The Adventure Brand’s Guide to User-Generated Content on Facebook
Are you overwhelmed by feeling like you are constantly seeking out content to post on social media for your adventure brand? A simple solution that saves time and money while authentically telling your brand story may have been right there in front of you all along: User-Generated Content.
User-Generated Content (UGC) is any form of media, including images, videos, blogs, text, and audio that customers of your brand have posted on social media. As adventure brand owners, we can often be so focused on gaining new customers or adding new followers to our social media community, that we neglect the community of users that are already behind us cheering us on. Repurposing UGC is a great way to say “Thank you” to our existing community, while also appealing to potential new customers.
UGC Saves Time and Money
UGC is free and created for you by your customers. Maybe you are at the peak of your season and find it time-consuming to get out into the field to get videos or photos of your brand in action. Maybe you don’t have it in your budget to hire someone to be collecting quality content to tell your story. Let your customers do it for you! The odds are that your customers have a GoPro or camera in hand as they float down the river on your guided trip or climb through the trees at your adventure park. The awesome thing about being an adventure brand is that people are already eager to share their experience with your company on social media to show it off to their friends and family.
UGC Helps to Tell Your Brand Story In an Authentic Manner
It’s no secret – people trust one another over brands. You could tout your accomplishments and promote your brand on social media all day long but that will never compare to a reference from a happy customer. UGC gives potential customers an authentic, inside look into your adventure brand experience from the point of view of someone just like them. Because of this, UGC often gets more engagement than promotional posts. It is also often easy to be jaded by our own brand experience, so UGC can offer a fresh perspective on your brand story from someone who is experiencing it for the first time.
UGC Creates Brand Loyalty
Simply put, people love social media exposure. Reposting UGC is a way of showing users that you are thankful for their support and a great way of keeping them engaged even after their trip is long over. Knowing that your adventure brand appreciates their interaction and is using it in their social media marketing can create brand loyalty. Not only do you get free, engaging content, but the user gets exposed to your following and vice versa. UGC is a win-win for both the brand and the user because both are now being introduced to a larger audience than they would have on their own.
How to Find & Post your UGC on Facebook
Now that you have decided to implement UGC into your social media strategy, let’s get down to the actual process for sharing your users’ content on Facebook.
1. Navigate to the notifications for your business page.
2. Then click on your “Activity”.
3. From activities, you can either explore your “Mentions” or “ Check-ins”.
“Mentions” mean that your business was included in the caption of the post or tagged in the attached media. A “Check-in” means that the user tagged the photo as taken at your location. Either of these are great for finding UGC to use to repost!
4. Find a quality UGC post that is on brand for your company & share it.
Once you have decided on a post that you like you can click the share button to create a post for your page. Also, it is never a bad idea to say a short “Thank you” on the original post before you share it to your own page.
5. Write a new caption & repost.
From there you can write a creative caption to repurpose the photo with your unique brand voice OR you can make reference to the original caption from the user. After you hone in on a caption, hit post… and voila! You’ve successfully leveraged UGC, continued to tell your brand story, and engaged with your consumers.
Pro Tips for Posting User-Generated Content:
Use Contests to Generate An Influx of UGC at Once
Maybe you are in the off-season and the weather conditions are less than perfect (think raft company whose property is now blanketed in ice and snow) so you are running low on quality content. You can get an influx of UGC by hosting a contest. Ask your users to share a photo or video and the story behind what made the experience with your adventure brand so special for a chance to win a prize.
- Make sure that you note that they need to tag your brand in the post.
- Ask them to share your original post about the contest in order to expand the reach.
- Make sure that the prize is something related to your followers’ interests or even better yet, something that you can provide to keep them engaged with your brand, like tickets or free merchandise.
Don’t Be Afraid to Post From Other Brands As Well
Posting content from other brands in your industry or community is another effective way of co-marketing. In the adventure brand industry, you not only have to promote your brand but you also have to encourage consumers to visit your destination. Engaging with other brands in your community and reposting their content is a great way to establish your community as a travel destination while getting in front of each others’ social media following. Check back for more details on this subject in a blog post to come in the future.
Ready to implement UGC on your Instagram as well? Check out The Adventure Brand’s Guide to User-Generated Content For Instagram.
Happy Posting!
