The focus on UGC is for a good reason; it improves customer satisfaction, helps brands understand their audience, provides a means for users to build community, and is inherently peer-reviewed, making it more trustworthy.

Indeed, 82% of consumers would be more inclined to buy from brands incorporating UGC in their marketing initiatives, with 86% saying they’re more likely to buy from brands that publish user-generated content — compared to just 12% who say the same about influencer content.

But more important than those reasons is the fact that UGC also has a big impact on the bottom line. According to PowerReviews, website visitors presented with user-generated content converted at a 3.8% higher rate in 2022, while users who interact with UGC are 102.4% more likely to convert than the average customer.

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Modern content marketing includes a mix of brand-created content and curated content. By now, most marketers are comfortable with re-gramming from their fans (a healthy mix includes 25-30% of content sourced from fans) and have most likely developed a branded hashtag to know when and where to find this content.

But, marketers can do much more with UGC to drive engagement and sales. Here are 12 ways to incorporate your UGC beyond your Instagram account.

1.   Your Email Campaigns

Across all industries, brands, and locations, the average email open rate is just 26.8%.

Moreover, three-quarters of consumers say their emails aren’t personalized to their needs.

User-generated content can help you solve both of those problems. Using content from actual users is helpful for consumers, allowing them to see how people use a product in real life in a relatable way.

Many brands build social proof by incorporating a hashtag feed into the footer of their email campaigns. This idea is a great start, but marketers can also incorporate UGC into the body of an email. Create a collage of images of the product paired with UGC that showcases the post-purchase moment of an actual consumer. Include a testimonial post caption from the customer if available. (Make sure to ask permission!)

UGC in email marketing works particularly well with messaging that focuses on the brand’s lifestyle, what’s trending, and promoting new releases.

2.   Cart Abandonment Cart Campaigns

First things first, a confession:

Abandoned cart campaigns are another type of email campaign.

But even though we’ve already discussed emails, cart abandonment campaigns deserve mentioning separately. Why? Because they convert far better than any other email campaign type, per data from Klaviyo, with an average conversion rate of 3.25% — a mammoth 47% higher than the second-best performer:

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As the name suggests, cart abandonment campaigns target shoppers who’ve added items to their shopping carts and bounced before completing the checkout process.

This happens far more often than you might think, with the Baymard Institute claiming the average cart abandonment rate is 70.19%. In other words, for every ten customers who add something to their online shopping cart, only three will buy there and then.

Any abandoned cart email is better than none at all. But for the best results, try adding user-generated content to your cart abandonment campaigns to show potential customers what they’re missing, just like Adidas does here:

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Notice how the UGC review is for the same product the email recipient abandoned in their shopping cart, making this email even more persuasive.

3.   To Welcome New Subscribers

New leads are worth their weight in gold. Indeed, generating quality leads is regularly recognized as one of the biggest social media marketing challenges.

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So once you’ve captured a potentially valuable lead, starting the relationship on the right foot is in your best interest.

One of the most effective ways to do this is by sharing user-generated content with new subscribers to your email marketing list, just like the health supplements brand Kurk does in this welcome email:

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UGC, in the form of customer testimonials, is a valuable addition to any welcome email because it highlights the features and benefits of your products and services without sounding too salesy. The last thing you want is to pressure new leads into buying before they’re ready — you’ll just end up scaring them off.

This approach combines well with an introductory discount (or some other type of promotion). If your user-generated content convinces new customers that your product is right for them, the discount gives them a clear reason to purchase now.

4.   In-Store Collateral

Once you have a branded hashtag, make sure to promote it everywhere. The more it gets out there and seen by customers, the more likely they’ll use it. Include a postcard with UGC and your hashtag in every purchase that encourages customers to share their pictures. For e-commerce brands, this can be a great part of the customer unboxing experience.

It is often enough of an incentive just to offer the chance for customer’s photos to be featured, but small discounts or contests in exchange for posting are a great way to build up even more hype.

Nordstrom used the hashtag #OOTD for its users to share what they wore from the store’s anniversary sale. Signage promoting the hashtag was plastered everywhere in bold yellow so customers couldn’t miss it. Nordstrom posted the images on social media, shared them on the Nordstrom website, and incorporated them into store displays for true omnichannel marketing.

5.   Product Detail Pages

We already know that UGC influences purchase decisions, so why not add it to the page where those decisions get made? Web plugins like Bazaarvoice offer a simple way to add a gallery of all your UGC to your website.

If robust platforms are beyond your budget, you can add the image from your customer as a secondary image (use a creative tool like Canva to add their handle to the image so customers know it’s UGC).

Product reviews are also a great way to incorporate peer recommendations, especially when they upload a photo with their review, allowing people to see the product on an actual customer while deciding to buy. Eighty-nine percent of customers not only value online reviews but actively seek them out before making a purchasing decision.

Make it easy for your customers to get to the next step in the customer journey by putting UGC and reviews on the same page as the product they are shopping for.

6.   Posts From Micro-Influencers

Influencers are a great source of UGC because you can develop relationships with individuals who create content that suits your brand. We always recommend developing longer-term partnerships with micro-influencers that have a genuine affinity for your brand and are more likely to act as an ambassador (talking about your brand on- and offline) rather than relying on a single post to drive action.

Sorel, for example, looks to UGC to identify influencers from their audience who have a genuine connection to the brand. They then contact those individuals to partner with them on long-term campaigns. Remember to nurture these relationships and allow them to select the product they want to promote whenever possible.

7.   Dedicated Landing Pages

Generating a consistent stream of user-generated content takes a whole heap of time and effort. So, once you’ve put in the hard yards and started to reap the rewards, why would you leave all that valuable content on your Instagram feed?

Remember, website visitors who see user-generated content are more likely to convert. Creating a dedicated landing page to house all that valuable content makes sense.

Action camera brand GoPro is aware of the importance of UGC. It runs an always-on photo-of-the-day challenge for customers to share the best snaps taken on their GoPro devices, and it shares the best of the best on Instagram and this landing page:

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8.   Paid Ad Campaigns

We all know video ads are effective. Two-thirds of marketers agree that Facebook video ads generate more clicks than image-based ads.

