User-generated content has become a growing trend. As we see greater evolution in video and platform technology, and new mediums to bring video to viewers, it comes to no surprise that more experts and organizations are placing a greater emphasis on video in their marketing and corporate strategies in 2020.  Let’s take a look at what industry experts are saying regarding video marketing trends, and what resources are being recommended to optimize your marketing plan and generate more leads out of video.

99% of companies that used video in their marketing in 2020 will continue to do so in 2021.

Of that content, user-generated video has become especially popular. What is user-generated content? As described by Hootsuite , “user-generated content (UGC) is any content—text, videos, images, reviews, etc.—created by people, rather than brands. And brands will often share UGC on their own social media accounts, website, and other marketing channels.” This is incredibly valuable in today’s media. After years of ads, the number of consumers that trust ads has fallen to  only 25%. Considering the large expense of running an ad campaign, this may be considered a huge loss in ROI. This isn’t always the case, as ad campaigns have a scale factor that beats that should be considered. Even if only 25% trust your ad, if there is a large enough audience that engaged with it, to begin with, then you can still see fantastic ROI. Even viewers that skipped the ad, like on YouTube, still has some level of impression from your brand which is still valuable.

However, where it comes in is the more intimate community. User-generated content feels authentic, trustworthy, and most of all engaging for the consumers! It certainly requires a community that is already willing to engage in some form with your content. But once they contribute, those opinions stick. 70% of consumers trust customer opinions over direct advertisements.

What are some ideas of user-generated content?

National Geographic manages an active social media community and displayed a fantastic example of leveraging user-generated content. Their #WanderlustContest prompted users to post photos for the chance to win a National Geographic photo expedition to Yosemite National Park. From the user-submitted content, they produced an immense, interactive slideshow on their website. The result was over 63K posts on their Instagram.

The big takeaways from NatGeo’s successful campaign are that user-generated content isn’t just a contest to see who submitted the best content. From the get-go, the purpose was to incorporate the efforts of many submissions to create what feels like a collaborative experience of people around the world in their final product – the interactive slideshow. In addition, there should feel like there is an incentive to participate, and an enjoyment participating in the group.

If a 130 year old brand can be adapted to changing technology and trends, so can yours! User-generated content combines the two forces that may easily be the most compelling ways to convince potential customers to buy into your brand:  new technological trends and time-tested, word of mouth.

Brands are cluing into the fact that user-generated content is working. Again, the key to a successful campaign incorporating user-generated content is an existing community that can engage in the event. It may not have to be specifically a community that your brand has fostered on your social media channels, but even a niche community can be specifically targeted with incentives. We can expect even more creative ways of getting customers involved with their brands, garnering online attention and prestige for individuals while driving better recognition for brands.

Have ideas to incorporate user-generated video content in your next big marketing campaign? We can help make it happen. Contact us here to get it started !

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