User Generated Content, or UGC, is content that is created about your business or organization, but isn’t created by you. This content usually comes in the form of social media posts from customers and fans, and it can be incredibly helpful for promoting your business. Consider UGC to be like virtual word-of-mouth advertising–people are going to be a lot more likely to be influenced by another person than by direct advertising and posting from your business or organization.
So how can you increase UGC surrounding your business or organization? We have three tips that just might help:
1. Consider partnering with an influencer
Influencers are often experts at creating content that looks attractive and appealing to a wide audience. By partnering with an influencer, especially one in your field (for example, partnering with a foodie-influencer if you’re a restaurant or cafe), you can reach a targeted audience while also potentially gaining new content to share yourself. The main thing to remember when working with influencers is to outline everything up front–each influencer will likely have their own unique rates and stipulations surrounding their work, so if you’d like to be able to reshare their images and videos or you’d like them to create content around a specific event, be direct with that info from the beginning.
2. Offer prizes for UGC
If you don’t have the budget to work with an influencer, running a giveaway or contest is another great way to gather UGC. For example, you can offer a prize for the best photo of a product, or offer an entry into a giveaway for every Instagram Story shared talking about a favorite service. Contests and giveaways can require specific regulations depending on the social media platform that you run them on, so be sure to check those rules first and specify in your contest rules that any content used as an entry may also be used by your business or organization for promotion.
3. Search out UGC
Often, you’ll get a notification that your business or organization is tagged in a post created by a customer or follower. But that’s not always the case–occasionally, you’ll have to go digging for it. That can mean searching for your business name on platforms like Facebook or Instagram, which can bring up posts about your business or organization. It can also mean searching for posts whose location matches your business or organization’s location on Instagram, as you aren’t always notified when that happens. These strategies can uncover previously unseen UGC.
What are your strategies for increasing user generated content? Let us know in the comments!
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