This one is for any agency producer, social media coordinator, or other marketer who’s ever had to wrangle together a creator campaign. Because WOOF.

You guys are superheroes.

Only you know how much time and manual effort it takes to find the right creator or influencer, with the right follower demographics, who aligns with your brand (you only have to sift through 300 million globally, no big deal). To manage outreach, contract negotiations, and content reviews — especially with multiple creators. To track performance and budget utilization, and respond to changing conditions on the fly.

It’s worth it, because your creator gave your campaign the relatable, authentic voice it needed. But yeaaah — it was a lot of work.

Well? We have good news, y’all.

We’ve been working on something specifically for you: a new way to streamline how creator campaigns are managed, trimming up to 80% from your typical time spent. It’s smart and tech-driven, designed by marketers just like you and powered by AI. It’s end-to-end for the whole campaign. Given its capabilities, it’s almost shockingly easy to use. And best of all, it’s going to let you hang up your superhero cape for a while.

(Not that you need to tell your coworkers. It’ll be our little secret.)

Meet Bazaarvoice Affable.ai.

What the right creator can offer your brand

But first, a quick refresher. With all of the tools in the marketing tool belt, you might wonder why we place such a high premium on creators. Especially if the above is true and, traditionally, their campaigns were so work-intensive.

The answer is that creators bring a lot to the brand partnership table. More than you might expect. And it’s all measurable.

Trust

Trust has always been a crucial factor in consumer decision-making, but perhaps never more than today, with ad fatigue on the rise and Gen Z skepticism of all things slick and branded. According to recent studies, 69% of customers trust recommendations and insights from influencers, friends, and family over information directly from brands. It’s all about authenticity and relatability, and transparency — and creators are simply better at those things than brands are. By partnering with creators who align with your brand values, you can enhance your brand’s credibility and foster deeper connections with potential customers.

Reach

Influencers and creators have cultivated their own unique audiences, often consisting of highly engaged and loyal followers. These audiences can offer brands access to new communities and demographics that they might not reach through traditional marketing channels. Collaborating with on-brand creators allows you to extend your reach beyond your current customer base, introducing your products or services to a wider audience and unlocking new opportunities for growth and brand recognition.

Conversion

81% of consumers report that social posts from influencers, friends, and family members drove their interest in a product or service over the past year. Moreover, 67% of shoppers now rely on UGC for shopping inspiration and fact-finding, and a big piece of this is influencer content. This shows how powerful creators can be when it comes to influencing purchase decisions and consumer behavior.

Innovation

Creators aren’t just content producers; they are also innovators and trendsetters. Involve them in your content supply chain, and you can benefit from their fresh perspectives and creativity. Partner with them on product development, and they can offer valuable feedback on your designs. Bring them in on marketing strategy, and they can introduce innovative, inspiring creative concepts and storytelling techniques. However you use them, it’s an invaluable POV: an outsider perspective, but one who knows how to prime their audience.

It’s imperative, then, that you find the right creator. And this is how you can remove the barriers and streamline the process to reach and collaborate with the people you need.

The Affable.ai platform

Affable.ai is an innovative, end-to-end creator marketing platform developed by Bazaarvoice and Affable. It features first-to-market AI technology designed to help you discover, collaborate with, track, and measure creators and content. Here’s a look at what the platform can do for you.

Discover creators with real relevance and influence

Creative listening solution: Affable.ai provides a powerful creative listening feature that lets you track and monitor the brands you support across every social media platform. This feature captures all the content that creators are posting about the brand, allowing you to gather valuable metrics such as reach and impressions. With this data, you can assess the performance of your campaigns and understand the impact of your content on different audiences. Moreover, you can use the same capabilities to track competitors, giving you insights into industry trends and strategies that can inform your own marketing efforts.

AI-Powered creator discovery: The platform’s AI search engine is a game-changer in creator discovery, offering advanced capabilities for finding the perfect creators for your brand. Utilizing cutting-edge image analysis and over 20 advanced filters, you can identify creators whose style and audience align with your brand’s objectives. Once you have a list of potential collaborators, Affable.ai allows you to compare engagement rates, follower counts, industry relevance, demographic information about followers, brand affiliations, and posting frequency. All essential information when deciding who will best amplify your brand message.

Make collaboration and communication a breeze

Frictionless collaboration and oversight: Finding the right creator is only the beginning. Developing an open, effective working relationship is equally important — and whole lot easier when Affable.ai is facilitating it. The platform provides tools for leaving notes, giving approvals, and managing feedback, ensuring clear communication throughout the campaign process. If you’re an agency, it even allows brand clients to review and leave notes, so all parties can collaborate in a single place.

One-click (or less) communication tools: Effective communication is essential for maintaining strong relationships with creators — but literally nobody wants to spend their day emailing, especially if you’re managing multiple creators at once. Affable.ai simplifies the process with template emails and automated follow-ups. These tools allow you to communicate efficiently with your creator army, saving time and reducing the manual effort required to manage creator interactions.

Track campaigns with no more manual monitoring

Comprehensive content and campaign tracking: Where many creator campaigns sink or swim is with the marketing team’s tracking capabilities. Affable.ai lets you monitor the number of content pieces created, track embedded link clicks, and maintain a content library of everything produced during the campaign. At a higher level, the platform also provides a detailed campaign overview, displaying information about all engaged influencers, budget, media coverage, engagement metrics, estimated reach, estimated impressions, and estimated media value. Taken together, all of this data helps you stay informed about the progress and impact of your campaigns, assess what’s working, and find where improvements are needed.

Measure performance: Don’t let your campaign investments go unnoticed

AI-driven sentiment analysis: Every creator marketing analytics platform gives you a quantitative survey about how your campaign performed: that’s table stakes. But Affable.ai adds to this offering qualitative insights. By analyzing follower post comments using AI-driven sentiment analysis, the platform goes beyond numbers to provide a deeper understanding of how your content resonates with audiences. With this qualitative feedback, you can refine your messaging and approach, ensuring your campaigns effectively engage and connect with your target audience.

Ready to try it out?

Like we said at the beginning, that’s a lot of functionality for one platform — and a lot of legwork we’re ready to handle for you. But don’t take our word for it: you can request a demo and try Affable.ai for yourself. And see how super-powered marketers like you are taking the creator game to new heights.

Request a demo

In recent years, there has been a significant shift in consumer behavior, especially among Gen Z, which now influences all age groups. One noticeable trend is the preference for social media over search engines for brand discovery. This shift means that brands need to engage with consumers on social platforms to raise awareness and influence purchase decisions.

