Marketing

Guide to Creating Effective User-Generated Content for Brand Trust

One of the ways to show that you are a customer-focused company is by amplifying UGC. User-generated content has grown more influential in SEO, branding, and public relations than anyone ever anticipated. DIY user content, peppered with home-spun honesty and relatability, can do wonders for your brand. 79% of customers say that UGC has influenced their purchase decision at least once. In this post, we will show you the practical ways to use UGC to build trust and explore how to encourage user-generated content. 

How to Build Brand Trust With UGC 

Build a community around your brand

UGC digital marketing strategies improve brand authenticity. This is a consumer-to-consumer type of communication, with real-life experiences and personal stories, that helps people make better purchase decisions. Therefore one easy way to leverage this incredibly affordable marketing strategy is to encourage more customers to share their experiences with your brand. 

You can start a UGC community-building campaign through a popular branded hashtag or a contest. Adopt a strategy that taps into the emotions that drive customers to buy from your business. The Coca-Cola brand gets this right everything with its feel-good “Share a Coke” UGC campaign. At one point, they got millions of people to share their pictures with their names on personalized Coca-Cola bottles. There are many other user-generated content examples to emulate from Starbucks, Apple, and Calvin Klein.

Send high-volume UGC requests 

Gone are the days when user-generated content was an ad hoc marketing strategy with random content requests sent once a month. Today, there is pressure on brands to stand out. The more consumers upvote you with UGC, the more people perceive your brand as trustworthy. You will need a full social media or email marketing strategy specially designed for UGC.

Pull past customer data from your CRM and use their histories to craft personalized UGC content request messages. Provide a template or user-generated content examples for the type of content you are looking for and the perks your brand is willing to provide. Nike has successfully used this strategy to drive massive UGC content that elevates trust. 

Upload and proudly showcase UGC as social proof 

Your user-generated content strategy should have one clear intention, and that is trust-building. For this to happen, you must upload UGC content regularly and openly showcase it on your website and social media. Social proof marketing examples include celebrity endorsements and product reviews. Upload consumer stories and videos on your website home page or product/service pages. You’ll be surprised at the results. 

Two things happen when companies share and showcase UGC digital marketing content. First, they increase trust and shorten their sales funnel. That means they can drive purchases more because prospects turn into customers quickly. The other mind-blowing benefit is that it encourages even more customers to submit authentic content of their personal experiences. 

Optimize your SEO with UGC 

Most recently, Google introduced a bunch of algorithm updates that have sent the SEO world into a frenzy. Earlier in the year, the Search Algorithm Leak showed that the search engine favors robust brands in their rankings. In other words, it's not enough to optimize your keywords and backlinks – your entire business identity and reputation matter too. That’s where UGC comes in. User-generated content examples for SEO include alt-tagged images, videos, and keyword-optimized customer testimonials. 

When you use UGC content in your SEO strategy, search engines are more likely to identify the content as a marker of trust. Eventually, this could help you unlock better rankings. One easy way to implement UGC content at scale is by embedding feeds from your social media pages, such as Facebook and Instagram. It's a win-win– you get to reroute traffic from social media channels and also get search engine algorithms to view your brand as consumer-centric. 

But the question is, what type of content are you showing? In other words, why is content moderation important for user-generated campaigns? You’ll need a filtering mechanism in place to leave out offensive content that doesn't align with Google’s policies. 

Conclusion 

UGC is the future of marketing. Leverage UGC to build communities around your brand and build trust. Put these strategies to the test, and you may discover that UGC is better than traditional advertising. This is the key to long-term brand growth and profitability 

Creating Effective User-Generated Content for Brand Trust
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Marketing

Guide to Creating Effective User-Generated Content for Brand Trust

Creating Effective User-Generated Content for Brand Trust

One of the ways to show that you are a customer-focused company is by amplifying UGC. User-generated content has grown more influential in SEO, branding, and public relations than anyone ever anticipated. DIY user content, peppered with home-spun honesty and relatability, can do wonders for your brand. 79% of customers say that UGC has influenced their purchase decision at least once. In this post, we will show you the practical ways to use UGC to build trust and explore how to encourage user-generated content. 

How to Build Brand Trust With UGC 

Build a community around your brand

UGC digital marketing strategies improve brand authenticity. This is a consumer-to-consumer type of communication, with real-life experiences and personal stories, that helps people make better purchase decisions. Therefore one easy way to leverage this incredibly affordable marketing strategy is to encourage more customers to share their experiences with your brand. 

You can start a UGC community-building campaign through a popular branded hashtag or a contest. Adopt a strategy that taps into the emotions that drive customers to buy from your business. The Coca-Cola brand gets this right everything with its feel-good “Share a Coke” UGC campaign. At one point, they got millions of people to share their pictures with their names on personalized Coca-Cola bottles. There are many other user-generated content examples to emulate from Starbucks, Apple, and Calvin Klein.

Send high-volume UGC requests 

Gone are the days when user-generated content was an ad hoc marketing strategy with random content requests sent once a month. Today, there is pressure on brands to stand out. The more consumers upvote you with UGC, the more people perceive your brand as trustworthy. You will need a full social media or email marketing strategy specially designed for UGC.

Pull past customer data from your CRM and use their histories to craft personalized UGC content request messages. Provide a template or user-generated content examples for the type of content you are looking for and the perks your brand is willing to provide. Nike has successfully used this strategy to drive massive UGC content that elevates trust. 

Upload and proudly showcase UGC as social proof 

Your user-generated content strategy should have one clear intention, and that is trust-building. For this to happen, you must upload UGC content regularly and openly showcase it on your website and social media. Social proof marketing examples include celebrity endorsements and product reviews. Upload consumer stories and videos on your website home page or product/service pages. You’ll be surprised at the results. 

Two things happen when companies share and showcase UGC digital marketing content. First, they increase trust and shorten their sales funnel. That means they can drive purchases more because prospects turn into customers quickly. The other mind-blowing benefit is that it encourages even more customers to submit authentic content of their personal experiences. 

Optimize your SEO with UGC 

Most recently, Google introduced a bunch of algorithm updates that have sent the SEO world into a frenzy. Earlier in the year, the Search Algorithm Leak showed that the search engine favors robust brands in their rankings. In other words, it's not enough to optimize your keywords and backlinks – your entire business identity and reputation matter too. That’s where UGC comes in. User-generated content examples for SEO include alt-tagged images, videos, and keyword-optimized customer testimonials. 

When you use UGC content in your SEO strategy, search engines are more likely to identify the content as a marker of trust. Eventually, this could help you unlock better rankings. One easy way to implement UGC content at scale is by embedding feeds from your social media pages, such as Facebook and Instagram. It's a win-win– you get to reroute traffic from social media channels and also get search engine algorithms to view your brand as consumer-centric. 

But the question is, what type of content are you showing? In other words, why is content moderation important for user-generated campaigns? You’ll need a filtering mechanism in place to leave out offensive content that doesn't align with Google’s policies. 

Conclusion 

UGC is the future of marketing. Leverage UGC to build communities around your brand and build trust. Put these strategies to the test, and you may discover that UGC is better than traditional advertising. This is the key to long-term brand growth and profitability 

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