Imagine this...
Every time a customer purchases from your eCommerce store, they interact with you in different ways.
It can be by sending direct messages to thank you personally. Or leaving reviews on your website and social media accounts.
But the best part?
If they create content for you and post them on their social media platforms.
Sounds like a dream... right? ✨
Because it should be one of your goals as a business owner.
You need to leverage reviews and content from your customers to gain more sales.
But how...
That's what you're learning today!
I'll show you how Direct-to-Consumers or DTC brands use User-Generated Content and reviews to gain more sales.
Let's start, shall we?
What Is UGC Or User-Generated Content?
User-generated content means materials or content created by other users.
But in this case, they're your customers.
For example, a customer liked your product so much. Then they posted about your online store on their social media accounts.
That's user-generated content because they're the ones generating or making content for your products.
So, why is this important?
Benefits Of Using User-Generated Content And Reviews
1. Strengthen Trust And Credibility
Using user-generated content and reviews helps you build trust and brand credibility.
And when people trust your brand, they are more likely to buy from you. That's why online reviews increase conversions by 270%.
Wow, that's a lot!
So, if you know how to get reviews and use them properly... expect to get excellent results for your business, too.
The next benefit is...
2. Another Form Of Content Marketing
Yep, user-generated content can be another form of content marketing.
And content marketing is something you should pay attention to when brainstorming your marketing campaigns.
Why?
Because if you have target customers going down the sales funnel, user-generated content and reviews could give them a little push to purchase the products.
That's why if you're looking to improve your content marketing strategy... think of ways to get reviews.
And later, I will show you some user generated content examples!
And lastly...
3. Community-Building
The more customers who post about you, the more people discover you.
And when you have an army of customers generating content for you...
Then you are starting to have a community that loves your eCommerce brand.
Not only that... but you can showcase this community as proof that your eCommerce store is authentic and reliable.
But... how to create a user-generated content strategy?
Glad you asked! Because here are...
7 Ways DTC Brands Are Using User-Generated Content To Drive Conversions
1. Post Them On Social Media
Social Media Marketing is a great way to market your products.
You can reach your target market with the right strategies and content. And, of course... drive your conversion rate.
That's why brands repurpose these materials from their customers and post them on their social media accounts.
Let's take a look at Starbucks.
As you can see, Starbucks reposted a photo of coffee taken by one of their customers.
If I were scrolling on my Instagram feed on a Monday morning and saw this, I'd get up and order a cup, too. ?
But the purpose of reposting your customers' content is not just for your good.
It also makes them feel appreciated because you took the time to repost their image.
And who knows, they might do it again in the future! ?
Once you post your quality user-generated content, you can also...
2. Drive Traffic To Website From Social Media
One of the goals of social media marketing is to drive traffic.
And posting user-generated content and reviews can help you with that.
If you want to make your target customers curious about what you offer to drive them to your website, you can post a review from your existing ones.
Because if they see that many people are raving about your products, that will spark curiosity.
And that's what other brand owners are taking advantage of.
So, when you're posting reviews or user-generated content... make sure to have a call-to-action to redirect your audience to your website.
After driving them to your website, wouldn't it be better if you have reviews on your eCommerce website, too?
That's why this leads us to our next tip.
3. Put Reviews On Product Pages
Don't make your customer reviews and user-generated content go to waste.
If you want to use them, you should put them on your product pages.
Because I said a lot of times...
Before customers hit the checkout button and make a transaction with you... they want to see what others say about your products.
Let's take a look at Glossier's website.
As you can see, Glossier displays the reviews per product. This is important if your prospect is still hesitant to buy your products.
They highlighted the reviews that hundreds of other customers found helpful.
Not only that, but you can also include the content your customers made for you, especially user-generated videos!
Some examples are video testimonials, before and after journeys, unboxing videos from social media influencers, and more!
Again, take advantage of all the social proof you can display to encourage users.
These will help you show the reliability of your eCommerce store and generate more conversions.
But here's another way...
4. Repurpose And Include Them In Newsletters
Repurposing your content is not just limited to turning blogs into social media posts or podcasts.
Because you can turn them into newsletters, too!
This is great if your prospect has already interacted with your brand.
And in this scenario, if they already gave you their email... they might want to buy from you, but they're still on the fence.
But some subscribers have probably bought from you already. And sending them emails can also encourage them to buy from you again, and this improves brand loyalty.
So, this is where the reviews come in.
You're going to give your potential customers a glimpse of what others are saying about your eCommerce brand.
This is an example from Flourist.
They are sharing recipes using their products and sending them to their subscribers.
To drive more people to read them, they include ratings and reviews of the products in the email.
This is helpful because reviews can entice them to read the blog.
So amazing, right?
Well, just when you thought that's all...
Here's another way to use user-generated content and reviews!
5. Improve Products And Customer Experience
Direct-to-consumer ecommerce brands want nothing but the best for consumers.
Want to drive more conversions?
One of the best ways to use reviews and user-generated content is to improve customer experience and products.
If your customers are saying, the delivery takes too long, try to do something about it.
Or, if they post a personal review on their social media accounts about your products, take note of their comments.
Make sure to continuously enhance your products and give the best customer experience to boost your sales.
But aside from that, you can also improve relationships with your customers by acknowledging their constructive criticisms and negative reviews.
The next way is to...
6. Encourage More User-Generated Content Through Branded Hashtags
Another way to use your User-Generated Content?
Encourage more customers to create user-generated content.
I mentioned this earlier... but your customers will be more thrilled to post about your products if you show your appreciation.
Let's look at this example from Typo.
Typo encourages their customers to tag them and use a branded hashtag. This way, they can feature their customers' content on their social media channels.
So, how is this effective? Let's take a look at the hashtag #Typoshop on Instagram.
It has over 46,000 social media posts from its buyers, consisting of their purchases.
Let's look at this Instagram post.
As you can see, this user posted a product from Typo. And whenever a customer does this, comments ask where they got it.
This means more visibility!
And if your customers do this for your products, you are also increasing your brand awareness.
Oh... did someone say brand awareness? ?
Because here's another way to use your user-generated content and reviews...
7. Use Them On Paid Ads
Sure, you might have different tactics for your digital marketing strategy.
But if you're planning to run ads... you should take advantage of those reviews. Be it on social media or Google Ads.
The point is you want to let your prospects know what people are saying about you and your business.
But here's another tip.
Google My Business allows you to show reviews next to your Business Profile and Search.
For example, if you're searching for hotels online, you'll immediately see the ratings on the SERPs or Search Engine Results Page.
And this is an excellent tool because if they see you have excellent reviews, they'll be curious to know more about your brand and visit your site and social media pages.
For your social media users, reviews on paid ads are also helpful because your ads will be shown to people interested in your products.
People who search for certain products already know their problems and the solution they need.
By showing reviews on your paid ads, you're hastening their buying decision and gently nudging them towards your products.
Are you ready to implement these ways?
Increase Your Conversion Rate With User-Generated Content And Online Reviews!
Positive reviews aren't just there to make you happy.
Well, that's one thing.
But you can totally rock those and capitalize on them!
You just have to implement them smoothly.
And to help you with that, Debutify Reviews will make managing and getting reviews smoother—
from sending review requests to customizing the review widgets to align with your brand identity.
