User-generated content, also known as UGC campaigns, is a powerful way for businesses to engage with their target audience and build a following for their brand. Customers being given the opportunity to share their experience using and engaging with your products and services creates a sense of invaluable trust between you and them, and serious credibility with potential new customers.
Review email marketing is one of the most effective ways to collect UGC. It’s a method that the team here at SmartMail have utilized for our clients for years to great effect and we would love to help achieve the same with your business.
What are UGC campaigns?
A user-generated content campaign is a marketing technique that uses customer-sourced content to help promote a product. From social media posts and reviews, to shared photos, videos and blog posts, UGC can include any and all content produced by your customers about your product or service.
What is the goal of UGC?
UGC campaigns can help your business achieve a variety of different goals. One key goal is encouraging engagement from your customers with your brand. The more positive engagement generated, the better and more widely promoted your products and services will be.
UGC can create a deep sense of trust between customers and companies through the development of genuine social proof. The build up of more reviews, testimonials, and the like will go a long way towards influencing potential new customers.
Examples of UGC
There are a variety of different examples of UGC, and each different type will appeal to and suit different types of businesses.
- Hashtag campaigns on social media
- Photo or video posts
- Reviews and testimonials
- Blog or vlog reviews
- General social media posts
- Review email marketing
Review Email Marketing
A product review email is one of our favorite types of UGC campaigns. Essentially, a review email is sent by a company to customers who have recently made a purchase or interacted with your brand. The point of the email is to encourage them to write and provide a review of the product, service or experience.
Used by companies across industries to generate positive social proof and encourage further engagement, there are many benefits to running a product review email campaign.
Benefits of a Product Review Email
1. Authenticity
As mentioned above, a good product review email will solicit more trustworthy and authentic reviews to further encourage other potential customers to make a purchase or engage with your business.
2. Cost-effective
UGC campaigns, and especially review emails, are a highly cost-effective way of both generating content and creating promotional material.
3. Engagement
In a digitized and social media-centric world, ongoing engagement is a vital marketing strategy for ensuring your brand remains top of mind with your customers. Review email marketing provides a great avenue for exactly that.
4. Positive Reviews
Word of mouth and social proof are the best ways to increase a brand’s popularity and ensure success. The more UGC in the form of testimonials and reviews you can procure the stronger your online brand image will be.
5. General Awareness
Your business’s social media reach may be significant but it is still limited. The more your customers generate and share content related to your brand, the more connected accounts and individuals will be exposed to your offering.
6. Gain insights
All UGC campaigns offer invaluable insights into the behavior, preferences and experiences of your customers. Even surprising behaviour or less-than glowing reviews can offer enormous potential for improvement of your products and services.
7. Build a Community
Community is important, and it’s only becoming more so as the world shifts more and more to a social media centric economy. Building a community around your brand depends on your ability to successfully encourage engagement between users and potential users of your products/services.
Product Review Email Template Tips
We highly recommend you speak to the SmartMail team today for custom advice in creating a UGC email campaign that works.
When it comes to product review emails, however, the following strategies are best practice to get you started.
1. Know What To Include
Here’s a short list of what your product review email should include:
- A clear, encouraging request for a review.
- Simple and easy-to-follow instructions on how to write a review.
- A hyperlink to your company’s website page with product reviews or a third-party review platform you use.
- Reference to incentives to entice customers to write a review, e.g., rewards, raffles, discounts or special offers.
2. Target Your Email Carefully
Cultivating your email list into different segments can help you determine which targeted emails should be sent to which target groups of people. By considering your audience’s demographics, purchase history or past engagement you can better design your product review email for success.
3. Make the Call To Action Clear
The less friction possible between your customer and the actual writing of a review the better. A clear and compelling Call to Action is the key here. Use action-oriented phrases such as “Share your story with us” or “Let us know about your experience”.
4. Incentivize
Some customers may be happy to share a review but need a little bit of promotion and encouragement. A strong incentive, such as going into a prize pool or being featured on official channels, can ensure that your customer actually makes the effort to produce the content you’re looking for.
5. Give Guidelines
Guidelines can help your customers feel more comfortable and confident with providing a review for your brand. Consider offering topic suggestions or clear instructions for how to approach the review itself. The less difficult you make the process the less your customers will hesitate.
6. Thank and Respond
Once the UGC has been collected, it’s best practice to monitor and respond to any submissions from customers. This will signal your genuine appreciation and provide the customer with greater incentive to continue engaging with your company and expressing their brand loyalty.
SmartMail: Expert product review email templates for all types of businesses
The goal and role of our team here at SmartMail is to solve all of your email challenges, including product review emails and UGC campaigns.
Why wait? Find out more by signing up for a 100% free email audit with us today!
