How can you use user-generated content to tell a compelling brand story?

1 What is a brand story?

A brand story is more than just a slogan or a logo. It is the core message that defines your brand identity, values, and purpose. It is the story that connects you with your customers on an emotional level and differentiates you from your competitors. A brand story should answer these questions: Who are you? What do you do? Why do you do it? How do you do it differently? What value do you offer? What impact do you make?

2 Why use UGC for your brand story?

UGC can be a powerful tool to help tell your brand story in a more genuine, authoritative, and captivating way than traditional marketing content. It can showcase real customer experiences and feedback to validate your brand promise and quality, as well as highlight the benefits, features, and use cases of your products or services in a relatable and creative way. UGC can demonstrate how your brand aligns with your customers' values, passions, and lifestyles, inspiring them to join a community or share a mission that your brand represents. Furthermore, it can motivate customers to create more UGC, interact with your brand, and advocate for it to their networks.

3 How to source UGC for your brand story?

When it comes to sourcing UGC for your brand story, there are many options available depending on your goals, platforms, and resources. For instance, you could run contests or giveaways that invite customers to submit their UGC in exchange for a reward or recognition. Additionally, creating hashtags, stickers, filters, or templates that customers can use when they post about your brand is another way to source UGC. You could also ask questions, polls, quizzes, or surveys to prompt customers to share their opinions and stories. Furthermore, featuring customer UGC on your social media accounts, website, or email newsletters with credit and appreciation is a great way to source UGC. Finally, partnering with influencers, bloggers, or advocates who can create and share UGC about your brand is another avenue to explore.

4 How to curate UGC for your brand story?

Once you have sourced UGC for your brand story, you need to curate it to ensure that it aligns with your brand voice, style, and message while respecting the rights and preferences of the UGC creators and following the best practices of each social media platform. This includes reviewing the UGC for quality, relevance, and appropriateness, obtaining permission from the UGC creators to use their content, editing or formatting the UGC to make it consistent with your brand story, organizing or scheduling the UGC on your social media channels, monitoring and measuring its performance and impact on your brand story, and adjusting your strategy accordingly. Acknowledging the UGC creators in your posts is also essential.

5 How to amplify UGC for your brand story?

Curating UGC for your brand story is not enough; you need to amplify it in order to maximize its exposure, influence, and value. You can do this by repurposing UGC for different platforms, formats, or purposes, such as creating a video montage or a blog post. Additionally, you should cross-promote UGC across your social media accounts, website, or email newsletters and link them to each other or to your landing pages. Furthermore, consider boosting UGC with paid ads, sponsored posts, or collaborations to reach a wider or more targeted audience. Don't forget to engage with the UGC creators and consumers by liking, commenting, sharing, or thanking them for their content and inviting them to join the conversation or take action. Finally, encourage user-generated reviews, ratings, or referrals that can increase your brand trust, loyalty, and advocacy.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?