A beginner’s guide to making UGC work for you

User-generated content has taken on a new importance during the pandemic as more and more of us shop online and rely on the opinions of other consumers. Ratings, reviews, shout outs and snaps are all powerful ways to grow awareness and drive more downloads and the good news is, you can start to harness UGC from your very first review.

First things first, what’s UGC?

User-generated content – or UGC – is any time of content that a user creates that mentions your brand. That can take the form of a review in the App Store, an image shared on their social media Stories, a video on TikTok or even a post about your app on their own blog.

How does it help?

Numerous studies have shown that today’s consumers trust the opinions of other consumers more than ever, even those people they don’t know. Online reviews and comments are the equivalent of the more old fashioned word of mouth. In fact, the very latest research from PowerReviews has confirmed that interaction with reviews has growth more than 50% during the pandemic. Intenret users are searching, filtering and reading reviews in full more than ever before.

Add to this, more than 9 in 10 people say a positive review makes them more likely to use a local business according to the latest insight from BrightLocal, and it’s clear that positive mentions hold a lot of power. In fact, that same survey found 79% of people trust an online review as much as a personal recommendation.

The bottom line? The more you can generate reviews, positive social media mentions and shares around your small business app, the more likely it is that others will follow and download your offering, make a booking with you or use your service.

How can you make this work for you?

Making UGC work for you requires two things:

·A steady stream of user-generated content around your app or brand and

·A way to amplify those voices

To satisfy the first part of that equation, make sure you’re actively encouraging your users to communicate with you. Don’t be afraid of feedback or reviews, these are opportunities to find out what your users really think and make any tweaks needed to give them exactly what they are looking for. Encourage them to review, to like, to share and to tag you on social media.

For step two, be proactive about sharing all of that content. A social media scheduling tool such as Hootsuite will alert you to any mentions of your brand name so you can reshare that content across your own platforms. Keep an eye out for mentions on Instagram Stories, monitor TikTok and set up a Google Alert for mentions of your brand name.

The more you can share which reflects genuine user interaction and experience with your app, the better placed you are to tap into the trust modern consumers place in the opinions of other consumers.