Do you have a friend who can’t resist taking photos of her latest Hello Fresh meal creation on Facebook? How about a colleague who posts her OOTD on Instagram?
If you own or manage a business, this trend — everyday people promoting products they use, even if it’s just to their friends — is worth paying attention to.
In fact, user-generated content (UGC), which serves as word-of-mouth advertising, shows no signs of slowing down. And that’s why brands are taking advantage of it.
According to a 2016 Business Insider report, people who “interact” with UGC are 97 more likely to buy a product than customers who don’t. And according to Olapic, the ways in which millennials and boomers use and interact with UGC is very different.
For example:
• Millennials say having real people featured in a post makes the branded image more authentic while boomers say the product or service matters more.
• Millennials trust UGC significantly more than they trust brand-created content.
• Millennials rank Instagram as their favorite social platform while 90 percent of boomers prefer Facebook.
• 54% of millennials use hashtags to let friends and the brand know they use a product; 50% of boomers don’t use hashtags.
• 76% of 1000 U.S. residents surveyed for Olapic’s research say they find content posted by other consumers to be more honest than brand content.
• 27% of people surveyed say they are now turning to UGC instead of ads before making a purchase.
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