While traditional advertising methods are still important, they now need the support of user-generated content (UGC) to resonate with modern shoppers. Product reviews have become crucial, with 78% of consumers stating that reviews significantly impact their purchasing decisions. Therefore, brands must curate and highlight photos, videos, and written reviews across all online channels.

Increasing investment in creator marketing

Brands recognize the importance of creator marketing, with 26% planning to allocate more than 40% of their marketing budget to this area. The growing popularity of creator and UGC content transforms marketing strategies, requiring a diverse mix of branded, creator, and shopper-generated content.

The effective content mix

An effective content mix is essential for brand growth and ROI. Brands need to focus on authenticity and relevance to engage their target audiences better. Insights from a recent LinkedIn poll showed that a UGC-first approach is highly effective, reflecting consumers’ demand for authentic content.

The mix of the branded, creator, and UGC content will vary based on the target audience, but understanding what works for your brand and iterating on it is key to a successful strategy. Brands increasingly invest in UGC and creator content, driven by the demand for more authentic consumer experiences.

The power of authentic content

Today’s consumers prefer content that feels genuine and relatable. 90% of consumers consider purchasing a brand when promoted by their favorite creators. Not only that, millennials actively engage with brands by sharing photos and videos online, highlighting the power of everyday consumers as brand ambassadors.

Brian Gildenberg, CEO of Confluence Commerce, noted that the most impactful content for shoppers often comes from other individuals rather than brands themselves. This shift prompts marketers in industries like beauty, fashion, retail, travel, and leisure to prioritize authentic content from influencers, creators, and everyday shoppers.

Integrating UGC into marketing strategies

UGC meets consumer expectations and supplements creative production needs by providing faster, more cost-effective content. It is critical across all communication objectives, from driving brand awareness to boosting purchase decisions.

1. Driving Equity and Awareness: Creators can deliver high-quality, authentic content highlighting unique brand attributes, driving metrics like aided brand awareness and message association.
2. Launching Innovations: Creating bursts of content and seeding reviews for new product launches can spike awareness and drive immediate SEO impact.
3. Leveraging Seasonal Moments: Planning content around key moments, occasions, and seasons can effectively link your brand to consumers’ lives and maintain a steady flow of relevant content.
4. Influencing Conversion: UGC and reviews can be integrated into shoppable content, enhancing the consumer journey and driving purchase decisions.

Video content: The future of marketing

Video content is rapidly becoming the preferred medium for consumers, driven by platforms like TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Short-form video content is highly engaging and widely shared, making it a valuable tool for marketers.

Popular video content types include:

• Brand challenges: Engaging users with themed challenges to create and share content.
• How-to/educational content: Providing tutorials and tips highlighting product benefits and usage.
• Behind-the-scenes content: Offering a glimpse into the brand’s operations and culture.
• Authentic UGC: Encouraging unretouched, real-life content from consumers to foster trust and relatability.

Maximizing ROI from video content

To maximize ROI, brands should curate and centralize video content, making it accessible across the consumer journey. This includes displaying UGC on brand websites and social media channels, ensuring it’s shoppable to streamline the purchase process.

Aligning content with marketing goals

Effective creator marketing requires aligning content types with specific marketing goals:

• Top-of-funnel awareness: Use giveaways and unboxing videos to boost brand visibility and engagement.
• Middle-of-funnel engagement: Leverage tutorials and “get ready with me” content to maintain brand presence and encourage interaction.
• Bottom-of-funnel Conversion: Implement affiliate content with clear CTAs to drive purchases and measure ROI accurately.

Conclusion

In today’s ever-changing market, brands need to adjust to consumers’ changing preferences by incorporating genuine, user-generated content into their marketing strategies. By utilizing user-generated content, and creator content, brands can improve their reach, engagement, and conversion rates, ultimately fostering growth and forging stronger connections with their audiences.

As the landscape evolves, it’s crucial to stay in tune with consumer behavior and preferences to maintain a competitive edge. By emphasizing authenticity and relevance, brands can effectively navigate the challenges and opportunities of the modern marketing environment.

Want to learn more? 

Watch the full webinar with Jo and Nisarg for an in-depth look at how Bazaarvoice can help. 

Optimizing your entire digital shelf — your virtual store where people find and buy your brand online — is essential for providing customers with a great shopping experience. It’s how your brand shows up online, stands out from competitors, and encourages shoppers to make purchases.

Chapters:

1. What is product page optimization?
2. 5-point product page optimization audit
3. Product page optimization examples
4. Take your product pages to the next level

What is product page optimization?

Product page optimization is the process of improving all aspects of your product pages so potential customers can find exactly what they’re looking for and make informed purchasing decisions. It goes way beyond just inserting keywords and some witty copy, it’s about displaying authentic imagery, writing compelling descriptions, and using the voice of the customer.

In essence, product page optimization is about enhancing the entire user experience to make the buying process as seamless as possible.

An optimized product page is a page that first and foremost meets customer needs and achieves company goals. Traditionally, this refers to a product page designed for higher conversions and/or search engine optimization (SEO).  You also need to factor in the technical side too. Page load speed for example — nearly 70% of consumers admit that page speed impacts their willingness to buy from an online retailer. 

Think about the last time you bought something online. What did you need to know from the product page in order to make it all the way through to check out? Just the specs? No. You probably needed a lot of different information to make a confident purchasing decision. Most customers want to know: 

• Is this product good quality or value?
• How does this product look in real life?
• What do other people think about this product?
• Is there anything else I need to buy to make this product work?
• How are other shoppers using this product?

And with only 2% of e-commerce website visits converting into a purchase, it’s clear that online merchants can do a better job of providing information and experiences that meet shopper needs. 

5-point product page optimization audit

During the recent iteration of the Bazaarvoice Summit, Brandon Klein, Senior Product Manager at Bazaarvoice (and expert on all things product page), outlined a 5-point audit for perfecting your product pages. Here’s what he recommends.

1. Product page SEO optimization

You’ve spent a lot of company time and resources optimizing your product pages for higher conversions. But that’s all for nothing if shoppers can’t actually find your product pages through search — that’s where product page SEO comes in. Brandon highlights this point in this short clip from his Summit presentation below:

Expanding on that, product page SEO is the optimization of your product pages so the content on the page is found by search engines like Google. Search engine algorithms prioritize pages that are most relevant to the search query based on criteria like keyword matches and quality content. 

