What is User Generated Content? And why YOU should be using it
As the pandemic continues to have a colossal impact on lives and livelihoods around the world, brands and businesses have been forced to find new ways to produce campaigns – which, pre-March 2020, involved studio setups, actors/models, big budgets and high production values.
But, times have changed (don’t we know it) and it’s not all doom and gloom. The pandemic has forced creatives to, well, get creative…
User-Generated Content (UGC), is everywhere right now and everyone is tapping into its power to connect brands with consumers like never before; from KFC to L’oreal, the biggest names on the planet are beginning to realise its value.
Why has UGC grown in popularity?
UGC is especially well-suited to times of crisis, as people increasingly look for inspiring, uplifting and relatable content that acknowledges the situation that they find themselves in. A potent storytelling tool, UGC bridges the divide between brands and consumers and brings communities closer together – offering an increased sense of belonging and unity.
Since the lockdown began, we’ve noticed that people are much more driven by the most basic of human needs – the need to connect. This is where the real power of UGC comes into its own. When done well, UGC not only imitates, but recreates these important moments of shared experiences that help make us all feel less isolated.
Who’s doing UGC well?
Take KFC’s latest campaign for example – if you’ve not seen it, you should… Its ‘welcome back’ campaign was produced to announce its return to the delivery platform, Deliveroo. The campaign used UGC to create content that was instantly relatable. Featuring UGC from the brand’s ‘#RateMyKFC’ social media campaign, which challenged followers to have a bash at recreating its celebrated 11 herbs and spices fried chicken recipe, the ad ended with a note that read “we’ve missed you too” followed by “we’ll take it from here”.
KFC’s UGC campaign was effortlessly brilliant and is a great example of how brands can use it to effectively communicate with their target markets. Moreover, it’s a perfect example of how brands and businesses can use UGC as an opportunity to re-connect with their markets – to really get to know them; not just by label, but by understanding their needs, cultures and behaviours.
We’ve always known the power of UGC…
We’ve championed UGC since The Viral Group was founded and have built a strong eco-system of communities who create relatable, informative, entertaining and unique content. We’ve combined our digital marketing agency, Yogurt Top Marketing, with our geo-local media publishing group, The Viral Group and industry-leading consumer psychologist, Phillip Adcock, to bring to market a power-house of creativity, understanding and distribution. We have worked tirelessly to unleash the power of UGC and have helped hundreds of brands tap into its potential in recent months.
Simply put, we offer brands and businesses the opportunity to stop talking amongst themselves, see people and put them first.
Talk to us about your next campaign – we’ve got a library of awesome content waiting…
