User-generated content isn’t a new concept. It’s been around for ages, with word of mouth as its foundation. People have always shared their opinions about what they like, and with the rise of the internet and social media, we can now harness UGC to benefit our businesses.
In this article, we’ll cover simple and practical ways to add user-generated content to your WordPress site. You’ll learn how to highlight your customers’ voices using actionable strategies that maximize the impact of UGC.
But first, let’s take a closer look at what user-generated content is and figure out which type works best for your needs.
What is User Generated Content?
User-generated content (UGC) is original content created by people who aren’t officially tied to a brand, like customers, fans, or followers.
UGC is similar to fan art created by enthusiasts. Fan art often resonates more with the community because it shows genuine passion, just like UGC, which feels more authentic because it’s made by real people.
Studies show that over 70% of consumers read or watch reviews before making a purchase, indicating that people trust content from other users more than from brands. This trust comes from the fact that UGC feels more relatable and genuine. It also tends to get more interaction, which helps build brand loyalty and a sense of community.
For businesses, using UGC is also a cost-effective strategy. Unlike traditional marketing, which can be expensive, UGC is usually free and can be just as powerful. It can be used on social media, product pages, and emails to enhance the customer experience and boost sales.
Types of UGC
USG comes in different shapes and forms, You have:
- Images and Videos: These include photos or videos of customers using your products.
- Social Media Posts: The most common form of UGC. These are shared by users on platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
- Reviews and Testimonials: These are customer opinions shared on websites, social media, or review platforms like Yelp and Google Reviews.
- Blog Posts: Sometimes, customers or fans write blog posts about their experience with your brand.
Benefits of Using User-Generated Content
There are a lot of advantages to using UGC for your business.
- UGC shows a real and authentic view of your brand that traditional marketing can’t easily match.
- Since users create UGC for free, the cost of creating content is greatly lower than that of traditional marketing.
- UGC can help improve your search engine rankings by keeping visitors on your site longer and including natural keywords people are searching for.
- Content made by users usually gets more likes, shares, and comments because it’s more relatable.
- UGC adds diversity to your content by bringing in different perspectives, styles, and voices that connect with a wider audience.
- Encouraging UGC helps build a community around your brand, making customers feel more connected and appreciated.
- Reviews and testimonials from real users can be the deciding factor for someone thinking about making a purchase.
- UGC often stays in your audience’s mind longer than traditional branded content.
- UGC gives you quick insights into how people are using and viewing your products. This way, you can adjust your marketing strategy quickly.
Ways to Gather User-generated Content
1. Allow the User to Submit Post
A user-submitted post is any content that the audience creates and directly submits to your website, usually through a form. This is an important part of a UGC strategy, as it allows you to collect and showcase content made by your audience.
To gather user-submitted posts on your WordPress website, you need to make it easy for your customers to submit their content, so you need to choose a plugin that offers a front-end submission. Use plugins like WPForms, Formidable Forms, or the User Submitted Posts.
After selecting your plugin, create a submission form. This form should include fields for the post title, content, images, categories, and tags. You can customize these fields based on the type of content you want to collect.
Then, you should place the form on a page or post that is easy for your audience to find, like a dedicated Submit a Post. Most plugins let you set submissions to draft status so you can review them first.
Before publishing, check each submission for quality, relevance, and adherence to your guidelines. Make any necessary edits for grammar, spelling, and clarity. Once the post is ready, publish it on your website. It’s also best to always credit the user by displaying their name as the author or adding a byline to the post.
2. Be Active In The Comment Sections
The comment section on your website is a feature you should always have on. In the U.S. alone, almost 55% of Americans have posted an online comment, and 78% have read them at some point.
This space allows users to share their thoughts, which others can read and respond to. It helps to create interaction and build a sense of community on your site.
To gather user-generated content through the comments section, you can ask open-ended questions in your posts to spark meaningful discussions. You can also highlight helpful or insightful comments by featuring them in a special section of your blog or turning them into a new post.
Using plugins like wpDiscuz or the built-in comment management features in WordPress can help you manage, moderate, and display comments effectively, ensuring that the best content is highlighted on your site.
3. Participate in Forums
Forums are online spaces where people can post messages, ask questions, share ideas, and discuss various topics. They are usually organized into categories or threads, making it easy for users to find and join conversations.
Forums can be public, where anyone can join, or private, with access limited to specific members. They encourage users to share content like questions, answers, tips, and discussions.
