Business Services

Three ways to take advantage of user-generated content

Nothing carries more weight to customers than the opinion and comments of other customers. An endorsement or review written in the own words of the customer is more powerful than any marketing material that you can create. Studies back this claim, showing that 90% of consumers trust the view of others over content from the brand. There are three ways to take advantage of user-generated content:

Social media gives the customer an opportunity to send feedback and receive a response in real-time. The first step is to ensure that the customer feedback is authentic. Authentic feedback or complaints tend to provide more detail and simple ranting. Once you have some confidence in the authenticity of the comment, respond immediately, even if the response is a boiler-plate appreciation of the endorsement, or a promise to look into the complaint. Put a process in place to capture these comments.

Once you have an appreciable amount of positive feedback, look at using social media and other channels to share that customer feedback. Encourage existing customers and people who follow your page by quoting the comment and thanking the user. That will boost user engagement and also encourage the user to share the message with their social graph.

You can also make use of negative comments. Take advantage of complaints to highlight improvements to the product (or service) and show how you listen to customer feedback. You can also get positive comments from those who complain once you resolve the issue. Those positive comments are also good marketing materials.