Taking Advantage of User-Generated Content in B2B Marketing

User generated content (UGC) is exactly as it sounds: any content created by regular people, not brands. This could mean reviews on Yelp, video testimonials, or an Instagram pic of your photogenic product. Typically, UGC is associated with B2C marketing, as individual consumers are more likely to create content engaging with a brand. One great example of this was when Starbucks held their #WhiteCupContest, and encouraged coffee-drinkers to design their own cup and share it on Instagram, with a chance to win a $300 Starbucks gift card and turn their design into an actual metal tumbler. Starbucks received over 4000 designs in the first week, revealing the potential scale for a UGC campaign.

 

 

 

 

 

What’s so great about UGC that you should include it in your marketing strategy? Well, first things first, it's free highly-shareable advertising that helps you get exposure to new audiences via the users’ contact base. Also, content created by real customers is seen as more authentic, trustworthy, and can significantly affect a user’s decision to buy. In fact, the Nielsen Consumer Trust Index found that 92% of consumers trust organic UGC more than normal advertising.

 

Now, there are countless examples of UGC being leveraged in the B2C sector, but what about B2B firms? You may be surprised to learn that despite some marketing tactics being exclusive to B2C, many B2B companies are taking advantage of user-generated content to drive web traffic and gain new customers. In this article, we’re going to lay out a few common strategies for B2B companies in encouraging users to create content and making the most out of existing UGC.

 

 

Written Reviews, Video Testimonials, and Roundup Posts

The first method I suggest for generating UGC is to launch a customer review campaign. Once you’ve successfully onboarded a customer and they see real results and are clearly delighted with your business, you should ask if they would be willing to (1) write a review, (2) take an interview so your company can then compile it into an article, or (3) film a short video testimonial, sharing their experiences with the product. If you want to receive their testimonial in writing, I suggest creating a form on your website just for that purpose, or directing them to a widely-used review site such as Yelp, Google, Angie’s List, G2, or Capterra.

 

Have you heard of the “reciprocity principle”? It refers to our natural obligation to return the favor when someone goes out of their way to help us out. We’ve seen this principle proven again and again with our customers, as we always ask if they’d be willing to participate in an interview and case study, and not only do the vast majority warmly agree, they also join in a photo op for us to use on our website. Now, we’ve managed to build a thorough stock of case studies, so that in sales meetings, we can present real examples to match every industry and niche.

 

On another point, though it’s somewhat unethical if solicited, being included in a roundup post is also fantastic exposure. A roundup post is a blog that lists quality content from external creators like “Top 10 Digital Marketing Blogs to Follow” or “Must-Read Books on Sales Strategy” or even a collection of case studies like “7 B2B Firms’ Successful Digital Transformation.” Generally, these roundup posts will be written and published by another expert in the field, so they seem like highly-reliable reviews from the viewer’s perspective.

 

 

Hire a Guest Blogger

Another strategy for encouraging UGC is to employ an influencer in your industry to write a piece for your blog. Then not only do you have access to all of this individual’s followers on social media, but you gain authority in your field by having them represent your brand. For the record, the blog itself is considered UGC, since it’s not written by an internal member of your company - it’s more of a third-party piece of writing that you can share on your website.

 

Blogs by relatively-famous guests are also great for inspiring customer engagement, with both your existing customers and new audiences. Fans of this influencer are likely to comment and share the blog on social media, because they want to support the influencer. Make sure to respond to comments and take this chance to form even more positive relationships with your customer base.

 

If you’re not already aware of the thought leaders in your industry, a quick Google search might do the trick, or else you can check a site called Bloggeries.com to locate professional bloggers that match with your field.

 

 

Create Spaces for User Interaction

In order to increase UGC, you have to provide platforms or opportunities for people to engage with your brand. For example, if you have a blog on your website, make it possible for readers to comment directly on the page and discuss the material. If you hold webinars, include a Q&A session at the end, and for any questions or thoughts you didn’t get to, direct the viewers to a survey to get all the feedback you can. In addition, on social media, you could hold polls on any social media site (it’s possible on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and more) and get people to reply with their reasoning for making that choice. Even fragments of content like comments or survey results count as UGC and can be quoted and utilized later.

 

Salesforce actually went above and beyond in this respect and built a site called Idea Exchange. On this forum site, users can make suggestions for future product development, like features they feel would be useful. Other users can like and comment on the best ideas, and the most-liked posts are taken up by SalesForce, making it possible for users to directly mold the product they use. In this case, rather than using UGC as a form of advertising, it functions as a platform that collects data without the SalesForce team having to do anything besides monitor the forum.

 

You could also create a user-generated FAQ page, much like the one at the top of Amazon product reviews. You could allow current customers to login and answer questions, to provide potential new customers with answers to their questions by users that may understand their concerns as a fellow buyer.

 

 

The Next Best Thing: Employee-Generated Content

While this is only semi-UGC, you could also get your coworkers involved to create a piece of content, like a collaborative video, to share your company culture with your followers. This sort of video gives a face to your company, shows real people sharing their honest, real experiences, and feels entirely authentic. To maximize exposure, you could have everyone who took part in this video share this on their own social media platforms too, such as LinkedIn and Facebook.

 

For example, Precision Marketing Group made an awesome collage showing how their employees were working remotely. Everyone’s working style and remote “office” was different and this reflected the company members’ individuality.

 

 

Another great example of this is by BambooHR, a firm that designs HR software specifically for small to medium sized businesses. In this video, BambooHR gives a peek into how employees spend time outside of work. They all have passions and hobbies, and appear to be living life to the fullest, embodying the company’s strong value for a healthy work/life balance.

 

 

 

One Point of Caution: Get Permission First!

Before publicly sharing your customers’ content on your social media or website, reach out and ask for permission first. The exception is just when you’re retweeting or linking to a post that was already shared on SNS by the creator. If you want to be extra careful and transparent about your UGC usage, include a disclaimer on your website hashing out the details (by clarifying that you do not provide any incentives to attract positive reviews for example).

 

 

Final Thoughts

User-generated content exemplifies social proof - the psychological phenomenon in which individuals tend to assume the behavior of the people around them to be correct, leading them to conform to that behavior. And when UGC shows a friend loving a new product, or a business getting amazing results with an IT tool they adopted, the natural reaction is to think “I need that too.” Especially when a great review comes directly from the customer, it's one of the most trustworthy forms of content and gives potential customers the confidence they need to make their purchase decision.