Everyone (even Nielsen) agrees that Customer Generated Content (CGC) is invaluable to businesses, and it’s simple to see why: Every time a customer takes a picture or video of your product or service, they‘re blasting an organic referral to hundreds or thousands of their friends, family, co-workers and more. It’s word of mouth on digital steroids.
Customers acting as your promoters is the best, easiest and most effective way to promote your business. So… how do you get them to do it?
At UPshow, we live and breath CGC, so we put together our Top 5 Tips to Transform your Customers Into Promoters.
1. Encourage
Even super savvy social media users need a nudge sometimes. Simply presenting the idea to share about you will increase the activity. Calls to action including signage at the register, tables tents, flyers are all basic ways to get your customers to post more. Your employees can also be your greatest ambassadors by encouraging customers to take pictures or even taking the picture for them.
2. Showcase
If social media has taught us anything it’s that people LOVE seeing themselves. Don’t just let the pictures & videos your float aimlessly in the interwebs; turn your customers into stars by showcasing their pictures & videos in venue! UPshow grabs pictures & videos in real-time so your customers instantaneously see themselves on TV screens. Customers love the wow factor and getting their 15 seconds of fame.
But remember, the only way customers get on the screen is by promoting your business! Using UPshow also makes sure that customers are promoting you the exact way you want to be promoted!
3. Inspire
Not everyone is Picasso with a smartphone, so your customers may need some ideas and inspiration. Creating and designing “shareable moments” (aka the type of stuff people want to take pictures/videos of and brag about), such as cleverly painted walls, novelty menu items, and other cool things that make your business unique and standout.
With UPshow, our partners run specific campaigns & contests to provide direction about what to post.
For example, an UPshow partner that is a Build Your Own Bagel Sandwich restaurant told customers to take a pictures of their custom creation. Customers described and titled their bagelwhich in their post and were entered into a contest to temporarily get listed in the menu!
Even better, friends & family of the entrants organically began coming to the bagel shop to order the custom creations! Pretty quickly, there was an unofficial crowd-sourced menu!
4. Incentivize
Want to really increase customer generated content? Offering your customers a little somethin’-somethin’ to post is a great way to do it.
Many UPshow partners strategically offer post incentives that get their customers to make additional purchases (i.e. Buy 2 beers get 1 free) or to return to your business (“20% off a large pizza next time you’re here!”).
Through UPshow’s proprietary Connected Commerce, it’s easy to automatically and instantly send a personalized message on Instagram or Twitter to each customer, informing them of their prize.
5. Invite them back to do it again
Engaging on a 1-to-1 level is an easy and authentic way to turn a customer into an evangelist. With UPshow, our partners have the tools to easily communicate of their customers who have posted in just one-click and invite them to return. Our partners find that this type of relationship building not only creates repeat business, but repeat CGC as well!
