If you’ve read articles on conversion rate optimization lately, chances are, you’ve come across the term ‘User Generated Content’ before. Marketers and business owners around you are probably raving about how User Generated Content has been helping them acquire new customers at a lower acquisition cost than ever before. But what is User Generated Content and how can you leverage it to outperform your competitors in the online space? That’s exactly what we’ll cover in this article. 

 

What is User Generated Content?

 

User Generated Content (UGC) is original, brand-specific content that is created by customers interacting with your website, service, or product. Content created by an official representative, affiliates, or an in-house marketing team does not qualify as User Generated Content (UGC).

In principle, User Generated Content (UGC) can be in the form of text, audio, images, and video residing on your website, social profiles, or anywhere on the internet. 

 

Why is User Generated Content so effective?  

 

Well, because no one trusts a salesperson. You’re more likely to trust your neighbor when they say their Subaru Forester’s a great car more than any advertisement, salesperson, or marketing email, even though your neighbor may not be an expert in cars.

User Generated Content works like your trustworthy neighbor’s affirmation. Users on the internet share their experience with a company or product and you trust their word for it. Why? Because, unlike in advertisements and marketing campaigns, the product or company is not portrayed in its most exaggerated version. 

So, it isn’t shocking that 48% of customers say that UGC is a great way to discover new products and 84% of millennials claim UGC has some influence on their purchase behavior. 

Burger King Ad vs Reality

Advertising Content vs User Generated Content

 

In the next section, we’ll look at 5 Ways businesses can add User Generated Content to their website.

 User Generated Content & How to Use it on Your WordPress Website Click To Tweet

Reviews & Testimonials 

 

If you’re an eCommerce business that sells products, nothing will increase your conversion rate like user-generated product reviews. If you’re a business that offers a service, a detailed testimonial from an existing client that highlights the pleasure of working with your team can be the deciding factor for someone seeking professional help in your realm of expertise. 

A tool like Site Reviews can be a great way to start collecting testimonials from your existing clients or customers. 

However, if you want to start small, you can embed your existing google reviews using a plugin provided you have good reviews on google to start with. Remember, the chances of converting a customer reduce if your rating is below 4. 

 

Highland Kitchen Reviews Page

Highland Kitchen uses testimonials from diners as UGC to attract clientele

Social Media Content

Social media channels like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram can be used to generate and circulate User Generated Content for your brand.  Andrea O., the founder of Peachybbies, created a million-dollar gourmet slime business through TikTok content that included large amounts of UGC from her early customers. 

A sound strategy is to host this User Generated Content being circulated through social channels on your website. This allows website visitors to easily browse images and videos posted by past clients and customers to verify the authenticity and credibility of your business.

Tools like Curator.io can help you embed UGC from social channels on your website.

 

Comments

 

The easiest way to gain credibility is by increasing engagement on blog posts and other published content through comments. The WordPress platform allows moderated comments on blogs by default without a plugin or add-on. A great practice is to initiate conversations through comments by asking open-ended questions to your readers. 

If you don’t have a blog for your business yet, we strongly recommend starting one. 

Reposts, shares, and likes are also good indicators of engagement in addition to comments and complement other forms of User Generated Content.

 

User Generated Q&A

 

Amazon is a great example of how user-generated Q&A can be beneficial for you. When users post questions on a forum section on your product or services page and existing or past clients respond with detailed, positive answers, it is almost a guaranteed conversion. 

Although a  fairly complicated setup with some moderation required to ensure spam and sensitive content is kept at bay, the user-generated Q&A tactic is worth investing in. Here’s a complete guide to User Generated Q&A for WordPress websites. 

Amazon Q&A Reviews

An Example of User Q&A on an Amazon Listing

 

 

Guest Blog Post or Podcast

 

If you have a blog or podcast for your business, consider changing things up a little bit and getting an existing or past client to create content for you. Past clients or people who’ve closely interacted with your business can write blog posts talking about the benefits of your services and/or the results they saw by working with you. 

The same applies to a podcast. Invite your past clients as guests on your podcasts and allow them to talk about their experience as a customer by asking open-ended questions – trust us when we say this makes for some amazing User Generated Content!

Convinced you need to add user-generated content but don’t know how or want to stay away from the technicalities? Let our expert team at WPWebsitehHelp.com simplify it for you. 

 

 

Pin It on Pinterest