the-blog — Building Industry Marketing and Branding, VW Rentals with Wander Maine

We all love when someone talks about our brand online, but are you harnessing the power of User Generated Content? Here, 10 stats that might persuade you to consider infusing user-generated content into your own marketing strategies.

1. Fifty-nine percent of millennials say they use UGC to inform their purchase decisions about major electronics. That's followed by cars (54%), major appliances (53%), mobile phones (46%), hotels (45%), and travel plans (40%). (Crowdtap)

2. Eighty-six percent of businesses use content marketing; of those, 70% are creating more content than they did a year ago. (Content Marketing Institute)

3. Seventy percent of consumers place peer recommendations and reviews above professionally written content. (Reevo)

4. Web content increasingly is dominated by user-generated content as Pinterest pin creation is up 75%, Twitch video broadcasts are up 83%, Wattpad stories are up 140%, and Airbnb reviews are up 140% year-over-year. (Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers)

5. Sixty-five percent of social media users from ages 18 to 24 consider information that's shared on social networks when making a purchasing decision. (eMarketer)

6. Consumers who are between the ages of 25 and 54 are the biggest content drivers—contributing 70% of all UGC. (SparkReel)

7. Twenty-five percent of search results for the world's 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content. (Kissmetrics)

8. Eighty-four percent of millennials report that UGC on company websites has at least some influence on what they buy. (Bazaarvoice)

9. Eighty-six percent of millennials say that user-generated content is generally a good indicator of the quality of a brand or service. (Bazaarvoice)

10. Brand engagements rise by 28% when consumers are exposed to both professional content and user-generated product video. (comScore)

Recently we launched one for our client Beech Hill Barn, a Maine Barn Wedding Venue in Pittston.

*stats pulled from article on http://www.dmnews.com/dmnotes/10-stats-that-show-why-user-generated-content-works/article/444872/

What is a social hub?

Through blog posts, photos and tweets, consumers are engaging brands in conversation. In response, smart marketers are utilizing these conversations as a marketing tool by inspiring social savvy consumers to co-create and share authentic content about their brands. Many brands are moving away from marketing at their customers and are embracing the opportunity to market with them. Think of your customers as potential influencers, brand ambassadors, and join the conversation. See a wedding venue social hub in action an how it can bring your companies website to life!

Millennials spend 18 hours consuming media every day

Millennials are a generation accustomed to constant communication and instant gratification. According to Kana, individuals between the ages of 25 and 34 years old check their smartphone, on average, once every 9 minutes and 55 seconds. Always connected, these media mavens are the most voracious consumers of content and use social media to stay connected to friends and family, news and pop culture, as well as industry trends and brands.

Millennials engage with user-generated content 5 hours out of every day and site peers as their biggest influence

So what are millennials doing when they’re checking their phone every 10 minutes? They’re engaging with content created by their peers. Millennials spend about 30% of their total media time on content created by their peers and say they trust peer reviews and input from friends more than they trust professional reviews, according to a study conducted by Crowdtap.

The average American millennial has a Facebook friend group of 360, according to Statista. On average, a wedding has 144 guests, each with their own personal cameras and sharing devices. Assuming each guest has 360 friends on Facebook, one unique photo or status tagging your brand from every guest has the potential to be seen by a total of 51,840 potential customers. This kind of content exposure is called social reach and these numbers are hard to ignore.

The content created by your customers and potential customers is called user-generated content and is arguably the most powerful marketing tool that you can leverage. Your blog and social media presence humanizes your brand, but user-generated content humanizes your brand through the mouths of your influencers.

People are already talking about your industry and your brand – Join the conversation

Search the hashtag #wedding on Twitter and you’ll uncover hundreds of tweets by brides, guests and wedding vendors. These are conversations that you can join to increase brand awareness. Try searching for other related industry terms, especially ones that are relevant to your core customer base. You may find that some of these conversations already mention your brand!

Monitoring conversations about your brand and your industry is called social listening and it’s imperative to interacting with customers and partners. It’s one of the best ways to learn more about your customers’ wants, needs, reservations and motivations.

Simplify social listening by collecting all content in one place

Leveraging a social listening platform makes it easy for brands to monitor industry related conversations, particularly ones that mention their brand, in one place. The goal is to identify what sparks influencers to become brand advocates - talking up your brand to friends and family - then to partner with those influencers to create more authentic content and drive conversations that have the opportunity to influence a more targeted customer base.

Tide Creative is excited to announce that we’re offering a social listening platform to wedding vendors! No need to scour Facebook, Twitter and Instagram separately. Our platform enables you to monitor user-generated content surrounding your brand in one place. We call this a social hub and we’re offering two different packages.

Social Hub: $1000 setup and $20/month

Social Hub with Geo-Targeting: $1000 setup and $40/month

For more information or to set up your social hub, contact us at: info@tidecreative.com