Communities, Culture, and Trends
Bill Gates once said: “Content is the king,” and it still stands true for over 25 years. The only thing that has changed is the focus. Once specifically business-oriented, content that strived to satisfy business needs has shifted to customers and communities. We also know that “The customer is king,” and the content we create must serve them. With these two notions: content and customers, how can we make them work for each other and bring greater value? The answer: Customer and Community Generated Content! It is not magic but a new trend that extends the benefits of UGC (User-Generated Content).
The new trend of co-creating videos with customers
What is UGC (User-Generated Content)? It has been around since the early 2000s, growing and developing into new marketing strategies of today. Today UGC Videos are the standard for creating more engagement and value than big box production. However, the Authentic UGC has been shown to outperform any other content triple-fold. The most promising way to create authentic video content is through one’s community and customers! After all, they are the best and most authentic influencers every organization has. Furthermore, creating a unique connection and relationship with the target audience pays dividends beyond content.
The demand for UGC grew from customer needs. As the digital environment expanded and brands established connections with customers, the “old school” content became stale and not timely. Influencers came to bridge the gap with a consumer-centric approach, more humanized content, and empathy. Influencer marketing has been evolving. The focus has shifted to content creators’ power through co-creation. Co-Creation is the term that is taking center stage these days. It is at the heart of engaging and creating UGC content with anyone. Impressive statistical data and numbers clearly show the role of Authentic UGC videos in the modern digital marketing environment.
Who is creating video content?
Gen Zs, TikTok, IG, Reels, Stories, and YouTube Shorts are driving the video content need that is impossible to satisfy. Our customers are social media consumers who constantly push for authentic content. They are asking to co-create and be engaged. Our customers are on all social channels, ready to create unique content, so why don’t we?
Over 85% of Gen Z’s posts daily content in new video formats on different platforms. Leading social entertainment platforms TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are now eating into NetFlix’s domination. Spending hours on social media, the users stated they couldn’t even imagine a day without watching videos. In addition, nearly 40% of Gez Z users claim they are directly influenced by products they see on TikTok.
Customers want authentic, real-life user-generated video content. Influencers are not perceived as genuine. Today, everyday social media users easily ignore influencer-branded video and photo content.
As Gen Z has migrated to TikTok (despite Reels’ copycat TikTok videos), Instagram has become a platform for Millennials. Over 2 billion active users share videos and photos daily and become an inspiration for their followers and communities.
99% of Gen Z shoppers regularly look for visual content like photos and videos from those who have already purchased a product. In addition, 89% of millennials do the same research before making a final decision.
65% of Gen Z also agree that the content that personally relates to them has a more significant impact than the content many others talk about.
Gen Z and Millennials take up most of the customer base with full purchasing power and habits of using all the platforms targeted with UGC. Boomers and Gen X are also actively checking on video reviews. Their habits are quickly changing to fit the transforming visual video world. Many of them are even creating video content on par with Gen Zs.
Telling stories instead of making ads
TikTok started the trend of running businesses on social media platforms, interacting with customers, and driving engagement through short videos. Authentic content presented in a humanized manner portrays brands in a different light through down-to-earth humor, storytelling, and inclusivity.
The “professional fan” instead of an influencer
Call them nano influencers or professional/dedicated fans, but those users whose followers are friends, family and close community regularly share videos. They strive to satisfy their viewers’ needs for friendly advice videos on many topics.
Customers and the community are your best creators
Traditional “word-of-mouth” marketing has got a new form. The authors of user-generated content are exclusively customers engaged with services and products and ready to share their impressions. To leverage these customers’ creative power, platforms like BrandLens come to the rescue. They enable on-brand original UGC video story co-creation. Through BrandLens, organizations offer their community the opportunity to create content for their social channels, which can also be posted on the brand’s websites or social platforms. The community/customers can now be an organization’s creative and social power. So, the need for Infulenciers with a fan base is no longer there when it comes to authenticity. The future is here, organically leveraging communities for all genuine storytelling. All that is needed is an innovative platform for customers to tell their branded stories from anywhere and on any platform.
Prepare for the future
The value of user-generated content is higher than ever. Authentic content engages communities and builds trust better than any branded campaign. With genuine user-generated video content, businesses dramatically lower the cost of content acquisition and get engagement and higher conversion simultaneously. Therefore, the success of UGC dramatically depends on the platform for video creation.
The new-age businesses that leverage co-creation have the upper hand over the competitors.
