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Are you ready for the User Generated Content takeover? Because it’s here in a big way. And we’ve got the UGC stats to prove it.
All it takes is about five seconds on Instagram or Facebook to see firsthand how integral UGC has become to modern marketing. Sooner rather than later, brands will sink or swim based on their ability to leverage UGC.
Seriously.
It’s becoming more and more difficult to find brands that aren’t using customer photos and follower feedback as part of their content marketing strategies.
Let’s be clear, though: the rise of User Generated Content has been a long time coming. Far from a fad or buzzphrase, consumers and followers are much more receptive to UGC versus salesy, “look at me” advertising content that’s going the way of the dinosaur.
If you’re still unsure about UGC, it’s time to find it in the numbers. Here are 6 UGC stats to get you on board!
Through User Generated Content, brands have come to understand that their followers and fans are their best billboards.
From luxury fashion brands in the world of eCommerce to your local food truck or cafe, just about any business has something to gain through UGC. Check out these awesome customer photo examples.
But hey, you don’t have to take our word for it. The numbers don’t lie when it comes to the power of UGC and how it represents a staple for the future of marketing.
Higher conversions? Check.
Greater customer loyalty? Check.
More shares? Check.
And that’s just for starters.
We’ve broken down six of the most striking UGC stats that are sure to help modern marketers. Each of these stats paints a clear picture of the future of content marketing and eCommerce at large.
Now, let’s dive right in!
We’ve done quite a bit of homework ourselves on just how remarkable visual commerce and UGC is for our own clients.
According to client data, User Generated images are more likely to convert customers when paired against “professional” or non-UGC images.
In fact, we learned that social users are five times more likely to make a purchase after clicking on a User Generated photo. Here’s how we discovered that…
To make our data set we took 18 of the best performing brands currently using the Flowbox platform. All 18 brands integrate the Flowbox platform onto their product pages, allowing online customers to see images of specific products which originated on Instagram.
Then for each brand we used Flowbox’s ‘Top Photos’ feature to identify up to 20 top performing images based on the estimated revenue they have generated online. This gives us the most reliable set of images available for us to do our analysis, a total of 343 images.
Curious about how Flowbox can transform your eCommerce results? Get your demo now!
One of the key metrics that we measure for all images that we push onto the websites of our clients is CONVERSION – the number of times a customer has interacted with an image, and then gone on to purchase the product featured in the image.
This is a great stat as it tells us how successful each image is at convincing customers to click ‘BUY’, and make a purchase. So, with CONVERSION we have a great metric for comparing the success of our UGC and PC.
We carried out a side-by-side analysis of the CONVERSION created by UGC vs PC, and the results are striking. We find that UGC is 5x more likely to create a CONVERSION compared with PC. UGC images achieve an average of 85.09 conversions relative to 17.19 for PC images.
We find that UGC is 5X more likely to create a conversion compared with PC
And most importantly, this result is statistically significant (P = 0.0015, DF = 196, t = -3.229), meaning that we can be greater than 95% sure that this result is real.
So, the numbers tell the story, UGC works!
And of course, this is not entirely surprising. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that UGC engenders a greater sense of trust and confidence in a customer’s mind, helping to breakdown crucial barriers in the online shopping process. It is User Generated Content Statistics like these that can help us fully understand the value that UGC brings to the table.
Crazy, right?
Why does UGC perform so well, though?
Well, consider first that User Generated photos allow brands to show off their products in a real-world setting. As noted by our data, customers would much rather see products “in the wild” versus slapped on a dull white background. As the old saying goes, “it’s all in the presentation.”
With UGC, it’s also possible to promote products without coming off as aggressive or salesy. The following post from Au Revoir Cinderella is a shining example of how to turn UGC into sales.
With customer content, it’s certainly possible to find a balance between promotion and providing followers with content they love.
Although there’s certainly a time and place for professional product photos and models alike, it’s much easier for people to picture themselves with products presented by their peers and want to be the next person featured on a brand’s Instagram or site!
The beauty of UGC is that it can be used beyond the confines of a social feed, too. For example, check out how Brownie implements a lookbook of UGC on-site to show off their products and satisfied customers:
This lookbook is not only for inspiration, visitors can buy the products featured in the User Generated images. Our friends from Brownie know what a smart eCommerce site looks like, that’s why they connected each client’s photo to the product page by adding a Shop This Look button:
It’s crystal clear that consumers today crave a visual component to their shopping experiences. That said, seeing products in real-world settings helps seal the deal with today’s buyers. User Generated Content provides a follower-friendly avenue to make purchases.
Regardless of how you personally feel about selfies, they undoubtedly represent one of the most popular forms of UGC. According to Statista, 69% of adults have hopped on the selfie bandwagon, including a massive 87% of millennials.
At a glance, this stat might not seem like a game-changer.
“Okay, so people take selfies. Big deal. So what?”
Well, consider that through selfies nearly three-quarters of all social users already are creating UGC themselves.
Besides, the popularity of selfies shouldn’t come as much of a surprise for marketers, especially considering…
That’s certainly not to say that marketers can’t leverage selfies as part of their UGC strategy. Quite the opposite, actually.