But it’s not quite as simple as that.

Video ads are effective, but they take significantly longer to produce. Most marketers say they only need up to an hour to create an image ad, whereas only a few say the same about video ads.

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This means you might feel you don’t have the bandwidth or budget (or both) to invest in video advertising.

Once again, user-generated content offers a solution. Rather than spending a ton of time and money on your next ad campaign, just promote your best UGC videos.

To be clear, this isn’t just a quick-and-dirty tip for tiny brands that need results fast. Some of the biggest brands on the planet put user-generated content front and center in their ad campaigns, such as this example from Peloton:

Click to watch

It’s hardly surprising when you consider how effectively UGC transforms browsers into paying customers.

Another advertiser to realize the benefits of user-generated content is Parachute, a direct-to-consumer bedding and bath brand.

It encourages customers to share lifestyle imagery featuring Parachute products. As you’d expect, the brand reshares the best content through its social channels.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by PARACHUTE (@parachutehome)

It also uses UGC in retargeting ad campaigns, giving would-be customers a more authentic feel for how their home could look if they’d only invest in a new Parachute duvet cover.

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This approach saves Parachute the time and money needed to capture its own ad creatives.

But it’s not just about generating efficiencies. User-generated content performs far better than brand-generated content. According to Bazaarvoice, Parachute’s UGC retargeting ads produce a 35% higher click-through rate and a 60% lower cost per click than regular ads.

As Luke Droulez, the brand’s former CMO, explained: “We’ve seen that our customers have a higher propensity for clicking on and engaging with rich UGC imagery than traditional product-centric imagery.”

9.   Homepage Reviews & Testimonials

We’ve already spoken about the benefit of adding customer reviews to your product pages.

But why stop there?

Reviews and testimonials are so powerful that it’s well worth adding them to even more prominent parts of your website. That’s why mattress brand Casper features UGC on its homepage, showcasing some of its most glowing customer reviews.

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They also share video testimonials created by users on TikTok:

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This strategy is beneficial for brands selling high-ticket items or products with a lengthy consideration period — in short, the type of stuff consumers need a little convincing to purchase.

10.   Answer Buyers’ Questions

Chances are prospective customers have questions about your products — how they work, what they look like “IRL,” and whether they’re appropriate for specific use cases.

You could answer all those questions yourself. But, given that consumers often prefer to get their information from people rather than brands, it might be wiser to hand over the responsibility to your customers.

Amazon is a master of this.

If you’ve ever spent any time researching products on the e-commerce marketplace, you’ll know that Amazon’s product pages contain customer Q&A sections full of user-generated questions and answers:

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These real human responses feel much more persuasive and trustworthy than your typical marketing copy.

And, of course, if your customers are happy to answer these types of questions, you don’t have to do it yourself. That’s a huge time-saver.

11.   Customer Support

You might be thinking: “Why would my customers take the time to help other customers solve their problems? Isn’t that my customer support team’s job?”

Only some brands have the luxury of relying on user-generated content to provide customer support. But it becomes a viable strategy if you’ve built a committed online community full of people who love your product and enjoy sharing their experiences with like-minded users.

Just take a look at this example from kitchen appliance brand Instant Pot, which has created a highly active Facebook group full of people who love posting recipe inspiration and offering tips on how to get the most out of various Instant Pot products:

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The group even features permanent links to evergreen content created by various community members, offering a wealth of material for customers looking for Instant Pot tips and hacks.

12.   Showcase Your Employees

When we speak about user-generated content, we typically refer to quotes, images, and videos created by your customers.

But your employees can be “users,” too. They might have hands-on experience using your product every hour of their working life and can be another valuable source of UGC.

For instance, Salesforce leverages user-generated content — or should that be employee-generated content — to promote its in-person conferences and events:

Like any other type of UGC, this strategy has twin benefits: it saves your marketing team from creating their own content from scratch and it makes you look more authentic because audiences love hearing from real people rather than faceless brands.

UGC: A Trend That’s Here to Stay

UGC may be a trend, but as authenticity becomes more and more important to consumers, it will stick around for quite some time. Customers are already posting about your brand on social, so brands should leverage those conversations.

Re-share user images already out there; customers love this recognition and engagement. Then, launch a campaign that encourages and inspires customers to take more photos and share them with you. Incorporate this campaign beyond social and into your email, website, and print campaigns. Give photo credit to the owner by mentioning and tagging them, and ensure that any photo you share fits your brand aesthetic. Once users get a sense of the quality of content that gets featured, they’ll take the hints and start producing on-brand content for you!

Consistent content is a challenge for many social media marketers. Alongside an increase in the number of businesses on social media, we see a massive increase in the quality of content by brands.

Whether you create it yourself or share it from another source, your audience expects visually compelling and original content. It shouldn’t go overboard attempting to sell a product or service.

Creating Social Media Content Vs. Finding It

Should your content marketing efforts focus on creating original content, or can you mix in curated content?

Original content can be more time-consuming and expensive, and it’s not always readily available, especially for smaller businesses that have a limited budget or are just getting started.

If you only have so much original material to share with your audience, finding other content online, weeding out the good from the bad, and curating it for your audience is entirely acceptable. Many successful content sites implement content curation as a core strategy.

Finding good content to share with your audience makes you an authority in your niche if you do it consistently and stick to interesting and high-quality pieces.

How to Find Content Ideas for Social Media

But where do you find content for social media? The sources on this list will allow you to find a consistent source of content to share on social media and inspire you to create original content.

1. Buzzsumo

Content Tool for Social Media – Buzzsumo

Some say Buzzsumo is a social media marketer’s best friend, and when it comes to looking for information to share with your audience, that’s true. Buzzsumo allows you to find the most popular social media content, and you can search for it by categories like date, keywords, and even the type of content.

Buzzsumo is also a great way to find influencers relevant to your industry, which can be another fantastic source for content.

2. Twitter Explore

Content Tool for Social Media – Twitter Explore

While many people may not think of Twitter as a search engine, a glance through the results for a particular keyword or hashtag can bring you everything from news to relevant memes related to your niche.

