Word of Mouth Marketing was one of the traditional marketing strategies used especially by the small business holders. It is usually a sort of referral by your customer to others because of your quality or quantity of product or service. The good will of the customer has also influenced the outcome of the review.
” Word-of-mouth marketing, once a traditional strategy for small businesses, has evolved into User Generated Content (UGC) through social media and digital platforms. UGC, where customers share their experiences online, remains a trusted and reliable marketing method. Discover how UGC has become a secret weapon for business growth and success.”
There’s a negative perception of the same if the service or product is not up to the standard they may tell to the others about the issue they faced while using the products or services rendered by you.
Now, talking about the transformation of Word of Mouth Marketing into UGC (User Generated Content) it is a modern method of marketing where the same old Word of Mouth Marketing happens through Social media and other digital media. It is also a means that whenever your customer made a post or review or share their experience about utilizing a product or service then it accounts to User Generated Content.
Just like word of mouth this sort of marketing is often trusted by other potential customers and sellers to buy a product or service. This is one of the reliable mode of marketing because your audience usually trust the opinion of others. Thus a new way of marketing came into existence without affecting the authenticity of a business. We present you here why and how UGC become the secret weapon for business growth and success after a careful and a mindful research process.
Test, Measure, learn. It is the best way to understand what works best for your company and invest in the right area to get more efficient and achieve business growth.
– Irina Georgieva, co-founder and CEO, Enterprise League.
This mode of marketing has a huge impact on small businesses because, it involves genuine reviews and opinions of a customer often being reliable and trustworthy than the polished ads that they came across. Also it is one of the cost efficient method because it involves no cash to be spent.
This video or review can be used as a reference in any sort of advertising campaign such as blogs, logs or through social media. This will also be improving Search Engine Optimization to generate fresh and relevant content useful for the potential customers while searching the keywords.
According to Damian Thompson an English journalist, editor and author put forth his interpretation as follows, “The Success of any User – Generated Content – related project should be judges in the long term. Try not to use it as a one-off campaign activation idea.
Think of it instead as the beginning or continuation of an ongoing dialogue with your consumers.” With these words of idealism it is evident in this eta of skepticism people love to hear others opinion in using a product or service than the flashy ads shown with paid actors and influences.
This makes a valid point for the success of UGC in business as these resonates with the feedback and the review of the customers who got benefitted from your products and services in bringing out authentic and reliable review of the individuals showcased in a Story-telling manner.
What is User Generated Content?
User Generated Content (acronym – UGC) refers to the content your customer generates after using your product or service in an online platform (for example : Social media ) as a means of sharing opinions with others.
This will greatly influence small businesses and it makes a brand both authentic with truth and ensures a trust among your potential customers thereby driving them to buy it. UGCs are in the form of photos, videos, blogs, tags and reviews shared across the Internet.
To put it in simpler terms if you are running a Café and one of your customer has reviewed your latte in social media stating the experience about having the latte at your shop, it is a UGC and you can showcase the same for advertising purposes. It literally works like word of mouth marketing. According to the state conducted by Tint (a community powered marketing platform) 48% of marketing professionals believe that customer generated content is humanizing marketing.
How companies are growing through User Generated Content?
It is one of the powerful tool for companies and small businesses to grow in a rapid manner. These are often in the form of story telling and strives to bring the engagement of the audience towards the content due to its authentic nature and trust worthy reviews by consumers. It helps to bring a reliable name for the brand in expanding itself and bringing in new customers towards their product.
It is one of the cost effective mode of marketing as it is cheaper and won’t be costing like usual ad campaigns by famous celebrities, models or even the social – media influences. Through UGC we can offer a improved product based on recommendations and opinions put forth by the most valuable customers. This also makes the customer loyal towards a brand and increase awareness about the brand.
“We find that user-generated content outperforms any other content that we put out there. On Instagram, Facebook and email channels, we see engagement, click – through rates, and open rates are higher. ”
– Anna Simon, Senior Digital Marketing Manager, Primal Kitchen.
The important thing we need to concede before encouraging UGC
It is essential to understand the importance of the content generated as a result of UGC ad understand the benefits offered by UGC in increasing engagement and community participation, with potential risks involved in.
There should be a moderation in mitigation of risks such as spread of misinformation, negative speech, and inappropriate content. Also a clear guidelines to be set for the same to maintain a safe and an optimistic atmosphere. There should be cultural guidelines for the user contribution of the content. The positives and negatives of the content should be balanced in bringing safety and authenticity as a priority.
“Nearly half of the B2B buyers agree with the statement that “peer reviews” and user generated content are playing a greater role in the purchasing decision – making process.”
– Winterberry Group, a business management consultant in New York.
Some famous company examples – that grow through UGC
Coca-Cola: Share a coke Campaign
Coca-Cola launched the share a coke campaign in 2011 featuring hundreds of the most popular first names on Coca-Cola cans and bottles. They used traditional ads and in – store displays triggered the customers to find a tin or bottle with their name on it and share a post on social media with #ShareaCoke Hashtag.
They were ranging from the creative directed posts of Instagram to casual selfies to contribute to the ad campaign. This become one of the authentic content by engaging customers brands in expressing their creativity.
Apple : #ShotoniPhone
When phone cameras emerged in the market, it wasn’t good. Back then technology was so new and innovative that quality wasn’t up to the standard for the customer. Later the quality of cameras changed. In 2014, Apple used this to show how they are capable of, so they launched the #ShotoniPhone Campaign.
