Struggling to increase sales? Incorporate UGC into your campaigns to secure trust and credibility with new shoppers.
Deciding what brands to buy from and which products to choose is difficult for consumers today. Fierce competition means there are countless brands vying for their attention, and they crave authenticity and trust when making a purchase.
User-generated content can help elevate your credibility while building an online community. It showcases real-life experiences, allowing potential customers to connect with your brand. In fact, UGC is so powerful that campaigns that include it are 20% more influential on purchasing decisions. In addition, 86% of women use social media to specifically seek out their peers’ advice on which products they should buy.
What is user-generated content? It refers to any content created by your customers, such as photos, reviews, testimonials, and videos.
If you aren’t already practicing user-generated content marketing, here’s how you can get started.
1. Enhance Email Marketing Campaigns
Email is still one of the most effective marketing strategies. You’re able to land directly in customer inboxes and create a deeper, more meaningful connection than you would if they were simply scrolling through a social media update.
You can enhance your campaigns by adding UGC to abandoned cart emails, product recommendation emails, and post-purchase emails to increase retention and loyalty. Including UGC such as reviews and photos in your emails makes them more engaging, shows your products in action, and allows you to send personalized information to customers (which is far more effective than generic messages).
Nimble Activewear is one of the best user-generated content examples. They add reviews to their abandoned cart emails to entice customers back. Social proof like UGC in your AC emails builds trust and the urge to buy. It works particularly well if you serve reviews that directly relate to the product you’re promoting in your customer’s cart.
2. Boost Search Rankings
Gaining visibility in the SERPs is key for merchants. The more eyeballs you get on your website, the more chances you have of attracting new customers. One of the quickest ways to get to the top of the search results is to invest in Google Shopping campaigns. Having visual cards that potential buyers can click-through gives you the opportunity to raise brand awareness and compete with other merchants.
Adding reviews and UGC to Google Shopping campaigns can dramatically improve click-through rates.
Muir Way’s Google Shopping ads stand out against competitors thanks to the addition of reviews.
But it’s not just Google Shopping ads that can be enhanced by UGC. Reviews also provide search engines with new and relevant content, which is one of Google’s key ranking factors.
On top of this, they naturally help you rank for long-tail keywords that are included in the reviews. If reviews for your latest line of red shoes often include the phrase “red shoes”, it’s going to bump you up the search results by showing Google exactly what kind of product you're promoting.
3. Incorporate UGC throughout the sales cycle
Customers rarely go straight to purchase. Instead, they go on a meandering journey that can include many different touchpoints, be it social media, email, product pages, and customer support inquiries.
Adding UGC at key touchpoints can improve the customer experience and give shoppers the confidence they need to move to the next stage. If they’re struggling to make a decision between your product and a competitor’s, the addition of positive reviews can make all the difference when building customer loyalty.
Add reviews and UGC to your homepage, product pages, checkout pages, and any other touchpoints that customers are likely to land on during their shopping journey. In fact, customers are six times more likely to purchase a product if the page includes images from social media.
Nomad includes reviews on its product pages that highlight customer attributes and key details about the design and functionality of their products.
Seeing customer reviews displayed in different ways builds buyer confidence in a brand by offering relatable information and authentic answers. This ultimately creates a dynamic shopping experience.
Let Your Customers Do the Talking
UGC instills confidence, tackles objections, and allows customers to get first-hand insights into your products. Integrate reviews, customer photos, and videos into your email marketing campaigns, across your website, and in your Google Shopping ads to boost brand visibility and get more sales.
Okendo’s review capture feature makes it easy to collect reviews from happy customers and showcase them in a beautiful, branded way across your site and other platforms. The platform also has a dedicated Google marketing tool that automatically incorporates positive reviews into your Google Shopping campaigns.