GoPro represents a prime example of a brand that capitalizes on the popularity of selfies. Not only does GoPro’s Instagram feed boast eye-popping User Generated selfies, but also shows the awesomeness of their cameras in action. Selfies like this also speak to GoPro’s brand itself, painting a picture of adventure for their customers:
Similarly, brands like oVertone make extensive use of selfies to show off their line of bold hair dye. Using “#overtone”, followers are encouraged to show off their looks for the chance of being featured in the brand’s feed:
Selfie campaigns require very little effort on the part of brands who’ve already taken the time to create their own hashtags. Requiring no native apps or complicated editing, selfies have almost no barrier to entry for your followers.
The key takeaway here is twofold:
Marketers shouldn’t be cynical toward selfies. Instead, such snapshots should be viewed as a potential User Generated goldmine.
Modern marketing often feels like a game of “follow the leader,” right?
Well, it’s obvious that the biggest leaders in content marketing are currently knee deep in UGC and it’s time to pay attention.
According to Salesforce’s 2016 State of Marketing Report, nearly half of the top-performing content marketing leaders rely on User Generated Content. And the numbers are only increasing from there.
For example, the common links between many of the most-followed brands on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter are clear:
Given that brands boasting millions of social followers regularly show their fans love in the form of retweets and regrams, brands with smaller bases have no good reason not to do the same.
Remember: there is no one-size-fits-all approach to User Generated Content From branded hashtag campaigns to simply picking the brains of your followers, there are almost no limits for brands willing to get creative. Consider Oreo’s recent Facebook campaign which asks their 42 million+ fans to submit ideas for their latest cookie flavour in exchange for a $500k prize:
That being said, there are tactics to make customer content marketing more manageable with User Generated Content platforms.
Regardless of whether you’re appealing to a base of hundreds or millions, UGC certainly deserves your attention. And it’s easier than ever.
Any and all brands can reap the rewards User Generated Content.
You can increase conversion rates with UGC, that said, certain industries and niches tend to convert more customers through UGC than others.
Research shows UGC has the highest impact on conversion rates in the following industries:
These numbers make sense considering that each of these industries generally represents physical versus digital products.
That’s not to say that brands operating outside of these niches are a lost cause when it comes to UGC. As illustrated by brands such as AirBNB, Ben & Jerry’s, and software products like Adobe who have massively dedicated followings, User Generated Content is fair game for any industry. Simply put, some niches are simply more poised for sales directly via social media than others.
To see more examples of brands increasing their conversion rates with UGC, you can take a browse through some of our top case studies.
Based on predictions from the International Data Corporation, consumers will outpace marketers in terms of content creation by 2020.
In other words, brands are on track to hand all of their marketing firepower over to their fans and followers.
Traditional commercial content doesn’t have the traction that it used to. Millennials in particular loathe the concept of being sold to. Meanwhile, ad-block usage is at an all-time high worldwide.
The takeaway here is that brands need to experiment with User Generated Content instead of hoping for a magical resurgence of paid and native advertising beyond social media. Chances are, it’s not going to happen.
Rather than throw money at ads, savvy brands are using hashtags, giveaways and contests to get fans and followers excited about their products. Challenges such as Hot Topic‘s “#AniMay” hashtag campaign serve as a brilliant way to reward followers and display their most popular pieces:
Another classic example of a creative campaign is Marc Jacobs’ #CastMeMarc. In short, Instagram users compete annually for a spot as the next Marc Jacobs beauty vlogger by telling their story via the branded hashtag. Considering that the hashtag has well over 100,000 posts to its name, it’s no doubt that the campaign was a success.
As traditional commercial content loses steam, social media looks to pick up the slack for brands and advertisers alike.
In a recent study, we learned how much users value User Generated Content in marketing.
With 63% of respondents claiming that UGC creates authenticity for a brand, we are confident that people are looking for the human in content – and finding it in customer photos.
Authenticity is not just something people want from brands, it’s what they expect. Don’t waste marketing efforts on reproducing authenticity when you can create a mass of devoted followers who are willing to do it for you.
And if it seems overwhelming, there’s always more to learn about the process of getting UGC integrated into your marketing strategy.
We’ve reached a tipping point in terms of what consumers want from the brands.
Plain and simple, 90% of Instagram users follow businesses and brands. These same followers are on the lookout for new products and deals, just as they’ve always been.
But people want to talk with brands rather than be talked at.
After all, there’s nothing more disappointing than staring at a lifeless social feed filled with nothing but promotional posts. Brands that treat their content strategy as a giant commercial will inevitably tune out potential buyers.
Here’s some food for thought: three-quarters of consumers are frustrated by brands promoting irrelevant content.
Translation? The old-school approach of “in-your-face” advertising content is not clicking with consumers anymore. This rings especially with the younger crowd who have been conditioned to distrust spammy sales messages. Instead, they trust personal recommendations from their peers (hint: through photos and feedback they create).
On the flip side, User Generated Content puts brands on the same level as their customers. The interactive nature of UGC represents a personal connection between brands and buyers that can’t be ignored.
The more personalized, positive interactions brands make with followers, the more likely those followers are to turn into long-term customers.
We hope you found these UGC stats helpful! Customer content isn’t a marketing buzzphrase or flavour of the week. As social media usage continues to skyrocket, more UGC will continue to circulate the web in response.
There’s both a branding and financial incentive for businesses and brands to incorporate UGC into their marketing strategies as soon as possible. The future of content marketing won’t be about who’s the loudest voice in the room, but rather who’s making the most effort to connect with fans and followers.
Do you find any of these UGC stats to be particular surprisingly? What do you think the future holds for UGC? Let us know in the comments below!
If you want more on UGC, visit our complete guide to everything User Generated Content strategy.