Here’s some of our favorite ways to use keywords naturally: 

• Include keywords in your page’s title tag and meta description, and make sure the page’s actual copy matches what you promise
• Use headings to break up copy and organize your page. Try to include a keyword in at least one of the headings, but only if it makes sense
• Include keywords throughout the page, like in product names, descriptions, and reviews 
• Incorporate keywords into an image’s alt-text if it naturally flows with the rest of the alt-text copy 
• Add internal links to any other related content on your site

The easiest way to boost your SEO though is by featuring user-generated content (UGC) like customer reviews, which can increase page traffic by nearly a third.

Customers writing reviews typically use long-tail keywords. So when someone else searches for the same terms found in product reviews, product pages linked with them appear in search results. Petco for example utilized UGC to boost their SEO standings and guess what happened? They saw a:

• 67% increase in number of pages ranked organically
• 140% increase in impressions from organic search
• 80% increase in clicks from organic search

In total, this led to a 48% increase in revenue per visit.

Product page SEO optimization isn’t just about ranking higher on Google and getting more site visits. The main goal here is to create a better user experience and give customers the exact information and visuals they need to make a confident purchase.

2. Put UGC front and center 

We know UGC is great for product page SEO. But it’s also what shoppers want to see when they’re browsing your digital (and physical) touchpoints. According to our recent survey, 74% of shoppers say they trust UGC more than branded content on product pages, and 55% are unlikely to buy a product without shopper content to inform their purchasing decisions.

UGC works because it provides the social proof shoppers need to inform decisions. According to Sabine Kaufmann, Head of e-commerce Operations Dining & Lifestyle, Villeroy & Boch, “user-generated content is one of the most trustworthy types of content a brand could show to their customers.”

Best Buy does a great job of displaying star ratings and review counts at the top of its product pages to help customers make confident purchasing decisions. On this listing for an iPad, shoppers will see that more than 3,400 customers have reviewed the product, and it has an average rating of 4.8 stars. 

Seeing an overall positive customer sentiment right away takes some of the risks out of buying an expensive item.

When it comes to collecting this UGC, diversifying your efforts is key because you’ll need a lot. You should consider leveraging review request emails and text messages, social media sweepstakes, and community requests. The most effective method for collecting UGC is product sampling, where you provide product samples in exchange for honest reviews or images. We surveyed 6,000 sampling recipients, and of those:

• 63% purchased the product they sampled
• 97% purchased at least one additional product from the brand

But according to Brandon, your best bet is using a range of solutions. These different strategies can kick-start your collection efforts, ensuring a constant supply of UGC across various methods simultaneously.

3. Respond to negative reviews and proactively address product shortfalls

Customers don’t mind if you have a few negative reviews for a product. They actually prefer it. We’ve seen that products with one or more negative reviews are perceived as more authentic and have higher conversion rates than those with a perfect 5-star rating or zero negative reviews. 

People also like responses to their negative reviews too — 54% of shoppers expect a response from the company if they write a negative review. The most successful e-commerce retailers use negative reviews as an opportunity to engage with customers, and identify potential product page improvements. The latter part is something Brandon called out specially in his presentation.

Negative reviews provide insights for improving products, which you can then update your product pages with. For example, several shoppers may leave a review saying that a pair of pants they ordered in their normal size ended up being too big. This negative feedback would allow your brand to update that product’s description to include helpful language like, “for a perfect fit, many customers prefer to size down.”

Children’s toy manufacturer KidKraft are pros at this. Watch Heather Stables, KidKraft’s Director of Consumer Engagement, explain how they use customer feedback to improve products and market messaging:

After recognising insights, the brand works on product page optimization to ensure copy matches the new product updates. They’ve since seen product improvement leading to an increase in sales.

Not only does utilizing customer feedback help consumers feel empowered to make better purchase decisions, but it can also prevent future negative reviews related to product description accuracy.

4. Distribute your content everywhere

Shoppers want a seamless transition as they engage with your brand through multiple channels, whether online, mobile, or in-store. 75% of shoppers expect a consistent brand experience regardless of channel, according to our Shopper Experience Index. Taking an omnichannel approach integrates your various channels to provide a consistent brand experience, letting you interact in the most convenient way.

Not having a robust omnichannel strategy is now a key barrier to success

Ainslie Fincham, Marketing Director, Urban Barn

An omnichannel strategy allows for quick adaptation to changing consumer preferences. It lets customers switch between channels without friction or loss of service, improving customer satisfaction and fosters loyalty.

Once you have this valuable content, it’s crucial to showcase it in all the right places — on social, in ads, on your product pages, and even in-store. You can do this by working with the right content syndication partner. By syndicating your content across all digital touchpoints, you ensure that customers can see it wherever they shop, maximizing your content ROI.

5. Make social content shoppable

Lastly, but certainly not least. Making your social content shoppable is by far one of the most important ways to increase your product page optimization. Social media is often the first place most shoppers will discover your brand, with 54% of consumers saying they often discover a product or service through social media. (That number rises to 73% for 18-24 year olds!)

They aren’t just scrolling past your products either, they’re making purchases. While the younger generations are leading this charge, even a quarter of shoppers aged 65+ purchased through social last year.

50% of all shoppers have purchased products through social media in the past year. So make sure that you’re turning social content into shoppable experiences that drive sales wherever your shoppers are. 

Shoppable content tools such as Like2buy turn your Instagram and TikTok Feeds into sales channels and Bazaarvoice Galleries brings authentic visual content from social into your website for you. For example Dreams, the UK’s leading bed specialist, uses Bazaarvoice Galleries to bring social UGC into its product pages and beyond, and has since seen a 200% lift in conversion rate.

Social is a great way to curate fresh, original, and authentic content that already exists, and has been created for you. But a recurring point Brandon makes around product page optimization is that channels shouldn’t be siloed. Put your social content across all channels and encourage purchase decisions everywhere your shoppers are.

4 product page optimization examples 

Let’s take a look at some of our favorite examples of product pages that convert. Note: Your product descriptions need to be easy to digest, especially because most customers are shopping from their mobile devices. By 2025, mobile e-commerce sales will account for 44% of retail e-commerce sales in the U.S. 

Iconic London

When it comes to makeup, authenticity reigns supreme. Shoppers want to see how different shades look on people who look like them, not in heavily curated brand imagery. Iconic London knows this and so brings in carousels of visual UGC from their community right onto their product pages.

Why it works: 

• The average star rating and number of reviews at the top of the page provides proof that this is a well-loved product
• Large imagery puts more social proof front and center
• Authentic visual UGC from real customers using the product(s) at home helps shoppers understand what the product is and how it fits into their existing skincare routine

Neutrogena

Cosmetics is a product category that really requires detailed product pages because customers can’t see or swatch the item in person. On this product page for Neutrogena’s MoistureSmooth Color Stick, the company takes a UGC-first, product-second approach.

