Owning a store is always hard work. There are a lot of things you have to do to promote it, increase the number of your customers and make them trust your brand, find different ways to boost sales and revenue, and many others.

It's priceless that for all these purposes in your online store, you can use various applications - you can check this page to see a list of Shopify app examples (free and paid) to add user-generated content.

In the article, let's shed light on the essence of user-generated content (UGC), its benefits, and ways of implementation in your Shopify store.

User-generated content as it is

Amount of social media users achieved 4.59 billion people in 2022.

An impressive amount, isn't it?

And just imagine that each of the users makes blog posts, shares videos, photos, leaves comments or reviews, and many others.

Among all that created content can be ones on your product, service, or brand shared by your loyal customers or followers, and then it's called user-generated content.

Note that all this content is mostly free.

Don't you think it's a perfect way to enhance the customer experience and increase sales?

Types of user-generated content

As well as any other marketing strategy, UGC can be presented in several types. Let's explore the most popular ones.

Photos and videos

One of the types of UGC is photos and videos shared by customers and demonstrating different sides of products or services being offered.

The most popular kind is unboxing, where your followers share a satisfying experience in your store. When they add a hashtag or link to the place they bought a product or service, it's even more precious.

Testimonials and reviews

An honest review of your brand, product, or service on social media or a special section of your web store is also a type of UGC. In testimonials, customers share their point of view on your product, on how it changed or influenced their lives, solved problems, or brought value. If ordinary people share such a review, it's much more reliable for potential customers.

Reasons for using user-generated-content

You already know that UGC is content shared by your customers. But have you understood why to use it for your Shopify store yet? If not, take a look at the following reasons. If yes, let's briefly sum it up.

Relationship with customers

According to a study held by Stackla in 2020, 79% of customers make their purchases based on UGC. Due to this fact, UGC helps establish relationship with your followers.

Moreover, only when people really care about something, they will share their opinion and spend their time expressing it.

When customers trust someone who shares content based on their positive experience with the product or service, your brand becomes more trustworthy for them.

Increasing conversion

Combined with the previous point - when people trust your brand due to UGC - they start following your store and become your potential customers. This results in an increase in your brand conversion rate and, moreover, drives web traffic to your online store.

Authentic content

When your shoppers share videos, photos, or blog posts, they become a kind of ambassador for your brand.

In turn, as an online store owner, you get unique and authentic content about your service or goods that helps you find potential customers and increases your brand's recognition.

Cost-effectiveness

As said earlier, UGC is a kind of advertising for your brand made by your customers and subscribers for free.

This is another reason to use content this way. It helps promote your store at no extra costs and saves time since you don't have to take photos or videos of your products and post them yourself.

User-generated content strategy in marketing

Another issue that we want to cover in the article is how to use and improve your USG strategy in marketing.

The very first thing you have to do is to determine your UGC platform, selecting which one fits your customers best.

Depending on the content such as videos, high-resolution photos, stories, reels, and blog posts, it can be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Pinterest.

In fact, reviews that the buyers share on your site are UGC content too. Don't underestimate their importance.

Secondly, you should encourage your customers and subscribers to share the content you would like to showcase. Just contact your followers, encouraging them to share their content with you. Moreover, this way, you will avoid copyrighting issues

Thirdly, the power of hashtags can't be diminished when it comes to UGC strategy. Thanks to hashtags included in your customers' posts and videos, when clicking them, their followers will see all the relevant submissions, which will undoubtedly be beneficial for your brand.

Last but not least, just like any other strategy, your user-generated content should have a purpose. It may include the increase in brand engagement or conversion rate, establishing brand trust, loyalty, or others.

Wrapping up

User-generated content can help increase awareness of your brand, competitiveness, and as a result, your income.

It depends on your business goals which UGC strategy to choose and implement.

Whatever it is, the main goal of the UGC campaign is to encourage your customers and subscribers by developing trust and value to share their experience with your brand with the community and prospects.