Why User-Generated Content is Important for any Marketing Strategy

Most of us know what user-generated content (UGC) is and that many brands use this type of content to power their marketing campaigns. The question is, is a UGC strategy the right choice for your brand and why is user-generated content an important asset to have as part of your marketing arsenal?

In this post, we give an overview of why now is the time to implement it into your marketing strategy.

Why UGC is what your customers want

UGC is highly personal

Many customers expect personalized experiences. However, brands often don’t have the budget, resources, or tools to support every marketing channel, let alone unique audience segments. 

The abundance of UGC gives marketers more unique, diverse, and human content to leverage to keep visuals fresh across every customer touchpoint and create the personalized visual experiences customers have come to expect.

UGC is authentic and relevant

These days, consumers do not want perfect or overly professional. They want authenticity. 

When asked in a Stackla (Visual UGC by Nosto) report, 88% of consumers said authenticity is important when deciding which brands to support, and 59% of consumers voted UGC as the most authentic type of content. People were also 3.1x more likely to say UGC is authentic than brand-created content and 5.9x more likely to say it is authentic than influencer content.

Because UGC comes from real people, consumers are more likely to see 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 

People increasingly look to social media for purchase inspiration. In our consumer report, 66% say they have been inspired to purchase from a new brand after seeing social media images from other consumers. Also, 80% of consumers say they would be more likely to purchase a product from an online store if the website featured photos and videos from genuine customers. 

Because UGC is widely trusted and more memorable than other types of visual media, it has emerged as one of the most influential forms of content. In fact, 79% of consumers say UGC highly impacts their purchasing decisions, while only 12% say branded content and 9% say influencer content is impactful.

Why UGC is what your brand needs

UGC is cost-effective 

One of the biggest drivers for brands who decide to go with UGC for content marketing campaigns is cost.

Stackla has saved its customers a lot of money in content production costs, helping brands cut content costs by up to 65% and save up to $160,000 AUD per year.  

With UGC, content-starved brands get access to a wealth of visual assets without having to pay big dollars for studios and professionals. Plus, if people are already creating positive content without being asked—and, for the most part, doing it for free—UGC as a cost-effective marketing strategy is a no-brainer.

UGC is abundant & scalable

You might be surprised to hear that as much as 65% of brands struggle to consistently create well-designed and engaging visual assets to support all their campaigns, channels, and target audiences?

UGC is not only being produced by people worldwide every single minute, but when you have the right tool on your side, it is possible to scale your UGC efforts and make much of the process more streamlined. 

UGC builds brand trust

Lastly, in a highly competitive digital environment, it is hard to win consumers’ trust these days. But, UGC can help brands do this. 

In a Nielsen report, 92% of global consumers say they trust earned media (like UGC) above all other forms of content. UGC is inherently more trustworthy because it comes from real customers who tend to be unbiased third parties that reflect a more diverse array of lifestyles than more traditional content (e.g., stock imagery).

Simply put, people trust other people more than they trust brands. And you could be leveraging this.

In a nutshell

UGC can help you to improve your ecommerce brands’ performance across every digital touchpoint. Implementing more user-generated content into your marketing strategy is important because it helps to:

• Inspire discovery
• Boost engagement
• Reduce content costs
• Increase online sales
• Grow average order value
• Drive customer loyalty 

Sold on the benefits UGC could bring to your brand? You should check out our new guide and see the tactical ways other brands are using UGC and consider how to adapt them yourself:

Why User-Generated Content & Why Now: Powering Ecommerce Success