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The Millennial Love Affair with UGC

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By the end of 2018, millennials will have the greatest combined buying power in history, according to Bazaar. The group of people born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s currently have a spending power of £2.6 billion.

If you’re a business that is looking to boost its bottom line, millennials should be your core target market. Reaching out to this group is no easy task, however. Along with generation z, millennials don’t share the same traditional views towards advertising as baby boomers.

In other words, glossy marketing campaigns, bland stock photos and staged advertising doesn’t cut much ice. Instead, organisations need to find new ways to connect with a group that has the potential to make or break their brand.

User-generated content

User-generated content, or UGC as it’s better known, is proving to be key when it comes to engaging with millennials. The group currently spend 18 hours of their day with media, and 30 percent of that time is spent looking at UGC.

When it comes to influencing a millennial, UGC is 20 percent more likely to get their attention than other media types. In fact, 86 percent of millennials believe that UGC is a strong indicator of a brand or product’s quality.

With so much emphasis placed on UGC, it’s clear to see that brands need to adopt strategies that incorporate this method. Fail to do so and the long-term consequences could be damaging, as consumers now expect more interactivity from the companies they’re buying from.

Why UGC?

UGC is any form of content created by users and made available publicly. Content can be in the form of photos, videos, peer reviews - anything that was produced by everyday people. It’s strengths like in its authenticity, diversity and inclusivity.

We naturally gravitate towards things that we can identify with. It makes sense that a picture taken by someone similar to us will strike a chord, as we are more likely to think to ourselves, “I could have taken that”.

That feeling of inclusivity has a stronger chance of making us feel part of a group. Brands that understand this mindset and create a community, rather than looking at their audience as an end to a means, are more likely to prosper.

Real-life stories and personal creation

Millennials have grown up with the internet and were early adopters of social media. Real-life, visual stories resonate with them at a higher level than staged, over-the-top campaigns. Social media was the enabler for continuous communication.

They have essentially turned into the perfect marketers for brands as they produce personal and relevant content online. Millennials think UGC is 50 percent more trustworthy than other media. The reason? Because they’re the ones creating it.

That blurb on your website talking about the benefits of your company, the snazzy new marketing campaign, advertising copy - none of it holds the same weight as UGC does with a millennial. You need to give your audience the chance to tell their story about your brand.

How to leverage UGC with millennials  

Savvy businesses should encourage their audience to create content for their brand. It can be as simple as having a testimonial system or asking them to take photos which will be included on the company website and social media channels.

Companies need to be smart about their outreach, putting a UGC plan in place that goes on throughout the entire year. With just one percent of millennials saying that a compelling ad will make them buy a product, it’s time to turn your audience into content creators.

Run competitions on social media, asking your audience to post visuals with a specifically created hashtag. By making your audience part of the brand, you will build trust and increase overall engagement.

Who’s doing UGC

It turns out that all the big brands are jumping on the UGC bandwagon, including McDonald’s, Starbucks and Netflix. These brands understand the importance of creating new relationships with their audience and making them feel part of their community.

McDonald’s added a new dimension to their famous Monopoly game, encouraging people to take a selfie straight after they had an instant win. Cleverly named, “Monopoly Mo Selfies” (although, surely someone played with the idea of McSelfie?), they improved engagement and had content to repurpose across their marketing channels.  

Netflix embraces UGC by promoting fans' posts about new shows and movies, hashtagging the show name to provide more exposure. UGC creates a community vibe around new shows, as people get to share their excitement for a new programme.  

A new wave of interactivity

UGC can be something as simple as sharing a photo or video, yet some fans are going to extra lengths to create content for the brands they love. The brand that recognises the power of the consumer and turns them into co-creators stand the best chance of growing their organisation.

We have an innate desire to be recognised and appreciated - and UGC acts as an enabler. When a customer sees their content shared by a brand, it only increases their affinity and builds a stronger relationship.

Millennials and generation z see this more than any other group - they expect to feel cherished by a brand, which will make them show value back. If the appreciation goes both ways, then all the components are in place to create a long, lasting relationship.

By Olga Egorsheva, CEO & Co-Founder of Lobster

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