You have two options here. You can either create a forum on your WordPress site or participate in other forums, linking back to your website and building backlinks.
If you choose to create your own forum, you’ll need to install a plugin like bbPress or WPForo to set it up and manage it. These tools allow you to customize the forum’s layout, assign user roles, and moderate discussions.
Once your forum is set up, regularly post new topics, ask open-ended questions, and encourage users to share their experiences. You can also add features like badges or points to motivate users to contribute more.
Finally, monitor the forums to ensure discussions stay relevant and constructive. Highlight or pin high-quality posts to make them more visible and encourage further contributions.
4. Use Social Media Hashtags
Hashtags are still widely used in 2024. It’s an effective way to gather and organize user-generated content. By simply adding a “#” symbol before a keyword or phrase, your audience can categorize their posts under a specific theme.
On platforms like Instagram and Twitter, hashtags serve as a tool for discovery. They connect users with content related to their interests. When users include your brand’s hashtag in their posts, their content becomes part of a larger, easily searchable collection.
By using branded or trending hashtags, you encourage your audience to create and share content. This drives more participation and engagement which ultimately strengthens your UGC social media efforts.
Start by creating a unique hashtag, It should be related to your brand or the specific campaign you are doing. For example:#ShareACoke by Coca-Cola encouraged their audience to use their hashtags when posting and sharing their own stories and photos.
Once you have gathered the content, you can use WordPress plugins like Social Feed or Taggbox to embed these hashtag-based social media feeds directly on your site. It’s also important to monitor these hashtags with social media listening tools. These can help you track how they are being used.
5. Ask for Testimonials
Testimonials are a powerful form of user-generated content. They come directly from customers who have had positive experiences with your products or services.
These testimonials can come in different forms, such as written quotes, videos, or social media posts. Because they reflect real customer experiences, they add authenticity to your brand, making them a crucial part of user-generated content marketing.
Incorporating testimonials into your user-generated content strategy helps build trust and credibility. Statistics show that 72% of buyers trust a company more after reading great reviews and testimonies.
To gather testimonials, you can ask satisfied customers to share their experiences in various ways. You can use email requests, feedback forms, or follow-ups. Don’t hesitate to ask—you can even offer incentives to them like discounts, rewards, or coupons in exchange for their reviews.
Once you’ve collected testimonials, you can showcase them on your WordPress website. Plugins like Strong Testimonials or WP Testimonials let you manage and display them in a customizable way.
6. Video Submissions
Video submissions are when users create and share videos about a brand, product, or service, often contributing to the brand’s content strategy.
To gather user-generated video content, you can use different methods. For example, you can create landing pages or forms on your website where users can easily upload their videos.
You can also encourage users to submit videos by hosting a contest or challenge. Offering prizes or incentives for the best submissions can boost participation and result in high-quality content.
Once you’ve collected videos, you can embed them directly onto your WordPress site using plugins like Videopress and Easy Video Player. These tools let you display videos in galleries or on specific product pages, improving the user experience and providing valuable social proof.
7. Create Photo Galleries
Photo galleries are collections of images displayed on a website. They are often organized in a grid or slideshow format. These galleries can showcase various types of photos, such as product images, event highlights, or user-generated content.
This type of content enhances your brand’s reputation by showing potential customers of other people’s positive experiences with your products.
To encourage users to upload photos of themselves using your product, you can start by asking customers to share their photos using your hashtag for a chance to be featured on your website.
Additionally, you can run contests or giveaways where participants need to submit photos to enter. This not only boosts engagement but also provides you with a wealth of user-generated content that you can display in your gallery.
Once you’ve collected user-generated photos, you can display them in a dedicated gallery on your WordPress site. Use plugins like Envira Gallery or NextGEN Gallery to organize and present these images attractively.
8. Use Polls and Surveys
Polls and surveys are easy-to-use tools that help you engage your audience while collecting valuable user-generated content.
Polls are usually quick, asking just one question with simple answers like yes/no or multiple-choice. Surveys, on the other hand, are more detailed. They ask multiple questions and allow you to gather deeper insights from your audience.
The feedback you get from these tools gives you a clear picture of what your audience likes, wants, and how they behave.
Creating polls or surveys is simple with tools like WPForms or Crowdsignal, especially if you use WordPress. These plugins let you design and customize your polls or surveys with different types of questions. You can then easily add them to your website, placing them where they’ll get the most attention.
Once you’ve gathered responses, showcase the results on your site. You can create charts or graphs to make your website more dynamic and interactive.
