Have you ever wondered seeing so many followers for certain brands on social media? How do they get so many followers on social media? Most of our guesses predict unique and engaging content by which users get engaged, more than that what users get attracted to is the content by the user themselves as they have real time experience using the product/service. Now let us look at how user-generated content can drive traffic and improve the marketing of your applications.
User Generated Content (UGC) can be defined as any type of content that has been put up by the user with no payment made to contributors. It may include text, images, videos or testimonials, and many more.
Let us go through an example where user-generated content helped in marketing of the brand to a greater extent. One of the great examples is Starbucks’ White Cup Contest. Customers were asked to doodle on their Starbucks cups and submit pictures on Instagram or Twitter as entries. The winning entry became the template for a limited edition Starbucks cup. In just three weeks, 4,000 customers had submitted entries. The creative contest earned Starbucks a lot of publicity and demonstrated that the company values customer input.
76% of social media users think UGC is more trustworthy than branded content.
86% of millennials say that UGC is a good indicator of the quality of a brand.
UGC-based ads get 4x higher click-through rates and a 50% drop in cost-per-click than average.
Brand engagement increases an average of 28% when users are exposed to a combination of user-created product videos and professional content.
Consumers between the ages of 25-54 create and share 70% of all UGC.
93% of consumers find UGC to be helpful when making a purchasing decision.
87% of brands use UGC in order to share “authentic content” and 72% believe (correctly) that it helps them engage their audience.
Sites with featured UGC saw a 20% increase in return visitors and up to a 90% increase in the time spent on the site.
70% of consumers trust online peer reviews and recommendations more than professional content and copy.