5 Simple Steps to Gathering User Generated Content for Your Brand
User generated content (UGC) is consumer generated content that a brand picks up and reposts on its social media platforms (Hootsuite, 2022). Either consumers can go out of their way to create the UGC on their very own or a call to action is asked from the brand where it asks its consumers to create a specific type of content. The following are 4 simple ways that your brand or organization can use to gather user generated content:
1. Create a personalized hashtag.
There are many benefits to creating a personalized hashtag. A personalized hashtag allows for you as a brand to drive and steer your own conversations. Rather than being a follower, you become a leader in your desired topic. Followers will see that you are in control of the conversation and give you more credibility (Le, 2021). In addition, when using a generic hashtag in which all social media users have access to such as #dogs, the consumer’s post can get lost. A personalized hashtag allows for more organization so that the brand can find the consumer’s post more easily and be able to track how many individuals are participating in providing UGC.
2. Post an enticing call to action.
A big issue that can occur with user generated content is that there might not be any UGC available to use. How can individuals know that a brand wants their content if it isn’t announced? Posting an enticing call to action can help bring awareness to the need of user generated content. Also, an enticing call to action will motivate individuals to want to participate. When they know that something is being asked of them, they are more likely to do it.
3. Offer an incentive.
What else makes people most likely want to post content that a brand is asking for? An incentive! An incentive can be a big push as to why an individual creates content for a brand. Sometimes just posting an enticing call to action isn’t enough and consumers want something in return for providing their own content. What’s in it for them? People want to feel as if they are getting something in return and this is when an incentive can play a great role (Wastnage & Binning, 2022). You may think that providing an incentive can be expensive, but simply just knowing that you’ll repost and feature the consumer on your social media accounts can be enough to excite them and want to participate.
4. Interact with UGC!
Even if you don’t post every single individual who creates content, simply interacting with UGC will go a long way. Whether that is simply liking the post, commenting on it, or sharing it on feed posts or stories, interacting with the content will make consumers excited to even share. If they see the brand interacting with UGC that others post, they’ll be more inclined to participate in hopes of them getting noticed by the brand too. In a way, this can work as a no-cost incentive on its own.
5. Social listen!
It is important to continue social listening to what others think about your brand or product. Not everyone uses hashtags, so social listening is very important. One can use helpful tools such as Sprout Social or Hootsuite to track special words or phrases that are correlated to your brand. This way, you can see what someone says about your product or brand even if they don’t tag you and it is another way for you to gather UGC without the usage of hashtags.
