The modern business environment is more competitive than ever, and marketing teams are finding it increasingly difficult to create strong, demand-driving, and distinct brands.

 

On the one hand, brands have more tools at their disposal. They can leverage artificial intelligence, to improve their omnichannel retail experiences, develop successful customer-centric marketing strategies, and make customer experiences more interactive, compelling, and memorable. On the other hand, however, consumer power has grown in tandem with this - these emerging technologies also empower modern customers to make more informed decisions, to be more judgmental, and to be more ethically demanding.

 

To the challenge of a hyper-competitive marketing landscape, could user-generated content be the answer?

 

Influencer Integrated and User Generated Content

 

Modern customers desire more personalization and interactive experiences, greater convenience and flexibility, and a higher level of inclusivity and transparency. All of these factors explain why brand specialists should begin leveraging and embracing influencer integrated & user-generated content marketing more actively and effectively.

 

According to 2019 research on consumer and marketing perspectives in the digital age, customers regarded user-generated content to be 2.4 times more authentic than branded content, and 90% considered authenticity as a critical component in deciding which brands to support. 60% of marketers also agree that authenticity and quality are equally critical components of highly successful content. And there is no other type of content more authentic than user-generated content (UGC). UGC may be utilized in a variety of digital channels, including emails, webpages, and, of course, social media, to increase engagement and, eventually, sales.

 

User-generated content can take many forms. Customer reviews and feedback, collaborations with influencers, the use of tags and hashtags, sharing and featuring a customer's photo or video on the company's social media platforms; social media postings by consumers referring to or showcasing a specific brand, campaign, product, or service; and tutorials in which users share their experiences and how they use a product or service are all examples of user-generated content.

As described in Branding That Means Business, "By harnessing content from its own consumers, the company creates a deeper bond with them, with the most brand loyal acting as ambassadors for the brand on its own social media sites”. The brands themselves do not originate user-generated content; however, they inspire and drive it. User-generated content may be used at any point along the customer journey, and is especially powerful when making a decision about a purchase, because it serves as authentically perceived social proof.

 

Fostering Consumer Trust with User-Generated Content

 

The consumer psychology book, Blindsight, discusses how eliciting mimicry can be an enormously powerful tool in the consumer world. Brands can effectively leverage eliciting mimicry to motivate their audiences to engage in user-generated content and contribute to their marketing efforts by creating a positive and encouraging environment. Most individuals tend to value experiences that feel more real and less artificial and contrived, as such experiences are typically more meaningful, trustworthy, relatable, and memorable. In other words, user-generated content can be a path to generating consumer trust. 

 

Curated social media content by brands that use an overly polished, curated approach appears too much like advertising as people scroll through their feeds. It fails to connect with audiences on a more friendly and intimate level. Earned media, or content created by a third party and not paid for by the brand, is increasingly influencing brand perception. According to Edelman reports, 70% of individuals deliberately avoid advertising, and the best way to build a trustworthy brand is through earned media and peer conversations.

 

Lululemon, for example, received over 2 million page views and one million Instagram `”likes'' when they asked their customers to post photos of themselves wearing Lululemon apparel with the hashtag "thesweatlife.” Coach gained over 26,000 posts nearly overnight when they asked their customers to post pictures of themselves using their Coach purses casually in their daily lives.

 

These are only two examples of effectively driving user-generated content. Lululemon and Coach used their customers as influencers. Both brands inspired users to get involved and engage with them by encouraging people to post photos of themselves using brands' products. In addition, they established authentic and deep connections with their audiences, which increased brand visibility and developed a sense of community.

Unlike its competitors, Patagonia, The North Face, and Columbia, which primarily do endorsements with fitness-enthusiast celebrities and well-known athletes, Outdoor Voices engages with its everyday consumers to integrate brand's products into their daily lives and post content with the simple hashtag #DoingThings, shorthand for its easy-going brand motto, "Doing things is better than doing nothing" is another great example of effectively leveraging user-generated content.

 

User-Generated Content and Brand Loyalty

 

User-generated content enables companies and businesses to make people feel like they are a part of something greater than themselves. Because when customers engage with the brand by creating their own content, they become a part of the brand's community, which leads to the establishment of strong brand loyalty. Calvin Klein, for example, built a landing page only for user-generated content. Where actual consumers, rather than overly styled models, endorse the brand and showcase how the products look on them and how they can be styled. It's a win-win scenario for both brands and users.

And it is working. According to Deloitte's 2022 Digital Media Trends survey, about half of U.S. consumers interviewed said they watch more user-generated content than they did six months ago, and half indicated that they always end up spending more time viewing user-generated content than they planned on. As one interviewee stated it simply, "User-generated content feels a lot more authentic, and it's witty and fun".

 

Who would you be more likely to believe: Kendall Jenner recommending a brand, product, or service on social media, or someone you know and/or who is more similar to you and to whom you can relate better?

 

User-generated content offers multiple opportunities to communicate your brand message to a new potential audience. It works especially well when the message does not come directly from the brand. The basic idea of user-generated content is that brands may say incredible things about ourselves, but when someone else speaks good things about us, it sounds more convincing and less biased to others. As described in Blindsight, “seeing or hearing someone similar to us enjoying a product helps the brain stimulate the experience of having the product, which in turn leads to a greater desire for it”. And in this way, UGC cultivates deeper connections, and a sense of brand loyalty. 

 

Final Thoughts on User-Generated Content

 

Not only is user-generated content marketing more effective than professionally produced brand-generated content and celebrity endorsements, but it is also more cost-effective. UGC could be especially beneficial for smaller brands or those just starting out, seeking to avoid investing too much in large-scale brand awareness campaigns. Get the items into the hands of your target audience, then let them try them and wait for them to start talking about their impressions; here is where the magic begins to unfold. 

 

User-generated content, like everything else in this universe, has its pros and cons. As a result, in order to minimize negative and undesirable outcomes, marketing specialists should understand how to properly utilize this approach to create an authentic brand identity and social proof, enhance brand awareness, drive social media traffic, increase engagement, and boost sales.

Photo by hiki app via UnSplash

References: The Psychology of User-Generated Content and Brand Loyalty

Beveridge, C. (2022). What is User-Generated Content? And Why is it Important? Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard. https://blog.hootsuite.com/user-generated-content-ugc/

 

Deloitte. (n.d.). Why Consumers Engage With User-Generated Content. WSJ. https://deloitte.wsj.com/articles/why-consumers-engage-with-user-generated-content-01659714952

 

Johnson, M., & Misiaszek, T. (2022). Branding That Means Business: How to Build Enduring Bonds Between Brands, Consumers, and Markets. Public Affairs.

 

Johnson, M. & Ghuman, P. (2020). Blindsight : The (Mostly) Hidden Ways Marketing Reshapes Our Brains.

 

Piga, A. (2022, September 12). The Rise Of User-Generated Content And Its Impact On Brand Loyalty And Affinity. Forbes.

 

Social Native. (2022, February 25). How UGC is Shifting the Agency Model | Social Media Week [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXMppQmLG9M

 

Westcott, K., Arbanas, J., Arkenberg, C., Auxier, B., Loucks, J., & Downs, K. (2023). 2022 Digital media trends, 16th edition: Toward the metaverse. Deloitte Insights.