Instagram is one of the most effective social media platforms for brands to drive business in digital marketing. It is crucial for digital marketers to create content on social media platforms, which will engage active customers.
The ways brands manage their Instagram has a significant impact on their business. Engagement is one of the criteria to measure if a brand has maintained its social media platforms effectively or not. Customer engagement is the area that digital marketers could focus on to help their brand grow business. The more engagement that they have with the customer, the better relationship they develop. In this way, it can establish brand advocacy for customers. The source influences how people engage.
The Role of the Type of Source
From my past study, I learned how important it is for a brand to use good content types on its social media platforms to gain engagement from the followers. In 2019, a group of Greek researchers, led by Christina Giakoumaki, published a study in the Psychology and Marketing Journal, and they found the source of content plays a moderating role in the relationship between BESC and post engagement, such that individuals with high BESC will engage significantly more with content posted by other users, compared with branded sources. Brand engagement in self-concept (BESC) which was first introduced by Sprott et al. (2009) as a consumer trait that describes consumers’ predisposition to include brands as part of their self-concept. The study also found that BESC has a more substantial impact on the generation of engagement for user-generated content.
In 2013, a group of scholars led by Khim-Yong Goh found that brands which use user-generated content (UGC) more often through social media are considered more impactful on consumer behavior than marketer-generated content. The study is published in the Information System Journal further explains the use of user-generated content in the brand. This suggests that the source of the content may have a significant effect on brand engagement.
People prefer user-generated content to marketer-generated content. User-generated content creates a better chance for customers and brands to connect authentically. Based on the article from Marketing Land, Travis Wright states consumers believe user-generated content is more credible than the branded content on social media, people do not like overwhelming marketing campaigns from brands anymore.
The Benefits of User-Generated Content
It is beneficial for brands to use user-generated content on their Instagram. By implementing user-generated content on Instagram, the advantages outweigh disadvantages:
- Create Trust: User-generated content is considered the most trustworthy and unbiased content on social media, and followers would not become annoyed with it. According to the report from UGC platform TINT in 2018, more than 90% of the customers would trust the recommendation from their friends rather than the branded content. People are more likely to believe in customer experience from others; in this way, user-generated content has a positive effect driving customers to make purchase decisions. For example, Lululemon made a effective decision on deepening the relationship between the brand and consumers. To collect better insights and data from consumers, Lululemon invites followers to the #boobtruth event, and it can receive the customized best-fitting sports bra. Lululemon released a real-talk series on #boobtruth on its IGTV. In this way, Lululemon brings its customers into the story, the interviewers are different female Lululemon fans to talk about their breasts openly with a branded hashtag #boobtruth. By listening to the customers’ opinion, Lululemon created a trusting relationship.
- Increase Brand Engagement: It is a smart choice to use user-generated content to help your brand increase brand engagement. For example, the beauty brand Glossier has applied user-generated content on its Instagram. It reposted user experience from previous customers. In this way, it can build relationships with followers. Followers love to see their brands engage with them. The people who create user-generated content among your brand probably is loyal to your brand. They are long-term users with your products. If they have only made one purchase probably, this is the meaningful one. Followers like to create user-generated content in which they feel like they are part of the brand, and it is a kind of self-identity. They can relate to the brand image. In this case, it meets the BESC concept, the post of the source, which has a significant influence on customer engagement.
- Save Time on Content Creation: It is always good to use user-generated content as your Instagram curation. There are many forms of user-generated content that you can use on Instagram like videos, images, and Instagram stories. When your team does not have time to come up with content, user-generated content can help you filled with the gap. User-generated content has no cost involved, which can help you stretch the budget.
Closing
Lastly, take a look at your brand if you are implementing the user-generated content on your Instagram; if you’re not, don’t hesitate to start. Let me know what you think about the role of user-generated content on social media platforms. Leave me a comment below.
Social Media life 