Social Media Word of Mouth
Leveraging User-generated Content and Organic Shares on Social Media
INTRODUCTION
Do you know that leveraging user generated content and organic shares on social media enhances brand authenticity and trust. Currently, social media has emerged as one of the most important and essential communication platforms in people’s lives and the world of brands. It is impossible to overemphasize the role of social media word of mouth (WOM), or the natural dissemination of information and recommendations. As many brands have discovered, any brand that is able to capitalize and leverage this phenomenon is able to create top of mind awareness, engagement and sales without necessarily investing in advertising. An important facet within this process is user generated content (UGC) where the users themselves produce and provide information concerning a specific brand or product. This may be in the form of reviews, pictures, videos, recommendations, or posts in various social media platforms which is an automatic compliment of the brand.
Nielsen’s report shows that 92% of consumers trust their fellow customers and friends and other content (UGC) as opposed to formal advertisements. Another survey conducted by Stackla showed that 79% of consumers claim that UGC significantly influences their buying behavior and is thus a crucial element of contemporary marketing strategies.
In this exhaustive guide, the focus will be on what requires to be done to effectively use social media WOM by embracing UGC and organic shares. In this guide, it will also be provided how it can be done through several practical tactics and best practices together with statistical data.
Definition Social Media Word of Mouth (WOM)
Social media WOM can therefore be defined as the process of spreading information about brands and products coupled with conversations and recommendations done through social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, facebook, and LinkedIn. Compared to the paid advertisement which is often owned and regulated by the brand, WOM is natural and initiated by the users.
Word of Mouth (WOM) Influence on Conversion Rate
A report by McKinsey & company indicates that word of mouth marketing is over 100% efficient than paid advertisement, customers referred by word of mouth have a 37% better chance of being with the company than those bought through other forms of advertising. WOM can also help lower the customer acquisition cost since it is made from organic content shared by customers themselves. While using data from Convince & Convert, WOM marketing hence leads to five times the number of purchases as compared to paid advertising and the buyers referred by friends are four times more likely to buy.
As regards the role of User-Generated Content (UGC) Importance of user generated content cannot be overlooked as it turns out to be advantageous not only to the consumers but also the producers.
What is User Generated Content?
User Generated Content is a content that is produced organically by customers as opposed to brands. It may entail anything that has been posted online that involves the use of the particular product; it may be a comment made on what people have used the particular product for, a testimonial, an unboxing video, an Instagram or Tiktok story among others. True-to-life representation: UGC makes it possible for real consumers to share their real-life experience, which always addresses the potential consumers directly.
The roles of UGC in building trust towards the brands
According to the data from Stackla, 86% of millennials are convinced that UGC can be considered as an example of brand quality. Moreover UGC is fifty percent more engaging than the brand generated content and can enhance the brand credibility. Customers who come across UGC also tend to be more reliable, with 60% of customers saying that it makes them more likely to buy the product.
User Generated Content's Role in Building Brand Trust
UGC serves as users’ opinions – therein, the potential customer is more likely to gain trust in a real experience narrated by other users. According to the research done by Crowdtap - Ipsos, Millennial say that strangers influence what they buy through UGC as 84%, it clearly shows how much influence UGC holds as a trust factor.
How to apply UGC to Social Media Word of Mouth?
Promote Readers to Write About the Product
There are several forms of UCGs of which customer feedback and recommendations are some of the most convincing. According to BrightLocal, 88% of consumers rely on online reviews as much as word of mouth and the more reviews a business has the better the chances of gaining the trust of their customers.
Host Contests and Challenges
The UGC contests and social media challenges encourage the users to create content. The survey Taken in 2020 by Influencer Marketing Hub shows that TikTok campaigns which promote challenges and UGC can result in a 70% boost in the engagement level. It is usually done hand in hand with the branded hashtags, which in return positively impact the visibility.
Imitating the Customer Engagement model with Influencers and Brand Advocates
HelloSociety’s data shows that users with 10,000-100,000 followers are 60% more effective than celebrities in terms of engagement. Availability of the product to influencers, who can share genuine experience about the product with their followers can cause them to generate UGC and also become part of the word of mouth reach.
Create Shareable Experiences
Those brands that produce exciting content are in a better position to produce the call to action by users sharing the content. For example, GoPro stated that by 2022, there were fifty million videos uploaded on YouTube that in some way promoted GoPro products; an example of the strength of an experiential brand that fosters creation.
Amplifying Organic Shares
Incentivize Sharing
It is highly useful to give small incentives to motivate consumers to create UGC. The Incentive Research Foundation points out that engaging consumers in the creation of UGC is likely to lead to your material getting 32% more shares organically, therefore raising brand recognition.
