Evaluating the Role of User-Generated Content as a Performance Marketing Tool

Authored by Saijal Jain, Media Buying Manager, Adbuffs

With an accelerated digital adoption across industries, customer behaviour has undergone a remarkable shift. Today, customers leverage User-Generated Content to voice their opinions and share their experiences with a wider audience. Owing to this shift and social media taking over, conventional marketing strategies are gradually becoming obsolete. As a result, marketers around the world are leveraging performance marketing tools to further capitalise on user-generated content and drive revenue. 

Primarily, the performance marketing approach focuses on generating profit-accelerating campaigns to acquire customers and drive business sales. Since businesses using this strategy only have to pay for the effectiveness of the campaigns, it guarantees visibility and wider reach among the relevant target audience. On that note, performance marketing has made way for the interplay of user-generated content which acts as an exclusive tool, influencing brand loyalty, visibility and potential of high-conversion leads. 

As the recent market stats suggest - digital ad spending in India is expected to reach $28 billion by 2028, majority of businesses and marketers are leveraging the power of user-generated content to create worthwhile campaigns. It is rooted in making consumers a part of the community to target greater exposure by being synonymous with word-of-mouth promotions. On one hand, customers share brand-specific content on varied social media platforms which is pivotal in directly connecting with the right audience while performance marketing further emphasises real-time tracking of such campaigns to boost ROI. 

Nurturing Trust and Credibility

Given the fierce competition in today’s digital world, brands have to fight to gain the attention of customers. With the change in customer behaviour, buyers have become increasingly askew about their interaction with brands and the consequent purchases. In tandem, user-generated content presents brands with an opportunity to build trust, as this type of content comes straight from the users, it evokes a sense of credibility that pushes customers to connect with the brand. 

Enhanced Brand Loyalty at a Low Production Cost

With a burgeoning number of people active on social media, it is more than obvious that the impact of user-generated content will reach an extensive audience. As it continues to lend legitimacy and validity to the marketing messages, it can attract more active participation from the audience. This will subsequently, generate high engagement rates. In addition to this, brands can achieve this at a low production cost, since the responsibility to create content lies with the user, allowing brands to focus more on revenue maximization. 

Building a Dynamic Online Presence  

In the world of performance marketing, user-generated content can persuade the audience and turn them into potential customers. In tandem, brands leveraging user-generated reviews and testimonials in the right way stand a chance to foster a dynamic online presence by proactively attracting ongoing traffic. With a robust community that stands as the bedrock of the brand’s foundation, it’s safe to say that the businesses have successfully reached the pinnacle of brand loyalty. 

Standing at the edge of authenticity, engagement, and cost-effectiveness, user-generated content has empowered brands with conversions, improved brand perception, and the ability to foster long-term relationships with the audience. Despite this, certain challenges need to be addressed to achieve optimal results:

• When relying on user-generated content, it is imperative to ensure quality standards. 
• It is essential to obtain consent from users to repurpose their content in compliance with the regulations. 
• Aligning the UGC with the brand’s messaging can be tricky, but it is important to curate in that manner to avoid misinterpretation. 
• For large brands with a broad user base, scaling UGC efforts can be challenging. 

As the industry continues to gain momentum of prominence, it is significant to address the challenges associated with user-generated content. This, in turn, maximizes the potential of performance marketing’s most robust tool. Posing as a powerful lever for nurturing brand affinity and driving sales, the UGC delivers customers a more authentic and transparent shopping experience.