opportunity to supercharge your brand's marketing efforts with the magic of user-generated content.
Ready to take your brand to new heights? Let's make it happen with Melbourne Social Co and the power of UGC!
Introducing Threads — Everything you need to know about Meta's new social media platform.
You’ve no doubt heard that Threads, Instagram's new Twitter-like social app has launched! Parent company Meta, describe Threads as a place where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow. Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your creators and others who love the same things — or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world.
Meta’s making a big push to promote the new app in an effort to convert Twitter's users into being Threads users. In its’ first weekend live, the platform has reached 100 million sign ups, which is unheard of for a new social media platform.
For the first few weeks, we expect Threads to be the wild west — stay tuned daily to see how the platform grows and changes. As users transfer their platform from Instagram, we can anticipate the Threads’ user base will be comprised mostly of Millennials and Gen Z.
Understanding that these audiences are preferring authentic content, we recommend leaving overly planned updates at the door, and lean into frequent and unpolished posts that convey brand voice and authenticity. Put yourself in your followers’ shoes, and try to update from their perspective.
So, should you rush to craft a Threads strategy?
Our first recommendation is to get live on the app, so that your brand is searchable and you can make the most of users transferring their Instagram follower list to the platform.
Step one:
- Download the app
- Activate your threads account
- Ensure your bio is up to date
- Place your link of choice
If you need a hand with step one, please let us know.
Step two:
Our team will be closely monitoring activity on the platform over the next few weeks and will be putting together a comprehensive platform strategy and ongoing management recommendation for our clients, please reach out if you'd like to join the waitlist for this service.
If you have any questions in the meantime, please join us over on Threads!
What is Lemon8 and should your business be jumping on board?
ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, has seen their Lemon8 app rising up the App Store charts in recent weeks. Lemon8 is described as ’a place for young creatives to share a diversity of content’. It is said to be like a cross between Instagram and Pinterest, with a particular focus on products, and highlighting content from specific product categories (i.e. fashion, makeup and food). On quick glance, it's giving us Tumblr vibes, which we love!
As Lemon8 is rising in popularity in the US, we thought now is a great time to take a look at the app and whether or not you should be looking at incorporating it into your social media strategy in 2023. However, quick disclaimer! Lemon8 isn't currently available in Australia, so you can't jump on, yet! But it's sure to launch very soon.
There are several reasons why businesses should consider incorporating Lemon8 into their social media strategies. Here are just a few:
- Video content is still king, and Lemon8 will allow you to get creative!
As we all know, video content has become increasingly popular in recent years. Research shows that video content is more engaging, memorable, and effective at driving sales than other forms of content. By incorporating Lemon8 into your social media strategy, you can easily create and share engaging video content that resonates with your audience and helps to build brand awareness.
- The platform is designed for simplicity
One of the great things about Lemon8 is that it's designed to be simple and user-friendly. The platform's interface is intuitive, making it easy for businesses to create and share videos without needing a lot of technical knowledge. This is particularly beneficial for smaller businesses that may not have the resources to hire a dedicated social media manager or outsource to an agency.
- The platform is still relatively new
While Lemon8 is growing in popularity, it's still a relatively new platform. This means that there is less competition than other social media platforms, which means there's more opportunity for your brand to stand out from the crowd. By getting in early and establishing a presence on Lemon8, businesses can gain a competitive advantage and build a loyal following.
So - ready to get creative?
Lemon8 looks to be a great social media platform that brands should consider incorporating into their social media strategies. By creating engaging stills and video content, businesses can build brand awareness, drive sales, and stand out from the crowd. With its user-friendly interface, mobile-first design, and growing popularity, Lemon8 is a platform that businesses should definitely keep on their radar. We're looking forward to trying it out when it launches in Australia!
Want to know more about the latest social media platform developments? We share these weekly in our Social Media Trend Report.
Will AI Replace Social Media Managers?
By now, you’ve no doubt heard of Chat GPT. It’s the AI app that everyone is talking about.
Of course, we’ve been curious, so we thought we’d check it out. We jumped on and asked the AI to write us a blog post on whether or not it’s about to replace us (real life creatives) as Social Media Managers.
Here’s what Chat GPT gave us.
Sure, here's a sample blog post on the topic:
"Will AI Replace Social Media Managers?
As artificial intelligence continues to make advancements in various industries, it's natural to wonder whether AI will replace social media managers. In this blog post, we'll explore the role of AI in the field of social media management and whether it's likely to replace human social media managers.
- Automating routine tasks - AI can automate routine tasks such as scheduling posts, generating reports, and analysing data, freeing up social media managers to focus on more strategic and creative work.
- Improved efficiency and accuracy - AI algorithms can analyse data and make predictions about the best times to post and the types of content that are most likely to perform well. This can lead to improved efficiency and accuracy, as well as insights into how to optimise social media campaigns.
