What is the secret marketing hack that no one is really taking advantage of? UGC Marketing and Why Do You Need to Know About it?
If you are a business owner, you may have heard the term UGC, but do you know what it is and how important it is for your business? If not, you need to know because it is the newest and most innovative form of content marketing. It saves you tons of time and money and gives you real content you can use to get new customers.
What is UGC?
First, before we step into the specifics of why you need UGC and how to use UGC for your business, you first have to have an understanding of what UGC is. UGC, otherwise known as user-generated content, is the newest form of content marketing for businesses across all niches.
To break it down, it is important to look at traditional marketing and how it was done before UGC came into the picture. In traditional business marketing, the business would either be creating ads or paying someone to create a very professional ad for their products. This is the kind of ad that you would have seen on the TV, on a website, or even on social media platforms.
Now, with the influx of social media, digital marketing, and content creators on the market, marketing for businesses is not and can not be the same if it wants to survive. Information spreads fast, and because of that, consumers are more skeptical about what they buy and why they buy it.
This is where UGC began. UGC takes the content creation away from the business and puts it in the hands of consumers. No, this does not mean that they hire influencers with thousands of followers. Instead, there are specific UGC creators who do not need to have any followers who receive items from brands and film organic content with those items.
As a business, you would hire a UGC creator that fits your style and niche (most creators have a portfolio they can show you before you hire them) and you send them your products. They will film a short video, typically 15-30 seconds, showcasing that item. It may be in the form of an unboxing, a try-on, a demo, or an aesthetic video depending on what you specify that you need as a business.
The creator will then film the videos, send them back with or without a watermark for revisions, and will then send the final video. The video then belongs to the business and only the business to be used on TikTok, Instagram reels, websites, and more without any obligation for the creator to post it. The creator is simply the person making the content then sending it for the business to use unless otherwise agreed upon.
Let me break UGC down into a concrete example: Imagine that you are a business owner who sells fishing rods. If you want content made of your product by a UGC creator, you would find one that is in your niche or who specializes in fishing/outdoor gear and negotiate a price per video. Once the price and payments are agreed upon, there will likely be a contract that both parties will sign.
Once the contract is signed, you, as the business owner, will send the creator products to film with. These products are products that the creator will keep because they will be filming with them. You can specify what kinds of videos you want and how long or what they are for, and the creator will send the videos back to you.
Once you have the videos, it is up to you what you choose to do with them!
Why Does Your Business Need UGC?
At this point, you may be wondering how this helps your business. How does giving free items to ‘normal’ people for them to film help your business?
It’s easy - consumers are much more likely to believe another consumer rather than believing the business who obviously wants to make money. In fact, did you know that more than 80% of consumers state that seeing another person using the products affected whether or not they bought it? It is like showing your best friend a product or getting a referral from a trusted friend. It’s the evolved form of word of mouth.
In a world where TikTok and Instagram reels are one of the top performing platforms for businesses, it is important that you bring authenticity to your business, and that is what UGC is doing. It doesn’t matter what kind of company you have. In fact, the more unique, the better!
Conclusion
While traditional marketing has worked in the past and still does work in some cases, it is important for businesses to jump on new opportunities and the changing world in order to thrive, and right now, that new opportunity is UGC.
New social media trends are like beach front property that no one really knows about yet. It’s smart to do them before everyone finds out and the price goes up and the views are less and less.
Sound overwhelming? No matter what product or service you have, Foxy Online Marketing can help you crush the competition by helping you create your very own custom UGC campaign. Let us do the hiring and market search for you.