A Guide to User Generated Content
What is User-Generated Content?
User-Generated Content (UGC) is any content—text, videos, images, reviews, etc.—created by people, rather than brands, featuring or discussing branded content. In its most organic form, UGC isn’t paid for by a brand, it is a genuine and honest recommendation being shared by followers and fans.This not only exposes your product to their audience; it provides a source of content to post on your page, website or other marketing channels. Being mentioned or having content shared by a brand is often fun and exciting for consumers or a source of income and products for influencers. It is a symbiotic relationship, a win-win for both parties when done correctly.
Why is it important?
When it comes to social media marketing, UGC is becoming increasingly valuable to brands. It promotes authenticity and trust, as consumers are more likely to perceive user-generated content as authentic and trustworthy, over brand-created content. Seeing another consumer enjoy the product or service eliminates risk in the minds of consumers – it’s a visual positive review. Increasing trust and authenticity greatly influences consumers’ purchase intentions; the more trust a consumer has the more likely they are to purchase the product. As UGC increases awareness, it reinforces the products’ different applications, stylings, adaptions, and uses in “real world” situations and increases the viability of consumers of making that final purchase.
How to Use It Successfully?
Now that we know why it is so important – how can your business be successful in using user-generated content? Let us tell you.
Bring Purpose and Value to Your Customers
All content you post must have a purpose, especially user-generated content - whether that’s being inspirational, showcasing how to use a product, sharing in-real-life reviews, or helping your followers decide on their product choices. UGC isn’t a sales pitch, you need to think of it as a stand-alone piece of content that can really be of benefit to your audience.
For example, if you were a make-up brand you could use your USG posts as an opportunity to educate your customers on what products were used in the look to showcase what your products look like in action.
Create a Sense of Community
What do all your followers have in common? They follow you! User-generated content is a great way to create a sense of community amongst your followers by stimulating discussions and connecting with your current and future customers. This is best illustrated by camera brands,who set challenges for their followers to take a photo with a set brief. The camera brand then shares entries, showcasing what their products can do and stimulating discussion and creativity amongst their followers. By sharing tricks and tips from on a post to get that photo - what camera did they use, which lenses, which settings – can stimulate discussion and provides value to your followers. This is a great way to engage with your followers and create brand loyalty as a bonus.
Create an Incentive
It is important to encourage and remind your followers to create and tag you in content that features your products. The incentive you pick depends on the type of followers you have, for example: if you’re a company that sells art supplies, then sharing followers’ art is incentive enough. Whereas, other followers may need more of a push. For example, to get followers to showcase your product in their posts you may want to offer a gift or promotional code.Whichever method you choose, it’s important to acknowledge the original source, and thank the creator to make sure they feel appreciated.
Need help?
Do you want some help creating an amazing user generated content campaign for your brand? Get in touch with our team today!
Want to learn how to become a digital marketing pro? Check out our social media masterclass.
Written By Ebony Jones
Managing social media over the holidays
Managing your social media presence over the holidays: what you can do now to plan ahead!
You’ve worked hard all year...you’re craving a holiday and can’t wait to take a break from corporate life. Phone on silent, cocktail in hand, feet dipped in the pool. Sounds like a dream...can we come?! But wait...what about your social media accounts? Who will look after them while you’re busy unwinding? Social media never sleeps and consistency is key. Correct! So, we’ve come up with some tips to help you manage your social media presence over the holiday season.
Plan, plan, plan. Planning ahead is key. Sure you’ll have to work your butt off up until your holiday break begins but you’ll definitely thank yourself later! Think of what you want to do and achieve over the holiday season. How many emails will you be sending out to subscribers? Are you launching a new product? Are you planning a huge sale? Write all this information down so you know what you’re striving for.
Create content now! Content creation takes time so set aside some one-on-one time with your camera and computer to put together some amazing content your followers will love. Having a bank of images ready to caption and schedule is invaluable come holiday time. Create some short, fun little videos to engage your audience. They’ll be sick of seeing ‘SALE’ images and baubles in every second photo on their social feeds, so grab their attention by giving them something new and exciting to look at.
Schedule away! Scheduling programs will be your godsend. They make life 110% easier. Facebook is great because it allows you to schedule content on the platform itself. For other social platforms like Instagram, you’ll need to use an external scheduling program to plan your content. Some examples include; Hootsuite, Later and Buffer. You will have to spend quite a bit of time adding each piece of content to the schedule, but your future self will forever be in debt when all you have to do is press ‘publish’.
Yes, a dream holiday would mean zero responsibilities and ever flowing cocktails but if you’re a business owner, you may have to succumb to checking your social accounts every now and then just to check in. Respond to comments, direct messages and do a bit of good ‘ol community management. 10-15 minutes out of your day isn’t so bad hey!
We hope these tips will help in the lead up to the Christmas period where all you want to do is relax!
Do you envisage this next month being a tough one? Do you think you’d prefer to have someone else manage your social accounts? Shoot us an email; we’d love to help!
Why you should invest in Facebook advertising
Are you a bit skeptical when it comes to paid advertising on social platforms like Facebook and Instagram? Well, we’re here to show you the bright side because there are 1.3 billion active daily users out there for you to engage with! Here are some reasons why we love Facebook advertising.
