What is User Generated Content?
User generated content isn’t as boring as it may sound, just an industrious terminology I suppose? Anyhow, just to make your and my life simpler, I shall refer to User Generated Content as UGC-a widely accepted abbreviation.
SO, WHAT IS UGC?
With accelerated development in the digital world over the past decade, there are 10 billion mobile users around the world, who have direct access to internet and technology. Mobile phone industry, in the recent years, have primarily focused on producing phones with above average cameras.
For instance, Iphone’s entire marketing, the way they have used social media for business, is based on photos clicked by the Iphone users and how good the camera is, the campaign is called #shotoniphone. Not only this, Iphone then selects the best user generated pictures, blow them up on billboards and voila, you become a renowned photographer overnight. It’s personal, it’s innovative and it’s unique!
Coming back to what is User Generated Content- it is any audio, visual or verbal content created by the user and shared on social media by the user itself. For example, photos, videos, gifs, podcasts, star ratings, feedback, reviews, testimonials, etc. The plot twist in 21st century is the fact that everyone and anyone can be a brand ambassador(at least self-proclaimed) or an advocate of any company, service, product, they may like. The power is not just in the hands of big companies creating content for mass consumption, but small users who have access to technology, are active on social media and have a compatible device to shoot/record with.
This rising trend is working in everyone’s favour, companies are integrating User Generated Content marketing strategies in their campaigns, the users are enjoying the validation of being vocal and sharing their thoughts and pictures on social media with their friends and fans.
If I were given the liberty to describe UGC in one word, assuming that I have, I would say “Integrated”. It is indeed the sweet spot between the users, mobile phone industry, marketing campaigns and social media. Wow I don’t think it gets more millennial than this right, well you are wrong and so was I.
It’s a worldwide popularly acclaimed tried and tested formula that all leading companies have started banking on. For instance, Coca Cola’s ‘Share a Coke’ campaign, where they have written popular names on bottles and some sweet messages accompanied by it. Note, personalisation is the key here.
WHY IS USER GENERATED CONTENT CRUCIAL IN TODAY’S TIME ?
It’s a topic all of debates in marketing industries across the world that the same tricks will not work in today’s time. In fact, traditional marketing instead of binding a connection between the customer and the brand, hampers the association further. Customers today do not appreciate being a number in a company’s database. They want to have real conversations that lead to meaningful connections. And as a marketer, it doesn’t get better than word of mouth visibility, wherein the users are the patrons of your brand, not to forget chances of the your brand’s name going viral without even having to pay for social media advertising.
To create and execute a marketing campaign integrated with UGC will cost you substantially less than paying for billboards, social media advertising, and creating marketing content that cost you thousands of dollars. Using models and a set-up to create a video is much more expensive than using user generated video content for marketing.
User generated marketing is more like a snowball effect. You come up with user generated content ideas, strategize and invest resources in creating a successful marketing campaign with user created content at its centre, and see the authentic and automatic response as you watch your customers as a torch bearer of your brand goals and brand awareness with utmost effectiveness.
Also see: Print Advertisements — Best ROI Measurement Techniques
We have already established the relevance and impact of internet in today’s time. User Generated Content is the a way for your brand to engage in conversation directly with your audience and in return they keep the conversation going. It’s like building a community of sorts.
There is tons and tons of content created every minute as we speak, by users as well as by brands. User created content is really way to up your brand’s game and build a trustworthy relationship with your customers.
Technology is playing a great role in this transition, but doesn’t get credited for as much as it should. In fact technologies such as Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality are designed in a manner that dissects with UGC. To substantiate this argument, I’ll use an example of WOWSOME mixed reality marketing campaign for ZeeTheatre, known as #ertigamemories. Zee theatre had come up with theatre productions to be performed across India. To promote this event and give it more visibility, WOWSOME designed a photobooth. It consisted of a cinemagraph which included clips of the actors performing in these productions. By the end of it, users were more than happy to get their photobooth pictures clicked. They were happier to attend a performance and also take memories of being in one frame with their favourite actor, and who wouldn’t to show off their selfie with celebrities on the internet right!
If you are still not convinced by the power of a tweet, an Instagram post, or a review on the internet, try testing it yourself, some rules of marketing remain the same. So go out there, understand your brand but understand your users better, come up with user generated content ideas, use social media for business, create a User Generated Content marketing campaign and implement it. As we have established above, it is cost effective, and you’ll be able to assess its impact on your brand. Many brands have already realized its importance and have started focusing on creating User Generated Content marketing strategies and in fact and doing a wonderful job in terms of brand awareness and content generated free of cost.
Originally published at www.wowso.me.