- Limited creative abilities - While AI can automate routine tasks and provide valuable insights, it still lacks the creative abilities and human intuition that social media managers bring to the table. Social media is about connecting with people and creating a sense of community, which requires empathy, emotional intelligence, and the ability to understand the nuances of human behaviour.
- The importance of human interaction - Despite the advancements in technology, there is still a strong demand for human interaction on social media. People want to connect with brands and other users in a personal and meaningful way, and social media managers play a crucial role in facilitating these interactions.
In conclusion, while AI can automate routine tasks and provide valuable insights, it is unlikely to replace human social media managers. The importance of human interaction, creativity, and emotional intelligence in social media management make it unlikely that AI will fully replace human social media managers in the near future. However, it's important for social media managers to stay up-to-date with AI developments and to understand how they can work with AI to optimise their efforts and achieve better results."
So there you have it, the AI is telling us that it’s not here to (totally) replace us any time soon. Or is that what it wants us to think… Only time will tell!
In the meantime, if you'd like to work with a team of human, talented creatives - get in touch with us today. Or, check out our latest work on Instagram.
Want to see what others are saying about us? Check out our agency profile on Design Rush here.
Instagram makes a return to stills
Photo lovers on Instagram rejoice!
Earlier this week, Instagram’s Adam Mosseri stated that the platform has had too great a focus on video content and will look to make photos more of a priority once again in 2023.
“I think we were overfocused on video in 2022 and pushed ranking too far, and basically showed too many videos and not enough photos. We’ve since balanced, so things like how often someone likes photos versus videos, and how often someone comments on photos versus videos, are roughly equal, which is a good sign that things are balanced.” - Mosseri
But hold up - before you ditch video all together, remember - a strong strategy is one that prioritises creating great content that speaks to your audience and objectives, regardless of it’s format.
We recommend sharing a balance of content types on Instagram, including videos, graphics, photos and carousel posts to appeal to all aspects of the algorithm, as well as to your different target demographics who may prefer one content type over the other.
As for a return to stills on Instagram? It may take a while to see these changes come to fruition, so it’s always best to ensure you're keeping on top of things by regularly reviewing your analytics and results.
Is it time to review your 2023 social media strategy? Contact us to schedule in a call with our strategy team.
Is it time to BeReal?
By now, you've no doubt heard about BeReal. BeReal is a photo-sharing app that prompts users to post once per day, at the same time as all of their friends. There is no opportunity to add a filter, or edit the image, which is taken by both your front and back camera at the same time.
Launching in 2019, it was mid-2022 when the app really took off. As of October 2022, it was the top social networking app on the App Store and has been installed over 29.5 million times.
BeReal's key demographic in Australia:
- Female: 98.7%
- Male: 1.3%
- Age:
- 16-25: 90.7%
- 26-44: 2.1%
- 45+: 7.3%
Are brands on BeReal?
Well, some are. Brands like Chipolte have cleverly used the app to post a different promotional code each day, building hype and anticipation for the once-a-day post to go out. Moreso, we are seeing the dual-camera format being replicated on other apps, as a meme that is directly relevant to key target demographics in the 16-25 bracket.
Why is it so popular within this age bracket? "This is what Gen Z wants from social media: unfiltered, uncurated content that doesn’t ask you to buy anything or make you feel bad about your life. It’s a fun place to be. And at the end of the day, that’s all that matters." - Hootsuite
It's also important to keep in mind that both TikTok + Instagram are working on BeReal features within their own apps - which speaks to BeReal's true power in 2023.
Do you want to discuss BeReal and how it could be integrated into your social media strategy with our team? Get in touch today.
Want to catch up with us on social media? Visit us on Instagram.
Social Media News, September 2022
Here is the latest Social Media News this month.
A Hootsuite and We Are Social study has found that in the last quarter of 2022, a major slowdown of social media growth has occurred —an expected finding in the post-pandemic world. Social media user growth is continuing to level off, leaving us with an incremental increase (1.0% to be exact) that signals we’re moving back to a period of slow and steady growth.
Tiktok continues to grow, grow, grow! Over half a million new users joined the platform every single day last quarter, with the number of people using TikTok for news doubling since last year. The report also found that people spend more time on TikTok each day than any other social app, meaning brands have a great opportunity to engage audiences in a fun, entertaining, and educational way. Key takeaway: Make sure Tiktok is a part of your social media marketing because its power is WILD.
Reels are here to stay. Consider this your reminder to continue sharing Reels on Instagram because they aren't going away anytime soon! The ad audience for Facebook Reels has increased by a massive 279% in the past 3 months, which means you can now reach 473.5 million users. You can also reach a staggering 754.8 million users with Instagram Reels ads. So what can we takeaway from this? This is proof that short, entertaining, less polished videos are an unbeatable way to reach your audience on social.
Whilst Facebook might be the grandad of social media networks, it drives a whopping 75.27% of all website traffic generated by social. Why? Because links are currency on the platform. The takeaway? Where possible, drive traffic to a website via links in posts.