You can also share these results on social media to reach a wider audience. By making it easy for them to share their thoughts and showing that you value their input, you create a more interactive and trustworthy online experience.
9. Enable User Reviews
Did you know that the average American expects at least a hundred reviews before deciding to purchase a product? This makes user reviews a powerful tool in the world of online content.
Typically, these reviews appear on websites, e-commerce platforms, and third-party review sites. The content of a review can vary, ranging from a simple star rating to a detailed account of the customer’s journey with the product.
By enabling product reviews and ratings on your website, you give customers a platform to share their experiences with your products. It adds valuable content to your site and also helps other potential buyers make informed decisions.
To gather user-generated content through reviews, you can install WordPress plugins like WooCommerce Product Reviews Pro or WP Customer Reviews. These plugins make it easy for customers to leave reviews directly on your product pages.
Actively encourage your customers to leave reviews by offering incentives like discounts on future purchases or entry into a giveaway. Moreover, you should engage with customers by responding to their reviews, whether they are positive or negative.
10. Have a Q&A Section
A Q&A section on your website is an area where users can ask and answer questions related to your products or services. It can be a powerful tool for your user-generated content strategy, as it provides authentic, real-time insights from actual users.
This type of content is highly valued by other customers who may be seeking reassurance before making a purchase. The presence of a Q&A section can help potential buyers make purchase decisions based on the experiences and insights shared by others.
It also reduces the workload on your customer support team by allowing users to help each other with common issues while fostering a sense of community.
To gather user-generated content through Q&A sections, you can encourage participation by integrating the section prominently on your product pages or homepage.
Use WordPress plugins like DW Question & Answer Plugin to build your Q&A section. Aside from enriching your website with valuable content, it also boosts its SEO by continually providing fresh and relevant material.
11. Guest Blogging
Guest blogging, also known as guest posting, is the practice of writing and publishing an article on someone else’s blog or website. This allows you to share your expertise with a new audience, build relationships with other bloggers, and gain exposure for your own brand or blog.
It’s a mutually beneficial practice where the guest blogger gets to reach a broader audience, and the host site gets fresh content that can attract more readers. By inviting users, industry experts, or other bloggers to contribute content to your site, you’re effectively gathering high-quality user-generated content.
You can start by reaching out to potential guest authors within your network or industry. You need to clearly outline your guidelines for guest posts, including the topics, style, and submission process you prefer.
Once you have the content, publishing it on your WordPress website is straightforward. You can add the guest author as a contributor on your site so they can submit their post for review.
Alternatively, you can receive the content via email or a document, and manually upload it to your blog. Make sure to properly attribute the post to the guest author, including a brief bio and links to their website or social media.
12. Case Studies and Success Stories
If you want to demonstrate how a product or service has successfully addressed a specific problem for a customer, use case studies.
A case study typically provides a detailed, step-by-step account of the challenges faced by a customer, the solutions provided, and the results achieved.
Success stories, on the other hand, are usually shorter and more focused on the positive outcomes. It often highlights the overall impact without diving into as much technical detail.
Both case studies and success stories are highly valuable in a user-generated content strategy. They showcase real-world examples of how your products or services have helped actual customers.
13. Branded Effects and Filters
Storytelling has been an integral part of human existence since the beginning of time. In recent years, smartphones have revolutionized storytelling by offering new ways to be creative.
Branded effects and filters are custom-designed visual elements that brands create on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. It often includes augmented reality (AR) overlays, animations, or other visual enhancements that users can apply to their photos or videos.
These effects and filters invite users to interact with your brand in a creative way. When users apply these effects to their content, they essentially become ambassadors for your brand, sharing the content with their own followers.
Developing custom filters or effects is a strategic move for several reasons. First, it boosts engagement by making brand interactions more fun and memorable. Users are more likely to use and share content that involves interactive and entertaining elements like filters.
Second, it amplifies brand awareness through organic reach. Each time a user shares content using your branded filter, it exposes your brand to its entire network. Moreover, when these filters are linked to a brand hashtag, it creates a centralized location for all user-generated content, making it easier for others to discover and participate.
14. Product Unboxing Videos
Product unboxing videos are videos where a person unpacks a product for the first time and often gives an initial impression or review. These videos have become incredibly popular on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
Product unboxing videos provide an authentic, unscripted look at your products from the consumer’s perspective. They allow viewers to experience the product indirectly, seeing exactly what they would get if they purchased it.
