1. Increase brand awareness and extend your reach

Consumers have many ways to research products and services, and they’re taking advantage of them all. That means the journey to a purchase is longer than it has been in the past, and it’s filled with a chorus of competing opinions. Those voices are loud, and they can be confusing: As of October 2012, Facebook had one billion active monthly users, and Twitter had more than 500 million users. Brands must join the social landscape to ensure that as many voices as possible are speaking for them by amplifying user-generated content in a unified way across brand, retailer, and social sites. Here’s how.

Encourage word-of-mouth content.

Consumers trust opinions that come from other shoppers. The more word-of-mouth content you generate—and tie into planned marketing initiatives—the more your brand will dominate the conversation and reach more potential buyers. Post-interaction emails, social channel callouts, and contests encourage shoppers to contribute reviews. Authenticity is a must across all engagements.

Share your content.

Shoppers leave reviews and tell their stories in various places—on your site, on retailer sites, and across social sites. By syndicating word-of-mouth content, you ensure that it is not confined to any one channel and can reach more consumers along their decision journey.

Amplify it among your brand advocates.

When you leverage word-of-mouth content throughout your own social channels and loyalty programs, you’re ensuring that consumers have authentic information that influences their decisions.

Increase share of voice in-store.

Word-of-mouth content isn’t just for the web; consumers are seeking it out in physical stores, too. By integrating user-generated content into retailer aisle collateral (for example, customer star ratings on shelf product tags) and ensuring that retailers give consumers a free, strong Wi-Fi signal in-store, you set your brand apart because you let shoppers access the opinions of trusted consumers.

2. Get consumers engaged with your brand

The demand for word-of-mouth content means consumers will create it no matter what, and this demand presents an opportunity for brands to actively guide and facilitate these conversations. By making user-generated content a welcomed element on both your and your retailers’ sites and an integral part of your marketing strategy, you can engage consumers in ways that weren’t possible just a few years ago. Here’s how.

Facilitate multiple types of content

Consumer ratings and reviews focus directly on product opinions and help influence other consumers in the purchase path. Story campaigns hook shoppers with a brand experience. Question-and-answer content removes knowledge barriers by providing real-life answers to common questions.

Incorporate word-of-mouth content into your website and in your social channels.

When shoppers feel that you’re listening and that you value their opinions, they’re more likely to stay engaged. Argos make a point of notifying their customers when their reviews have been posted or their questions answered. This continues the customer interaction with the brand and has directly lead to 3000-4000 additional weekly transactions

Boost campaign conversion ratios

Because consumers trust one another more than they trust brands, word-of-mouth content can help you convert browsers into buyers. Marketers need to ensure that they expose shoppers to this content at the right points in the buying cycle to nudge shoppers toward conversion. Studies have shown that promoting word-of-mouth content on brand sites can increase “buy now” action by up to 76% and increase time spent on the site by up to 79%. Here’s how to boost conversion with word-of-mouth content.

Display your content

Consumers want to make knowledgeable decisions, so make their peers’ opinions a prominent part of the shopping experience. On Epson.com, for example, visitors who read reviews were 67% more likely to convert to a purchase than those who did not

Put content to work.

Incorporate user-generated content into all of your marketing activities. Create email campaigns that invite your audience to contribute content or reach out to participants via social sites. Leverage the stories consumers are telling and feature customer comments in your outbound communications. For example, Buyagift includes reviews in print catalogues and email campaigns to drive higher conversions.

Leverage consumer relationships

Your most engaged shoppers, including loyalty program members, will get even more engaged when you recognize their social contributions to your site. They’ll purchase more and, by generating content, they’ll encourage others to purchase.

Highlight your insights

When customers tell you they love a product or service, feature that content on your homepage and category pages. Fifty-five percent of consumers are more likely to purchase products with a high rating, so promote the highest-rated products and related user-generated content all along the purchase path.

Funnel offline interactions.

Nearly half of consumers have used their mobile devices to access customer reviews while in-store.7 Use mobile campaigns to integrate the physical shopping experience with digital, enabling those shoppers to convert to a purchase right in the store.

4. Generate buzz around new products

User-generated content can help set the stage for successful product launches before they happen. By encouraging shoppers to create word-of-mouth content before a product even launches, you can establish the product’s credibility and set the stage for a successful launch.

