Every Brand Strategy Should Have a UGC Solution

The concept of User Generated Content (UGC) is not new but the consumer trend has changed in recent years, causing word-of-mouth marketing to be overhauled and UGC to become even more relevant for brand activities on social media.

As a result, some brands are considering UGC within their social media strategies. These testimonials are used to generate trust among audiences. For example, in the travel industry, recommendations make booking easier for clients.

Currently, there are some  people who are against making their purchases online; however, testimonials and recommendations from users on other websites could influence the purchase decision and change the flow of e-commerce.

It is evident that the best publicity is a recommendation from consumers themselves. Through their recommendations, they become brand ambassadors, achieving loyalty. They are real people who are listened to by other people, effectively making the brand trustworthy.

UGC also works as an interaction point with the brands, bringing the opportunity to have chats with clients, clarify doubts and share suggestions, while catching the attention of audiences, who then share, for free, your content on their social media.

As a bonus, content marketing that includes UGC has a huge influence on SEO, increasing a brand’s site viewability in organic search, making for an easier algorithm journey and improving the congruence and qualifications of Google’s search engines. As a result, the website appears first when the user conducts a search related to the brand, which is the case for known sites, blogs and apps where the user can book a trip or a dinner in some place based on another user opinion or recommendation.

A brand that invests time and money to produce UGC content and encourage trust among its audience will be better evaluated, qualified and valued than others that are not including it.

As such, it is time for brands to be aligned with consumer trends; the need to create significant connections around important issues, such as diversity, social and cultural inclusion has increased. It is no longer an option but an engine of opportunities for brands to obtain and nurture the trust of consumers through self-generated content. In doing so, it's important to harness and build an authentic, meaningful, and real connection.

This can be done using platforms like Hits Book, which helps brands to obtain UGC content from their consumers through digital activations. The content is 100 percent royalty-free. The content is added to the stock created through artificial intelligence (AI), which allows the creation of tags automatically by reading the content frame by frame. In this way, clients can capitalize on future projects.

Hits Book, a leader in creating, managing and monetizing campaigns based on UGC in Latin America and in the US Hispanic market, allows clients to innovate using its sophisticated tactical and strategic UGC technology solutions for brands and media.

Tactical solutions comprise a series of short-term services, which allow brands to develop UGC digital activations to capture content from images or videos generated by users. These materials are obtained through the creation of their own sites for digital dynamics. Participation (content) can also be obtained from social networks. For example, we offer interactive games to discover user interests through quizzes and viral gamification solutions (voting). In all of these solutions, we capture and verify the contact details of consumers and manage the intellectual property of the content for our clients.

An example of a successful brand using this strategy is Nissin, which took advantage of the power of UGC to connect with its consumers and increase their engagement through the #NissinSOS campaign. This was a digital action in a contest format that captured different moments of its product being consumed. These were then embedded in a digital recipe compilation. In addition, users had interaction tools for sharing on the site that increased the virality and scope of the campaign.

Escudo® is another successful example. The goal was to find mothers who were ambassadors of safety and deep cleaning during the pandemic confinement. The activity was carried out in three phases: In the first phase, a quiz was generated to generate expectations and databases. In the second phase, an online casting was activated. The third phase consisted of an activation to train the winners. Engagement increased by connecting with its consumers and finding the ambassadors' campaign.

UGC strategic solutions also support brands in creating their own Community 4.0, using UGC formats or content for commercial spots, social media and even series or shows created by your brand's followers for distribution on social networks, TV and OTT platforms, which you can then market.

 An example of this is Donde-Ir, our successful project that has delivered a very large database to improve communication and optimize advertising  efforts.Using the content generated within Community 4.0 to create editorial formats, emails and posts on social networks. Another success story isOh My Pet!, a project dedicated to the spoiled pet at home. Pet lovers participated in different UGC dynamics, sharing a fun video of their pet in an effort to win prizes.

There is no doubt UGC is gaining ground in the brand arena as companies recognize the value of their users’ own voices