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Are you eager to know about user-generated content on Instagram? Do you want to know how to run and manage an effective user-generated content campaign using your IG page? Then better read this article completely to read all you have to know about UGCs!
Did you know that when a family member or friend recommends a product to you, it’s much more effective than watching an advertisement? Why? Because you trust them and you know that they will never lie to you. That’s the beauty of user-generated content (UGC). UGCs are powerful and trending methods of Instagram marketing that every Instagram marketer should consider employing.
What does user-generated content mean?
Simply put, user-generated content is any content published on social media by people about your business. Brands use this type of content to form strong bonds between the brand and the fans. User-generated content is a form of digital word of mouth that can massively affect your sales and reputation.
Why Instagram user-generated content?
For a million reasons! But let’s tell you some of the most important ones. Did you know that 85% of users stated that visual user-generated content affects their purchase decision more than brand-generated content? That shows just how important visual UGC is. Luckily, Instagram is one of the most robust social media for visual content.
Here are some of the reasons why you should use user-generated content on your Instagram page:
1- UGCs are authentic and effective
Most of the people who create UGC are normal people with no link to the brand. This fact makes the user-generated content completely authentically, and as a result, effective as well.
There is nothing for the customers when they share their experience through UGC and promote a product or service.
User-generated content is especially essential for brands that offer intangible services, such as the tourism industry. When buying a travel tour, you cannot see an actual product, and you have to trust the advertisement. That’s why different types of UGC, such as comments, can be beneficial.
2- It increases engagement
As UGCs are real and a type of digital word of mouth, they surge the amount of engagement, which is great for your Instagram. When you share someone’s post, they may send it to their friends or even repost it again. This will increase the number of likes, comments, and followers. Also, your post may appear on the Instagram Explore page.
3- It’s free!
Instead of hours of thinking about the new images and videos, you can use user-generated content to give your feed a new look. And the best part? It’s for free. You may only want to do some edits in captions.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAdhwRsnxS3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
4- It makes followers loyal
The best part of sharing UGCs is that it makes the followers more loyal to you. By sharing user-generated content on your Instagram, you tell them how much you care about them and that their opinions matter to you.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAXzxCSHNmA/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
5- Building a vibrant community
By interacting with those who share the UGC of your brand, you can slowly build a strong community of brand ambassadors. Once you share their content, they become more engaged in what you do on Instagram, and you can even count on them for future UGCs!
Some user-generated content examples.
Many brands, even those that are well-known globally, use user-generated content as one of their primary marketing channels. In the following, we look at some of the most successful examples of major brands that nailed the UGC marketing!
1- Pantone
The world’s largest colors leader has a fantastic feed, loaded with colorful user-generated content. As most Pantone followers are graphic designers, they made the feed super cool with their high-quality photos.
Moreover, every year, Pantone announces the color of the year, which inspires many artists to create tons of cool content. This year’s color is classic blue.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7i7H0fg87a/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
2- Starbucks
Starbucks runs several campaigns using hashtags such as #theredcup, #CloudMacchiato, #CatchACloud, #PinkDrink, and many others. The result? Starbucks feed is filled with user-generated content. Here is an example:
3- Adobe
When you’re the global leader of graphic design software, you shouldn’t have a hard time finding super great UGC. Adobe’s Instagram page is a source of inspiration for any artist, and it runs the campaign using #stayinstayinspired.
4- Forever21
Forever 21 is a clothing company with several sub-pages on Instagram, such as @forever21plus and @forever21men. All of Forever 21pages use UGC, either created by customers or influencers.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAwGZm3B5sf/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
5- Google
Each week, Google posts many theme content, and one of its ongoing projects is #MySuperG. The result is amazing: more than 5 thousand photos.
6- Canon
Canon runs weekly contests using various themes such as #LongExposure as a part of its larger campaign, which is #CanonFanPhoto. As you can guess, the result is amazing; 550,110 posts and more to come.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAu3CSYhXIw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
How to run an effective user-generated content campaign on Instagram?
To run great user-generated content companies, you need a smart plan. Publishing UGCs might save you time, but it is important to choose the right content. You might think that Instagram managers “regram” spontaneously, but it’s more than that!
In the following, we will show you the essential steps to have a successful Instagram user-generated content campaign.
Step 1: Define your goal.
Based on your business and page on Instagram, you may want to have a page 100% rely on UGC. If you decide only to use UGC on your feed, you actually turn your page to a featured page. This might work for some businesses, but as it is not flexible enough, you might face some difficulties as it won’t allow you to share your own voice.
A feed entirely based on UGC is viral among photography pages:
See how this page manages to keep its aesthetic tone of colors while using photos of different photographers:
If you receive many high-quality users who generate content, the best options for you are to either have a mix page or dedicate one page only t your UGCs. Uber has dedicated one page only to UGC:
View this post on Instagram
Step 2: Choose what Types of user-generated content you want
UGCs can be in different forms such as text, image, and video. They can also be categorized into various types based on their purpose. Here are some of the most popular types of user-generated content on Instagram:
1- User feed posts and stories
You may ask, “review user-generated content?” Yes! And one of the best ones. Many people tag the brand’s Instagram accounts when publishing a related photo or video. This type of UGC is the most common one.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_29MKxALrg/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
2- User product reviews
Sometimes, a happy or unhappy customer shares a post on Instagram and tells their followers about the experience of using that product or service. Product reviews can also appear in the form of comments.
