We all know what user-generated contents (UGC) are and how many brands use it to power their marketing campaigns. Is a UGC strategy right for you? And why is it important to include user-generated content in your marketing arsenal?

This post will give you an overview of the reasons why it is now the right time to incorporate it into your marketing strategy.

Why UGC is the right choice for your customers

UGC is very personal

Many customers expect personalized experiences. Brands often lack the resources and tools to support all marketing channels, let alone specific audience segments.

Marketers have more UGC to use to create personalized visual experiences that customers expect.

UGC is genuine and relevant

Consumers don’t want perfection or professionalism these days. They seek authenticity.

In a Stackla (Visual UGC By Nosto report), 88% of consumers stated authenticity was important in choosing brands. 59% of respondents voted UGC the most authentic content. UGC was also found to be authentically authenticated by brand-created content 3.1x more often than it was influencer content 5.9x.

UGC is derived from real people so consumers are more likely than others to perceive your brand as authentic.

See the true value of UGC through brand examples and read about the specific ways they’re using it on different channels (website, social media, emails, ads, and more,) in our latest guide: Why User-Generated Content & Why Now: Powering Ecommerce Success

UGC is inspirational

Social media is becoming a popular source of purchase inspiration for people. According to our consumer survey, 66% of respondents said they were inspired to buy from a brand by images shared on social media. A majority of customers also believe that they are more likely to buy a product online if there are photos and videos taken by real customers.

UGC has become a popular form of content because it is trusted and remembered more than any other visual media. UGC is trusted by 79% of consumers, and only 12% believe it has a significant impact on their buying decisions. Only 9% claim influencer content has an impact.

UGC is the right choice for your brand

UGC is economical

Cost is a major factor for brands that decide to use UGC in content marketing campaigns.

Stackla has helped its customers save a lot on content production costs. It helped brands reduce content costs by upto 65% and save as much as $160,000 AUD annually.

UGC allows content-starved companies to access a wide range of visual assets, without the need to spend a lot on studios or professionals. UGC is an affordable marketing strategy that works if people already create positive content, often without being asked.

UGC is plentiful and scalable

It might surprise you to learn that 65% brands have difficulty creating visually engaging visual assets to support their campaigns, channels and target audiences.

UGC is not just being produced every minute by people around the world, but it is possible to scale up your UGC efforts and make the entire process more efficient with the right tools.

UGC builds brand trust

It is difficult to win trust in these digitally competitive markets. UGC is a tool that can be used to help brands achieve this.

A Nielsen report found that 92% of global consumers trust earned media over all other content. UGC is more reliable because it is sourced from real customers, who are more likely to be impartial third parties and reflect a wider range of lifestyles than traditional content (e.g. stock imagery).

Simply put, people trust people more than brands. This could be something you are leveraging.

It’s that simple.

UGC can be used to increase your ecommerce brand’s performance at every touchpoint. It is crucial to incorporate more user-generated content in your marketing strategy because it helps:

• Inspire discovery
• Boost engagement
• Lower content costs
• Online sales to increase
• Increase the average order value
• Drive customer loyalty

source https://www.nosto.com/blog/user-generated-content-importance/