Leverage the power of user-generated content to enhance your brand’s credibility and boost conversions.

A woman making content. In an era where customers rave about products and services online, content marketing strategies need to focus more on user-generated content.

The phrase user-generated content refers to the content that a brand’s customers create. Reviews, comments, and social media posts are a few examples of user-generated content.

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According to Stackla’s data report, user-generated content highly impacts purchasing decisions for 79% of people.

This is because user-generated content is ostensibly unbiased, unpaid, authentic, and honest.

Below are three effective ways to leverage user-generated content in your marketing efforts.

How to get the most out of your user-generated content

Determine your campaign goal

To figure out how best to use your company’s user-generated content in your marketing campaign, you have to set your campaign goal first.

For example, if your campaign goal is to boost brand awareness, use hashtags that create buzz about your product or service.

If your campaign goal is to boost website conversions, use customer reviews. Customer reviews act as social proof, a psychological and social phenomenon where people follow other people’s actions in a comparable situation. This way, you can actually boost your sales.

Remember: The user-generated content campaign goal is to help consumers make informed buying decisions. That means you need to do more than just post pretty pictures on Instagram.

Before finalizing hashtags and calling for content, figure out what you want to accomplish with your user-generated content.

Use reviews

A Northwestern University study suggests the odds a consumer will purchase a product increase by 270% when it has five or more positive reviews from quality sources. That’s because those positive reviews tell prospective customers your offerings are reliable. With positive reviews, you can increase traffic to your website and enhance conversion rates.

To leverage this resource, encourage your customers to leave reviews for your products and services. You can ask them to write reviews on your website, social media page, or other third-party sites, such as Google, Yelp, and Tripadvisor. For conversions, both off-page and on-page reviews are crucial.

Must read: 5 reasons content marketing is similar to traditional PR

Collect user-generated content

To leverage user-generated content effectively, you need to collect and organize it all. Collect content in an app or portal so you can sort and access it easily for use in official advertising campaigns without any legal complications.

Just make sure you’re thoroughly familiar with all the legal terms and policies before reusing any user-generated content.

Deal with trolls wisely

Yes, the troll thing is real, too. Along with happy customer reviews, you’ll inevitably encounter trolls who thrive on spreading negativity. Know how best to deal with social media trolls.

Ready to put user-generated content to work for you in your marketing campaign? The digital marketing experts at Axia Public Relations can help you enhance your strategies to promote your content and services. Reach out to us today to book a no-obligation website consultation.