User-generated content should seem authentic and real; otherwise, other customers aren’t going to trust it. How can you make that happen?
Authenticity is one of the most important goals in nearly every industry, but not everyone understands how to seem authentic. Cultivating a large among of user-generated content (UGC) is a great way to make that happen. This content comes from customers, employees, or others and it’s not professionally created. It can be images, blog posts, social media posts, or other content, but it must come from ordinary people, not created to be a professionally completed advertisement or piece of content.
How can you cultivate UGC?
In order to gather content created by customers or your team, you need to have ways to let people submit this type of content. Here are some ideas that have worked well.
Submitting Outfit Of The Day
Fashion blogging is huge on social media, but most shoppers would rather see outfits on people that look like them, not airbrushed models. By suggesting users post their Outfit Of The Day by using #OOTD, this can create a trend and brings advertising for clothes to a new level. People get to submit their outfits and the fashion site becomes more authentic to many shoppers.
Soda Contest
Jones Soda created a contest asking fans to send in their best pictures. The winner would have their photo on a bottle of the soda. This contest created quite a following of free user-generated content for the brand. This makes for a huge and fun campaign that can be a lot of fun for the company and for those participating in the contest. Jones Soda got it right.
Share a Coke Campaign
Coca-Cola, one of the most popular soda brands in the world, launched a campaign that seems to be still going today. This campaign launched in 2011 when the company put hundreds of the most popular first names on Coca-Cola cans and bottles. This allowed customers to find bottles and cans with their names on them and post a picture on social media using the #ShareACoke hashtag. This created a massive UGC database to be used in various advertising campaigns going forward, making it easy for soda lovers to share their pictures.
American Express Open Forum
Another form of user-generated content is cultivating blog posts and articles. American Express created its Open Forum to allow users to post blogs and articles related to financial topics, which allowed writers to submit their articles about money management or selling financial products. This is a win-win because American Express doesn’t have to hire writers, and writers can post their articles and get them viewed by a large audience, which could mean a boost in sales and following for the writers.
GoPro with a Prize Inside
GoPro is an adventurous camera company that has become well-known for its rugged and tough cameras that can be attached to helmets and gear, allowing users to remain hands-free during their high-flying adventures. The brand invited fans to share their favorite photos on its social media channels and website, offering $1 million to the user with the best picture. This is a huge win for GoPro, they get the marketing done, and one contestant will certainly rave about them forever, sharing amazing word-of-mouth advertising.
Doritos Knows its Audience
While nearly everyone enjoys some Doritos product, the chip brand understands very well that teens, college students, gamers, and content creators are among its largest audience. In 2015, the brand started a user-generated content campaign called Legion of the Bold, which was changed to Legion of Creators. This contained branded images of Doritos products and invited the audience to create their own content for the brand. The results were pretty crazy, but they allow the company to manage the content creation process and allow the audience to create some interesting and amazing stories.
Wandering With National Geographic
For decades, National Geographic has been known for its stunning photography, but sending paid reporters all over the world isn’t always enough for the brand. Fans were invited to submit their favorite travel photos using the hashtag #wanderlustcontest. As you would expect, fans submitted tons of photos. The company would select a lucky winner who won a free expedition to Yosemite National Park. This gave the brand some amazing images that were taken by people during their adventures.
Go Away with Luggage
Do you remember images of luggage with stickers from everywhere the owner had been with the bag? Away, a popular luggage brand, has taken this idea to the next level. This company relies on user-generated content at all times for its images and use on its Instagram account. The idea is to showcase Away suitcases in various parts of the world, wherever you travel, making it easy to see how great it is to travel with one of these bags.
HelloFresh and Recipes
HelloFresh is a great solution for people who want to eat at home but aren’t sure how to use recipes. This company supplies the food and recipe in the right quantities to make it easier. The company created UGC campaign inviting users to post their own recipes on the brand’s social media pages. These posts receive a ton of view and publicity for the brand. This makes it easy for audience members to feel more confident in trying new recipes at home.
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