You can also create a list of your favorite content providers and do a quick survey of them each day. It’s a great place to look when you’re in a hurry and need quick content to share.

3. Facebook Fan Pages

Content Tool for Social Media – Facebook Fan Pages

There is a Facebook Fan Page for practically everything these days, and many of them provide excellent share-worthy content. Look for pages that relate to your niche, or pay attention to the content leaders in your industry are sharing. One of the best things about using Facebook Fan Pages is that you can sign up to receive notifications every time the pages relevant to you make a post.

4. Pinterest Search

Content Tool for Social Media – Pinterest Search

Pinterest is not just a hotbed for impossible-to-replicate recipes, though those do make great content depending on your niche.

You’ll find a little bit of everything on this social media site, from photos and memes to how-tos and instructional blog posts. Simply use the search bar and get lost in visual content. Follow your favorites to keep your feed updated with good stuff to share with your audience.

5. YouTube

Content Tool for Social Media – Youtube

If you aren’t searching YouTube for content, you should start. Once you’ve watched a few videos in a particular category, the site begins to point you in the direction of similar ones, and it should provide you with weeks worth of content.

6. Email Newsletters

Content Tool for Social Media – Email Newsletter

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Email newsletters are a great way to find the most trending topics in your niche. Email newsletters often include weekly or monthly curated lists of interesting material.

Sign up for some that relate to your niche or simply provide interesting or attractive material to share. Someone else has already gone to the trouble of choosing top-quality pieces, which can save you a little time.

7. Tumblr

Content Tool for Social Media – Tumblr

Packed full of quality visuals and links to interesting articles and other media, Tumblr is a content curator’s dream — particularly if you’re focused on trending topics that appeal to a younger audience, like fashion and travel.

8. Feedly

Content Tool for Social Media – Feedly

The news aggregator app, Feedly, is not just a great place to find material but also a great place to keep it organized. Just search for your keywords, find some sites you like, and add them to your account for regular updates.

You can also collect your favorite blogs in your niche and keep a pulse on your industry – it’s a fantastic way to find content to share on your social media accounts. The Feedly app is available for iOS and Android, making it easy to find content on the go.

9. Your Competition’s Social Media Sites

Check out what your competition or the bigger companies within your category are posting. While you don’t want to copy everything they do, it can provide you with some inspiration and send you in the right direction when you’ve just started seeking good content.

10. Scoop.It

Content Tool for Social Media – Scoop.it

The main reason people use Scoop.It is to find great content to share, so it’s important to be sure you have these handy tools in your social media marketing kit.

You sign up for an account and follow the topics and other accounts that fit the description of what you’re looking for. Your feed is then presented to you in an attractive array of pictures and articles, and you can share the things you like to almost all of your social media accounts with just the click of a button.

11. Reddit

Content Tool for Social Media – Reddit

If you’ve ever visited Reddit, you know it’s a massive website with millions of users submitting photos, discussions, links, videos, text, and other digital content types. Learning how to navigate the subreddits — at least one for practically every topic — can be overwhelming, but once you figure it out, you’ll hit the content jackpot.

12. Pocket

Content Tool for Social Media – Pocket

You may or may not be familiar with Pocket (it used to be called Read It Later), but it’s time to introduce yourself if you’re not. The app allows you to save links and articles you would like to read later, which is great if you’re skimming all of the other sources mentioned on the list.

You’ll even receive updates on trending content similar to your saves. Best of all, Pocket will point you toward timely content that keeps up with pop culture and current events.

13. Google Alerts

Content Tool for Social Media – Google Alerts

If you don’t want to search for your content, try having the content delivered to your inbox with Google Alerts. Simply go to the site, sign up for alerts based on keywords, phrases, and topics you’re interested in, and you’ll receive emails when someone posts about those topics online.

You can allow Google to sort through it and only bring you the high-quality stuff or have them send you everything. You can also sign up to receive emails as they happen or a daily digest.

14. Bloglovin

Content Tool for Social Media – Bloglovin

If you enjoy sharing content from your favorite blogs, sign up for a Bloglovin account. The platform helps you organize your favorites and find more blogs in particular categories, like DIY, fashion, beauty, lifestyle, entertainment, and home decor. You can also sign up to receive emails when your favorite blogs are updated.

15. Slideshare

Content Tool for Social Media – Slideshare

Another excellent place for finding good visual content is Slideshare. All of the material here is high-quality, and the site will make recommendations for you based on what’s trending.

How to Find Content Ideas for Social Media Without Using Tools

But finding high-quality curated content doesn’t have to mean signing up for a bunch of tools or trawling through dozens of social media accounts.

There are plenty of viable content curation strategies that don’t involve a single tool. Here are some of our favorites:

16. Share User-Generated Content

Your audience likely already loves user-generated content (UGC), with four-fifths of consumers saying it highly influences their purchasing decisions.

In contrast, just one in eight feel the same way about brand-created content. So it’s definitely in your best interests to incorporate UGC into your content curation plans.

User-generated content comes in many shapes and sizes. Popular formats include:

• Reviews and testimonials
• User-written blog posts
• Video content
• Social media posts
• Q&A sessions

GoPro is a big believer in the power of user-generated content. Spend 30 seconds scrolling its Instagram wall, and you’ll come across numerous UGC examples. Most of its content comes from its users rather than its marketing team.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by GoPro (@gopro)

How does it get so much fantastic content from its audience?

It doesn’t hurt that GoPro designed its product to capture extreme, exciting, out-of-the-ordinary imagery and video. Sharing that footage gives GoPro users a fantastic opportunity to show off their latest adventures.

And it also doesn’t hurt that GoPro has a considerable following (19 million+ on Instagram alone). If you’re an aspiring creator, getting your content shared by a brand like GoPro is a big deal.

But despite all those advantages, GoPro still realizes its audience might need a little nudge to submit high-quality UGC, which is why it runs regular incentives and competitions.

If you’re struggling to generate a consistent stream of quality UGC (or any), consider doing the same. Make your audience’s life easier by giving them clear instructions for what you’re looking for, including an engaging theme. Offer a prize worth winning — whether that’s a free product, a cash reward, a gift voucher, or a unique experience.