Engage with UGC
Responding to and curating UGC on social media by adding comments, likes and reposting will inevitably encourage more people to share their experiences. According to Instagram, posts featuring UGC cumulatively obtain 4.5 percent engagement from influencer-generated content which was shown to be 5% higher than that from brand-generated content.
Branded Hashtags
It also helps in consolidating UGC by comprising of branded hashtags such as; #ShareACoke of Coca-Cola. The mass market targeting of the #ShareACoke contributed over 500,000 posts in its first year hence implying that Coke’s organic WOM coverage grew exponentially.
Harnessing Viral Content
1. Craft Shareable Content
A meme, a success story or a user testimonial is more likely to reach a high viral index of popularity than Circulate content. As CoSchedule highlighted in their work, people tend to share content that elicits some sort of an emotional response from them and this makes such content sharing rates twice as high.
2. Leverage Trends
The brands that are more likely to share include brands that align themselves with trending topics, viral challenges or timely memes. TikTok for business says that by integrating virality, one gets double the engagement rate when compared to brands that do not. It has been seen that staying relevant can help amplify the ability of UGC and WOM.
Tools to Monitor and Boost Word of Mouth and User Generated Content
1. Social Listening Tools
There are various tools such as Hootsuite, Sprout Social that give brands an opportunity to track and assess the performance of the UGC. It has been ascertained that through the use of social listening, WOM marketing can be enhanced by as much as 25% thus the finding from Hootsuite.
2. Measure Engagement
The data consisting of likes, comments, shares, and mentions can be used to identify the effectiveness of UGC campaigns in the specified target period. According to research, consumers are 4x more likely to click on UGC-based ads and this comes at half the cost incurred when creating traditional ads.
Practical Application and Successful African Product Led Companies that have implored the use of User Generated Content over Word of Mouth Created Content
Jumia
Jumia, the e-commerce platform widely known across Africa, has successfully leveraged UGC to build brand trust. With its #JumiaShoppingExperience hashtag, Jumia encourages customers to share their experiences on social media, including photos, unboxing videos, and product reviews. By amplifying these posts, Jumia has managed to engage with a broad audience and create a community of loyal customers. The brand's reliance on customer testimonials and experiences has played a significant role in positioning Jumia as a trusted platform for online shopping across the continent.
Flutterwave
Flutterwave, the Nigerian fintech company, has tapped into UGC and WOM to expand its presence across Africa. Through the #WaveOnFlutter campaign, the company encourages users to share their seamless payment experiences on social media. Flutterwave also collaborates with local influencers and small businesses to create UGC that highlights real-world use cases of its platform. This organic content boosts the brand’s credibility and encourages other businesses to join the platform. The combination of UGC and WOM has significantly helped Flutterwave grow its customer base and establish trust in a competitive market.
Word of Mouth Strategy and the Procedure to Create an Effective and Sustainable WOM Strategy
Consistency
Brands must create continual presence to facilitate WOM growth. The survey also revealed that for the social media users who only view the regular content are 2. Survey says that they are 4x more likely to engage with UGC campaigns, as per Sprout Social.
Be Authentic
Consumers crave authenticity. Label Insight’s survey proved that 94% of the consumers will remain loyal to the brands, which are transparent; it shows the value of promoting real, user-generated content rather than feigned content.
Personalization
Effective WOM and UGC should be marketed in a way that increases engagement depending on the platform used. For instance, while using posts with hashtags #Adidas #Sneakers and the like, the engagement rate is significantly higher when compared to other general brand posts; it proved to be about 20% higher when it comes to UGC with personalization on Instagram. The personalization of UGC to customer experience can also be a way of creating better emotional bonds and, as a result, brand associations.
Conclusion
The power of social media WOM, fueled by user-generated content and organic shares, is undeniable. With UGC boosting engagement rates by up to 28% and WOM leading to 5x more sales than traditional ads, brands that effectively leverage this strategy can unlock immense growth potential. By encouraging authenticity, incentivizing content creation, and engaging with users, brands can build strong communities and increase their visibility across social platforms. The end result is a sustainable, cost-effective marketing strategy that turns customers into advocates and drives long-term success.
NWANKWO CHIDINMA JOY
NWANKWO CHIDINMA IS A CONTENT WRITER FOR GROWTH HACKERS AFRICA. SHE IS ALSO A SAVVY SOCIAL MEDIA REPORTER \JOURNALIST WHO HAS FLAIR FOR WRITING.