How to Encourage User Generated Content in 2021
2020 forced many businesses to pour more resources than ever into their online presence. With this surge in reliance on social media marketing, many small businesses are left wondering how they can grow in 2021. While this past year was filled with many lessons when it comes to social media marketing, one we are excited to put energy into in 2021 is user generated content!
User-generated content (Also known as UGC) is any form of content that has been created and/or submitted by users of a brand. We love UGC because it creates a connection between a small business and their customers and creates a sense of community we long for. More than that, UGC is the modern word of mouth marketing. It is a way to get your brand in front of new eyes, and increase trust with your product or service.
We all want more people posting about us, but how do we make it happen? Here are 6 ways to encourage your existing community to post about you this year!
Make Sure Your Business is Share Worthy
Before you begin encouraging user generated content, think about what it is that makes you want to share products or services from other small businesses. Chances are, it’s good branding, a beautiful space, or a product that is so visually appealing you can’t help but share it online!
The harsh truth: if you want people to share your business on their social media it needs to inspire them visually! If you are looking at your current packaging, website, or social media and feeling uninspired by it yourself, this may be your year for a rebrand!
Create a Hashtag
The first step in encouraging user-generated content is to make sure you are able to find it! We love seeing small businesses create a hashtag for customer’s to use when posting about their business. This gives you a clear way to search through posts & gives prospective customers a place to see your business from current customer perspectives.
Example: Article, an online furniture retailer, uses the hashtag #OurArticle to encourage customers to post their furniture in their own space.
Engage & Interact
While it’s amazing to have your customers posting about you, the buzz will quickly go silent if they never hear from you! Make sure to be interacting with the posts your customers are making to encourage them to return & continue to post. Like, Comment, or even Send them a DM thanking them!
Utilize & Showcase
One of the most effective ways to encourage UGC is to entice customers with the reward of it being shared from your platform. Many customers post photos of products from small businesses in the hope that they will share their photo. Utilizing UGC shouldn’t stop at your social media, there are many ways to incorporate customer content on your website. If you sell a product, include customer photos of the product to show interested buyers how your product looks in the real world. If you are hosting an event, find a place to share previous attendee photos!
instagram Pro Tip: Share as many Customer photos in your stories as you can, and curate content that is on brand to share in your feed.
Encourage Employee Content
Customer photos are incredibly influential when it comes to purchasing decisions, but encouraging employees to be posting about your company assists in building a personality to your business! Employees being passionate and posting online goes a long way. Being relatable is incredibly important online and letting your employees show their friends & family’s your business from a relatable perspective builds a community of supporters around your business.
Do What You Want Your Customers to Do
The truth is, if you want customers to share your content, you need to be doing the same for others. There is room for all of us to grow on social media, and we always promote collaboration over competition!
Share content from other small businesses you are purchasing from or interacting with on your feeds! Not only will you make a business owner smile that day, but you’ll encourage others to do the same for you.