More than ever a recommendation is key. People rely on the opinion of others to solidify their impression of a brand. It can be the driving push for a B-line purchase, or could deter someone from a product.  Consider of the success of Yelp, Youtube, or even Twitter, all houses an unstoppable proliferation of reviews and a manifestation of sharing opinions. Gone are the days of tracking small mentions of your company on social media and trying to put out every online fire. It’s all about brands acquiring great users to create great user generated content and reviews to tip the scale…right over.

So why is user generated video content so awesome?

By encouraging your users to post the truest, most unfiltered content experience of your brand, is an easy window for you (and the public) to understand your consumers. User generated content will also provide a quality and realness that no other type of marketing can offer.

You can read more about how user generated video is such an impacting purchase driver (with key demographics) here:

“Last year 40% of Generation Y (which is estimated to be the largest consumer group in US history) admitted that user-generated videos impacted their decision to purchase a car.“

A car is a pretty hefty purchase too. The article goes on and mentions that user generated videos are a simple and honest method that has proven to boost businesses across multiple industries. Who knew a video could ensue a car purchase?

But Why Does User Generated Content Usually Suck?

While user generated content is great for many reasons, some brands can be uneasy of going down this path. Simply because it can be scary to think that users may not produce good quality content, or even worse, abuse the image of the brand. Many brands are concerned of their reputation, as they should be, because these brands cannot always fully facilitate what is posted on their social platforms.

Getting Great User Generated Content

Usually exists in the form of challenges, games or fun positive activities. Give your users a framework to be fun- and let them run with it. Previously mentioned in our Video Challenge post, the recent viral ALS #IceBucketChallenge is an example of where the users came up with great content. For the sake of raising awareness of the disease, the foundation challenged participants to douse themselves with a bucket of ice cold water and film it. Easy as that. By providing users a simple platform, it’s up to the participant to get as elaborate and creative as they so please. And as a result, you can find a plethora plus one of #IceBucketChallenge videos online that are very creative – within a framework. Here’s one of our favourites:

Poor Sherlock.

The Power of Protecting Your Brand with Moderation

Social Scavenger allows you to take harness the power of User Generated Content including User Generated Video. While it might be nerve-racking for brands to run photo contests on Pinterest and Instagram, or video contest on Youtube, Social Scavenger is a great one-stop solution to manage all kinds of content. The Social Scavenger app allows you to view submissions before (and after) they are posted to ensure that your brand has the best quality content flowing in. Social Scavenger gives admins the power to moderate what is uploaded and viewed by the public and then easily feature the best stuff out to any web or social property.  This means you can pick and choose what to ‘feature’ when it comes to the viral video you are dreaming of.

Rather than releasing your users off in the dark to create amazing content out of thin air, it’s more effective to provide them context in the form of a challenge. A frame working guide allows users to express their creativity by working towards an end goal- sans all the rioting and pandemonium.

Want to find out how? Check this blog post on how you use our admin tools to moderate the great content users will generate in your next Social Scavenger game.