How would your content marketing ever be successful if your audience never showed any interest? Wouldn’t it be boring to post content that only you might consider relevant, or would it be stressful because you wouldn’t know what they think of your content?
A long time ago, nobody still knows an exact date, but when content marketing began, it only involved brands talking. Then came a time when the audience got involved. It began with the audience giving their opinions, moving on to participating in brand contests and now creating original content for brands. Leveraging these user-generated content pieces adds to your brand’s authenticity, credibility and even gives you an encouraging friendly persona.
When 'Stylemeupwithsakshi' spoke about how a particular Spotify playlist lifts her mood, gets her in the groove to create the amazing content that she does, her followers are bound to be interested in her playlist on Spotify.
The search of credible users who people would follow for advice or look up to for trends led to the growth of influencers. Content generated by them brought greater reach for the brands from their followers. With time, influencers started breaking all gender stereotypes, keeping no restrictions for brands. While 'Wingitwithankush' spoke of Kay beauty products and makeup tips, followers of 'Overratedoutcast' explored new destinations and adventures with her and Sandisk India.
While these user-generated content ideas seemed to have their own charm, brands like 'Droolsindia' and 'Wowskinscienceindia' decided to take it up a notch by incorporating UGC videos in their content marketing strategies. This resulted in creating more impact, which earned a significant amount of digital reach for the brands. These content pieces were not restricted to celebrities or popular influencers alone but spanned out to the brands’ audiences as well.
Video content goes a long way than static content in creating a sense of credibility and adding authenticity to a brand’s image. Adding user-generated content for the benefit of video content is a definite bonus for your brand, irrespective of your niche when placed right. They build a bond of trust with your audience, give you an approachable personality and improve engagement and interaction on your platforms. This, in turn, gives you better insights into what your audience needs, and whether you are hitting the right note with your current content marketing strategy.
Before you start planning on integrating them in your content strategies, you must plan content to generate useful UGC, especially in the video format, that compliments your internal content guidelines and enhances your content marketing. A UGC post is impactful only when it is relevant and clearly reflects your brand. Once you’ve put all the strategy pieces together, you are ready to amplify your content marketing strategy with user-generated video content.