YouGov’s 2019 data revealed that marketing budgets in the UK account for about 9.3% of total company revenue. Marketing is, without a doubt, vital to the success of businesses in a highly competitive marketplace. As such, companies are typically willing to invest heavily in their marketing for the best results. However, user-generated content is one of the most affordable but effective tactics your company can use in its marketing. User-generated content refers to images, videos, audio, reviews and other types of content related to your business that your audience generates based on their opinions and experiences. Here’s why your business should use more user-generated content in its marketing.
- Boost SEO efforts
User-generated content is SEO gold for various reasons. For starters, it helps your brand effortlessly rank for long-tail keywords. These keywords are particular search phrases with low search volume that are easier to rank for. The fantastic thing about long-tail keywords is that they consist of phrases that ordinary users search for. However, brands can easily ignore these keywords in their marketing efforts.
Consequently, user-generated content’s natural, long-tail keywords ensure that your brand ranks high for key phrases you may have ignored in your marketing strategy. Furthermore, user-generated content is a source of fresh and authentic material that search engines can index, boosting your brand’s chances of being discovered online. Finally, backlinks to your website from users publishing content on their blogs can boost your SEO ranking.
- Enhance social media reach and growth
Many experts agree that social media platforms and user-generated content campaigns work well together. Therefore, if you leverage it appropriately, user-generated content can work wonders for your social media reach and growth. You can encourage your audience to generate content by launching a video contest, creating a challenge on Facebook or Twitter, and creating a custom hashtag or picture contest on Instagram. Your business can significantly boost customer engagement when it shares user-generated content. The many likes, comments, and clicks you receive on your landing pages create a community spirit around your company.
Furthermore, brands that use and share user-generated content easily expand their reach. It is vital to remember that content that your users generate reaches their friends, family members, peers, and acquaintances. As such, it is a way of accelerating positive word-of-mouth about your company. Therefore, it is no surprise that user-generated content is a mainstay of tourism marketing. Still, remember to respond to user content since you must acknowledge your audience’s effort after requesting their input. This way, you can enjoy more meaningful interactions and inspire others to submit content.
- Simplify purchase decisions at first glance
Consumers have many questions and concerns when buying from online stores. For example, they can never be 100% certain about clothing colours, sizing, and other important details. No marketing team will willingly admit weaknesses in their products. In fact, these teams will rather invest in top-notch studio photography that can tamper with colours and lighting to present their products in the best way possible. However, studio photographs can ignore many decision-making details, and clients may still be unsure about purchasing despite seeing these pictures. Enter user-generated content, which focuses on the spur of the moment. Indeed, users don’t have to follow strict templates and can take amateur pictures. Sometimes, these pictures paint a more candid picture. Other times, they highlight details that studio photographers may have never even thought of.
Consequently, user-generated content often gives clients the necessary extra information they need to make purchase decisions. For example, the before and after photographs of a gym training or skincare treatment without any brand staging gives your target audience clearer insights into your business offerings’ effectiveness. As such, your audience will only be more curious and convinced about your products on services when they see them at first glance, simplifying their purchase decisions.
- Supplement branded content and stretch marketing budget
It is common knowledge that marketers often stretch their budgets thin to cover several marketing aspects. Cash and other resources are quite limited, so it would help to get more creative when acquiring visual content. Luckily user-generated content won’t waste your marketing budget because you will receive the promotional images and videos you need at little to no cost. In addition, you can leverage these resources at scale because millions of individuals share pictures and videos on social media. Consequently, user-generated content is the fastest-growing source of visual content for marketers, so it makes sense to pair it with commissioned or branded content. This strategy is highly effective; brand engagement reportedly increases by about 28% when professional content and user-generated visuals are combined for promotion.
- Put your clients front and centre
Consumers love being the centre of attention and often flock to the brands that make them feel most important. Therefore, putting clients front and centre in your business is a win-win for you and them alike. Fortunately, user-generated content is one of the best ways to put clients at the centre of it all. You get to throw the spotlight on individuals who have helped shape your brand, making them likelier to turn into lifelong loyal customers. Also, user-generated content leverages your audience’s voices to tell your brand’s story, making it more authentic. Furthermore, using this type of content ensures you are marketing with clients instead of at them. This way, you can show your audience that you are interested in developing relationships with them instead of simply pushing them to make one or two purchases.
- Gain unique audience insights
You can gain a lot of valuable data from user-generated content, a perk that is often overlooked. Indeed, analysing the content your target audience shares can give key insights that help you understand them and what they find engaging. These insights can easily help you generate leads and boost sales, as long as you correctly apply the principles of a data-backed content marketing strategy. You can start by scrutinising the content your audience generates. For instance, if they are writing reviews, pay attention to issues they complain about and improve on them.
Disclosure: collaborative post
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