Why it works: 

• A prominent design element halfway down the page includes a star rating and a quote from a customer about how the product feels in real life and how it works for their skin texture
• The gallery of social media images from real customers provides more information about how the product works in action
• The gallery encourages customers to “Share Your Glow” by tagging Neutrogena on Instagram or Twitter to be featured on the website
• The “Most Helpful Reviews” callout highlights one positive and one negative review that other shoppers have found useful

Nourison

Buying an area rug online can be a challenge because it’s difficult for shoppers to understand how it will look and feel when it arrives. Rug brand Nourison helps ease customers’ minds by incorporating a lot of great UGC on its pages. 

Why it works: 

• A gallery of social photos shows how customers have used this rug in their actual homes 
• The brand encourages future customers to share how they styled their rug at home by posting a picture on social media with the hashtag #Nourison
• The page displays the average rating for the product and number of reviews at the very top to signal that hundreds of others have bought and loved this rug
• The company uses short but detailed product descriptions and includes specs that tell customers where this rug would be best in their homes (a heavy-traffic area vs. a less-trafficked area)

Under Armour 

Our last example is a product page for an Under Amour shoe. The brand uses several tactics to help shoppers choose from the hundreds of shoes on its site. 

Why it works: 

• Shoppers get a complete, 360-degree view of the shoe, so they know there won’t be any surprises when they receive the product 
• Shoppers can filter reviews by rating, athlete type (casual or avid), size, and locale to see reviews that are more personalized to how they may be using the shoe 
• When a shopper starts to scroll on the page, the “Add to Bag” CTA becomes a sticky banner so customers can quickly put the item in their cart once they’ve made a decision 

Take your product pages to the next level

Product page optimization may seem like a tedious task, but in the end, it will be well worth it. If shoppers have all the information they need to make a successful purchase, you’ll set yourself apart from your competitors and see much higher conversion rates across your digital shelf.

With the rise of digital, product page optimization has become critical for consumer attention and conversion. Watch our full on-demand masterclass outlining the 5-point audit for optimizing your product pages, covering key topics like organic search, social commerce, user-generated content, and insights.

FEATURED RESOURCE

Perfecting your product detail page: A 5-point audit

Watch here

Community commerce, or content commerce, refers to entertaining content on platforms like TikTok, that also happens to feature products and connects viewers to brands. Thousands of brands are already benefiting from community commerce and there’s plenty of room for yours to join that list.

TikTokkers spend about 3% of their month on TikTok(!), giving ample time to spontaneously discover new brands. And they’re not just discovering brands, they’re buying from them too.

Last year, consumers spent $6.2 billion on TikTok and it recently became only the 5th app to ever gross $10 billion revenue. So if you haven’t jumped on the community commerce trend, here’s an overview of what it is, and why you should incorporate it into your marketing strategy. 

Chapters:

1. What is community commerce? 
2. How to get started with community commerce
3. Community commerce strategies 
4. Community commerce examples
5. Win community commerce with social commerce

What is community commerce? 

Community commerce is a type of word-of-mouth marketing driven by creators, characterized by entertaining, compelling content that features products or brands. Also referred to as content commerce, community commerce is embodied by the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt hashtag, which has 7.5 million posts and literally billions of views at the time of writing.

A shopping journey that might have taken 19 days before now takes 19 seconds

Ajay Salpekar, Head of Beauty & Personal Care, TikTok Shop

It works like this. You open up TikTok and stumble upon something on your For You page, and you’re inspired by it. You realize this cool new product exists. So you buy it right there in the app. A shopping journey that might have taken 19 days before now takes 19 seconds! Hear Ajay Salpekar, Head of Beauty & Personal Care at TikTok Shop expand on this below.

Shopping has always been a social- and community-driven event. But it’s shifted from shopping with a handful of friends at the local mall to TikTok and other social media platforms with virtual communities, composed of billions of members. 

Now creators — anyone with a phone and TikTok account! — are posting about your brand, adding hashtags, and tagging your products. And the key part is shoppers are discovering these products. 79% of users have discovered new brands through TikTok.

Through community commerce, you have a unique opportunity to build deeper connections with consumers by leveraging creators and their communities. You have a shot at authentically reaching a vast network of users looking for new things or discovering things they didn’t even know existed.

The rise of community commerce is rooted in the acceleration and widespread adoption of social commerce — the buying and selling of products on social media and everywhere social reaches. Social media has disrupted the purchase journey, which is now led by spontaneous discovery and inspiration, and no longer follows the traditional path.

How to get started with community commerce

During the recent Bazaarvoice Summit, Ajay Salpekar (reminder: Head of Beauty and Personal Care at TikTok Shop) talked about content commerce in the age of TikTok, where he outlined his recommendations for brands looking to join the community — whether enterprise level or a smaller team. Here’s his five main priorities for brands that see success:

1. Be willing to experiment. In Ajay’s own words, when it comes to nailing shoppable content, “brands who have a learning mindset or a learner’s mindset tend to do better a lot faster.” By that he means you need to actually be open to testing and implementing new features and journey paths, and have an analytical mindset that can guide you on what’s working and what isn’t
2. Relinquish control. One of the hardest aspects of getting started with community commerce is taking a step back and allowing creators to create in your name. Let creators create — they’re the experts after all! Besides, 67% of TikTokkers say they feel closer to brands that post humanized, unpolished content
3. Partner up with a mix of creators. Creator content is the lifeblood of community commerce but every creator will suit different needs. The mega and celeb creators will have a massive reach for building brand awareness, but tend to see lower engagement. Whereas micro-influencers are fantastic at building authentic, relatable content for their niche audiences. To catch that full myriad of shoppers, work with a good mix of both
4. Develop a holistic content plan. For the brand stewards out there, don’t stick to one content type. Build out your content supply chain with a mix of in-house, agency, and branded content. Don’t just assume one type will work best, use all of the above. And coming back to point #1 above, down the line you can use analytics to decide where to lean into more
5. Don’t work in silos. The final point Ajay makes is an important one — media is still a brand’s greatest amplifier. Community commerce hasn’t changed that. The expertise of agency, brand, marketing, and e-commerce teams all apply but most teams still work in silos. In reality, brands see the most success in the content commerce world when they all partner together for shoppable content

Community commerce strategies 

Social media continues to be a source of inspiration, where consumers learn about new products. The social media community drives product awareness, purchase consideration, and conversion. And it doesn’t just apply to younger generations like Gen Z either! A common misconception, as research shows.

