In the current advertising market, UGC was considered to be 50% more trustworthy than traditional marketing (adweek). Now, everyone wants to get access to as much UGC as possible to promote their brand. So, just what is UGC? UGC stands for User Generated Content. This is content that comes from non-sponsored, real fans and followers of the brand. This can be anything ranging from pictures, videos, tweets, Facebook posts, blog posts, and YouTube videos. Here are some tips to perfect your integration of UGC into your social channel.
Contact the influencer if you do not have the authority to reuse their photo
It is always a must to ask to reuse content from the influencer who took/posted the photo when you have the intention of reposting it without prior agreement. The best way to contact a user is directly through the Instagram app. This can be done either through DMing or commenting on the post. If the user has an email or a phone number on their account profile, this can also be used to reach out to them. This also helps if you want an unfiltered version of the photo or a larger capture of it. This can get you into hot water if the user does not want their photo reshared so be sure to ask FIRST.
Capture content from one of your influencers
If the original poster gives you permission, but doesn’t send you a copy of the photo, the simplest and most popular option to capture the content is to screenshot the content and crop out EVERYTHING other than the image (Yes, that means everything that is not within the actual photo). Though there are other possible ways to repost, including various apps, the cleanest and most polished option is the tried and true screenshot and crop method.
Credit the influencer for their work
Awesome! You secured permission from the content creator! Now it’s time to give credit where credit is due. For this step you can go about it a few ways, but more credit is always better than not enough. The best method of going about this is to tag the user in the photo along with in the caption.
Ex: 📷: @jordonjordoff
By adding their credit in the caption, it shows that not only is the user in the photo itself, but that they are the owner of the original content. This way the content can act as free advertisement for them and help enhance your profile.
Caption Creatively
You’re moments away from the perfect repost! Don’t waste the opportunity by copying and pasting content directly from an influencer. Pulling the ten sentence long quote they included will do nothing but clog your feed and distract from your message. Keep your caption aligned with the creator’s message, but don’t feel the need to clone it. The shorter and sweeter you can make a caption, the better! And don’t forget to throw in some hashtags and emojis to keep things interesting (if your market permits).
Post and Prosper
Congrats! You’ve cemented permission, given them credit, and wrote the ideal caption. What’s next? Spread the hard work on your various social media platforms. In doing this you are freely promoting your influencer and allowing for new and exciting influencers to collaborate with you for the chance at that same level of exposure.