If you’re in the e-commerce business, you can start small by creating a memorable unboxing experience with appealing packaging and personalized touches, such as thank-you notes or small gifts.
It’s also best to encourage customers to share unboxing videos of your products. These can be featured on your product pages to boost interest and trust. Once you have this content, you can showcase it on your WordPress website by embedding the videos directly.
15. Live Chats and Webinars
Live chats are real-time online conversations that take place on a website or during events like webinars. Webinars, short for “web-based seminars,” are online events where a speaker or panel interacts with an audience over the Internet. They are typically live but can also be recorded for later viewing.
To gather UGC through live chats and webinars, encourage participation by promoting the event in advance and making it easy for users to join and engage.
During the event, actively solicit questions and feedback from participants. After the webinar, you can repurpose the recorded content, including the chat logs, Q&A sessions, and any user comments, into blog posts, FAQs, or social media content.
To publish this content on your WordPress website, you can embed the recorded webinar video, share transcripts, and highlight key user questions and answers. Plugins and tools are also available to help integrate live chat features on your site.
16. Interactive Stories
Interactive stories are a type of digital content where users can actively engage by making choices that influence the story or by exploring information in different ways. Examples include quizzes, videos with clickable elements, interactive infographics, or choose your own adventure-style stories.
The main idea behind interactive stories is that users aren’t just passive viewers; they actively participate in shaping the story. This interaction makes the experience more personalized and memorable.
To encourage user-generated content (UGC) through interactive stories, you can provide tools or templates that let users create their own content. This could be as simple as a quiz or as complex as a full story-building platform. Encourage users to share their creations by featuring them on your website or social media, and consider hosting contests or challenges to motivate participation.
Once you’ve collected this content, you can display it on your WordPress site by creating a special section for UGC. Use plugins that support interactive content like quizzes, videos, or infographics to make it easy for users to engage. Highlight the most interesting stories on your homepage or blog to showcase user creativity and inspire others to contribute.
Ultimately, interactive stories not only engage users but also help build a community of creators who can spread your brand’s message.
Tools to Help Manage User-Generated Content
After exploring different strategies for using UGC, you can use these platforms to make managing your UGC easier:
- TINT -This tool helps you collect, organize, and showcase UGC across various channels. It has advanced moderation features to ensure only the best content is displayed, and it integrates smoothly with your website and social media.
- Emplifi – Emplifi is focused on managing visual UGC, such as customer photos and videos. It offers tools for creating shoppable galleries, detailed analytics, and content filtering to keep your brand’s image consistent.
- Bazaarvoice – This platform is designed to handle customer reviews and ratings. It helps you gather reviews, connect them with your marketing channels, and provides AI-driven analysis to understand customer sentiments.
- Yotpo – Yotpo assists in managing customer reviews, photos, and social media content. It includes features like SMS and email requests for reviews, visual UGC galleries, and loyalty programs to engage customers.
- Sprinklr: Sprinklr is a comprehensive social media management platform that includes strong UGC features. It allows you to manage content across multiple platforms, engage with users, and optimize your campaigns using detailed analytics.
FAQs About User-Generated Content
Unlike traditional marketing, which is created by brands, UGC is created by users. This makes it more authentic and relatable, as it comes directly from customers’ experiences.
You can encourage customers to create user-generated content by running contests, using branded hashtags, offering incentives, or simply asking your customers to share their experiences.
Generally, UGC is free to use if you have permission from the user. However, always ask for permission before using someone’s content for your marketing.
UGC improves SEO by adding fresh, relevant content to your site, often including keywords that users naturally use when talking about your brand.
Yes, UGC can be highly effective in advertising because it’s seen as more authentic than traditional ads. Many brands repurpose UGC in social media ads, email campaigns, and more.
You must ensure you have permission to use UGC, especially in advertising. Always respect copyrights and privacy laws.
If not properly managed, negative or inappropriate UGC can harm your brand. Monitoring and moderating UGC to maintain a positive brand image is important.
Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are popular for collecting user-generated content. Additionally, review sites and forums are valuable sources of user feedback.
Track engagement metrics like likes, shares, comments, and conversion rates to assess the effectiveness of your UGC campaigns.
Final Thoughts
User-generated content is the key ingredient that adds genuine value to your brand’s online presence. So make the most of the positive interactions and share them on your WordPress website.
Use the methods we’ve mentioned above to gather user-generated content and let your customers speak for you. Start building that connection today, and watch as your brand’s community grows stronger.