For small business owners to build trust without significantly increasing advertising costs, a strategy utilizing UGC marketing—that is, content created directly by customers—is effective. This is because customer reviews, photos, and videos move the hearts of other customers more easily than direct brand word-of-mouth. In this article, we have summarized four ways for small business owners to start using UGC immediately.
What is UGC Marketing?
User Generated Content (UGC) refers to content created directly by customers, rather than by brands. Reviews left after using a product, photos or videos posted on social media, and candid personal experiences shared in comments all fall under the category of UGC. For small business owners, UGC marketing is particularly meaningful as it provides a way to consistently secure content without the need for a dedicated filming team or a large budget.
Why is UGC particularly effective for small business owners?
People tend to trust the actual experiences of others more than advertisements. A single line of review left by a real customer has a greater impact on a prospective buyer than a small business owner directly stating that their product is good. Furthermore, once created, UGC can be repeatedly utilized across various channels such as review pages, Instagram, and blogs, reducing the burden of content creation.
There are four main ways for small business owners to immediately utilize UGC.
| method | Key points |
|---|---|
| Convert reviews into content | We select specific details from the received reviews, reorganize them, and display them on social media cards or detail pages. |
| Customer Photo/Video Resharing | We re-feature photos and videos tagged or shared by customers on our brand channels with their consent. |
| Place reviews at the point of purchase decision | It displays actual reviews at points where customers are considering a purchase, such as product detail pages and landing pages. |
| Inducing UGC with small events | It allows customers to naturally create content through methods with low barriers to participation, such as hashtag events or photo zones. |
4 Ways Small Business Owners Utilize UGC
The first method is to convert existing reviews into content. Instead of star ratings or short one-line comments, select reviews that contain specific user experiences, extract the key sentences, and repost them in social media card news or the review section of product detail pages. Since this involves reorganizing existing reviews into a different format rather than creating new ones, it does not incur significant costs.
The second method involves re-sharing photos or videos uploaded directly by customers. Find posts on Instagram that tag the brand or use hashtags, and after obtaining the customer's consent, share them on the brand's account or website. Through this process, customers experience their content receiving attention, and it effectively shows other customers how the product is actually used.
The third tip is to place reviews at points where customers are deliberating their purchase. Displaying actual reviews at moments of hesitation, such as the bottom of the product detail page or the page right before checkout, helps hesitating customers make a decision. Rather than gathering reviews in one place, it is more effective to distribute them across key points in the buying journey.
The fourth approach is to encourage UGC creation through small events with low barriers to participation. Typical examples include guiding users to upload photos with specific hashtags or share pictures taken at in-store photo zones. Rather than complex missions, the event must be designed in a way that anyone can easily participate in to lead to actual engagement.
UGC marketing is not a strategy designed to produce a massive impact all at once, but rather a method that builds trust through steady accumulation. It is important to find the approach that best suits your brand by applying four methods one by one: restructuring reviews, resharing customer content, placing it at the point of purchase, and encouraging small engagements.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do first to start UGC marketing?
You can start by selecting specific details from the reviews you have already received and reorganizing them into content. This is a method that can be applied immediately without any separate filming.
Do I have to hold a big event to collect UGC?
No. You can sufficiently collect UGC even with small events that have low participation barriers, such as hashtag events or photo zones.
What must be observed when using customers' photos or videos?
You must obtain the customer's consent before using the content. Using content without consent is inconsistent with the goal of UGC marketing, which is to build trust.