User-Generated Content

Why use User-Generated Content on Instagram?

USG (User-Generated Content) is the content created by other people (new users or your Instagram Followers) that is about your product, brand or service. You may be tagged \ mentioned on their posts / stories, or, receive the content created by them. Usually this content is created by your customers, by potential customers or the audience in general. It might be a picture or a video which is posted on their feed or story. 

Why should you use UGC? Well, first of all, it is content you do not have to create. Someone else does the work and you get to add it to your content calendar. Second, UGC shows your brand from your customers perspective, not yours, which can be more validating and trustworthy to your Instagram Followers. 

How do you determine what makes good UGC content for your brand? When the content matches your brand's tone, style, and colossus, it’s a winner. When the content highlights the benefit of your product or positive aspects of your brand, you definitely want to use it. 

User-Generated Content is one of the best ways to maximize your marketing performance on Instagram, with the more organic, platform-aligned approach often a better fit, both for feed and stories posts. It is one of the easiest ways to increase your engagement rate and to make your business much more popular on Instagram, and not only. 

UGC also can be applied for Reels, the new short-form video that enables users to share less polished, slice-of-life type content, which is more about engaging in trends and community than it is about presenting the post optimal version of your life.

Now that you know why you’d want to use UGC in your Instagram marketing, here’s how to prompt your customers to create it and share it safely to your account.

• Encourage your Instagram Followers to share UGC

Start a hashtag for your brand and encourage your Instagram Followers to use it. This way you’ll get people’s attention and will create UGC for you. Hashtags always will be a workable thing for your Instagram account. Thousand of Instagram Likes and Instagram Views will come to your post only through a click on your hashtag. 

Another thing that will get people’s interest is to mention you in their stories or feed posts about your brand. 

You could add your branded hashtag in your Instagram Bio which serves as a little reminder to your customers to post on Instagram by tagging you or using your hashtag. 

If you have a physical location for your business, use signage or even set up selfie stations to encourage people to take photos and tag you. You can also run contests or giveaways with UGC as an entry requirement to qualify.

• Select the Right UGC to Share on Instagram

When people start sharing UGC on Instagram, you may be wondering where you can find it. 

In case you use a branded hashtag, you can easily check the hashtag regularly to see what content people are creating and sharing about your brand, service or product. 

If your customers mention you, you will have an instant notification about that. You may also want to use a social listening tool that will source your brand name, mentions, or hashtags across social media to find content that people are creating.

When it comes to choosing what UGC to share, be selective. Choose the right content that works for your brand and conveys the message you’re creating and edit colors or add filters if needed to match your account aesthetic. Don’t share things that aren’t aligned with your brand voice, tone, and style.

• Request permission to share UGC on Instagram 

Once you have decided what User-Generated Content you want to share, you will need to get the writer permission before reposting it on Instagram. In case you do not, you could easily get sued or reposted for any revenue to be generated by that post.

If your attention got a feed post, you could ask for permission via a comment under that post, or, just simply sending a direct message (DM) to the person who posted it. Let him/her know that you like its post and would like to share or post on your Instagram Account. In the end, ask for permission, when you have permission, go ahead and post the content . Do not forget to tag or mention the person who created it. 

When it comes to sharing stories, it is a bit of a gray area but considered safe because it retains the original content in the share so explicit permission isn’t required in the same way. However, it is not a problem if you ask for permission. 

If you’re in doubt about resharing a certain piece of content on Instagram, you can always DM the original content creator to see if it’s okay. But generally, if people are tagging you in their content, they’re open to it being shared.

• Create posts your audience will want to share to their stories

Beside posting your Instagram Followers posts that reflect your brand, services or product, you can also create posts that they might share on their Instagram Page. 

It is a good idea for you to increase your engagement rate and to attract more Instagram Followers that might become your future customers. Unknown people will see your post on their friend and would be interested to tap and see who is the person who created that . 

You can post popular quotes or why not, create your own, that will be much more original and unique. It can also be a video or a challenge that will make people feel good and encourage them to follow it. 

For sure your business will get much more known and will definitely reach a good engagement rate because your Instagram Followers, Instagram Likes, Instagram Comments and Instagram Views will highly increase. 

Conclusion

Content creation is hard and can be time-consuming, especially on visual platforms like Instagram. That’s where User-Generated Content (UGC) can help. Sharing content from your customers and prospects can be an amazing way to share valuable content with your audience, showcase customer stories, and connect with your audience.

It is also a good tool to increase your Instagram Followers, Instagram Likes, Instagram Comments and Instagram Views.