What Consumers Really Want to See in Your Content

User-Generated Content matters more to the average consumer than you may think. Learn more about the powers of brand authenticity and influencers in today’s digital media space.

Everyone knows the phrase, “the customer is always right.” The same goes for people in the digital space who consume thousands of digital advertisements and social media posts weekly. A good story goes a long way with consumer, but what they crave is authenticity and humanness.

Brand authenticity is defined as a brand that is considered to be reliable, respectful and real (3 Rs) in the eyes of a consumer. For example, well-known brands such as Dove, Starbucks and Apple can be distinguished by a consumer just by seeing their logos. BUT, recognition is not the only thing that matters to a consumer when it comes to judging a brand’s content.

Today, people look for brands that think outside the box in this ad-exhaustive world. According to Social Media Today, “a whopping 90% of consumers said that authenticity is important when deciding which brands they like and support.” They look for things like content that is on brand, a distinctive voice and most importantly, it contains user-generated content (UGC).

UGC gives the consumer the humanness they desire with the flair of the brand. Basically, it is content created by a consumer that reflects their brand standards. For example, Instagram has exploded the impact of social media influencers. Companies will reach out to people if they take a good photo of their products or services and Repurpose them on their page, typically with the person’s permission.

This type of content doesn’t cost extra money to promote; it only costs you a bit of time to ask people if you can use it. It also gives your brand a boost in the 3rd R, Real, among your consumers. After all this, are you still not convinced about how much UGC matters? Here are a few mindblowing statistics:

• The consumer demand for UGC in the live gaming industry grows 122% year over year.
• 93% of consumers find UGC to be helpful when making a purchasing decision.
• 56% of consumers say the types of content they most want to see from brands are user-generated photos and videos.
• UGC-based ads get 4x higher click-through rates and a 50% drop in cost-per-click than average.
• 86% of Millennials believe that UGC is a good indicator of a brand or product’s quality.

If you have not started implementing UGC or Employee-Generated Content (EGC) into your social content strategy, now is the time. Let’s face it, it will only trend upward from here!

Stuck in a content creation rut and don’t know where to go with your social media strategy? Call on Fly Pages to save your digital day!