17. Raid Your Blog

Okay, so repurposing your own content doesn’t technically count as “curating” content, but it’s similar enough that we decided to mention it here.

Think about it. Unless you’ve only just started your blogging journey, there’s a good chance you have a sizable library of content covering a wide range of top-level subjects. For instance, here at SMSS, our blog search brings up about 240 results for the term “Facebook.”

That means you’ve got a ton of ammo for creating something fresh to share on social.

Have you created custom images for previous blog posts? Use them as the basis for new image posts. Interviewed a thought leader in your niche last year? Pull out a key quote and share it with your audience again — chances are many of them missed it the first time around. Have you published an evergreen blog that’s still relevant? Feel free to reshare it whenever you’ve got a lull in your social schedule.

18. Leverage Other Companies’ Content

Your industry likely has a handful of big companies that set the agenda.

For instance, in social media, we have the likes of Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter. If those folks were doing something new, we’d want to know about it, and so would our audience. So we might consume one of their latest blog posts (or videos, investor reports, or patent filings) and pick out the key takeaways, so you don’t have to.

That way, we get a fantastic basis for a social post, and you get a bunch of useful, interesting information without having to dig through a 20-page pdf.

SEO expert Bill Slawski has used this tactic with excellent results. He routinely dives into Google’s latest patents to find out what the search engine giant is up to next, unsurprisingly of great interest to his audience.

Generating Query Answers https://t.co/zSu3Ucccg0

— Bill Slawski ?? (@bill_slawski) May 4, 2022

19. Share Survey Results

It’s hard to overestimate the value of original surveys (that is, surveys carried out or commissioned by your organization) when curating content.

You ask several questions, share them with your audience, and end up with a substantial dataset that can be the basis for multiple social media posts.

The best thing is, if your survey is based on an evergreen topic, you can keep sharing the results months (or even years) down the line because there are so many ways to cut and slice the data to produce new insights.

For years, Orbit Media has been running a blogging survey that digs into stuff like the average word count of a blog post and the length of time bloggers spend on a typical post.

They carried out their most recent survey in September 2021, but the results are just as relevant now. Orbit is still sharing some of the juiciest tidbits on social media more than half a year after the results were first published:

Why are some bloggers so much more successful than others?

What do top bloggers do differently?

Our latest research on blogging trends ?https://t.co/0BYErBVvoQ

— Orbit Media Studios (@orbiteers) May 2, 2022

While it’s always nice to have new data, there’s no reason why those results won’t still be helpful — and shareable — in another year.

20. Tap Into Large Datasets

Like the survey idea, but don’t have the resources to run your own?

There are tons of other massive datasets available to you. While they’re publicly available, there’s so much information that it’s possible to develop engaging, unique insights and takes. That potentially makes them an extremely valuable part of your content curation strategy.

So what do these massive datasets look like? Where can you find them?

There are tons of examples — far too many to list here. But here are a few of our favorite sources:

• US Bureau of Labor Statistics: The go-to source for data on employment, inflation, wages, etc.
• Glassdoor: Offers insights into what it’s like to work for different organizations (and how much they pay).
• Numbeo: Compares the cost of living in more than 10,500 cities worldwide.
• US Census Bureau: Data on businesses, demographics, health, housing, and more.
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: A wealth of information on traffic crashes across the US, segmented in various ways, including location, type of vehicle, and type of incident.

These Sources Are Just the Beginning

These are just a few of the great places to find content to share on social media.

There are thousands more out there just waiting to be discovered.

Sometimes, all you have to do is think outside the box when searching for content that people will enjoy, engage, and share themselves. What’s the most unique place you’ve ever relied on for social media content?

Want to dominate social media strategy within your organization? Register today for our next summit in your area and/or our next virtual event: Social Media Strategies Summit!

Here are some similar articles you might enjoy:

• Readability: How to Ensure Your Blog Content Doesn’t Scare Off Visitors
• 6 Ways to Create Marketing Content That Stands Out From the Noise
• 9 Strategies For Creating an Effective Social Media Content Calendar

Source: Statista

The quick growth of this format comes as no surprise – users are responding well to the ephemeral and unpolished nature of the platform. According to Instagram, they’ve learned that younger audiences, in particular, are “spending more time with amateur content creators and less time with professionals.” Instagram Stories for marketing is such an important concept that we included it as the first of our top marketing trends for 2019.

Instagram Stories are being used by 70% of businesses and while that number is impressive, it means there are still businesses out there who haven’t incorporated them into their marketing strategies. For those who aren’t convinced of the power of Instagram Stories, here are several reasons why it should be a part of all brand marketing:

• Instagram Stories lives in a prime location within the Instagram app. When users open the app, it is the first thing they see. This prime real estate makes it an easy way to increase reach and get attention over traditional profile posts which can get lost in the feed.
• The interactive nature of Instagram Stories makes it highly engaging for audiences and encourages users to communicate directly with your brand.
• Instagram reported that Stories have encouraged users to use the platform longer and more frequently, increasing from about 14-21 minutes to about 24-32 minutes daily.
• Profiles with a follower count of over 10,000 are able to add the ‘swipe-up’ function to take audience directly to a web link.
• Instagram Stories for marketing gives brands a better reason to share everyday, behind-the-scenes content, increasing authenticity as well as visibility.

Now that we’ve convinced you of the power of Instagram Stories for marketing, read our guide on the best way to incorporate Instagram Stories into your strategy.

Source: InstaBoom

The Ultimate Guide To Using Instagram Stories in Marketing

1. Understand your audience and identify your goals

Any good strategy starts with an understanding of what you want to accomplish. When establishing goals, think about what you are trying to get your audience to do. Do you simply want to raise awareness for your brand or your profile content? Or are you trying to drive a certain action – like traffic to your website?

Your goals will influence the type of content you create, but another key component of your strategy should be understanding your audience. Your audience will make achieving your goals possible, so they should be an integral part of your strategy. If you aren’t in the habit of it already, start checking your audience insights to see what you can learn about the people already following you. Take these insights and craft an audience persona, and then build out your content plan to share Stories that this persona will want to watch.