So, it’s no longer enough for brands to simply have a social media presence. You need to engage with consumers, tell a story, and establish your brand as likable. That’s where community commerce comes in. Here’s how.

1. Put authenticity on display 

Community commerce works best when brands and consumers share a sense of belonging and emotional connection. By blending community, entertainment, shopping, and brand messaging, you can inspire authentic but unique product discovery and influence purchases. 

Authenticity is crucial in community commerce. Even the cool kids with sleek branding need to jump down a level or two. On Instagram, you may add highly stylized photos to attract attention, but that doesn’t work on TikTok.

Community commerce is about being real. It’s a chance for your brand to be its authentic self — whether that’s silly, playful, or vulnerable. 

2. Entertainment drives action 

On platforms like TikTok, users don’t want to be advertised to. Instead, they’re looking for unique experiences that are fun and entertaining! Whether it’s a game, funny dance, or a quirky contest or challenge, let your creativity run wild and jump on the latest trends.

Consumers want to discover new content that comes to life — and they don’t care if that content also contains products or showcases brands. That’s the beauty of community commerce content.

Remember when Ocean Spray, the 90-year-old brand, got a big boost after a viral TikTok video a few years back? It showed a man lip-syncing the Fleetwood Mac song “Dreams,” while riding a longboard and swigging the brand’s cranberry juice. 

The more entertaining you are, the more authentic you are. Low-cost airline are well known for this and have amassed a massive following on TikTok with their funny vids.

@ryanair Is your friendship worth €8 #pascal #nicolascage #ryanair ♬ original sound – ghoulia

Their content gets people talking. And more buzz means higher awareness and product discovery, which translates to purchases and consumer engagement. 

3. Tap into creator- and user-generated content  

We’re in a a creator economy. With TikTok’s reach growing, the best way to reach these consumers is by partnering with creators and influencers who are already on the platform. Working with creators (NB: a mix of different types!) will drive awareness of your brand and help you come across as more relatable.

Let your everyday fans be your creators, too. Encouraging user-generated content (UGC), such as videos of consumers using your products, heightens the authenticity factor. Most consumers appreciate the chance to get creative and engage with their favorite brands.

Over half (53%) of shoppers identify themselves as UGC creators, according to our research, and 70% are happy to share their social content with brands when asked.

This approach will help you build new communities. Just encourage everyone to use hashtags related to your brand and product sector, like #beauty or #fashion. Community commerce content is quick to create. TikTok was designed to make content creation easy and expensive, and videos can be uploaded within minutes.

4. Make your content shoppable 

All of the above is pretty superfluous if users can’t purchase directly through the app. Remember, as consumers are watching funny dance or outlandish challenge videos, they’re discovering new products and being inspired to purchase. 54% of TikTok users have purchased a brand after seeing it on the platform. That’s the spirit of community commerce and why #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt has billions of views. But they can’t do that if your content isn’t shoppable!

TikTok Shop, for example, lets brands link their Shopify product catalogs, which will show up in the Shopping tab on your profile. Other e-commerce platforms, like Square and OpenCart, will be on board soon. You can also add product links to videos that feature your items. 

And link-in-bio solutions such as Like2Buy make all of your TikToks (and Instagrams!) shoppable without leaving the app.

5. Amplify your message beyond social

Social media shouldn’t be restricted to social! Towards the end of his Summit presentation, Ajay went on to explain that brands that do really well with media on TikTok are the ones that partner deeply with creators, and then very quickly turn on the taps for their media spend to amplify the messages that work well for the brand.

That means syndicating your creator content to everywhere else your shoppers are. Think product pages, emails, paid ads, and even in-store! Getting your content in front of shoppers everywhere they are means purchases can happen anywhere, anytime, instantly. Your bottom line will thank you for it.

Community commerce examples 

Brands are tapping into community commerce, energizing their customers, and driving sales in the process. Here’s three examples of community commerce in action.

Benefit Cosmetics

Benefit Cosmetics is a global beauty brand that decided to partner with TikTok Shop for their launch of Fan Fest Mascara, which was their biggest launch of the year. It was an exclusive launch with TikTok Shop, and they were the first brand to go live for 24 hours.

@gabriella__andrea @Benefit Cosmetics Fan Fest Mascara 9/10 • @Charlotte Tilbury magic cream & setting spray @loréal paris usa lumi glotion @Estée Lauder double wear foundation @tarte cosmetics sculpt tape & pressed powder deep tan (its broken lol) @e.l.f. Cosmetics @elfcosmetics monochromatic blush stick & lip stain @Milani berry amore blush & lip oil @maccosmetics @maccosmeticsusa stufio fix pressed powder @Laura Mercier loose setting powder @NYX Professional Makeup brow pencil @L.A. Girl Cosmetics lip liner @Too Faced an ancient highlight, bronze, blush palette im obsessed with! @Gisou hair oil @Gucci bloom perfume • #grwm #trending #gucci #guccibloom #makeuphacks #benefit #benefitcosmetics #fanfest #fanfestmascara #benefitfanfestmascara #benefitfanfest ♬ hits different speed up – elly

Since launch, they’ve had over 500 videos made featuring Fan Fest, with upwards of 63 million views. But more importantly, sales of the Fan Fest Mascara even outpaced their own e-commerce site with 48,000 units sold.

Maybelline 

In an effort to boost its brand image and emotional connection with Gen Z shoppers, Maybelline worked with TikTok beauty creator @jessica.eid_ and others to promote its Lash Sensational Sky HIgh Mascara and other products. The overall campaign brought in:

• 20 million impressions
• 553,000 engagements
• 20% increase in sales

Not only that, but the mascara went viral, with a 49% increase in sales during the week of the promotion and a 190% increase month-over-month. The mascara also sold out on Ulta Beauty’s website four times over. 

American Eagle

Apparel brand American Eagle partnered with TikTok star Addison Rae on the #InMyAEJeans back-to-school branded hashtag challenge in 2020. The campaign asked TikTok users to make a video with American Eagle’s song while wearing their favorite jeans from the brand.

Using the hashtag #InMyAEJeans for a chance to be featured in a duet with Rae. After the campaign, American Eagle had:

• 432,000 TikTokkers making 800,000 videos
• 7 billion views for the campaign

In another campaign, American Eagle’s Aerie line saw its OFFLINE crossover leggings sell out multiple times after TikTok influencer @hannahschlenker posted a video about them to her more than 800,000 followers. The video went viral, attracting nearly 900,000 likes. 

