Burberry requested its devoted fans to upload pictures of themselves and their friends putting on the brand’s iconic trench coat.
All Burberry had to do was collect the best submissions, which they displayed on a dedicated microsite and their Facebook page.
Without taking you deep into this, I have shown you one great way how to display user generated content during an event.
This article will suggest the best ways to the best ways to showcase consumer-generated media so that it stays in the face of your target market always.
What Is User Generated Content?
User-generated content (UGC) is any form of content that has been created by unpaid or random positive reviews from someone in the crowd.
This may include anything from opinions in eCommerce stores, blog posts, comments on social networks or platforms, articles in blogs, and more.
UGC is basically a fan of some particular brand advertising a product.
It can be extremely profitable for businesses, as it often provides a more authentic and personal view of a company or product than a traditional advertising campaign.
When utilized effectively, User Generated Content can help to build trust and credibility for a business, as well as help to create an engaged community around its products.
It can also be an effective tool for SEO, as it often contains keywords and phrases that are relevant to a brand`s niche.
How to Display User-generated Content During the Event
UGC is a powerful tool in marketing your event and there are many unique to display it right and in front of your target audience.
UGC will make your event experience more engaging for your audience. Here is how you can display it:
#1. Create a Social Media wall with UGC
The most common and easy way to implement UGC is to curate the best user-generated content from social media platforms using an aggregation platform and present them on an interactive social media wall.
#2. Use UGC in marketing your event
People trust authentic UGC more than the marketing content itself. UGC can be a major player in promoting your virtual events.
Since everything is done online, it’s difficult for people to trust an event host and speaker (unless a well-known speaker) and pay for events.
So, if you are promoting your event, the best thing you can do is use pictures of your past events shared by your attendees. It will boost the purchase of your event ticket sales.
3. Run a live contest
People love competition and winning free prizes, so what’s better than running one at your event?
Run a contest where your attendees have to share their entries via social media. Then you can gather and present them at your event. The game and UGC will encourage live participation at your event.
4. Run social media campaigns
You can reshare the user-generated content on your social media wall and create a buzz. Get people curious and attentive at your event.
You can also get your niche influencers in the loop to create more engagement and reach.
Benefits of User Generated Content
User-generated content is effective for numerous reasons, the most prominent being that it’s a version of social proof.
It shows potential consumers that current customers are happy with your product. And if you are happy, chances are they will be too.
Endorsements (even from a stranger) matter to us as consumers.
Sites and platforms dedicated solely to feature user reviews are becoming more popular. Nearly 95 percent of buyers are going through online reviews before making a purchase today.
In a summary, here are the importance of User-Generated Content
#1. People trust user-generated content more than paid ads
In today’s age, customers are no longer convinced by obnoxious sales gimmicks. Now they look for a connection with other buyers.
They want to know the real people behind the products they buy, they want to hear from them how good or bad the product is because they trust their fellow users more.
#2. It creates a community
Naturally, you want to boost your business returns. But if you do it the wrong way, you will segregate your buyers, and create a “us versus them” competitive mindset.
When your business gets bigger, user generated content will create a sense of community among your audience.
#3. User-generated content is cost-effective
You don’t have to pay a marketing team to create content for you to put the word out that your product is solving the pain points of the target audience.
Your existing audience will do that for you, all for free.
Your followers will create user-generated content to share their pleasant experiences, win a giveaway, or build a connection with people with similar buyer interests.
#4. Wide Reach, visibility, and engagement
The first aim of any kind of marketing strategy is to reach the related audience with colossal exposure to improve engagement and conversions.
You can encourage users to share their views using the hashtag when you create a campaign with your unique brand hashtags on social media.
A brand can host a fun event for people to take part in like photo contests and this can be a great way to engage with your audience.
This is a good strategy to increase reach visibility and engagement too.
#5. Provide the Fertile ground for SEO to flourish
When customers promote your product, they leave links to your website for others to find, improving your brand’s SEO in the process.
This can also improve your keyword ranking as certain words or phrases will be used to reach your website.
Sources of User Generated Content?
User-generated content was restricted by the “user” part of the equation in the past. People were always at the center of the content creation process, but their efforts were restricted by what technology permitted them to do.
Today, we have access to a remarkably diverse array of platforms and applications that people use to create content, generating greater volume and variety than ever before.
#1. Customer
Consider unboxing videos on TikTok or making praise-filled Instagram posts.
Customers are probably the most notable group from whom you will seek UGC, either because you have asked for it or because they have opted to share material about your brand on their own.
#2. Brand Enthusiasts
Loyalists, supporters, whatever you name your most devoted consumers, are normally the most excited about your product.
As brand devotees are so dedicated to some brands, this audience category is excellent for reaching out to and requesting special UGC content.
#3. Employees
Employee-generated content (EGC) illustrates the value and passion behind your business.
For example, photos showcasing staff packing or a video of a recent team meetup. This behind-the-scenes footage adds to brand identification and demonstrates authenticity across social and advertising platforms.
Examples of Brands that Leverage UGC
These are just a few examples of companies that got huge using UGC.
#1. Coca-cola
When Coca-cola brought out its personalized coke bottles, the world went crazy for them. Dubbed the “Share a Coke” campaign, it took off all over the world with bottles named after real people in every different destination.
To keep the momentum going, customers were asked to share pictures of themselves enjoying a drink with their personalized coke bottle on social media.
The result? It was a season of amazing sales for the brand.
#2. Burberry
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, Burberry makes the list of brands that have used UGC correctly and it brought them massive sales and conversions.
Burberry’s Facebook page grew above a million and became the biggest page in the luxury sector.
Their eCommerce sales went up by 50 percent, and the microsite had 7.5 million views from 150 countries in the first year.
#3. Lululemon
Lululemon is a yoga clothing brand popular for its strong sense of community.
One of the reasons behind its billion-dollar success is the brand’s UGC. Lululemon launched a hashtag campaign to inspire brand partners and users to post pictures using their gear on Instagram.
The campaign was a massive success. It raked in $4.6 million EMV across 1.4k posts from 678 creators.
#4. Starbucks
It runs a photo contest every December to generate a buzz and most importantly to promote its product and offer rewards to the winner of the contest.
#5. Travelex
Used contests to encourage their fans to share their best moments across multiple social media channels.
Contests can allow authentic user engagement, bringing your customers closer to your page, and brand. It gets people talking on and off social media about what your brand is doing and can improve overall brand awareness of both web and brick-and-mortar stores.
#6. Netflix
After the launch of the second season of “Stranger Things,” the company realized that it was receiving most of its engagement on Instagram and so it took to the platform to start regramming posts from fans and influencers.
#7. Apple
Apple’s #ShotOnIphone campaign was targeted at getting consumers to share their iPhone photos to highlight the quality of the company’s phone cameras.
The campaign was launched to spotlight the phone’s new camera. On the initial launch, photos were used from 77 users, across 73 cities and 25 countries.
It was a global challenge that invited users to submit their best photos using the hashtag #ShotoniPhone. From these photos, Apple curated images to display across media outlets and on over 10,000 billboards around the world.
Conclusion
Just like a regular event, a virtual event needs as much attention and engagement from your target audience to make it successful.
Of all the practices and strategies, leveraging User Generated Content can be your best bet.
In this article, I have suggested the best ways how to display user-generated content during events, leverage this guide to host engaging events that live your attendees with memories.