2. Experiment with different types of content and measure your results

If you are just starting out with stories, you may want to experiment a bit with different types of content to see what your audience responds to the most. This is easier to accomplish via Instagram Stories than with other types of content because Stories disappear after 24 hours. By nature, the creative within Stories doesn’t have to be as polished as a newsfeed ad, for example.

Some Instagram Stories content to try include Q&A polls, quizzes, contests, live video, behind the scenes, or day in the life type features. Instagram is always releasing new ‘stickers’ and video options, so it’s a good idea to test out those options as they get released.

Source: Later

Once you have some Instagram Stories in your archive, you can use Instagram Insights to measure the effectiveness of your content. Here is a partial list of the type of metrics you can track for each Story:

• Impressions: the total number of views for a story
• Reach: the number of unique accounts that viewed your story
• Forwards: the number of people who tapped the screen to see the next story you posted
• Backward Taps: the number of people who tapped the screen to see the previous image or video again
• The number of replies you received for a story
• The number of taps to the next story published by another account
• The number of clicks you received for a link added in a story
• The number of taps users made to exit your story

By reviewing these metrics regularly, you can gain an understanding of which Instagram Stories content is driving the most preferred action. From here, identify your best performing content and build those features into your editorial plan.

Source: NYSE

3. Create an editorial calendar

An editorial calendar is critical for Instagram Stories marketing. Because the content disappears after 24 hours, it can easily feel overwhelming to create new content each day if you don’t have a solid plan in place. The easiest way to manage Instagram Stories content for marketing is to create a calendar that follows consistent themes for each day of the week.

This not only simplifies the job of creating content, but consistency is also key to building an audience that follows your brand for a specific reason. Consistency in Stories will also support brand awareness and trust. Just be careful not to post content that becomes redundant, as this can lead to unfollows. The example above, from NYSE, is a regular Instagram Stories feature on their account. They use consistent formatting each week, but interview different people to keep their Stories fresh.

When crafting your Stories themes, lead your audience through a beginning, middle, and end, and aim to tell this story in about 4-6 slides. Longer stories are more likely to see audiences drop-off halfway through your content.

4. Develop a consistent look and voice within stories

As we mentioned previously, since Stories are ephemeral in nature brands don’t need to create highly branded creative. It’s more important to embrace the spontaneity and authenticity of the platform. However, consistent and repeated visual and voice cues will reinforce the brand. Just like the consistency of themes, audiences respond positively when they see visuals that they recognize.

When using Instagram Stories for marketing, businesses must maintain the delicate balance between being ‘on-brand’ and appearing ‘social’ (creating content that fits within the ecosystem of the platform). Incorporate elements from the Instagram Stories vocabulary that are on-brand (for example, colors, emojis, GIFs and stickers).

The jewelry and accessory brand, Lizzie Fortunato does an excellent job creating Stories that are visually appealing, on-brand, and fit within the Instagram Stories platform.

Source: Lizzie Fortunato

5. Utilize all of the interactive features of Instagram Stories

Whenever a social media platform starts unveiling new features or tools, it’s important to find a way to incorporate them into your strategy. This is likely a signal that that platform wants to see more of this type of content. They know what users want, and often, will prioritize certain types of content in their algorithms. There are so many new interactive features for Instagram Stories that have been unveiled in the past year or so and they all offer fun opportunities to have your followers engage with you in an organic way.

• Instagram Live – use for announcing a new product or interviewing your CEO.
• Questions – create a story highlight with FAQs or testimonials you receive from followers
• Poll – try a “this or that” series.
• Quiz – people cannot resist a quiz! This new feature can generate random questions or you can select your own.
• Countdown – when you use this feature for an event, users can set a “reminder” so they can get notified when the countdown is over and can share your countdown in their Stories.

Source: Later

6. Highlight your best stories

Instagram Stories Highlights are an incredible tool for businesses to showcase their best brand features and products. Since highlights live front-and-center on your Instagram profile, they are the perfect way to communicate your value proposition to your audience. Given the high visibility of these highlights, it’s important to think strategically about what content you want to feature within them.

Depending on your business, you may want to feature product collections or themes, special promotions or seasonal events, customers or influencers, or specific topics that you know your audience is interested in. Whatever you decide to use your highlights for, make them visually appealing with custom highlight cover graphics (see the example above from Cassey Ho for visually appealing and on-brand cover graphics).

Source: Easy Promo App

7. Use Instagram Stories for marketing campaigns

Once you’ve mastered posting to Instagram Stories, it can also be a great platform for targeted marketing campaigns. The platform makes it easy to launch and build a campaign that capitalizes on the interactivity and engagement that is native to Instagram Stories. Here are a few ideas:

• Host a giveaway aimed at increasing user-generated content by asking followers to post a picture relevant to your brand along with a contest-specific hashtag.
• Launch a new product or collection with a series of behind the scenes videos featuring the countdown sticker. (See example above from Easy Promo App, which creates urgency by telling viewers how long they have left to enter).
• Go Live to engage in a real-time Q&A with your followers (need more tips on going Live? Check out our recent post on Instagram Live).
• Use the Instagram ‘close friends list’ to share an exclusive coupon code to kick off a promotion.

2019 may go down as the year of Stories, so if you haven’t started using them in your marketing strategy, now is a good time to start. For those using Instagram Stories for marketing already, what tactics have you found effective? Do you have any to add to this list?

Other content resources you might find helpful:

• 14 TIPS THAT WILL HELP YOU MASTER INSTAGRAM LIVE
• TOP 10 BRANDS KILLING IT ON INSTAGRAM
• 5 BEST PRACTICES FOR INSTAGRAM STORIES

Looking for more?! Check out all of our insights into the latest Instagram marketing strategies and be sure to register soon for one of our upcoming in-person or virtual social media marketing conferences!

One year ago, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg said that the future of the platform was video. Facebook followed this announcement with huge investments in Facebook Watch and Instagram TV, encouraged the continued use of video in ads and pushed the adoption of ephemeral videos within the Facebook stories feature.