Win community commerce with social commerce 

Social media offers the potential to reach billions of people and an infinite number of communities. Engaging these consumers depends on creating fun, entertaining content that shows off your products in an authentic, meaningful way. 

Brands are already demonstrating the benefits of community commerce on TikTok. These strategies can help you kickstart your own community commerce strategy — so that you can foster emotional connections with shoppers that inspire them to get to know your brand and make a purchase or two.

And that’s only the beginning. Want to turn social content into shoppable experiences that drive sales wherever shoppers are? Read The ultimate guide to social commerce conversion to discover how.

FEATURED RESOURCE

Masterclass: Content commerce in the age of TikTok

Watch here

The creator economy market size is already valued over $100 billion and predicted to reach half a trillion dollars by 2027. This shows how shopping is evolving, what people think about authentic voices, and how the people that most influence shoppers’ lives has changed. 

Let’s take a look at what the creator economy is, why creator content is valuable, how brands can leverage the creator economy, and the current and upcoming trends we’re seeing in the market.

What is the creator economy?

First, let’s define what a creator is. Content creators are people who produce and share material (think videos, blogs, photos, and social media posts) to engage and influence their audience. Often, they collaborate with brands to promote products and services.

So when we talk about a creator economy, we mean an ecosystem of brands, audience-shoppers, and creators who monetize their content through sponsorships, brand partnerships, merchandise sales, and direct audience support. Brands leverage these creators to reach targeted audiences, boost engagement, and drive marketing campaigns.

This is really changing how we think about what content is, and how you get your message to audiences that were never before possible. Some stats to put the creator economy into perspective:

• There are over 300 million global content creators — these creators are typically operating on at least two platforms
• 51% of advertisers will be significantly more focused on creator ad spending in 2024
• The creator economy is expected to grow to $480 billion by 2027 — up from $250 billion in 2023
• Brands are anticipating increasing creator content budgets by 25% in 2024
• 39% of consumers watch more creator content now than the year prior

This shows how quickly the creator economy is being legitimized. For example look no further than Addison Rae, one of the most popular influencers out there, who just starred in a Super Bowl commercial. It’s a huge opportunity for your brand to work with creators!

And one quick note: you might hear “creators” and “influencers” used interchangeably, but they’re really distinct. Influencers are trendsetters who can convince people to buy things. They might be celebrities, or just folks with lots of followers on social media. Creators, on the other hand, make the actual content (videos, photos, reviews) that can grab shopper attention. Can a creator be an influencer? Absolutely — if their content influences a purchase decision.

Benefits of the creator economy

The digital space is competitive and it’s getting harder to reach audiences purely with digital ad spend. Working with creators gives you an opportunity to connect with consumers, with more relevant and cost-effective content.

Hear Bazaarvoice’s own Global Head of Community Growth & Engagement, Terry Hurlbutt, outline some of these opportunities below in this short clip from her Bazaarvoice Summit presentation on creator economy trends and social shopping strategies.

Expanding on from Terry’s expertise, let’s look into other benefits of the creator economy.

Boost authenticity

Creators build their brand(s) on making genuine connections with their audiences. They’re bringing their followers into their success, pitfalls, and even their stories of vulnerability in their daily lives. And that builds real connection. A connection strong enough that when they do offer a product, even in a paid partnership, their audiences are still really interested in learning more about the product their favorite creators share with them.

100% of shoppers we surveyed have purchased products based on a creator’s recommendations, which circles back to that trust that the creator has built with their audience. If you follow someone who posts daily and you enjoy their content, you’re more inclined to go and get a product they enjoy.

So there’s a real authenticity (and sales!) boost when you partner with creators.

More relevant content

By its nature, the creator economy makes content more relevant to shoppers. What’s so helpful here is that this user-generated content, content created by creators, helps consumers see how products look in a “real world” setting versus branded content, which still has a place but doesn’t necessarily show you that same real-world experience. 

We tend to see higher engagement when visual UGC is integrated with branded content. According to our research, the majority of shoppers want to see both branded photos (83%) and shopper photos (76%) to make a confident purchase on product pages.

There’s also the amazing opportunity for creator content to help you increase your audience engagement and reach. Shoppers are more likely to follow their favorite brands. And so the more creator content you have in your social mix, that’s more likely to pay off because they’re already following you on social. 

Keep up with content demands

We need a lot of content.

Everyone working in the creator economy realm and social sphere knows how much time and effort is spent really trying to beat those pesky algorithms and stand out in a crowded social marketplace.

Over 500 hours of content is uploaded to YouTube every minute, 34 million videos uploaded a day on TikTok, and on Instagram there’s over 66,000 photos uploaded per minute. By comparison, those couple of pieces of branded content you upload per week aren’t even a drop in the ocean.

Rather than increasing investment to produce more content in-house, partner with creators who can pack your content supply chain with a steady flow of authentic content for you. Tapping into existing communities of creators like the Influenster community ensures your brand benefits from an always-on source of fresh content.

Creator economy trends

The creator economy will continue to evolve, such is the nature of working in the social. It’s important to in the loop. With that, as experts in the creator partnerships space, these are the latest creator economy trends we’re most excited about!

Brand storytelling 

Do you ever find yourself a little worried sometimes because social media algorithms are just too good? Let’s say you’re a parent so you check out an account talking about parenting hacks. The next thing you know your whole Explore page is full up of parenting hacks and ideas.

Your Reels are full of tips and tricks for parenting, cooking, and staying organized in the midst of child-rearing. Whether it’s through memes or people sharing their tough moments of the day, they really resonate with you. You feel grateful for that connection. They make a significant impact on your life, and you’re deeply thankful for them.

This is brand storytelling in action. These trends that speak directly to your audience’s personal experiences and connect them to your brand. The power of social media and the creator economy recognizes the diverse voices and perspectives that contribute to your sense of community.

Video content

First it killed the radio star, now video is coming for your static images. 89% of consumers want to see more videos from brands this year. What video does that static images can’t is really show shoppers your products actually in use. Whether it’s how to build something, how a jacket looks in motion, how to assemble something, etc. Video provides a whole new avenue.

Let your analytics decide for you whether static images or video works best, but between IG Reels and TikTok’s boom, video is a trend that can’t be ignored for much longer. TikTok shops intend to grow the business 10x this year, hoping to get to about $17.5 billion revenue, so video provides commerce opportunities also.

Livestream shopping

Another potentially lucrative angle for the creator economy is livestream shopping. Still in its infancy, it’s one of the most closely followed industry trends. Already big in China and other parts of Asia, livestream shopping has been gradually making its way stateside and consumers are taking note.

