How to Use UGC to Get Ahead of Seasonal Trends

2 min read

by Donna James

User-Generated Content (UGC) is a unique method to spread the word of any product you might be distributing. It involves customer engagement on social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Some businesses have found methods to link augmented reality and UGC to benefit their marketing strategy. 

For example, some social media platforms offer augmented live events and other interactive AR videos. That could incite a positive response from clients and could formulate positive UGC. 

However, sometimes clients can post negative feedback and can cripple your business. Therefore, companies have to try and work hard to please their customers. New customers’ decisions on whether to take the offer before them may be directly impacted by UGC. The possibilities are endless with UGC but how can this tool be used to get ahead of seasonal trends?

Here are a few tips on how to do this:

Using video content

Video content is on the rise as more of it is being produced every day. Above that, not only is this video content being created but there are more people watching it. Users can generate video content and post it on their social media pages and their viewers will be increasing by the minute, depending on their following. 

The rise of User-Generated Content spans across all social media platforms and video hosting networks like YouTube. AdAge reported some time earlier that there is a 360% increment in the number of videos showing up on Facebook newsfeeds. 

You can use this to your advantage by providing incentives or running competitions for people who will post video UGC on their timelines. Twiftnews inform that getting more people to bang the drum on new products or offers will help reach more of the targeted audience. 

Creating this video content doesn’t have to be complex or expensive; only a smartphone with a camera is needed. Running these UGC campaigns prior to a predicted seasonal trend will help you catch the attention of interested customers first before the competition starts with their marketing.

UGC’s impact on visual decision making

UGC directly impacts the decision of potential customers because a recommendation from a trusted source is regularly more acceptable than a sales pitch. Consider this, would you prefer buying something from a catalog handed to you at the corner of a street or an item your friend recommended to you? Surely you would prefer the recommendation from the friend and this is the approach that businesses should be using. 

Encouraging customers to post UGC on their social media pages is a great way to boost the marketing plan you have in place. That UGC should include pictures and other visual media to aid customers in making a decision.

When customers post UGC, engage with them by liking, commenting and most importantly, sharing that post. Using hashtags or links to the business' social media pages and website will help grow the following of the business.

Unification of UGC, paid and owned media

UGC, paid and owned media are starting to become one and the same thing as new strategies are being implemented. Companies are compensating customers to generate User-Generated Content for them. 

Some traveling agencies partner with real travelers to generate video series’ that depict the experience clearly. The approach that is used by these companies leads to more high-quality production videos that show authentic experiences offered by the business.

You can consider using this approach because it doesn’t only help attract more customers but it empowers your most loyal clients. Sharing customer testimonials in the form of video or written words with authentic pictures can help boost your UGC campaign. 

Small-scale influencers can be utilized for this purpose as they normally have unfiltered content that can be brought to the forefront for public consumption to attract more customers.

Using AI to easily manage large volumes of UGC

1.8 billion pictures are shared every day because most millennials like taking pictures of their experiences and sharing them online. Because of that, there is a large pool of UGC that is at the disposal of marketers and businesses. Although this is true, it also means that it will be much harder to easily and quickly find the kind of posts you need whenever the demand arises. 

The responsibility of locating the needed posts is especially harder since social media users don’t use the most descriptive captions. However, some technology companies have adapted and offer AI and Machine Learning systems that will arrange their libraries. These systems will help businesses index their visual UGC and easily find them in the future and they use keywords that are tagged to each relevant post.

UGC powering all marketing channels

UGC is the best form of marketing that offers fresh, authentic content real-time for all brands in any industry. That fact, alongside that UGC influences customers more than brand visuals, makes this marketing tool an asset. 

Because of that, UGC has widened its role by being used on other marketing tools such as other digital content, printed media and others. For example, UGC has been used on brochures, websites and email marketing to reach the hearts of potential customers.

Twitter, Instagram and Facebook posts can be used on websites easily by embedding them on website pages. A short testimonial can be included in a company brochure or other form of printed media to help with your marketing campaign. UGC can be used in almost any type of marketing to deliver a more powerful and personal message to potential customers.

Adapt to the transformation of social networks

The social media marketing game has been rigged differently now. Instead of prioritizing what was posted first, it now prioritizes posts based on algorithms. These algorithms prioritize posts that have the most engagement, because of that, businesses need to think of new ways to ensure that they are getting the views they want. 

Focusing on sourcing the greatest visuals that will be shared on social media is a great way to begin a successful UGC campaign.

Finding out what your most followed customers are posting will also help you align the posts you make theirs. In that way, when people following those customers visit the social media pages you run, they will be convinced by the consistency between the UGC and what they see. 

Don’t forget to use common hashtags to avoid making your posts and isolated island that no one easily reaches. Rather use hashtags most of the customers are using when posting UGC.

The bottom line

You can never go wrong with UGC but sometimes all your campaign needs is a little nudge. That nudge could be incentives offered to those posting UGC but sometimes it could be just as simple as asking. Using the UGC posted across different platforms will help boost the overall marketing plan in place and draw the attention of more customers. Don’t forget using authentic video content for your UGC campaign.

About the author

Donna James is a high skilled freelance essay writer and proofreader from Michigan, United States who currently works on various projects focused on the IT&C industry apart from her work. She is interested in everyday development and writes blog posts on various topics, such as marketing and technology.