Coke once started a campaign called “Share a Coke campaign” man it worked wonders.
Here’s an example of how it has affected the Australians.
- 3% increase in sales transactions
- 4% increase in volume
- 870% increase in Facebook traffic
- 12,020,000 earned media impressions
- 76k virtual coke cans shared
- 378k extra coke cans printed at kiosks
- 330 million impressions on Twitter
- 170,000 tweets from 160,000 fans
- 2 out of 5 Australians bought a Share a Coke pack
All of those selfies that were tagged with #ShareACoke is user-generated content (UGC).
SFWPExperts is the one out of many influential Los Angeles website design companies that is experienced at developing and designing websites with user-generated content. User-generated content is primarily important for entrepreneurs interested in driving quality traffic to their website, higher conversions and eventually increased sales.
What is User-Generated Content?
These are testimonials, pictures, blogs, vlogs, tweets, etc., generated by the fan base and it’s totally unpaid. It’s more like free advertising for brands. And big companies like Coke and blackberry in 2009 completely exploited UGC for increasing their popularity. Well, it’s a good sign. It indicates that the brands are good and genuine.
Importance of User-Generated Content
User testimonials give others how good a product is and User-Generated Content is the same thing. On top of that, it’s free and companies do know to play their cards! It’s authentic.
It’s Cost-Effective
It’s almost free and sometimes brands may use some celebrates to attract people but still, it’s really cost-effective.
Your User-Generated Content Strategy Template
Now that we know what’s User-Generated Content. let’s create a User-Generated Content for yourself.
Follow these steps.
Step 1. Define Your Goals for This User-Generated Content Campaign
Here’s a way to define your goal.
What is the purpose of the campaign?
It can be used for:
- Brand awareness
- Product or feature launch/feedback
- Promotion advertisement
- Campaign promotions
How long will your campaign run?
Time is everything and if people know the period of the campaign, they can join in it whenever they want and will do their best, since it’s the time they choose.
What type of content do you need?
It’s the same as knowing the time period but the only difference is that here they will create content.
You should also provide them with the following information as well.
- Where are you using the content – social media, website, other advertising?
- What’s your campaign theme – edgy, fun, wholesome, adventure?
- What industry are you in, or does that even matter?
Step 2. Know What Your Audience Wants
In UGC people who create the content may not consume the products. That’s right people creating User-Generated Content are totally different from the people, who are the actual consumers.
User-Generated Content creators may not consume your products but they will improve your influence and will drag others to join your campaign.
There are two types of people in User Generated Content.
Content creators and content consumers.
Content creators will create content but they do have their own ulterior motives.
But you can always motivate one by doing this.
- Promotional discounts on products
- Website feature
- Social media shoutout (popular and free)
- Surprise free gift
Content consumers
These are the opposite side of the same coin. As the name suggests they will only buy products instead of creating content.
Step 3. Logistics
It’s about time for you to create a plan that will get things moving.
Planning
Your planning will completely depend on the scale of your UGC campaign. Here are a few things that you should consider.
- Number of shares
- Number of submissions
- Amount of reach
Remember, breaking your master plan into smaller goals will be more efficient.
Campaign Promotion
Even before the UGC begins you must grab the attention of content generators. Try to find people who are interested rather than skimming through all. Create a buzzword, and trend in the market. And you will have all the leads you need.
Campaign Communications
Take the promotions to the next level. Create a landing page consisting of the following information.
- What you expect from your users to share
- A clear call to action for submitting entries
- Mode of submission
- Submission deadline
- Rules and guidelines for submission
- Your contact details
- Permissions and rights management policy
- Prize information, judging criteria, and the judging panel
- Frequently asked questions
Submissions
Now the boring, legal and the important stuff. If you are conducting a contest it’s better to have a separate submission page where there should be another page for normal submissions. It will be easy to sort by doing this.
Here’s the legal stuff.
- A brand creates a hashtag and asks followers to use the hashtag on their social media posts
- Followers begin using the hashtag, granting implied consent to the brand to use their images
Finally, you should make sure that you are following these as well.
- Ask for permission to use the image
- Direct the user to your terms of service
- Tell them how to agree to your terms of service
- Credit and thank them
This way you won’t get into trouble.
If the practical result you are unable to achieve with our theoretical guide, be one of the target audiences of SFWPExperts (A professional SEO Company) for building sites by putting in good use the user-generated content.