They earned a reputation for their awesome picture quality by advanced smartphone camera technology. They used the real – life photos and videos short by the owners which made them to get the loyalty of the customers.
Calvin Kelvin: #MyCalvins
The company has invited their customers to share their experience through posting photos in social media of themselves in Calvin Kelvin products using the #MyCalvins hashtag. They featured the same posts in their official site and provided links to the same for encouraging the customer to buy the same.
In taking this factor as a campaign, Calvin Klein’s #MyCalvins campaign helped in making the brands identity more relatable and trustworthy. It made the brand to appreciate the customer and thereby creating new sales opportunities.
ASOS: #AsSeenOnMe
A new trend in social media is fashion blogging where millions of users post their #GRWM ( Get Ready With Me) and #OOTD (Outfit Of The Day) posts. ASOS used this trend to crash into the market to create a feed of free advertisement for their wardrobes.
In 2014, ASOS launched a section on their website called As Seem on Me. It has images and the relevant content of their customers wearing clothes of the brand. There a customer can directly upload photos directly to the official website ASOS.com or connect with the page by using the has tag #AsSeenOnMe on Instagram.
How UGC helps to market small businesses?
Word of Mouth Marketing
UGC is a powerful tool for small businesses in leveraging authentic testimonials, social proof, and Word-of-mouth marketing to increase loyalty, trust, building credibility, fostering community and driving engagement on various digital and social media platforms.
● Authenticity: It engages your target customers to share their genuine experiences towards your products and services through feedbacks and reviews through photos, videos and blogs. These are authentic content that revise testimonials from their own content and which creates a good mode of advertising the brand.
● Word-of-mouth marketing: This acts like a word-of-mouth marketing just like the traditional method of marketing wherein the customer shares his review with his family, friends and relatives. As a result in olden days business were benefitted through this mode of marketing. The same applies here in this mode of marketing were in your customer shares the same in social media and other digital media platforms.
● Cost-effective marketing technique: This is one of the free or low-cost mode of marketing techniques. As this marketing technique involves using the customer shared photos, videos and reviews as testimonials in promoting the brand and the company.
● Diversified content – ( can attract all types of customers ): It engages users from encouraging different demographics and backgrounds that tend to contribute to the content, showcasing diverse perspectives, lifestyles and improvise content through cases that are related to your products and services through campaigns.
● Can produce a large number of contents in a short time : It implements user – friendly platforms or tools that make it easy for customers to create and share content, such as branded hashtags, photo contents or user-generated content campaigns.
● Partial influencer marketing: It collaboration with small influencers who are the advocates of your brand, leveraging their authenticity of your brand and content through engaging the audiences and to bring in new changes.
● Livelihood: This supports Livelihood through recognition and rewarding content creators by featuring their contributions on your websites, channels of social media, or involving marketing campaigns, and considering the offer of incentives with offers and discounts occasionally.
In the realm of business growth and influence, mastering thought leadership is essential. Thought leaders inspire trust and credibility through their expertise and vision, fostering engagement and innovation within their industries. However, to truly amplify the impact of thought leadership, integrating user-generated content (UGC) is key.
User-generated content serves as a natural extension of thought leadership by showcasing real-world applications and testimonials. When thought leadership is complemented by UGC—such as testimonials from users who have applied these principles in their businesses—it adds depth, authenticity, and amplifies influence. This symbiotic relationship between thought leadership and UGC not only builds trust and authenticity but also fosters community engagement and drives innovation within businesses.
Crafting a compelling brand story for your small business is a pivotal step towards building authenticity and connecting with your audience. However, the impact of your brand story can be significantly enhanced by leveraging user-generated content (UGC) as a strategic marketing tool. UGC not only adds depth and credibility to your brand narrative but also serves as a powerful endorsement from real customers.
By incorporating UGC into your storytelling strategy, such as featuring customer testimonials or showcasing user experiences that align with your brand values, you can amplify the reach and resonance of your brand message.
This symbiotic relationship between brand storytelling and UGC underscores why UGC is indeed a secret weapon for small business marketing, enriching your narrative with genuine voices and fostering meaningful engagement with your audience. As you refine your brand story, consider integrating UGC to maximize its impact and leverage the authentic experiences of your customers to drive your marketing efforts forward.
Conclusion
UGC acts as a dynamic force in marketing landscapes, empowering small business with trust, credibility, authentic and diversified content to empower small businesses in an effective and an cost efficient manner. Also it motivates content creators by featuring their contributions on your websites as a proof of your quality and quantity of products and services rendered by your brand.
This accounts to the Livelihood of this digital era with word-of-mouth marketing by contributing towards the success of a business. By using UGC to showcase the efficiency of small business promotes the business through ever evolving digital ecosystem and connecting with the customers in a deeper level by achieving sustaining success.
“About 82% of consumers say that they would more likely to make a purchase from a brand which uses user – generated content (UGC) in their marketing initiatives”
– Entribe, A marketing automation Platform.
References
- https://backlinko.com/ugc-statistics
- https://getflowbox.com/guide/user-generated-content/
- https://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/a-ugc-platform-drives-business-growth/
- https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/user-generated-content-stats
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leveraging-ugc-creators-game-changer-small-business-k8wqe?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android&utm_campaign=share_via
- https://medium.com/@seanglatzer/the-power-of-user-generated-content-turning-customers-into-brand-advocates-in-2024-b2e278edfcb7
- https://enterpriseleague.com/blog/quotes-about-business-growth/
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-ugc-new-word-of-mouth-fifth-and-cor?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android&utm_campaign=share_via
