Marketing has changed since the internet became a cornerstone of marketing brands. What a company produces is no longer the only way customers can learn about brands, products, and services. User-generated content is becoming essential to marketing and helping brands convert more browsers into customers. So, what are the key user-generated content statistics for you?
User-generated content builds authenticity
Nine out of ten consumers say authenticity is the most important element in choosing brands they support and like.
92% of consumers will talk to people they know for referrals to help them find products/services.
More than four in five consumers (84%) trust recommendations from their peers above any other advertising source.
Nearly four in five consumers (79%) believe that user-generated content influences purchasing decisions.
Consumers often find user-generated content 9.8 times more influential in their purchasing decisions than content produced by influencers.
Millennials trust peer-generated content 50% more than brand-generated content.
Nearly three-quarters of consumers rely on content via social media to help them make purchasing decisions.
Consumers believe user-generated content is 2.4 times more authentic than other content.
Millennials spend 18 hours a day with media, 30% of which is user-generated content.
Only 1% of consumers believe generic ads offer authenticity compared to user-generated content.
Third, companies admit that negative news ruins their brand reputation, and therefore they rely on removing negative news to build a strong online brand reputation.
User Generated Content Creation
Paragon Marketing group analyzes over 70% of user-generated content created by those between 25 and 40 (millennials).
User-generated content is 35% more memorable than primary content.
Consumers will spend more than five hours a day with user-generated content.
A quarter of search results will direct audiences to user-generated content.
87% of brands will use user-generated content within their campaign strategies.
ROI of User Generated Content
Word-of-best marketing agencies are more effective at creating a successful product than paid advertising, generating twice the number and value of sales.
Only 16% of brands have a strategy regarding creating user-generated content.
Engagements increase by 28% when there is a mix of user-generated content and professional content in a brand’s content stream.
Half of consumers would like brands to tell them what type of content to create and share.
User-generated content will achieve 29% more conversions than campaigns without it.
User-generated content will improve conversions on a website by 10% if included within the path to purchase.
When user-generated content is used within ads, they generate four times the click-through rate and reduce the price of clicks by 50%.
70% of consumers will read user-generated reviews before deciding to purchase a product.
41% of consumers will read four to seven reviews before making a purchasing decision.
Brands spent over $1 billion on influencer marketing last year, but only 8% of consumers trust their content.
49% of brands plan to spend more on influencer marketing, even though effectiveness is in question.
User and employee generated content
Using user-generated content can save brands around $72,000 over hiring a dedicated content producer.
50% of employees use their social media accounts to post content about their employer brand, especially at remote-first companies.
Content shared by employees will have twice the engagement rate of other content.
On average, an employee has a network that is 1000% larger than a brand's network.
Content shared by employees will receive eight times more than content shared by the brand.
Brand messages are re-shared up to 24 times more when an employee shares the content compared to the brand.
User-generated content and personalization
Two-thirds (67%) of consumers believe it is important for brands to offer a personalized experience.
Nine in ten (92%) marketers believe they provide personalized content to their audience.
However, only 45% of consumers agree that most brands provide a good personalized experience.
19 out of 20 marketers believe that offering personalized emails has improved their email open rates.
More than half of consumers (55%) expect to receive discounts and offers personalized to their needs and desires.
User-generated content being shared
Nearly nine in ten consumers (89%) would post about their positive experience with a travel destination.
85% of diners would post about a positive experience at a restaurant.
Just under two-thirds of its consumers would share information about their positive health or beauty product experiences.
A new car is shared by about 62% of consumers.
User Generated Content and Video Marketing
Almost half of people (45%) watch more than an hour of video on YouTube or Facebook every week.
More than half of consumers want to see user-generated photos and videos from brands they connect with.
On YouTube, fan videos of user-generated content will get ten times more views than branded content.
Impact of User Generated Content on Website Visit Time
Visitors who view user-generated content galleries on a website will spend 90% more time on the site.
User-generated content will improve visitor return rates by 20%.
When Leading Hotels of the World added user-generated content to their website, the average time spent on their page doubled.
There are 60 million images uploaded to Instagram every day.
About 50% of people say they create content daily. About 23% of social media users create content between two and five times a day.
About half of people (45%) will disown a brand if it posts too much self-promotional content.
Social media content that utilizes user-generated content within them will see a 50% increase in engagement (likes, shares, and comments).
51% of consumers will engage more with brands if the brand shares their photos, videos or interactive social media posts across their marketing channels.
Final word
User-generated content is one of the unsung heroes of business. Without it, businesses can struggle and see limited results from normal campaigns. With user-generated content, revenues can increase and profits can be higher because user-generated content is often cheaper to produce.