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3 Ways to Use UGC
User generated content aka UGC refers to any type of social media content that has been created by real people (consumers, brand loyalists or employees) instead of brands. While this type of content has existed for as long as social media, it’s becoming increasingly more valuable to brands as consumers become more wary of brand-created or sponsored content that tends to present products only in their best light. On the other hand, UGC depicts products in a more realistic and authentic setting and best of all, it illustrates how real customers are using it. It’s also a great way for people to organically discover your brand – just think how many times you’ve stumbled upon a new brand or made a purchase after seeing it featured on someone else’s feed. UGC is an extremely powerful tool, and one that can really elevate your brand’s social media presence while showing off your best asset: your own customers. Here’s how to be strategic about using UGC:
- Get more UGC: When people tag your products on social media, it not only serves as word-of-mouth marketing to boost brand awareness, it also helps to validate your brand. It shows that people are happily using your products and even better, how they’re using them. For example, how they’re styling an outfit, decorating with home goods, or results from a skincare product. It also encourages credibility, especially for small businesses or newer brands: when a user comes to your profile, it instills a sense of confidence when they see a lot of tagged posts. So, how do you encourage more tags? With Gatsby, you can encourage more UGC from customers who are already sharing by sending a simple DM “thank you” or rewarding them with a special trackable discount code to share with their followers. To encourage customers to start tagging, integrating Gatsby with a loyalty platform like LoyaltyLion or Stamped allows you to offer loyalty points in exchange for sharing or tagging.
- Use it in a campaign: Once you’ve accrued UGC, you can repurpose it on your own feed (a nice way to shoutout a customer) or take it to the next level by using it in an ad campaign. However, regardless of where you feature the content, it is important to always get permission before using a piece of UGC – even if the user’s profile is public. To do this, you can comment on the post, DM directly within Gatsby, or automate a SMS message or email through one of Gatsby’s workflows with Klaviyo. After the customer has approved the use of their content, employing it in an ad campaign can be incredibly impactful – ads featuring UGC have been proven to get three times the click through rate as their brand-produced counterparts. You can quickly download high resolution UGC directly from Gatsby, whether it’s an Instagram story, feed post, Reels or TikTok video. Lastly, don’t forget to credit the creator!
- Feature it on a product page: Tools like Foursixty make it super easy to leverage your UGC. One of our favorite Foursixty features is the UGC gallery on your product page. This is especially impactful for apparel and accessory brands – seeing real people in your products enables customers to better envision themselves wearing them, enhancing the shopping experience and making it easier to feel confident in making a purchase. For example, check out below how Gatsby and Foursixty customer ViX Swimwear shows how real customers style their swimwear on Instagram through the use of a UGC gallery on their product page for one of their bestselling swimsuits:
The bottom line? You need UGC! To get started with Gatsby install our app or contact us with any questions.