UGC Content Creator (user generated content) is one of the new business areas that enables brands to work with micro influencers instead of big influencers. Especially in recent years, all brands from big to small have been paying attention to UGC Content Producers; What is UGC? What is/how to become a UGC content creator? and how to collaborate with brands with UGC?
What is UGC?
It is a type of content that includes videos, blogs, comments and social media posts produced for the purpose of trying and promoting a brand product by the consumer.
In recent years, the perception of ‘sincerity and naturalness’ of smaller accounts instead of macro influencers has led to wider conversions from product/service promotions.
What is a UGC Content Creator?
A UGC Content Creator is someone who ‘creates content based on their own experience’ about a brand’s product/service. This content can be in the form of social media posts, product test videos, blog posts or reviews.
The main purpose of UGC creators is to share their feedback about the product in an ‘organic and sincere’ way. In this way, the person who wants to get information about a similar product/service will be more interested in ‘real experiences’. UGC creators promoting a brand are generally preferred because of their familiarity with brands, as they are usually close followers or users of a particular brand or product.
Characteristics of UGC Content Producers:
- Creativity: The ability to produce different and engaging content is a must for a UGC content creator.
- Social Media Knowledge: It is important to be able to use social media platforms effectively and understand the dynamics and target audiences of different platforms.
- Communication Skills: The ability to express your thoughts clearly and effectively and to communicate with brands and their followers in a healthy way is essential.
- Knowledge of Photography or Videography (preferred): Being able to create visual content makes the content more impressive.
- Regular Content Production Discipline: It is important to constantly produce new content and keep your followers active.
- Brand Loyalty: It is important that they believe in the values of the brand they work for and produce content that reflects these values.
- Analytical Thinking: Ability to measure the performance of their content and make improvements accordingly.
- Following Trends: Keeping content up to date by following social media trends.
You can click on the link to learn the answer to ‘How to follow social media trends?
- Honesty and Integrity: Being able to sincerely share their own experiences with products or services.
- Flexibility: Ability to adapt to the demands of brands and changing situations.
In addition to these characteristics, the following skills are also important to be a successful UGC content producer:
- Storytelling: Describe experiences in an engaging way.
- Building Interaction: Building a community by interacting with followers.
- Being Open to Criticism: Being open to constructive criticism and improving oneself.
- Marketing Knowledge: Understanding marketing strategies and aligning content to these strategies.
To summarize, UGC content producers are people who can think both creatively and analytically, use social media effectively and show their commitment to brands through their content. Thanks to these characteristics, they can achieve successful results both for themselves and the brands they work with.
How to Become a UGC Content Creator?
You can follow the steps below to become a UGC content producer:
- Identify Your Target Audience:
What are you interested in and who do you want to reach? What are the demographics of the target audience? Which types of content do they interact with more? You need to answer questions like.
- Improve your Social Media Accounts:
By creating a professional profile; you should share content that reflects yourself and your interests. By sharing content regularly, you can discover and interact more with the types of content that the target audience is interested in.
When it comes to improving social media, a ‘Strong Instagram Profile’ will come to mind. What I am talking about here is not to have a high following, but to be a profile that brands want to work with and at the same time be a content producer who creates content that attracts attention.
Here’s how to do 👇
With the ‘Instagram 101’ ebook, which allows you to reinvent your account in 17 articles + 50 Hook Headlines and 50 CTA sentences, you can reach more people and become an account that brands want to work with.
- Produce Quality Content:
Visuality, creativity and originality are the 3 most important features that are always sought after. It is very important that the visual shots you make are of high quality, attention-grabbing and original content.
Remember that brands prefer content creators with their own style.
- Contact Brands:
You can start by researching the brands you want to work with. While doing this; you can contact the brand side by choosing a product/service that you have experience with and are satisfied with.
Always create a portfolio beforehand. If you don’t have a portfolio, as I said above, you can produce content using the products you currently use and send it to brands.
You can learn how and with which methods to create the right content by taking advantage of my article ‘Producing Social Media Content in 5 Steps’.
What is the Difference Between UGC Content Creator and Influencer Marketing?
- UGC refers to user-generated content. Users can share their own experiences and ideas with their followers. In return for this process, they can progress without getting paid / buying products; There are also fees paid by the brand.
Influencer marketing refers to the production of content in accordance with the briefs given by brands. Since brand requests are at the forefront here, more disciplined progress is made and influencers are paid.
- You don’t need very high followers to be a UGC content producer. But in influencer marketing, people are preferred according to their follower rates and their influence on people.
- UGC content is often created in a natural and authentic way. Users reflect their real experiences and present in their own style. Influencers, on the other hand, act on the text or space designated for the promotion/advertising of the product.
Why Should Brands Choose UGC?
- Credible Content: UGC content is more credible than brands’ own rhetoric.
- Broad Audience Reach: UGC content reaches a wider audience by spreading organically.
- Good Customer Relationships: UGC content builds stronger and more intimate relationships with customers.
- Good Marketing Results: UGC content leads to higher conversion rates and better brand awareness.
- Differentiation from the Competition: UGC content helps brands stand out from the competition and become memorable.
In summary, UGC content enables brands to communicate more effectively with consumers, increase brand awareness and boost sales. Therefore, investing in UGC is a very important strategy for brands in today’s digital marketing.