When launching a new line of hair products aimed at repairing split ends, Nexxus reached out to brand advocates who had mentioned split ends in their reviews and seemed willing to recommend Nexxus products. Nexxus invited those consumers to an exclusive pre-launch trial of the new product line and asked for feedback. Reviews were overwhelmingly positive, and Nexxus launched the line with earned media already in place—which it could then use in display and print ads, on the brand’s Facebook page, and on major retailer sites.

Identify your advocates.

Comb the comments on your site and retailer sites to discover customers who are the strongest advocates for your brand. These users can help build momentum that will carry through your product launch.

Activate your community

Offer advocates early access to your product. Ask them to test and provide feedback on your product before it launches. Make advocates feel that they’re part of an exciting new venture and show that you value their opinions.

Listen and learn.

Early feedback on your products not only establishes a product’s credibility before it enters the market, but it also gives you a chance to refine the product’s messaging and features.

Distribute

When you collect early customer feedback from your advocates, you can put it to work in ads and online. Leverage all consumer touch points to create momentum leading up to and through the launch.

5. Target your marketing more precisely

Brands that sell across many channels might find that different types of customers shop in different settings. Shopper A may be motivated by price while Shopper B is motivated by features. With user-generated content, you can better understand the differences among consumer groups and the terms they use to talk about your products, and then target them with the messages that will resonate best—both online and offline.

Segment retailers by consumer sentiment.

Are consumers who shop at one retailer providing different feedback than consumers who shop at another retailer? Understanding priorities and preferences by retailer can help you tailor your messages to be more effective with all groups.

Target by preference

You may think that the weight of a laptop is the most important feature to highlight in your promotional copy. However, through insight from user-generated content, you may discover that battery life is what most shoppers care about. Listen closely to be sure that your messaging addresses the right issues. Also, keep listening and be willing to adapt if you see consumer sentiment changing over time.

Optimise search

User-generated content provides insight into the terms consumers are using to talk about your products. Using those words and phrases in your marketing campaigns can help increase traffic to your website and your retailers’ sites. Evans Cycles saw a 23% increase in visits from search engines after incorporating user-generated content into its product pages.

6. Cocreate with shoppers

Companies on the cutting edge aren’t just using consumer opinions to sell more existing products; they are working with their customers to cocreate products. For example, customers might have a great idea for a new product, or they may identify a way to modify an existing product. By inviting those consumers to cocreate, you’re turning them into partners who will then act as advocates for other shoppers because they now have a stake in your brand. Here’s how.

Listen.

Enable conversations on both your site and retailer sites, and keep your finger on the pulse of consumer opinions wherever they appear.

Reach out.

Identify the consumers who understand your brand and message, and engage them in the cocreation process.

Collect the best ideas

Help your advocates refine their ideas. Take the most viable ideas to your internal R&D team for further exploration.

Pilot.

Continue to engage your advocates by including them in a pilot launch of the product they helped create.

Don’t let conversations happen without you

Social is a boon for marketers who can leverage it effectively. User-generated content enables you to engage directly with consumers in ways that were never before possible. These conversations can build virtual communities of consumers who are driven by a true appreciation of a brand and an altruistic desire to inform other consumers. In fact, a study of the reasons why consumers write reviews found that 90% do so simply to help others make better buying decisions.

But social also presents marketers with a challenge: how to drive measurable results from all consumer touch points from the valuable user-generated content that appears across so many channels. Social can help brands create authentic conversations with and among consumers, which is helpful in boosting loyalty and conversions. Social can also turn shoppers into advocates, and brands can facilitate those advocates in reaching more consumers across top retailer and social sites. And by analyzing user-generated content, brands can uncover valuable insights into the motivations behind purchases, then put that insight into action in targeted marketing campaigns.

Marketers have always been under pressure to deliver a return on their marketing initiatives, but that pressure is increasing. Now they’re also under pressure to address social. Rather than view these as competing pressures, marketers can address them simultaneously. By leveraging the power of the content that consumers are already contributing, marketers can create campaigns that truly deliver by converting more shoppers into buyers and ensuring that the good content keeps coming—all of which delivers value to the business.