User-Generated Content: The Goldmine In Social Media Aggregation

Brands always try to search for new tips & tricks to connect with their customers to keep them engaged and happy. One of the best practices brands do is leveraging User-Generated Content (UGC) on their websites. Social media is the place where people connect with their peers, share their thoughts, make buying decisions, and generate UGC. 

It’s hard to believe a world without social media platforms for connecting to friends to stay updated with current trends. Managing different social media platforms can be a daunting task for brands. It is where social media aggregation steps into the game and streamlines the content scattered across different platforms into one unified place. 

In this blog, we are going to dig around everything regarding User-Generated Content (UGC) and social media aggregators. Let’s get started! 

Understanding User-Generated Content: Goldmine In Social Media Aggregation 

Any form of shareable content that is generated without the influence of the brand’s content marketing team is generally termed User-Generated content (UGC). In simple words, any content that is produced on the internet by users is User-Generated content (UGC). 

In an email interview at My Voyage Scotland, a Scottish travel blogger, Graham Grieve, explains that any picture, video, word, or text is a form of UGC. For example, if you are an owner of a hospitality business and one of your customers posts pictures of your hotel on their Instagram feed or Facebook feed or sends it to their friends, it’s UGC. 

Why UGC Is Essential For Brands?

To help influence engagement and increase conversions, UGC is used across all the stages of the buyer’s journey. When real people share their thoughts about a brand product or service, it feels trustworthy. UGC feels like asking a friend for advice, and you know they will provide you with the best information. 

For instance, Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” was one of the best UGC campaigns in 2014. In this campaign, the brand imprinted the most popular names on 150 bottles and asked users to find one with their name on it. The users find the bottles and post pictures on their social media accounts with the bottle in hand, creating UGC. The brand witnessed an 11% increase in year-end revenue compared to previous year’s revenue. 

Types Of User-Generated Content 

There are so many types of user-generated content found, some of them listed below. Brands can use UGC aggregator to curate and display UGC on their websites. Let’s have a look at different types: 

• Pictures
• Product videos
• Testimonials 
• Reviews & Ratings 
• Social Media Content 
• Blog Posts 
• YouTube content
• Graphics

Stats Related To UGC: The Numbers Don’t Lie 

UGC plays a big role in impacting buyer’s decision-making and increasing sales for brands. Here are some amazing stats that you need to have a look at. 

• As per the reports of Stackla, over 80% of buyers believe that UGC impacts their purchasing decisions. 
• According to 75% of marketers, UGC builds trust among customers and gives greater authenticity to brands, a report published by Tintup. 
• The research conducted by Influencer Marketing Hub shows local micro-influencers provide a 700% higher engagement rate on UGC compared to mega influencers. 

It shows how essential UGC is for brands and marketers. With the help of social media aggregators increase engagement, brands can easily leverage UGC and increase engagement and sales. 

The Role Of Social Media Aggregators

A tool or a functional block that automatically gathers your social media content from all platforms and displays it on your website or other platforms is called a social media aggregator. 

There are various types of social media aggregators available in the online marketplace, which offer different uses for brands. But the major use is they help brands curate UGC through hashtags, feeds, keywords, etc. The social media aggregators ensure that your feed on the website aligns completely with your marketing campaigns. The social media feeds on the websites are also referred to as social media widgets. 

Features Of Social Media Aggregators 

Numerous features exist in a social media aggregator tool. While selecting it for your website, don’t overlook the social media aggregator features. Here are some important ones mentioned below: 

1. Real-Time Updates 

For brands, it has become crucial to stay updated living in this digital realm. It makes it important for a social media aggregator to provide real-time updates. For developing and nurturing meaningful connections with an audience, Real-time updates and engagements are critical for brands. 

2. Customization 

One of the must-have features any social media aggregator tool possesses is Customization. Brands can choose several customization options, including fonts, designs, themes, layouts, and colors. Many social media aggregators also offer advanced filtering and moderation features. 

3. User-Friendly 

A social media aggregation tool must be user-friendly. The users must effortlessly navigate with the tool, and it makes them more likely to use it. A customizable and well-designed interface makes sure that users can harness the full potential of a tool without any complexity. 

4. Analytics 

Analytics is another feature on the list of features a social media aggregation tool must possess. To acquire comprehensive insights, users rely on these capabilities in their performance metrics. The engagement rates, reach, and click-through rates are the metrics included in an aggregator. 

Benefits Of Social Media Aggregators 

Read below some of the amazing social media aggregator benefits. Let’s get started: 

1. Displays A Sense Of Social Proof 

By displaying user-generated content on your website, you can create a sense of social proof among your customers. Social media aggregation tools help brands collect testimonials, reviews, and positive interactions that show the credibility of a brand. For example, when someone posts a review or shares their experience with your brand’s product and services, they will like to enjoy them. 

2. Increases Dwell Time On Website 

In embedding social media feeds on your website, the social media aggregation tool helps and also increases the dwell time of users on the website. The user-generated content on your website will keep visitors engaged and interested. When you showcase social media content on your website, it attracts the right amount of attention from the website visitors and offers them a reason to keep browsing. 

3. Monitor And Track Metrics 

In this digital landscape, every day, many businesses and brands get launched, which makes it difficult for existing brands to survive the tough competition. Brands have their unique marketing strategy in terms of newsletters, campaigns, and collaborations different from other brands. But brands take advantage of social media aggregator tools where they not only get to track the social media content metrics but also compare them with competitors. 

4. Saves Time And Money 

Money is another significant component of every business. Sometimes, the budget of marketing campaigns takes a toll on brands, but this is not the issue with social media aggregators. The social media aggregation tools offer great ROI, don’t cost much for brands, and also prove time efficient.

What Are The Challenges For Social Media Aggregators?

Before proceeding, you have to overcome some of the challenges that are listed below: 

a). Mobile Friendliness- Many aggregator tools are designed to keep desktops in mind, as mentioned. When integrating widgets into your website, consider this factor. 

b). Page Load Speed- For the page to load, the more widgets you add, the more time it will take. More than the social media aggregation tools increase your engagement; they will push your bottom line far. 

c). Data And Privacy Collection- Some aggregator tools also gather data, which raises privacy concerns for users. With all the compliances, it will make it easier to keep up. 

Wrapping Up!

In a brand’s marketing campaign and branding efforts, the role of user-generated content (UGC) and social media aggregation tools is hugely important. Brands can effectively engage with their audience across different platforms by leveraging the power of social media aggregation. It will influence website visitors and help increase their online brand reputation and presence.