Using user-generated content for social media marketing

Brainstorm ideas, schedule posts, create content, publish and respond to comments -. Using social networks professionally takes an enormous amount of time. So why not share the content that users create about your brand, products or relevant topics anyway? With the so-called User Generated Content you open up many new opportunities to cleverly complement your social media marketing.

What is User Generated Content?

User-generated content, or UGC, translated means "user-created content". Behind it are simply Contents such as photos, videos, graphics, poems, blog texts and much more, the Users produce independently - inspired by your company and its offer. Maybe your fans will put your latest product on photographic Instagram in scene, test it on their YouTube channel or write a review on their blog. Unlike influencer marketing, this happens without any solicitation or payment, but simply because they are so enthusiastic about your company that they want to share their love publicly. This makes the content look especially authentic and creative.

So your fans advertise your brand for free. They no longer just consume your content, but actively participate in the communication.

Why should companies include UGC in their social media marketing?

For example, if you post user-generated content on your own Social media channels or your website, this has several advantages:

• You signal your Fansthat you are interested in them and take them seriously.
• Since the content was created voluntarily and out of enthusiasm, other users take it as a credible true.
• Thereby you strengthen the Binding to your fans and followers.
• You strengthen your community and promote its Identification with the brand.
• Your Image is improved, you position yourself as open-minded and user-friendly.
• You may be able to use your Conversion Rate Increase
• You motivate other followers who also want to be noticed by your brand to create something themselves.
• Through UGC you get creative impulses from people who actually use your products and services.
• You complement your content on online channels when sharing user content with little effort.

User-generated content is, so to speak, the Word of mouth of the Internet. Users and potential customers are more likely to believe people who are their equals than classic advertising messages from a company. This is precisely why online rating portals are so popular. A survey by the UGC platform Stackla revealed that consumers use user-generated content more than 2.4 times more authentic than content created by the brand. If you yourself use positive content from your followers in social media marketing, you will benefit from precisely this effect.

How do I find user-generated content?

Monitor on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram suitable Hashtags for example, to company and product names, but also hashtags that fit thematically to your offer. In addition, it is worth YouTube activities to monitor. Often, fans also post their works to their timeline or as a Reply on a tweet.   In the course of classic monitoring, you should have no problem coming across content that your users create about you. If there is still little UGC, you can create one yourself. Launch campaign and motivate your followers and fans to do so, Create your own content. To do this, it's best to develop a campaign-specific hashtag that is short and concise. This makes the posts particularly easy to find. In addition Sweepstakes popular, where fans can win something by creating their own content.

Does UGC also have disadvantages?

As a company you have No control about what people post about you online. For your own social media marketing, of course, you use the positive fan contributions. At the same time you can promote your image if you Respond confidently to negative reviews and comments. However, one response is enough here, you should not share this content as a rule. In addition, it is important to legal Page to note: Before you distribute content from one social media platform to another channel, it's best to check the TOS to see if there are any restrictions. It is also good form to inform the Content creator to ask permission for further use. You can do this simply via a direct message or as a comment under the post. It is best to save the answer as a screenshot to be on the safe side legally. It is also important to identify UGC as such by naming the author and linking to the original post.

So if you follow the basic rules, you'll quickly realize that the advantages of user-generated content in your own social media marketing clearly outweigh the disadvantages.

How exactly do I use user-generated content in my social media marketing?

There are many ways to do this - will be happy to creative and test You different approaches. First, share the content on the social media platform where the user has published you himself, for example:

• As Retweet,
• In your Instagram story,
• as Repin on Pinterest,
• via the share button on Facebook.

Particularly creative contributions you can additionally Distribute across platforms. For example, create a photo folder on Facebook with the best UGC posts or share links to positive blogposts and YouTube videos on Twitter. Also becoming increasingly popular is the so-called Social Wallwhich you can embed on your website. This not only allows you to easily display your own social media posts from Instagram and the like, but also posts from your fans. Here you can select the content to be displayed on your website, for example, by hand or use a hashtag.

Use UGC for your social media marketing now

You bind Your audience in itself, get Cost-effective Content and communicate credibleIf you want to include user-generated content in your Social Media Marketing you strengthen your communication on the Internet. That's why it's worth getting started today. We would be happy to advise you on strategy development or design a campaign so that your fans enthusiastically create new content for your brand.