The old marketing saying says that ‘people trust people- not brands,’ and nowhere is this more true than in 2020. People rely on word of mouth and recommendations from friends now more than ever, and most people are looking at the reviews section of your website whenever they want to see information about your product or service.
With these trends in mind, it is essential to optimize your business for 2021 to take advantage of this wave of user-generated marketing. One of the best ways to do that is by highlighting user-generated content everywhere you can on your business. Customer-made reviews, videos, articles, interactive quizzes and more will bring more customers into your sales funnel, and it won’t cost you too much in return.
Plus, if you have a lot of positive user-generated content, more of your customers are going to trust you. If they can see that you have customers raving about your business with positive reviews and good testimonials, it will build up your brand as one that can be trusted and will engage with its audience.
It’s also free content that you can showcase at a moment’s notice. Every comment, review, and blog post is something that you can easily showcase and cycle through. This leaves your team with the time to focus on the rest of your work since the advertising is already taken care of.
As 2021 rolls around in a few months, the UX trends and the types of user-generated content will be flowing with it. Here are some of the biggest trends to work with for your business next year.
What UX Trends Should You Look Out for in 2021?
If you are writing a blog post or an article about your work, then that’s a good piece of marketing. However, if you aren’t giving someone the chance to comment on your work, then you are missing out on an excellent content experience.
First, comments can allow you to get feedback on what is going on in the article’s topic. If your customer has questions about the topic, you should publicly answer them in that same comment box. That way, new customers to that blog will see that you are answering the questions that your customers put out.
Secondly, comments are a gold mine for user-generated content that you can then show off. If someone really likes your services and comments as much on one of your articles, then that comment can become something you can show off.
While a comment box might go unused for the first few months, once you start to engage your audience in other ways, people will begin to connect with your work. Soon you’ll have more comments than you can handle!
Have Testimonials in your Emails
Your email list is one of your best marketing tools, regardless of the year. It allows you to get in front of customers, gauge your audience’s size, and share personalized marketing tips that you otherwise wouldn’t share. One of the best ways to combine the ease of an email list with the power of user-generated content is to place that content in your emails.
Start every third email you send with a testimonial from a happy customer. If you are showing off a new product for your business and have some good comments, then you can have a ‘See what others are saying’ section where you display some of those comments to your customers.
You can also include email integration with your social media accounts, using good social media reviews and content to connect your audience further. If someone on social media writes a glowing testimonial of your product, then make sure to include that in your email. You’ll get your audience reading the review, and they might also join your social media service.
If your readers have several testimonials, as well as the ability to click a link that will take them directly to your product, chances are they will click it. Email marketing is something every business needs to get behind, so check out this email design article for suggestions on integrating the user-generated content experience.
If you are going down the email marketing route, also make sure to run your messages through an email spam checker to make sure they get to your customers. No one wants good hard work to end up in the spam folder.
Look at Multimedia Options
One of the best user-generated pieces of content out there is the video. Customers often make video reviews, reactions, unboxings, and more to share with their vast audience. Why not take advantage of that? You shouldn’t be limiting your customers to one type of content on your website because that gets boring really fast.
Including images from your clients, links to videos, and podcast episodes where your product is mentioned… anything can be a marketing tool if you spin it right. This will not only allow your customers to get more information on your product, but they’ll be able to see and hear experiences from an actual customer.
They’ll trust the words of that customer more than any marketing gimmick in the world, so make sure that those multimedia options are working for you.
Make it Easy
UX design is all about user experience, which traditionally means that you want to keep your user on your site for as long as possible. While also making sure that they are comfortable and enjoying the experience.
An excellent trend to keep in mind for 2021 is the path of least resistance; you want to make it super easy for your customers to submit user-generated content. The process has to be simple and straightforward for you to get the most out of it.
Make sure that everything you write has a call to action. A good call to action can be tricky to get right, so don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of calls to see what your customers respond to. You’ll find the one that works for your business in due time.
Something as simple as ‘Leave a review’ or ‘Comment your thoughts below’ can work, and you should have a nice and clear comment box that makes leaving comments easy.
The same thing comes into play with videos and pictures. Make sure the uploading process is easy, keep your customers in the loop, and send them a link or two when the process is complete, and their content is live on your website.
Keeping On Top of These Trends
All of these user-generated content trends will only expand in 2021, so your business needs to figure out how to start using them now. User-generated content is what people are going to trust, now more than ever. If you can get it working for you, your business will expand, and your audience will most certainly grow.
With the content out of the way, your team can focus on creating and selling high-quality products and making the customer’s experience pleasant. Then more user-generated content will come to you, and the cycle will continue again.
