84% of consumers say they trust peer recommendations above all other sources of advertising.
Advertising can be a great source of exposure and can lead to sales for your small-to-medium-sized business.
But user generated content is an even better channel because it has more influence over buyers. If you’re trying to build trust with your target audience, UGC is far more powerful.
Whether you’re just getting started with UGC, or you’ve been at it for some time, there are several things you can do to maximize its effects. Here are some suggestions.
Set Up In-Venue Signage And/Or Table Tents
Don’t underestimate the power of suggestion.
In-venue signage and table tents can encourage your customers to share about your business, especially if there’s an incentive or reward connected to this action.
It gives your customers something fun to do and can instantly increase your brand presence online. For example, you may own a restaurant. If you give your customers the opportunity to participate in a contest while they’re waiting for their food, time will appear to pass quicker for them.
You should encourage your customers to share on social media as often as possible, as it can only benefit you. Again, if there’s something in it for them, they’re more likely to participate.
Feature Instagrammable Backdrops In Your Venue
Whether at events or at your offices, giving your customers fun backdrops to take photos in front of can go a long way. It could be a piece of art, a sign, or basically anything people might be inclined to take a photo in front of.
If it has your logo, web address or branding on it, great. But even if it doesn’t, people tend to tag the location they’ve snapped the photo at, or mention it in the description of their post, which is basically free advertising for you.
People love taking pictures, especially when there’s something cool to snap a photo of.
Incentivize Your Customers To Share
People don’t share about products and businesses on social media for no reason. It’s either exceptional or noteworthy in some way.
So, incentivizing your customers to share can be a good way to get them to post more often.
If you’re running a yoga studio, for instance, you could give away a free session in exchange for a tweet mentioning the studio.
You could also:
· Run contests and quizzes on social media. Social Media Examiner, for instance, recently did a massive giveaway where winners got software licenses, three-month subscriptions to online courses, free annual membership to their website, and more.
· Create a campaign hashtag. Sometimes you don’t even need to create your own hashtag and instead use on that’s relevant to your audience. For instance, Music Industry How To consistently uses the #musician hashtag on Twitter, followed by a relevant question, to target their core audience.
· Put a spotlight on your fans. Share their content, make them a “customer of the month”, or reward them with a visit to your office and film the whole thing.
Pay attention to how people are already talking about your brand on social media. You may come across opportunities you can turn into full-fledged campaigns.
Take Advantage Of UPshow
UPshow is a Social TV Platform for Businesses.
UPshow will become the reason your customers post more social media content than ever before. Thanks to UPshow's "jumbotron effect", customers can get their 15 seconds of fame on the TVs inside your business after they post with your hashtag or geolocation. Combine this with simple digital signage and a robust library of social media-powered entertainment, UPshow will turn your TVs into a valuable marketing asset.
Final Thoughts
The above strategies are particularly powerful for conferences, events, and brick-and-mortar businesses. But if you create any kind of product your customers can physically hold, there are plenty of opportunities (just think of the Red Bull example from earlier).
The great thing about UGC is that it’s typically online and offline marketing rolled into one, giving you greater reach from a single action overall.
Are you interested in turning your customers into promoters? Is UGC an opportunity you’re considering? Click here to learn more about how UPshow can help.