We hope you enjoyed the latest social media news.
Want to chat to our team about managing your social media platforms? Reach out today.
Social Media News, August 2022
There is plenty of social media news to share this week!
Instagram news - or what's NOT happening!
How quickly things can change! Instagram have recently said that it is hitting pause on the rollout of new features on its app following backlash online from users, influencers and celebrities. The new updates (full-screen viewing and an increase in post recommendations) were criticised as people felt they were not seeing photos from friends and family as much.
A Meta spokesperson has said: "Based on our findings and community feedback, we're pausing the full-screen test on Instagram so we can explore other options, and we're temporarily decreasing the number of recommendations you see in your feed so we can improve the quality of your experience.
If you haven't heard of BeReal, you better listen up because it's about to be BIG.
BeReal is a new social media app which is trending amongst Zillennials (those born between 1993 and 1998). The app prompts you to take one photo per day at a random time. It takes a front and back camera image at the same time. BeReal is making waves with Zillenials due to its authentic nature. You won't find influencers, filters, or ads on the app - just real, authentic content from users. A BeReal user stated: “Whilst Instagram is promoting an 'ideal' of living, BeReal instead shows the "real" us, no filters. We feel more natural and have more connections to our peers, which is essentially what the generation (Gen Z) values.”
While it is not currently a platform companies participate in, there have been lots of "fake" BeReal's popping up across meme accounts. View some examples on the left.
Interestingly, BeReal has skyrocketed up the list of apps with the highest number of active users for the month of July. It was placed higher than the likes of Uber and Facebook, showing it's growing popularity.
Want to know more about the latest social media news or book in a consultation session with our team to make sure your social media strategy is up to date? Get in touch today.
Want to check out our latest work? Visit us on Instagram.
Instagram News, July 2022
Another month, another Instagram update! Here is the latest Instagram news.
Instagram Pin Feature
Instagram has a new feature allowing you to pin posts to the top of the feed. We see this being useful for highlighting the following:
- Competitions: Keeping competitions at the top of your feed
- New Launch/Product: Having a new product launch at the top of the feed
- Top performing posts: If a reel went viral you could pin it to the top of the feed
This feature will be beneficial to many brands and we are eager to test it out on our client campaigns.
In other Instagram news, engagement rates are trending down on traditional feed posts
Based on a Later study of 81M Instagram posts, the average engagement rate for feed posts in 2019 was 5.16%. By the end of 2021, this number decreased to 2.88%.
The downward trend is consistent for all traditional feed posts (images, carousels, and videos).
Traditional video feed posts saw the greatest decline year-over-year on average, while carousel posts consistently performed the best in terms of engagement
Why have traditional Instagram Feed Posts seen a decline in performance?
In a nutshell: The introduction of Instagram Reels in August 2020.
It’s no secret that Reels are a priority for the app, and as such, other post types have taken a back seat.
In order to boost engagement on the app, it’s important to include Reels and also carousel posts in your social media posting schedule.
Do you need assistance in staying across the latest Instagram news and managing your social media channels? Get in touch with our team today.
Want to stay up to date? Visit us on Instagram.
Want to chat to our team about Instagram Reels content creation? Reach out to our specialist team via email, [email protected]
Latest Social Media News, June 2022
In the ever-changing social media landscape, it’s important to keep up to date! We’ve compiled some of the latest social news and features to catch you up to speed.
It’s all about Instagram at the moment. Within the past few months, Instagram have implemented several updates which could affect your social media campaign and goals.
Instagram Testing
Instagram are currently undertaking quite a number of tests across the platform. It's important to note that Instagram chooses a small percentage of users, from across the world to test new features with. Not all users participate in tests, however tests usually change these users experiences significantly.
Please find links to articles expanding on different Instagram tests currently running:
We expect to see a decrease in engagement from users in testing, as feedback so far has been that these new features have decreased user satisfaction.
Instagram Feed Sorting
After testing new feed sorting options earlier this year, the Following and Favourites feed have been rolled out to all Instagram accounts.
These new feeds are:
- Home: The current feed view includes suggestions of posts from people you're not following
- Favourites: This feed allows users to choose their friends and family, and their favourite influencers into one feed.
- Following: The traditional chronological feed is coming back!
After implementation, we have noticed a drop off in impressions across all accounts - this means less people are seeing posts. However, this is what we typically see when a new feature is introduced. Over the last few weeks impressions have begun to pick up again, and we will keep an eye out on how these stats track over the coming months.
Best Types of Posts for Engagement
Scheduling platform Later recently released a report, after reviewing 81 million Instagram feed posts (noting this excludes Reels) to reveal what post types are best performing in 2022.
Carousel posts returned the best average engagement rate at 3.11%, followed by image posts (2.76%) and video (2.60%). This means that we need to be implementing more carousel posts into our social planners!
That's the latest social media news this month. Stay tuned for more updates!
Want to work with our team? Contact us to find out more.