These growing platforms and their influence on video marketing is not a surprise, given that video consumption is expected to make up more than 80% of all internet traffic by 2021. Video content is easy to consume and resonates with today’s on-the-go consumers. 90% of customers say video helps them make buying decisions, while 64% of customers say that seeing a video makes them more likely to buy.

So where is video headed in 2019? Read on for our top 10 video marketing trends for this year.

(Source: Instagram)

Trend # 1: The continued rise of video in Stories

As of January 2019, Facebook reported that there are now more than 400 million people viewing Instagram Stories daily. This number is up from 250 million people in June 2018. The feature is highly engaging and effective at reaching consumers in the 13-34 age group.

Based on the growing influence of Stories and the declining reach of newsfeed ads, Facebook expects Stories to drive video ad spend on the platform to double in the next year. Facebook Stories may have been slower to catch on, but the platform now boasts 1 billion shares every day.

When asked about the growth of Stories as an advertising placement, Mark Zuckerberg said, “I’m optimistic that we’ll get ads and Stories to perform as well as Feed over time… and that the opportunity will be even bigger, because it looks like Stories will be a bigger medium than Feed has been.”

Marketers should pay attention any time Facebook announces they are making an investment in a tool or feature. This typically means it will become a bigger piece of the marketing mix in the future.

Trend #2: The declining cost of video production

Source: Small Business Trends

For years, video has been best utilized by big brands and businesses with the budgets and production capabilities to create it. Smaller businesses and teams have struggled, citing the cost and time required to build video assets as the primary challenge in using video more (State of Social Video for 2018).

Despite resource challenges, many marketers did try to experiment with video for the first time in 2018. Most plan to incorporate more video into their marketing in 2019, citing shortened production timelines and ease of in-house creation as reasons why they will be able to use more video in their 2019 marketing strategies (HubSpot).

The rise of ephemeral, less production-heavy video and new tools have made it easier than ever to make and share video. One example is the video creation kit from Facebook, which allows users to create mobile-first video ads that use your existing photo assets, text overlays, and logos.

Trend #3: Consumers will want to see a more educational & informative video

Source: Small Business Trends

The influence of TV advertisements is giving way to a consumer desire for more informative, educational video. According to the State of Video Marketing by HubSpot, 39% of consumers want to see more ‘explainer videos’. This type of content is highly effective on social video platforms like YouTube.

While marketers often think of this type of video as boring, it is helpful in making purchase decisions and understanding how to use products. 52% of consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in online purchase decisions (Invodo).

Trend #4: Video formats will continue to diversify

Source: MDG Advertising

As mobile usage has grown, so has the call for adopting vertical video – with many marketers calling it a ‘non-negotiable for modern viewers’. However, consumers don’t seem to be as concerned with this trend.

60% of our respondents told us they’d flip their phone horizontally to take a video on their phone, and 75% told HubSpot that they would actually prefer to watch a video horizontally. What does turn off viewers is watching a video that isn’t optimized for the platform they are on – 82% were irritated by video that wasn’t optimized to watch horizontally or vertically (HubSpot).

For brands to succeed in 2019, they will need to optimize their video content both for the platform and the delivery format. Marketers should consider the consumer, and all of the places they may see the content and then create the video for that specific use.

Trend #5: Social Media will become more video focused

As we mentioned in the introduction to this post, Mark Zuckerberg explicitly said that he believes the future of both Facebook and Instagram lies in video. But he isn’t the only one saying this. Marketers only have to look to where consumers hang out to see that social media is a critical distribution tactic for video.

Currently, 49% of consumers connect with branded videos on Facebook, 32% on YouTube, 24% on Instagram, 22% on Snapchat and 22% on Twitter (Forbes). Social video also generates 1200% more shares than text and images combined.

For brands, succeeding on social media in the coming years may increasingly depend on their ability to create and share video on the platforms.

Trend #6: Video will become more searchable

At the end of 2018 Google announced that it will start showing relevant video clips in search results with its Featured Video card. This feature will play only clips of a video that are directly relevant to the user’s search results.

While Google has long realized the importance of video (they acquired YouTube in 2006), new technological advances in artificial intelligence are making it possible for the search engine to provide even more relevant videos to consumer searches.

Embrace the trend of searchable video by uploading your videos to YouTube (videos are 53 times more likely than traditional web pages to receive an organic first-page ranking). If you haven’t delved into YouTube yet, it’s time to think about your strategy on that platform.

(Source: The Next Web)

Trend #7: Video will become more shoppable
Social media platforms are investing heavily in understanding shopping behaviors in order to build native shopping, checkout and advertising placements (AdWeek). At the same time, brands are experimenting and embracing video as part of the buyer’s journey. Video on an e-commerce product page is shown to increase order value by at least 50% and 96% of consumers find video helpful in making a purchasing decision.

Brands don’t need to wait for social platforms to figure out shopping features. New technology in video production makes it possible to add interactive touch points in any video – allowing your audience to learn more, shop or get in touch. Smart marketers are testing ways to give video viewers the ability to ‘swipe to buy’ now so they are ahead of the pack when these features become mainstream.

Trend #8: Video will become interactive

Interactive video drives engagement by giving the viewer the ability to interact and even control video content as if playing a video game. All of the major content platforms are embracing this trend including Netflix’s choose your own adventure style of the popular show, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, in December of 2018. YouTube is also experimenting with interactive advertisements as well as original programming.

Brands have started building interactivity into their videos, such as this example from Ted Baker and this music video from Major Lazer. If your brand is ready to get started with interactive video, but you aren’t sure where to start, there are several solutions (including Wire Wax and Hello Eko) that can help.

Trend #9: Use of Cinemagraphs & Gifs in Advertising

Source: Bold Content

It isn’t always necessary to build a full video to create the effect of movement. Cinemagraphs and Gifs offer a way to add movement to an image without the full production of creating a video asset. A cinemagraph is a photo and video hybrid which contain a subtle motion that plays on a seamless loop while the rest of the image remains still. An animated gif has a sequence of multiple frames encoded into a single image file.

