Why & How To Use User-Generated Content
When it comes to building communities, user-generated content (UGC) and TikTok-first content are two of the most powerful tools available to luxury brands. Younger consumers especially are receptive to both creating and consuming user-generated content—a key demographic for the luxury industry. Not only do they spend 15% more compared to other age groups, but by 2026, Millennials and Gen-Zers are expected to make up 75% of luxury goods buyers.
With more than half of Gen Z consumers spending four hours or more on social media every day, using social media marketing to reach younger luxury shoppers is a no-brainer. TikTok is a particularly great place to reach them, with more than 65% of Gen Z and 49% of Millennials using the app.
In this article, we explore what exactly UGC is, why it matters, and how to leverage it to reach your core customer base.
What Is User-Generated Content?
User-generated content (UGC) is content created by customers and social media users, rather than the brands themselves. UGC can come in many forms, including images, videos, testimonials, podcasts, and more. If it’s content and it’s created by a user, then it’s UGC.
UGC is usually created by customers who want to share their thoughts or experiences with a product, as well as influencers and content creators who want to associate themselves with specific brands. It can also be unofficial content created by employees.
Why Is User-Generated Content So Important?
Brands can leverage UGC throughout their marketing touchpoints, from resharing it on their social media pages to featuring it on their website or even displaying it within a newsletter. Here’s why it works:
BUILDS BRAND AUTHENTICITY
Nowadays, social media is celebrating authenticity. Users see through a lot of sales and marketing tactics, preferring organic, honest content created by ‘real’ people. They’re far more likely to engage with this kind of authentic content.
CREATES BRAND TRUST
Authentic brands are trusted brands. It’s hard for consumers to trust brands because they’re aware of the fact that you’re selling to them. On the other hand, hearing glowing reviews from a real customer or an influencer that you like is much more trustworthy.
ENCOURAGES CUSTOMER LOYALTY
Consumers love to feel like they’re a part of something. By inviting them in to be a part of your brand community and allowing them to contribute to your brand growth, they’ll feel much stronger, deeper connections with your brands. In the long run, they’ll reward you with their loyalty.
How to Use User-Generated Content
INCORPORATE UGC INTO SOCIAL MEDIA
Brands can encourage their followers to post UGC in a variety of ways. The most popular include using specific hashtags aligned with a specific initiative or incentivizing through reposting the best content to their own channels. Reposting UGC content not only shows that the brand values its followers but also creates a sense of community.
Lululemon harnessed the power of UGC on social media to expand their brand awareness and generate shareable content. By asking customers to share photos of themselves in Lululemon gear using the hashtag #TheSweatLife, they brought together their community of loyal customers to organically promote the brand on each of their pages.
USE TIKTOK CHALLENGES
Brands can create their own TikTok challenges that encourage users to create content related to the brand or its products. This not only creates engagement with the brand but also helps to generate new content that can be shared on other social media channels.
Moncler tapped into the TikTok app’s ability to create trends through its own ‘Bubble Up’ challenge. Using the hashtag #MonclerBubbleUp, the challenge was for users to recreate the look of the Moncler signature padded coat, using random items at home, like a sleeping bag, fluffy robe, toys, etc.
The brand teamed up with major influencers, like Charli D’Amelio, who have a huge following on the app and encouraged their followers to participate in the challenge. The sound associated with the trend was ‘Bubble’ by 24hrs, featuring Ty Dolla $ign, with the lyric, “all up in a Moncler bubble”.
This trend cleverly allowed any TikTok user to participate, even if they didn’t have the Moncler luxury item. It also introduced Moncler to a much younger audience, asserting themselves as an aspirational brand.
INFLUENCER COLLABORATIONS
Brands can collaborate with influencers who create TikTok-first content that showcases the brand in a positive light. This can help to increase brand visibility and credibility among the influencer’s audience. When working with creators, it’s best to provide a clear brief while allowing the influencer to create content that is authentic to their brand. Make sure to provide detail around ad concepts, brand guidelines, and examples of your own creative to inspire.
Prada collaborated with the TikToker Charli D’Amelio as the face of their Prada Linea Rossa fall/winter 2022 collection. With Charli as the campaign’s model, it automatically becomes more shareable, getting engagement from her community of followers. Plus, getting Charli to wear the collection in her own TikTok and other social media content drove further awareness in a more UGC style.
USE UGC IN ADVERTISING
Brands can use UGC in their advertising campaigns to create a more authentic and relatable message. This can include using customer reviews or testimonials in ads, or incorporating UGC images or videos in their ad creative. When considering how to deploy your UGC content across socials, it's important to make your strategy align with the content goal, authenticity. If you are leveraging this style of content, make sure to deploy it in a way that also feels native to the platform.
iPhone’s ‘Shotoniphone’ campaign perfectly embodies this advertising strategy. One of the biggest selling points of purchasing a new phone is the camera quality. It’s often one of the biggest talking points. Knowing this, Apple decided to prove just how good its latest cameras were. So, it showcased photos and videos taken by real iPhone users to highlight the quality. The hashtag #ShotOniPhone generated a staggering 29 million Instagram posts, proving that customers are willing to create UGC for the right brands and the right campaigns.
REPURPOSE UGC
Brands can repurpose UGC for other marketing materials, such as email campaigns or website content. This not only helps to showcase the brand in a positive light but also helps to increase the visibility of the content creator.
On the fashion side of social media, millions of users share their outfits and usually tag the brands where they bought them from. Seeing this, Asos decided to launch a page on its website called #AsSeenOnMe which featured customer images that used the hashtag. As a result, droves of customers began to use the hashtag with the hope of being featured on the official Asos website.
This helped to build a sense of community within Asos shoppers, reinforce brand authenticity on the website, as well as generate organic marketing among its customers.
Create a UGC Marketing Campaign Today
By leveraging UGC and TikTok-first content in their marketing strategy, brands can create a more engaging and authentic message that resonates with their target audience. This not only helps to increase brand awareness and credibility but also helps to generate new content that can be shared across multiple channels.
Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all approach for UGC-style content. It’s important to understand your target audience, how they consume media, and what fits your brand's guidelines and aesthetics. If you’d like to find out more or see some examples of how Block & Tam are doing this for our clients, get in touch below.