Livestream shopping provides brands with a new, engaging way to get products in front of shoppers — who can purchase them instantly! 

How brands can succeed in the creator economy

Do you want to work with creators but you’re not sure where to start? Or maybe you’re experienced with influencer outreach and need a refresher? Here’s the best practices to follow.

Work with the right creator(s)

Not every creator will be the right fit for your brand. When you’re choosing creators to work with, influence (reach, engagement, brand values, and audience relationships) is more important than just their number of followers — 72% of consumers don’t actually care about follower counts and smaller audiences tend to see higher engagement anyway.

There’s a lot of different creators out there who may have smaller follower counts, but who will align more closely with your brand, and would make more impact. The priority should be finding creators who align with your brand values and style, and letting them go and create.

@bazaarvoiceofficial PSA: leverage the Creator Economy! Let creators create in their own authentic style #socialmediaweek #smw #smm  #creatoreconomy @adweek ♬ Taste It – TELL YOUR STORY music by Ikson

Lean into the expertise of your creators. You’re partnering with them because they know exactly the best way to connect with their audiences. And because they put out content every day, they have their finger on the pulse of what works best.

When you reach out to them, just be very honest and clear about what you’re looking for and what your expectations are. Working with high-quality, brand-safe creators is really important. Tools like Bazaarvoice affable.ai can help you find, identify, reach out to, and manage relationships and campaigns with these creators on a long-term basis.

Pick the right platform

TikTok is an entertainment platform first and a social platform second. So be entertaining. Brands can reach new audiences by engaging with this form of entertainment. A good example is Prose. The hair care brand went outside of their traditional creator demographic and partnered with a comedic TikTok influencer to endorse them, and they reached a whole new audience through this.

And large gaming communities already exist, which provide a natural platform for digital expansion.

For example, clothing giant Gucci teamed up with Rook Vanguard, a creator for online game platform Roblox. Together, they built the Gucci Garden Experience which allowed users to explore various boutiques of virtual items.

Use your everyday creators

Regular people are creating every day. If you have a phone and an Instagram account, you’re a part of the creator economy. Which is why at Bazaarvoice, we always advise that the most effective change you can make is using this user-generated content from everyday people.

Not only is UGC considered more trustworthy and influential, it also supports stronger brand storytelling as we mentioned earlier. Something a lot of brands struggle with on social media. Storytelling with UGC naturally leads to the community because you’re highlighting end users, and oftentimes those who were not paid, but just simply love your products.

And UGC doesn’t just tell a story, it drives sales too. 54% of shoppers say they’d be more likely to buy a product on social media if they could click the post and get product info right on the platform. Before, if you scrolled past a t-shirt you liked on Instagram, you’d then have to Google the brand and try and find the t-shirt manually. Now though, with an effective social commerce solution, shoppers can go directly from app to checkout. No fuss!

Sharing community content helps grow your social media presence and builds positive relationships with your customers. Leading to better advocacy, repeat customers, and increased sales. Creator-generated content is out there, you just need to go out and find it.

Have a budget

When you’re just starting out with creator outreach, budget can be as big or small as you want. It just depends on what you’re ready to do from an investment standpoint. If you’re treating it more like a pilot, maybe try to look for five, six creators and learn from that.

But there’s no benchmark answer. It depends on where you are in your creator marketing cycle and also just what your overall marketing budget for the year is. But 75% of brands and retailers spend over 60% of their budget on branded content — free up some space and costs with UGC creators.

Sample your products

If you want everyday shoppers posting content about your brand (reminder: you do!) you need to get your products in their hands. Product sampling is how you do it. A hyper-targeted product sampling campaign ensures you:

• Launch products with a bang by collecting reviews and imagery from your community pre-launch
• Give life core products by generating fresh reviews
• Learn valuable customer feedback to improve messaging and identify new market opportunities

Getting started in the creator economy

In the consumer-to-consumer era we’re living in, it’s creators who are your new storefront. They’re not only creating original content, but they’re influencing other shoppers. Consumers no longer rely on content or marketing from brands, they rely on authentic UGC created by their fellow shoppers. That’s what’s going to influence them to make a purchase, not you.

The creator economy is not a passing trend, it’s essential for the success of your business.

The first step to getting started with the creator economy is to leverage UGC, and those who are creating it. But not all content is created equally. You’ll want to make sure you find the right creator(s) for your brand and team up with a platform that can combine the power of creators with social commerce solutions.

LEARN MORE

From pixels to profits: Creator trends and social shopping strategies

Watch here

We already know AI is used for moderating and creating content, that’s nothing new. The challenge at hand is understanding how to use this AI in this manner responsibly — and strategically. The potential of AI is vast, but responsible innovation and safeguards are crucial, and world leaders are taking note. 

US president Joe Biden signed an executive order on the safe, secure and trustworthy use of artificial intelligence. And just recently the Council of the European Union and European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the Artificial Intelligence Act —  the world’s first comprehensive AI regulation.

Ensuring transparency about use of AI is paramount. It’s crucial to retain human oversight, ensuring that AI remains a supportive tool rather than taking complete control, especially when it comes to using AI for content creation and moderation.

With that in mind, we’re going to explore findings from our own research and discuss the guiding principles that ensure that your use of AI is responsible and brand-safe.

The role of AI in content creation

In short, content moderation involves screening and removing any content that goes against set deadlines, and AI can improve this process.

Here we’ll walk through how you can use AI to streamline your content supply chain, all the while ensuring responsible and considerate implementation.

Content moderation before AI

Consumers love to contribute reviews about your brand. This user-generated content (UGC) goldmine fosters trust and drives sales by making connections between you and your audience.

But this content won’t always necessarily align with your brand values. It might contain inappropriate language, prohibited content, reveal personal information, or even aim to manipulate perceptions of your brand, undermining that trust you’ve cultivated.

All of your clients likely have varying standards for what constitutes acceptable content. For instance, a beer company might embrace discussions about alcohol, while a children’s brand probably won’t. Or hopefully won’t, anyway.

Before AI was on the scene, there were different content moderation solutions. Specifically, a manual approach.

A manual approach requires human moderators to review client preferences within a content management system, deciding whether to approve or reject each piece of content. Initially, this was the method we used at Bazaarvoice.

Results were generally fine. Human moderators ensure content appropriateness and authenticity. But it’s seriously time-consuming. On average it takes twenty hours before a review goes live. This goes against consumer preference for content recency, who scan the latest reviews for up-to-date product information.

