“No one knows more about my brand than me.”
Probably true.
But it doesn’t mean that you’re the best or most effective at telling that story. Some of the smartest brands – especially in the retail space – know that user-generated content (UGC) can be the most powerful way to tell your brand’s story and generate excitement about your company.
UGC In Retail: River Island & Nisolo
Take, for example, River Island, a fashion retailer we blogged about earlier this year who built up a community of 3.3 million fans with some serious growth hacking strategies like UGC, in-depth Twitter analytics, and strategic A/B testing.
Or, look at Nisolo, a Nashville-based shoemaker and retailer who’s #NisoloNotAlone campaign is getting people to share their own stories and Nisolo’s story at the same time.
The Numbers Behind Ratings & Reviews
No matter how personable and genuine your brand’s voice, it will always be extremely difficult to become more trusted by a prospective customer than that customer’s friend or family member. It simply makes sense that people are going to rely more on a friend to tell them the truth than some company that wants to sell to them.
A new infographic from Smiley backs up that belief with numbers:
- 67% of consumers say they always or often seek out recommendations from family and close friends when gathering information about a product/brand purchase.
- 55% seek a positive review online.
What makes a review influential?
- 80% say personal stories
- 71% say pros and cons
- 57% say star ratings
- 41% say number of reviews
User Generated Content About Your Brand
Smiley also reports on where users share about their retail experience. Not surprisingly, Facebook is the most popular place to share. 51% of consumers who share about a product purchase will tell that story on Facebook. Impressively, 34% will tell that story on the retailer’s website – proof that social is certainly not the only way for brands to be meaningfully engaged in the digital space. Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram follow closely at 32, 30, and 30%.
How to Encourage User-Generated Content
You can encourage your customers and fans to create their own user-generated content by…
- Creating catchy hashtags and sharing them across all your content – print and digital.
- Building social calls-to-action into your content.
- Embedding UGC into your website.
Do you have a UGC strategy in your company? Why or why not?
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