How can you boost your brand with user-generated content?

Never forget that "UGC" is the same thing as "asking people to do free work" and make sure internal expectations are managed as to the type and quality of content that's likely to be produced. It's possible that a top UGC creator will be so inspired by your product or hashtag and read your brief so closely that they spontaneously create the perfect piece of collateral for your brand to showcase, but it's much likelier that you'll end up with a mixed bag of responses from people who may not have much content creation experience at all, and those interactions are important and should be rewarded too. UGC is an exciting element of generating brand love and learning about your customers, not a substitute for your own content production.

Having a strategy and understanding your goals will help you analyze your results later on. If you don't know what you are trying to achieve then you won't know if your efforts are with it. Some KPIs can include: - brand awareness - increase sales -increase email subscribers -increase listeners/ subscribers

User posts are like free commercials for your brand, but you’ve got to encourage sharing! Run creative contests for product reviews or branded content. Make it easy to submit with online forms and branded hashtags. Repost and highlight your faves as social proof. Reward top advocates with freebies, shout outs, or behind-the-scenes access. This user cheerleading squad will organically expand your reach. Now crank up the band and get ready for the brand rally!

Another great way to encourage UGC is by creating a brand that people become fans of. When you constantly share your values and your mission, consumers will want to create UGC because they want to help you to further your mission. You create a brand that people will want to support.

Bazaarvoice is a great tool to help push out UGC. If you are a smaller business then other ways to use UGC are: - Including a separate web page for it - if you are selling a product, including some in the product page - use it on social media and keep it all together like on an Instagram highlight

A message can go a long way. Sometimes I even like to send a voice note! (this makes the experience deeper). Whenever I see I am gaining traction I like to post an intro post to showcase who I am for new faces. I also post about what I do and other free resources that they may be interested in such as newsletter, podcast, blog, etc.

Analyzing UGC is important because you get an understanding of: - if people are resonating with your product/ service - if the content creator aligns with your brand (this could open doors to a long-term partnership) Understand what you can do to improve for the following campaign

Good practical ideas that keep the focus on what you're trying to accomplish. Easy to get lost sometimes and a goal focused north star helps.

I agree that UGC is powerful. I would also emphasize that UGC has taken on a different meaning in recent years. Now, especially among a younger audience, UGC creators encapsulate creators paid by brands to make UGC content, rather than brands finding content made by creators and tagging their brand (traditional definition). Later Media does a great job at this. I would say that the former has many benefits for a wide variety of industries, the latter may be more nuanced to highly hospitality/experiential products.