I’ll Have What She’s Having…How User-Generated Content Shapes Buyer Behavior

It happens to all of us. We keep seeing the same pair of shoes or lipstick in our social feeds and pretty soon, we’re adding it to our digital shopping cart. Behavioral psychologists have studied this phenomenon and found that repeated exposure to a product or brand creates a positive association. While brands are good at creating eye-catching images of their products, consumers are more likely to trust reviews and recommendations from friends, family, and influencers over brand-created content. In fact, 93% of consumers say they find user-generated content helpful when making a purchasing decision and 56% of online shoppers say pictures and videos from other consumers give them the most accurate representation of products.

UGC is Part of the Bigger Picture

When your consumers become advocates, brands get a competitive advantage—and in light of Facebook’s recent algorithm update which prioritizes posts from friends/family over brand or publisher pages, user-generated content may be a viable way of increasing organic engagement with your brand and amplifying your paid social strategy. Researchers found that brand engagement increases an average of 28% when consumers are exposed to a combination of user-created product video and brand-created content.

Consumers Want to Be Part of the Story

If you want consumers to be part of the story, just ask. Sixty-one percent of consumers say they will take a picture of products if you ask them. Inspire consumers with themed hashtag campaigns that capture images of them engaging with your product. Successful UGC campaigns focus on a specific ask (50% of consumers say they want a brand to tell them what type of content to create and share), incentivizes consumers with prizes or discounts, and inspires consumers to take action.

Why UGC Works

One of the main reasons consumers say they prefer shopping at retail over online shopping is the ability to see and touch the product. When shopping online, consumers have to trust that the brand is accurately representing the goods, and with brand trust at an all-time low, consumers have a lot of purchase anxiety to overcome. Peer-generated content is social proof that others will vouch for your brand. It helps to alleviate those fears and makes your brand appear more credible.  

Let’s Get Started

When launching a UGC campaign, follow best practices. Even then, many marketers say that managing UGC campaigns can be too time-consuming for their team to handle. Women’s Marketing offers our brand partners influencer marketing services as well as Glimmer, our own network of grassroots social influencers who are highly influential within their own communities. Contact us to learn more about our marketing services and get started.

Sources: Bazaarvoice Visual Content Strategies to Supercharge the Buyer Journey, Shopify 4 Tactics to Drive Traffic and Sales with User-Generated Content