How Small Businesses Could Promote UGC to Their Customers
There are a lot of brands out there that have user-generated content (UGC), and these brands don’t have to lift a finger to get their customers to make this stuff for them. The idea of getting free marketing is absolutely amazing, right? You don’t have to think about influencer marketing. Instead, you have people who are just absolutely willing to create content, while this content isn’t necessarily for you (it’s for their audience), you’ll still get to reap the benefits, particularly if it’s good content too.
When it comes to UGC though, how can you actually get customers to create this for you? What’s the magic spell that gets some of these brands (like Stanely Cup, for example) to get their audience to just simply create the content for them? While it’s not exactly the easiest thing to do, it is possible, so here is exactly what you need to know to get your customers to create UGC for you and your small business!
Start Off By Offering Incentives and Rewards
One of the most effective ways to encourage customers to create UGC is by offering incentives and rewards for their participation. If there’s something in it for them, they’ll be most likely to do it. Honestly, nowadays, this is exactly what businesses are doing. There is affiliate marketing, which usually means UGC is created for this purpose, but there are even referrals like signup bonuses, discounts, and other things like that, and it works.
So, if you decide to go this route, just be sure to look into a referral program software to help you keep track and reward people for doing this. Well, just by providing tangible benefits for sharing their experiences, customers are more likely to take the time to create content that showcases your brand in a positive light. Also, this is one of the more affordable ways to go about this, and again, it’s super popular, and it does prove to work!
Try and Cultivate a Community
Even though it’s a lot of work, one thing that every business needs to try and do is build up a community. This is going to be one of those pieces of advice that business owners will never stop hearing. Building a sense of community around your brand can inspire customers to become more actively engaged and invested in sharing their experiences.
The more tight-knit this is, the more likely people are going to want to share their thoughts and feelings on this. Plus, creating spaces for customers to connect with each other, such as online forums, social media groups, or dedicated hashtags, feels all the more authentic and tight-knit too. So, with that said, just by fostering a supportive community where customers feel valued and heard, you’ll naturally encourage them to share their stories and experiences with others.
Show Appreciation and Recognition for What They’re Doing
If you ignore the UGC that’s being made for your business, then you’re only going to notice that less and less will be made, and this is definitely going to hurt your community, too (and make you, the owner, look bad). So, just go ahead and acknowledge and appreciate the contributions of your customers by giving them recognition and visibility for their UGC.
When it comes to content, any type of content, it all deserves to have some attention and light shined on it. So, just go ahead and share their content on your social media channels, feature it on your website, or highlight it in your marketing campaigns.
Content creators absolutely LOVE it when they get recognition for their efforts; they thrive on it! So, just by simply showcasing their content and giving them a platform to be heard, you not only strengthen your relationship with existing customers but also incentivize others to contribute their own UGC. It’s like a positive domino effect when one starts, and if you recognize it, only more will continue.
Consider Making Interactive Campaigns
One thing that might really help out would be to just launch interactive campaigns that invite customers to participate and share their experiences creatively. Whether it’s a photo contest, hashtag challenge, or storytelling campaign, interactive initiatives can spark excitement and engagement among your audience.
Plus, these are fairly easy, and not too much effort needs to go into this type of content either. All you really need to do is simply provide clear instructions and incentives to encourage participation and prominently showcase user-generated content to inspire others to join in. Again, it’s like what was stated earlier: a domino effect will usually happen.