3- Instagram contests
Another type of user-generated content on Instagram is Instagram contests. Many brands use this method to gain new followers. You can use the best images and videos of the followers who participated in the content. Here is an example of visual UGC from Instagram contests run by @upworkinc.
Creating giveaways and contests is time-consuming? No worries! We have a great suggestion for you: AiSchedul.
With AiSchedul, a smart Instagram marketing platform, you can easily run and manage Instagram contests. Here is a video tutorial:
4- Influencers’ content
UGC can be created by partnering with Influencers. Although it is not free like normal UGCs, it has the same and even more impacts. Have no idea where to find influencers? Take a look at Ainfluencer, where you can find numerous influencers in different niches.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAs-1I-AQ8m/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
5- Takeovers
When an influencer generates posts and stories for your Instagram as if they own the page, Instagram uses this method a lot, especially during important events such as the Golden Globe.
Step 3: Introduce a unique hashtag and encourage followers to use it
The next step to have cool user-generated content on Instagram is to define a unique hashtag for your posts. As an Instagrammer, you probably always search for popular hashtags, but in this case, it’s contrary. It would help if you came up with a unique hashtag that no other account use.
To make the hashtag more personalized, you can include your brand’s name. If you pay attention, some of the campaigns that we’ve added as an example have the brand’s name on them, such as #CanonFanPhoto or #Pantone2020.
Then encourage people to use these hashtags and share their photos. You can use techniques such as running an Instagram contest or giveaway to make them more interested.
Step 4: Find and share the best user-generated content
Now that you told your followers about sharing the content, it’s time to look them up on Instagram. They might use the hashtags you’ve introduced or tag you on their posts. But you may ask, how do I manage user-generated content?
We understand your concerns; managing all the user-generated content might turn into a nightmare. From searching among hundreds of posts, finding the best of them, and then repost it. But luckily, we have a shortcut for you!
Remember AiSchedul that we’ve talked about? This amazing app has many features that help you run and manage your UGC Instagram campaigns in the smoothest way possible. Here’s a step-by-step of running a UGC campaign using AiSchedul:
After signing for AiSchedul, under the tab “Posts & Scheduling,” you can see “Listening & Repost” in your dashboard. As you can see, there are four parts to this tab, and each of them helps you to run great Instagram user-generated content.
The first item is “Hashtag Monitoring.” You can add your UGC hashtag and easily track all the posts that are being published using it. And the best part? After choosing the best content to publish, you can easily hit the button “Repost” to regram or schedule them on your IG page.
If you want to track some of your loyal followers, you can add them to the “Account Monitoring.” The next item is “Mentions.” You can find all the posts that were mentioned in them in this part. This feature is great for finding UGCs that are in the form of text.
If you find some good content and are not sure if you’re going to share it, you can easily save it in the media and use them later.
Related article: How to get featured on Instagram – 2020 update
Tips for running a better user-generated content campaign
Here are some ideas for your user-generated content campaign that will help you run a better page based on UGC.
User-generated content permission.
Don’t forget to ask for permission from your UGCs. Although many user-generated contents are created based on your announced hashtags, many of them are original, which you didn’t ask for. In these cases, it’s better to ask for permission if it’s possible. And don’t forget to give credit to them when reposting their content.
The good thing about reposting with AiSchedul is that it won’t put big ugly watermarks on the image. It added a line at the end of the caption, which gives credit to the original post.
Negative user-generated content
Unfortunately, not all the UGCs are positive. There are always people who are complaining about the products and services and give productive or destructive feedbacks. The bad thing about negative UGCs is that they have 10x more impact on customers than positive UGCs.
But you don’t have to be worried about that. If you manage to deal with bad reviews, you can turn them into opportunities. Actually, studies showed that 41% of consumers are tempted to buy a product with reviews as low as 1 to 4.
Sharing content from a variety of users
Instagram is for everyone around the world for all ages. Try to use user-generated from different groups of your followers. This way, you keep the balance, and everyone stays happy. For example, if you have a fashion page, you may want to repost content from different sizes and generations.
UGC for millennials
Earlier, we’ve mentioned that people rely on family and friends when it comes to purchasing. Well, in the case of millennials, it’s a little bit different. Studies showed that 51% of millennials rely on UGC from strangers rather than family and friends. You may want to consider that when checking your demographics.
Having a purpose
UGCs are powerful and very effective. While it’s a good way to really boost your engagement, it’s also a good lead your efforts to a meaningful purpose. For example, you can run a user-generated content campaign to introduce your new product or target a new group of audiences.
Final Words
Your followers are the greatest assets on Instagram. By sharing their creative content, not only do you show them that they are important to you, but also you can effectively grow your account. If you want to speed up the process, our suggestion is to use Instagram management apps such as AiSchedul. Also, if you are looking for more amazing campaign examples, check out this page from the marketers at Avadel.
