User Generated Content for Small Businesses

We all like hearing good feedback, whether it’s through word of mouth, a good review left online, or a direct message from a happy customer - it’s always nice to receive. As well as giving you a sense of satisfaction, don't forget that positive feedback can be a great tool to upgrade your content marketing plan. Take a look at these three easy ways to start integrating User Generated Content into your social media strategy.

Reviews 

Asking your customers for feedback is beneficial in many ways. As well as getting to know your customer base better - and more importantly finding out what they like about your business, it can be used as an advertising tool for potential new customers. If you generate a healthy amount of positive TrustPilot reviews, a web widget can be a great way to promote them, without having to go out of your way to create content. TrustPilot for Business offers a range of online products, including the ‘TrustBox widget’ which allows you to showcase your latest reviews on your site, or it can be integrated into email campaigns with certain email marketing platforms. This doesn’t mean however, that you’re limited to using TrustPilot’s marketing plug-ins - you’re free to recreate and re-share any reviews you receive to be shared across social media or any other online channels. As long as you’re adhering to the review’s privacy and sharing policies, you can create branded, beautiful designs to promote your services with the praise of real-life customers. If you’re not receiving many online reviews, now might be the time to start asking for them - whether that’s through an emailed invitation link, a polite request on your delivery slip, or by holding competitions to encourage customers to share their experience of your brand. 

Share Stories

An in-depth account of a customer’s experience can be the perfect way to promote your services and brand, without having to shout about it yourself - the testimonial can do all the talking. If a customer gets in touch with you to share a review, why not ask them if they’d feel comfortable sitting down for a little question and answer session so that you can create a 'success story' that can be used across your marketing channels. This could be something simple such as a snappy social media post, or something more meaty like a blog article you could attach to an email campaign for any new and potential customers. Customers want to know that they’re in good hands, and what better way to reassure them than by giving them an account of a satisfied customer that they can relate to. 

Photo Time 

Reposting and re-sharing customer social posts is a fantastic way to up your content game. If you run a salon, why don’t you ask clients to share snaps of their new hair style and tag you, if you sell products online, try adding a photo competition into the delivery slip and have customers get involved online. Once you start getting a steady stream of customer content, you can begin to think about how best you can use it within your own content marketing plan. Re-posting customer shots onto your social stories is a nice way to both acknowledge your followers and promote your business - and only takes a second to do! You could also look at collating your customer’s images into a video or carousel post on Instagram to show off your products, and of course, how happy your customers are with your service. If customers are choosing to shout about you on social media by tagging your profile or sharing shots of the services you offer, don’t ignore it - instead work out a way to maximise it for your own content plan.