Facebook ads are great because they help your business attain additional reach and exposure, and they’re also ideal for targeting purposes. Amazing right?! Another great thing about Facebook ads is the fabulous feedback you receive. You’re given important insights into your current and potential audiences, and information like this will help you craft even better ads in the future!
Facebook advertising allows you to select your audience based on location, demographics, interests and behaviours. This is the biggest drawcard of Facebook advertising by far: its targeting capabilities. For example, if you’re a skincare brand based in NSW with a young audience, you can set your Facebook ads to target those with an interest in skincare, beauty, and fashion, who are between the ages of 18 and 25 and are based within as little as 10kms of your targeted area. You can’t get much better than that!
Cheap cheap...that’s another reason we like Facebook advertising. Although traditional methods of advertising like radio ads and billboards can be successful, they often break the bank and this is not what small or new businesses want. You set the budget on your Facebook ads, whether it be $5 for a weeks promotion or $500 (hey big spender!) Facebook will work to get you the best results possible for that amount.
Do you want to know what’s big right now in the Facebook ads world? Video ads. Facebook is heavily investing in video content to try and steal time and attention away from TV and online streaming sites (*cough* Netflix). On average, 100 million hours of video is watched on Facebook every day. Crazy right? Get on that video content stat!
Another fabulous thing about Facebook is that it is the leading network when it comes to purchasing decisions. 74% of consumers rely on social networks to guide purchase decisions so having your product/service sponsored for them to see is a great advantage!
So, Facebook advertising is pretty cool right! Have we convinced you to give it a go? We hope so!
If you want to craft some amazing ads for Facebook and your other social accounts, shoot us an email and we can lend you a hand.
The rise of video marketing
If there’s one social media trend your business needs to tap into in 2017 it’s video marketing! From Facebook Live, Instagram stories to the cute and quirky Boomerangs on our Instagram feeds, the options on how to engage with your consumer on social media with video content are endless.
Ready to start including video in your digital marketing strategy? Read on below for more insight into how video content will lead the way this year:
Facebook Live:
Facebook Live is a great way to captivate your audience, create an engaging conversation with your followers and connect with them instantly. Facebook Live gives you a range of options to market to your customers, from demonstrating a product or service, answering FAQs or showcasing some great behind the scenes content. The trick? Prepare in advance, you only get one shot at going live!
It’s all about the stories:
From Snapchat to Instagram stories, businesses now have the opportunity to continue to give their customers updates on their business in ‘real time’ with content that only last 24 hours. These stories are a great way to showcase some engaging behind the scenes content including the day-to-day running of your business or an event or photoshoot. As the stories aren’t permanent, you can be as ‘real’ as you like and don’t have to focus on aesthetically perfect imagery, rather on uploading content that keeps your fans interested.
The power of multiple platforms:
Perhaps one of the best things about video content for businesses is that you can share it across all of your social media platforms! Recent statistics have shown that 85% of adults aged 18-49 use multiple devices at the same time, meaning you have the opportunity to share your video content to someone on your YouTube channel, who is also scrolling through their Instagram feed and checking Facebook all at the same time!
And the best part? Your consumers want to watch it:
There’s a reason video content is becoming so popular, and that’s because your consumers actually want to watch the content. Four times as many consumers would prefer to watch a video about a product than to read about it, which means your consumer is already open to looking at your content, you just have to captivate them!
Are you ready to start including video content into your social media marketing plan this year? Contact your team of content creators at Melbourne Social Co today.
e: [email protected] – P: 1300 386 165
How to unwind at the end of a busy year
As 2016 is drawing to a close it’s a great opportunity to take some time out during the Christmas and New Year period to unwind and recharge.
Unsure where to start? Check out our top tips below!
Switch off:
While there’s no doubt that we love social media here at Melbourne Social Co, sometimes even we need a little time out from the online world. Taking a few hours (or days!) to switch off will help your feel more inspired and motivated.
Just ensure you continue to schedule your businesses social media content while you switch off – better yet, engage a social media manager to create, distribute and monitor your social media activity for your business while you're offline.
Spend time with your family:
There’s nothing quite like spending quality time with your loved ones, so make sure you lock in some time for a little family fun! Whether you choose to relax on the couch with a movie, or head away for a mini vacation, taking time out with the people who matter in your life will lift your spirits and recharge your energy.
Have a change of scenery:
Throughout the year, sometimes we get so caught up in our routines that we forget to experience the amazing world around us! It may be a cliche, but sometimes we really do need to stop and smell the roses! This holiday season, try to take a few days to jet off to a different location or head somewhere you’ve never been before – even if it’s a great local beach, or walking track that you’ve been dying to go to.
Get inspired:
In order to begin the New Year in the right frame of mind, it’s important to take some time to get inspired! Attend a seminar, organise a coffee catch up with a person you admire or read a great book from an inspiring author– the options are endless!
Make sure you write down what it is about these things that inspire you so you can aim to action them in your 2017 goals!
Relax:
Seems simple doesn’t it? But see if you can spend some time doing absolutely nothing! Watch a movie, go for a walk or just have a sleep-in. All of these non-work related activities are vital to help you begin a new year with a fresh and recharged mind.
How are you unwinding at the end of this year? Comment and share with us below!
If you need help taking your social media marketing to the next level in 2017 make sure you get in touch with our expert team here at Melbourne Social Co.
e: [email protected] – P: 1300 386 165