When customer is king, can user-generated content be far behind?
Whenever you find a new product appealing, you pause and wonder if it really lives up to the hype. The first thing you and almost everybody else do is check for reviews. Your clients are most likely thinking along the same lines as well.
In this age of technology, people are extremely vociferous in making their opinions about a particular product known through reviews, appreciation and criticism. As a business, you need to harness their voices to your advantage.
Image : shutterstock
Today, businesses are well aware of the power of online consumer reviews and are, thus, putting in place interesting means of user-generated content (UGC) for their online audience.
What is UGC?
User-generated content is content in any form such as reviews, videos, discussion forum posts, blogs, audio files and digital images created by consumers or any users, other than the brand, made publicly available to information seekers.
What you stand to gain
User-generated content is 35 percent more memorable than any other media, and businesses today are leveraging it to their brand’s advantage. If you haven’t already, here is why it is high time you considered adding a UGC element to your website:
Free marketing
There is no better form of advertising than word-of-mouth. The more content your customers post about your product, the more it adds to your organisation’s brand value. When consumers engage in discussions and interactions about your product, post pictures of them using the product and share their experiences; your product is being marketed free of cost.
Builds trust
Customers put their faith in UGC a whopping 50 per cent more than they do in any other content. This process builds a virtual trust among users, who believe that such content is genuine. Companies that encourage customer feedback and participation are more likely to have better brand attachment.
A healthy interaction among users may help give insights about the product. Taking customer response positively and acting swiftly upon feedback, answering customer queries and interacting with customers can prove to be a game changer for an organisation’s image.
Proof of authenticity
Statistics indicate that four out of five social media users look up information and seek recommendations from social networks before going ahead with a purchase. Prospective customers are always keen to learn about first-hand experiences of existing customers rather than place their trust in glamorous images and glittery ads that paint a rosy picture of the product.
There is no questioning the fact that in today’s times, user-generated content is easy to access and has a long-lasting impact on prospective customers. This makes it imperative for organisations to focus on promoting positive UGC to create a sustainable brand image.