How User-Generated Content Can Boost Brand Loyalty In E-Commerce Sector

“Ever wondered how a shopper while making an online purchase looks for a helping hand just to get the feel of approval? In the E-commerce industry that helping hand is user-generated content for any user.”

Yes! You heard it right. UGC is no more just a nice tag along for the e-commerce industry, rather it is now a vital and important part of the success of any e-commerce business.

The key to success in online marketing is a customer-centric approach. It not only means listening to their needs and problems but also making them the voice of your brand. That’s when UGC comes into action.

UGC is the perfect link to fill the gap between the preachers of your brand and those indecisive users who abandon you on the checkout page at the last moment. Keeping all the other sectors aside, E-commerce is the best suited to ride the chariot of UGC for its success. After all, it survives by selling online.

Having said that, not everyone knows how to put UGC to the best use and what all it has to offer and that’s where this article comes in.

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How is UGC Supercharging E-commerce?

User-generated content(UGC) is a powerful means to build a brand. But it is also easily misunderstood and might hit back if not used strategically. Despite this risk, E-commerce as an industry can really make wonders happen for itself if UGC is properly put to use.

Here are a few ways in which user-generated content is reshaping the eCommerce sector.

1. Refining Customer Experience

Using professional stock photos for your online sales is outdated. No one buys that marketing trick anymore. Shoppers are smarter now. They look for clues that what you are selling is real and the product looks and feels as amazing as it is displayed online.

By displaying UGC like product videos and photos used by actual customers on your e-commerce website delivers exactly what shoppers want. It allows them to visualize the product in all possible ways relatable to real life. UGC resonates with your customers.

2. Building Social Proof

UGC does exactly that for your e-commerce website what a long-standing queue does for any physical outlet. It makes you think that something good must be in there for sure and that makes you wanna go in and have a look of what’s in there.

Similarly, UGC videos and photos create a powerful attempt to ensure your user that you are selling something really interesting. Shoppers are simply curious to experience what fellow consumers are talking all about.

In that direction, you can make your social sell. Embedding shoppable content on your e-commerce website helps you leverage the user-generated content and let your customers have a real-like shopping experience sitting back at home clicking and surfing through the shoppable UGC posts leading them directly to the “Buy Now” page. UGC platforms like Taggbox, allow you to bring social content to your e-commerce website and encourage sales.

See, the basic psychology behind UGC is simple. Who would you trust more? A fellow customer or a faceless website? User-generated content gives a face to that faceless website in the form of customer reviews and testimonials. Displaying UGC on your e-commerce website gives reassurance when it comes to risky, impulsive and first time users.

Also Read: Why Embedding Social Proof On Your Website Is a Great Idea!

3. Bringing Point Of Inspiration closer to the Point of Sale

Unless you’re not living under the rocks of prehistoric times, you must have definitely come across Shoppable Posts while visiting various eCommerce websites. They are everywhere. Shoppable UGC Posts are the ultimate way to enhance the overall eCommerce experience of your users when they visit your website.

Shoppable Posts let you bring the point of sale closer to the point of inspiration thereby preventing any chances of confusion or abandonment of the shopping journey by the customer. It helps your users to make an informed purchasing decision. This helps to increase their trust in your eCommerce brand and hence their loyalty too. As a result, your eCommerce sales are also enhanced.

Taggbox Commerce, an eCommerce product of Taggbox, allows you to embed shoppable posts on your eCommerce website and turn your social into sales. It helps you escalate the overall shopping experience of your users thereby ensuring their re-visit to your eCommerce business website.

4. Rejigging Marketing

Since it’s birth in the 1990s, user-generated content has constantly outperformed regular content like paid photoshoots, celebrity endorsement, stocked brand photos, etc. UGC provides a fresh feel and a new direction to initiate a word of mouth marketing about your e-commerce brand.

See, it’s simple. People trust people, not logos. These days product reviews on Youtube are also a trending marketing practice. Youtube influencers with huge following give honest and realistic reviews about products in their Youtube videos and people actually believe them. Having your product reviewed on Youtube by a Youtube influencer can actually inspire the users to make their final purchase decision in your favor.

Also see: Utilize User Generated Content in Business Marketing

5. Boosting Conversions

Now let’s talk about some numbers. Conversion rates are business-specific. User-generated content not only creates an impact on the minds of the users but also show results with hiking eCommerce conversion rates.

User-generated content gives that extra push to aspiring customers and encourages them to take actions and make the purchase. User-generated content has that reassuring factor attached to it.

Many shoppers find UGC extremely helpful and really resourceful while making a purchase decision. If you are still not convinced, then consider the following statistics-

Researches show that when a brand uses user-generated images and videos instead of stocked brand photos, then they experience a 25% increase eCommerce conversions.

Read More – UGC For Fashion Marketing: A Guide To Increase Your Brand Trust & Sales

6. Brushing Up SEO

If you are still skeptical about using user-generated content for your e-commerce website, then knowing about the SEO benefits of using user-generated content might move the needle for good. Sites displaying user-generated content show an increase of 20% in repeat visits and time spent on websites increase by 90%.

Isn’t that amazing!

Search engines detect UGC rich in terms of content naturally generated by customers devoid of marketing lingo. It is rich in terms of keywords users generally use which searching or buying a product online.

User-generated content helps you to distinguish your page from several thousand other pages selling the same product. UGC for SEO helps in terms of achieving a higher search ranking.

This helps you to achieve a higher search ranking.

7. Improving Social Media Engagement

In today’s social media savvy world, seeing is believing. When it comes to selling online, social media platforms are the best way to initiate a good word about your product’s goodness and if it is done by real users itself, then nothing can beat that kind of marketing. Social media is the platform to share UGC.

Social media giants like Facebook etc. are constantly updating their algorithms to prioritize user-generated content thus decreasing the visibility of branded content. In such a scenario, user-generated content happens to trigger the required social media engagement for any e-commerce business to grow.

In order to enhance social media engagement for the growth of your e-commerce business, you may ask your dedicated customers to share their experience stories on their social profiles with your mentions and hashtags. Or you could repost the content shared by your user encouraging others to do so. You could also opt for influencer marketing. It is a great way to initiate a good word about your e-commerce business and increase website engagement.

You could employ a social hub on your e-commerce business website fetching user-generated content from various social media platforms like Facebook, Youtube, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. It is a great way to enhance user engagement and increase visitor stay time on your website.

Must Read – How to Leverage UGC In Facebook & Instagram Ad Campaign

8. Cutting the Cost

Well, that’s the case with UGC. You don’t buy it. It is freely available. You don’t pay buyers to preserve the authenticity of their content. All you can do is to ask them to share their feedback if they like it. And then it’s the user’s free will to post or not an image or a video or feedback or testimonial regarding your products serving as UGC. All you have to do is manage your social media to promote that UGC.

UGC is a cost-effective way to direct the audience of your users for your e-commerce marketing. It is cheap and lets the hustle between centralizing brand image and localizing content rest. There is no need to invest bundles of money in costly photoshoots when users are willingly contributing you a more authentic form of content.

Final Thoughts

User-generated content marketing is a gold mine for e-commerce businesses. Engaging with customer comments, feedback, and content like images and videos is a great way to humanize your e-commerce business. It allows you to give your e-commerce business voice of your customers and nothing would link them to your brand in a better way.

So don’t let UGC pass you by just like that- make the most of it!