These animations are particularly useful in driving conversions from Facebook ads, where video creative is optimized at a lower CPC but doesn’t typically convert as well as image ads.

Trend #10: Increase in video ad spend
In 2018, brands spent over $90 billion dollars on video ads. According to a recent Forrester report that number is expected to rise to $102.8 billion by 2023. Growth in video consumption and advancements in analytics have made video a key component to any online advertising strategy.

As more marketers adopt video and test new delivery formats, we can expect competition for video ads to increase. Brands are expected to adopt more vertical, bumper (short, pre-roll ads) and non-skippable ad formats in their strategies.

These 10 trends all reinforce the importance of video in marketing and the expected growth of the medium in years to come. Whether you are new to video or a seasoned veteran, it’s time to assess your video strategy and see where you may be falling behind. What trends do you see happening with video? Are there any we didn’t include?

Looking for more?! Check out all of our latest insights into Video and be sure to register soon for one of our upcoming in-person or virtual social media marketing conferences!

Creating videos is just the first step of making this powerful form of content work for you. It is also critically important to distribute the video on platforms where your target demographic is already spending time. Enter YouTube. The popular video sharing platform is the 2nd most visited website in the world. It is a key platform in reaching several demographics, from GenZ to Baby Boomers and nearly everyone in between. According to recent research from Statista, 96% of 18- to 24-year-olds and half of internet users over the age of 75 use YouTube. YouTube also reaches more Americans aged 18 to 34 than any TV network.

If you are planning to use YouTube in your marketing strategy in 2019, it’s not enough just to upload your videos. Marketers must develop a strong strategy to stand out and reach your audience: there are already more than 50 million content creators regularly sharing video on the platform and competition is fierce. Get inspired to take your YouTube strategy to the next level with a look at the 10 Best Brands on YouTube.

Top 10 Best Brands on YouTube

1. LEGO uses UGC to keep fans engaged

Source: Lego

LEGO boasts more than 7.5 million subscribers, ranging from children to adult fans of LEGO. The brand uses a mix of original content and user-generated content (UGC) to keep fans engaged.

The brand regularly runs campaigns aimed at getting followers to share their content. For example, the ‘Build It Together’ campaign encouraged fans to build a Christmas present for someone using Legos. Fans could enter their videos or photos of their creations for a chance to be featured.

Rather than trying to control their video content on YouTube, LEGO also encourages its fan base to create channels of their own. By doing so, they capitalize on fans’ existing engagement levels. Some fan channels have hundreds of thousands of subscribers of their own.

TAKEAWAY: Think beyond your own content and encourage your followers to share videos of their own.

2. Disney modernizes its content to fit the platform

While Disney is known for its well-loved movies and animations, the brand doesn’t rely on this content for its YouTube channel. Instead, they create content that fits the platform – including the retelling of their favorite stories with emojis and tutorials on illustrations. The result is that this heritage brand feels very modern and in touch with what today’s YouTube user wants to see. Disney knows what their audience loves, and makes that type of content easily available on YouTube. They use interest specific sub-channels to make it easy for followers to find exactly what they are looking for.

TAKEAWAY: Create video content specifically for the platform.

3. BMW creates content tailored to the car enthusiast

BMW knows its customer. People who buy BMWs are car enthusiasts, so they create content where experts share historical and technological information about the brand’s various cars. BMW’s subscribers also get a first look at official launch films and web series. They use content as a type of funnel tactic to engage both current and potential customers.

BMW’s Head of Digital Marketing, Jorg Poggenpohl, says, “Based on data-driven insights we wanted to create relevant and snackable content in helpful and entertaining ways.” Their mobile-first, content-led approach has helped to increase mobile visitors by 27% in 2019.

TAKEAWAY: Know your customer to create videos that they will want to watch.

4. Google combines what they stand for with what their audience cares about

Google owns YouTube, so it’s not exactly surprising that they know how to use the platform. They created a documentary series Search On that taps into the bigger reasons that people are searching on Google. The series tells the stories of people around the world who are using Google technology to solve big problems, answer hard questions, and take action.

One of the key drivers of content creation for Google is identifying the sweet spot between
“what the brand stands for” and “what their audience cares about.” Search On is a great example of how engaging content can be created when you identify that intersection.

TAKEAWAY: Look for story opportunities that represent your brand AND engage your audience.

5. GoPro rewards fans with the GoPro Awards

GoPro’s key value proposition is that the camera makes it easy for their customers to capture video of their experiences. They harness the incredible amount of video created by fans through contests and rewards. GoPro shares the most engaging examples of user-generated content on the brand’s YouTube channel and their brand website. They also make it easy for their 5 million subscribers to submit a video and enter challenges online.

TAKEAWAY: Reward fans for using and sharing videos of your products.

6. Nike collaborates with YouTube influencers to expand reach

Nike has close to 1 million subscribers on YouTube, but influencers Dan and Lincoln Markham of the popular YouTube show, What’s Inside? have nearly 6 million followers. So Nike worked with Dan and Lincoln to create a series of sponsored videos for the show, including a trip to Nike headquarters and a video depicting Nike’s newest shoe, the Air Vapormax, getting cut in half.

TAKEAWAY: Think beyond your own audience.

7. Redbull creates customer-centric content

Redbull is targeting the younger, highly desirable 18-34 demographic, but they understand that customers in this range are extremely savvy when it comes to advertising. Instead of trying to market products to these customers, the brand instead focuses on sharing lifestyle content around activities the audience loves. The video above has over 2 million views, and while it’s technically a commercial, the product is secondary to the amazing things the athletes are able to achieve.

TAKEAWAY: Don’t focus too heavily on the product.

8. Victoria’s Secret takes their fashion show omnichannel

Victoria’s Secret was the first (in 2010) to televise their fashion show. At the time, this cutting edge move took the fashion show from an event for the few and made it a must-see show for the masses. The brand has evolved the show with the times, embracing social media (in particular YouTube) as a way to create more ways for fans to engage with the show. Rather than posting promotional content, Victoria’s Secret uses the appeal of their models and visual aesthetics to create compelling and informative content. Audiences can learn how to work out like the models and go behind the scenes at the latest fashion shows.

