As AI content becomes endemic in marketing, being ‘more human’ is increasingly important. AI tools are building in idiosyncrasies to better emulate humans. And AI crawlers are looking for human experience filled content to return in search.
We’ve talked about the evolution of SEO to GEO. Here’s another tactic that is newly important when it comes to making your content AI-friendly. UGC.
User Generated Content (UGC) Three Ways
When it comes to distinctive human-led content, it’s time to dust off another old acronym – UGC. As tools become ever easier for anyone to use, the technical barriers to customers and stakeholders creating content are low. In an automated age, UGC is monarch. Here are three ways to think about it.
Lean in to community
Back in the day, BT’s service community and similar were feted for being ‘run’ by volunteers who shared content and helped others. Great UGC like this helps build direct relationships with and between customers.
It may have gone a bit out of fashion for a bit, but there’s a renewed opportunity now for brands to lean into community development. People like contact with people and brands like first party data.
B2B brand Kotini is a case in point. Their buyer and seller onboarding platform for estate agents runs a 42k member community in Facebook for first time buyers. When it comes to demand capture they can fish where the fish are.
Put customers in your advertising
Putting customers front and centre in marketing is a newer, welcome development.
B2C clothing brand Snag almost exclusively uses customers in its advertising. This is perfect for top of funnel brand awareness: reflecting buyers back to themselves to build connection. And over time, it fuels retention and advocacy.
B2B – from startups to enterprise – is crying out for this kind of UGC.
Real reviews
There are few better tools to help a customer over the purchase line. Only someone who has used a product can give authentic feedback. Plus, the first E of EEAT is experience, so you know that content will work for SEO and GEO. But everyone has review fatigue so how can you encourage customers to leave a review?
Employee engagement software provider 15five gamifies customer reviews. It responds to customers that interact online, inviting them to an exclusive ‘Leaders Program’. Leaders members accumulate online points – for reviews, referrals and blog comments, amongst other activities – that can be redeemed for offline prizes and benefits.
Genuine authentic marketing
We recognise the trend of prizing imperfect and idiosyncratic content as an antidote to polished AI execution. Prioritising user generated content is a great way to create genuine authentic marketing assets at a minimum, and more, to build stronger brand and customer relationships.
