User Generated Content

Blogs, online en­cyc­lo­pae­di­as like Wikipedia, or social networks like Facebook and Instagram all add to the ever-in­creas­ing amount of content found on the internet. Internet users have long since stopped getting their daily dose of news solely through the official websites of news­pa­pers. Instead, many internet users, notably younger gen­er­a­tions have started checking content produced by other internet users. This content is in not only text-form, but also pictures or videos. “User Generated Content” is the related marketing term for this abundance of online content – content created by users. But what exactly is User Generated Content? And what ad­vant­ages does this type of content have for companies?

User Generated Content (UGC), oc­ca­sion­ally also called Customer Generated Content, is online content that is created by in­di­vidu­als, usually on a private basis. The form UGC can take is liberal. It can be a guide, comments, ratings, photos, graphics or videos that is published on blogs, online shops, social networks or any other form of website. In order to be true user generated content, it does not matter whether the content deals with private topics, news or a company or brand. The defining feature is that it is content generated by a customer.

In terms of marketing, user generated content about a specific brand or a company is par­tic­u­larly in­ter­est­ing because the content format solves a few issues many busi­nesses face. The biggest issue is one-way com­mu­nic­a­tion - the company sends, users receive. User generated content for or about a company’s brand or product not only shows how the brand or product is perceived by the public but can also be im­ple­men­ted in targeted ad­vert­ising purposes. User generated content created by customers without ad­di­tion­al incentive from the company or brand is par­tic­u­larly valuable in this respect. Provided that the content puts a company in a positive light, UGC can spread awareness about a product without seeming biased in favour of a company.

In many cases, the creation of user generated content occurs in a targeted manner, for example through a com­pet­i­tion or similar marketing campaigns.

To il­lus­trate how brands and companies inspire users to generate content as­so­ci­ated with a company’s branding, we have compiled three examples of user generated content which were a roaring success. Take a look in the following sections.

The effort as­so­ci­ated with de­vel­op­ing ideas and managing marketing campaigns that rely on user generated content is usually quite high. A well-thought-out customer generated content concept is nev­er­the­less highly likely to pay off in the long term. This is due to the following ad­vant­ages of this content format:

1. User generated content that is well done is authentic and credible. If a consumer has a good story to tell, a positive im­pres­sion from an ex­per­i­ence with a company, even if they or recommend a product, this is more credible than if the company itself speaks pos­it­ively about itself and its products. This cred­ib­il­ity has been somewhat un­der­mined by the frequent co­oper­a­tion with in­flu­en­cers who report pos­it­ively not (only) out of pure con­vic­tion but also because of good payment.
2. UGC builds customer loyalty. Customer relations are sus­tain­ably strengthened through a good User Generated Content campaign. In order to create content, a user has to be more involved with a product or a topic. When companies ask users to par­ti­cip­ate and design something, they also feel much more seen by the company and connect even more with the brand.
3. A much greater target audience is built up, faster. In just one click and a post is liked or shared – and then more and more users see the photo or article and share it too. This is an effect that is kind of like a snowball effect, and which no company could simply reproduce on its own.
4. User generated content is more cost effective to produce. Companies have to pay nothing for all the photos, videos and blog articles created about their product. Exempt from this is perhaps only some initial ad­vert­ising spending. In the age of smart­phones, photos and videos are becoming the medium of choice. In addition, companies benefit from the ideas and sug­ges­tions that users submit in com­pet­i­tions.

All things con­sidered, User Generated Content is a good tool for improving a brand’s public image when used in marketing. This is also true of making a brand more well known. It is also an integral part of social selling. This is where social networks are used for sales and lead gen­er­a­tion.

As nice and easy as it sounds to let your customers do your ad­vert­ising for you, there is one thing you should not forget. User generated content can backfire. Some companies have had to ex­per­i­ence the tricky situation that users don’t just create positive content when you put them in charge. If the fat hits the fire online every company should have a crisis plan with the right com­mu­nic­a­tion rules ready.

You should consider the issues of copyright and personal rights so as not to get into hot water on a legal level when ini­ti­at­ing a UGC campaign. For example, it is hard to be entirely certain that someone uploading a video or an image actually has all the rights of use or if they’re the real author. In addition, you and the user who generated the content must, in principle, ensure that only people who have given their express per­mis­sion are shown in the post.