Enlisting user generated content for your online marketing efforts is a great way to engage readers, learn valuable information from your consumers and provide yourself with organic SEO. Many companies are learning the benefits of this tool, and they want to use it for their own marketing strategies.
But some companies are unsure of how to go about earning user generated content. There are certain tactics that you can do in order to receive it, and using the following five tips will help.
1. Make it easy.
Whether your user generated content is in the form of online testimonials or comments on your blog, you need to make sure that the process is easy. If your customers need to take 40 steps to post a comment on your website, it will deter them from doing so. Make sure that the sign up buttons are easy to find and make sure that the instructions are clear and easy to follow.
Simple and painless processes are the best way to get your customers to generate content for your company. A simple registration through your site is enough for you to gain information on your customers and give them the ability to add content.
2. Call it out.
One simple way to gain user generated content on your site is to simply ask for it. Tell your customers that you’d love to hear the feedback by writing a testimonial or adding a comment to your blog. Not only does this encourage them to leave a comment, but it also provides you with real feedback on what your customers think about your product or service or share other valuable information or insight on the topic.
3. Offer an incentive.
You can also provide an incentive to those customers who add content to your site. You can offer a discount coupon to those who leave feedback, or you can allow them to back link to their own website or blog.
Another great way to gain user generated content is to use a contest. Have users share stories, videos or photos in order for a chance to win a prize. Just make sure that the prize is related to your business and that the rules of your contest are thoroughly spelled out to avoid confusion.
4. Let them share.
A great way to gain user generated content is to provide your customers with the tools they need to share their content. Some sites use widgets that will send a tweet out through the customer’s Twitter account if they leave a comment. Not only does this tell their followers what they’re up to, but it also provides a link back to your site and may even encourage additional comments.
5. Use topics worth discussing.
If you want to gain user generated content, your site has to discuss topics that interest a large group of people. If your content focuses on a small niche, you’re only going to receive a small amount of content. For example, rather than discussing how great Derek Jeter is, you should open your forums to all things baseball. The broader the topic, the more content you’ll receive.
User generated content is great for your business, and if you use these tips, you’ll easily entice customers to visit your site and leave their feedback. The more enticing you make your site, the more content you’ll receive.
Jessica Brown likes to give advice to business owners and write educational marketing articles for review trackers.
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Some great ideas here. While reading through it I couldn’t help but think how I might apply them to my own sites, whether I could make use of a contact form for the submission process and what incentives would appeal to my own readership. I could be running a first ever giveaway/competition soon.
Twitter: BlazingMinds
When the article came through I thought it would be an interesting and informative article, glad you liked it Matt
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Good ideas. Comments on a blog are example of user generated contents and good and that relative comments are always cause of attraction of search engines.Comments also helps to enlist your site in organic search for different keywords.