TAKEAWAY: Offer viewers more ways to interact with the content they already love.

9. Chanel focuses on beauty content

While Chanel is known as a luxury fashion brand, their YouTube strategy is based on the content that gets the most views. In 2018, beauty-related content generated more than 169 billion views. As a result, most of Chanel’s videos are make-up tutorials and features on new beauty products. This approach has helped the brand to grow their subscribers to almost double its nearest competitor, Dior.

TAKEAWAY: Let the data guide your strategy.

10. WWE goes behind the scenes with their original series

With more than 2.69 million subscribers, the WWE YouTube channel is one of the most-followed entertainment and sports brands on YouTube. The entertainment brand uses the channel to put a spotlight on their stars. Original series increase fan engagement by taking viewers outside of the ring and behind the scenes, making viewers feel like they know the WWE superstars.

TAKEAWAY: Take your audience behind the scenes.

It is helpful for marketers to assess the strategies of the best in class YouTube strategies as they look to build their own. These 10 brands are some of the best on YouTube, but they aren’t the only ones driving results with the video platform. Which companies do you think are the best brands on YouTube?

Looking for more?! Check out all of our latest insights into Video and be sure to register soon for one of our upcoming in-person or virtual social media marketing conferences!

There has also been huge growth in Instagram Direct Messages (375 million users engage with DMs), which Instagram Stories is attributed with bolstering. Instagram DMs is a direct connection between brands and their audience, making them especially valuable to brands. Instagram Stories can capture the attention of your audience and encourage them to reach out to you via direct message, and TechCrunch reports that consumers are doing this. One in five Instagram Stories shared by a brand receives a direct reply.

At their best, Instagram Stories are a way of visually telling stories and opening the door for the audience to engage and interact with a brand. At their worst, they share unengaging or unattractive content without a clear message, quickly becoming a part of the ‘noise’ and getting skipped just as fast.

To help you ensure your Stories fall into the former category, we’ve outlined a few best practices below.

1.     Plan out your creative

If you are using your Stories for a campaign, be strategic in how you design your artwork. Mockups of stories can be made in photoshop, and then sliced into different pieces of artwork and uploaded individually to Stories. If you can, consult a graphic designer to help ensure that the pieces work well together as a whole.

If you are creating Stories without the help of a creative team, play around with the features and try out different orders of images and videos. Create an image, save it, and then discard it without publishing. Once you have a few of these reviews them in your camera roll and decide which version supports your key messages best.

Remember… your first ½ second of content has to be visually engaging to keep audiences watching!

2. Don’t make your Stories too corporate

While it’s important to plan out creative, the best Stories utilize the features available within the platform. Dry, over-produced content is more likely to be skipped. Don’t stick too closely to your corporate style guide, especially if that guide doesn’t match the native look of Stories.

Stories create a delicate balance between being on-brand and maintaining consistency, while still appearing ‘social’ and delivering creative the Instagram audience is expecting to see on Stories. But because of the temporary nature of Stories, it’s easier for even serious brands to be a bit more playful in their approach.

Ultimately, brands have to decide which features work for their brand and work to incorporate their logo, colors, and messages in a way that feels authentic to the platform. For some, it is a good idea to form a separate Stories style guide.

DO include your brand’s logo in some way, either by overlaying it on an image or including imagery of packaging, like this Hugo Boss example.

3.  Pick a theme

They are called Stories for a reason. Think through the content you are sharing and make sure it tells a cohesive story. Let your first slide set the scene for what audiences can expect.

Some of the best performing content on Stories are behind the scenes, how-tos, lists, brand announcements, Influencer takeovers, polls and day in the life features. You may want to set a loose schedule for your brand so you know what you are sharing every day. Just don’t make any schedule too strict, you need space to capture the unexpected.

Stories are also ideal for sharing a lot of product in a short amount of time. The key with Stories is to get your audience to make a fast decision (swipe up, visit your bio or message you). A 15-second video flashing through new product is a great way to get consumers to want to see more.

Story highlights are a great way to continue to share your content within your key categories. Strategically pick your story highlight topics. If you do a product announcement every week, make sure one of your highlights is all about product highlights so interested audiences can interact with your Stories long after the 24 hours are over.

Remember… Save all of your content (or set your content to automatically archive your Stories) so you can reference it later.

4.    Include clear text direction

Despite the fleeting nature of Stories, as a brand, you are still trying to communicate a message to your audience and drive action. Remember your marketing 101 and include some sort of call to action in your content. This could be asking your audience to engage with a poll, encouraging them to visit your profile or send a direct message, or telling your audience to ‘swipe up’ to visit your website. Whatever it is, make sure that your Story is unfolding in a way that the call to action is relevant and useful for your audience.

Even Stories focused on brand awareness should utilize text. Content without text to give context can make it hard for an audience to understand what they are seeing. And since we know that the majority of videos are watched silently, marketers can’t rely on sound to give context either.

Great example: Universal Music / Polydor Kendrick Lamar x SZA

5.   Work within the parameters of the platform.

Don’t post too close to the edge of the screen. This can make interactive stories features like polls hard for the watcher to engage with. Also, your audience is watching your stories on different size screens. You don’t control how they are seeing your content. By keeping important elements like text centrally located, you can ensure it will be clear.

Format your stories vertically. Like it or not, most of today’s content will be viewed on a mobile phone. And as a mobile-first app, Instagram and its Stories were built to be enjoyed the way you hold your phone, vertically. The simplest way to do this is to start with a video or a photograph that was taken vertically, but if that’s not an option, there are a number of apps available that have Stories templates you can use to format your slides properly. Try Adobe Express, Ripl, or HypeType.

Include Hashtags and Location tagging. These features will help your content to get more impressions and appear earlier in your audience’s feed of Stories.

Pro Tip: Aim for 4-6 posts in Stories per day. Any more and your audience is likely to stop viewing ½ way through your content.

There is a reason why Stories are responsible for people spending more time in-app: they are engaging, fun to watch and highly interactive. For brands, they present a unique way to show personality, to relate to their audience and to drive direct communication and action.