Also there’s the fact that engaged consumers expected their voices to be swiftly acknowledged. Delays in posting reviews can lead to a loss of engagement with your brand. This presents a core challenge: how can you ensure rapid, on-site content availability, while still upholding authenticity?

How to use AI in content moderation

The answer? By leveraging machine learning — a branch of AI that learns from existing data to derive patterns. For example, At Bazaarvoice, we possess massive amounts of data, with over 800 million unique review contents historically, growing by 9 million each month.

Data like this can be used to train machine learning models to identify undesirable content and automatically flag any new content matching that profile. If you’re getting started with AI content moderation, follow these steps:

1. Engage existing moderators to label data for model training and validation
2. Data scientists utilize this labeled data to train models tailored to one or more client use cases
3. Deploy these models to a machine learning inference system, for it to approve or reject new content collected for your clients
4. Share client configurations with the AI machine learning system so that the content can be moderated to meet each client’s individual use case

Consider the evolving landscape too. Consumer behaviors change, new trends emerge, and language evolves. What if AI tech can’t adapt to this? You’re risking brand trust and consumer safety, and no one wants that. Look at review bombing, for example, which usually happens in response to social or political dynamics that are near-impossible to predict.

Content operations team can respond to these events though by training new models, adjusting existing ones, or fine tuning the client configurations to ensure only appropriate content, appropriate authentic content ends up on-site

AI should augment human effort, not replace it

This approach ensures that humans remain in charge. Clients specify what kind of content they consider appropriate or not, ensuring the AI only acts within their predefined parameters.

A responsible AI approach means better results for clients too. Currently, we moderate 73% of UGC with machine learning models, providing clients with filtered UGC tailored to their needs within seconds, not hours. A huge improvement on the hours required with solely-human moderators!

Responsible AI content creation for brands

Most brands tend to take the initiative to craft their own content, they don’t rely only on UGC. Specifically, they carefully strategize the images, messages, and products they intend to highlight across their social media platforms, websites, and other channels.

But creating all this content is time consuming. Most companies employ social media managers or similar dedicated to this task. Imagine if you could combine the skill of a social media manager with the utility of AI to automatically generate content. It sounds pretty remarkable, like mind reading even.

When clients onboard with Bazaarvoice, they link their social media accounts, providing us with ample data points showcasing their preferred topics and communication style.

When a user selects an image, our machine learning algorithms decipher its contents, telling us what they want to post about. We can also glean information about the products they aim to showcase from product tag data and learn their communication style through their social media history.

After clicking on “auto generate caption,” these data points undergo processing by our (cutting edge!) generative AI to craft a caption about the image and products in the client’s voice. The social media manager can then approve, refine, or reject the messaging.

It creates an incredible, symbiotic relationship The tool combines the convenience of generative AI, while retaining the authentic voice of the client, allowing for revisions as needed. Once again, the AI acts as an assistant rather than a replacement.

In practice, many clients tend to tweak the suggested messaging, but they still appreciate how this feature jumpstarts their creative process. It’s akin to having a muse — inspiring human creativity based on past elements.

We introduced this product on our social commerce platform last year and it was an instant hit. Which got us thinking, can we do the same thing for our consumers?

Responsible AI creation for consumers

There’s an issue with customer reviews. According to our research, 68% of consumers feel uncertain about what to include in a review, meaning many end up lacking detail or veering way, way off-topic.

Like with content moderation, can AI step in to assist consumers in crafting better, more informative reviews? This would help shopping become more transparent, because the more reviews we have, the more informed we are.

For example, let’s look at how Bazaarvoice Content Coach works. First, AI ideates which topics would be useful to include in a review, based on each product and our client’s catalog. These topics are then presented to the consumer. As the consumer writes, the system highlights the topics they’ve addressed.

What’s great about this approach is its blend of convenience and enjoyment. It guides users to write helpful reviews while making the process fun! Or at least as fun as writing a product review can be. It’s like a form of AI content moderation, but reversed. It functions as a coach rather than a ghostwriter, empowering users to refine their reviews.

Since its launch, Content Coach has facilitated the creation of almost 400,000 authentic reviews, with nearly 87% of users finding it beneficial — a testament to how AI can be used to assist content creation, not own.

Take AI assistance even further

These are all prime examples of leveraging generative AI in a responsible (but beneficial) manner. They enhance the consumer experience while maintaining authenticity, effectively coaching brands and consumers to maximize their review’s impact.

Examples like above illustrate how an AI content moderation strategy augments human efforts responsibly and optimizes your content supply chain. We’re only scratching the surface here though. Discover the transformative potential of AI in authentically shaping your content strategy with our on-demand masterclass: How to use AI strategically and responsibly.

Showcase your products in action with creator videos, showing real-life use cases and seamlessly fitting into student lifestyles. Ultimately positioning your brand as the back to school hero they’ve been searching for.

Chapters: 

1. Unlocking the impact of social media videos this back to school shopping season
2. 10 creator-led, video campaign strategies
3. Easily find creators with AI tools

Unlocking the impact of social media videos this back to school shopping season

Back to school shoppers will be hitting the stores soon, but what’s becoming the go-to for finding cool stuff? Social media platforms! It’s like the new Google, helping shoppers discover products and making it easy to buy them immediately.

A survey in November 2023 found that over 67% of folks aged 16 to 24 in the USA stumbled upon a product or service through a social media video that randomly popped up on their feed. Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

And when it comes to back to school shopping, social media is where it’s at. Over 62% of shoppers turn to platforms like Instagram and TikTok to snag those sweet deals (compared to 56% last year).

More so, going by the Bazaarvoice data, over half of consumers, at least 57%, have hit the “buy now” button after watching a product video on social media.

So, what’s driving it? It’s all about showing real people using the product, giving tutorials, or doing live demos. And, of course, content creators play a big role too! Seeing an influencer rave about a product or watching a brand video can seal the deal.

Let’s dive into some brands that have nailed it with their awesome video strategies blending the latest trends. 

10 creator-led, video campaign strategies 

1. Leveraging product placement in a school supply haul video on YouTube

In 2023, Casetify partnered with influencer Zhirelle for a shopping haul video, hitting Target for her school supplies. Zhirelle meticulously breaks down each stationery item she snagged, elaborating on why she chose it and how it’s been a game-changer for her. 

Seamlessly, Zhirelle incorporates product placement, highlighting Casetify’s durable phone cases tailored for students, all while emphasizing their support for art students and creators by showcasing their designs. This strategic move not only amplifies Casetify’s product visibility but also serves as a savvy incentive for the content creator.

Why it works:

• You get access to a wider audience than it might reach through your marketing channels
• Integrating your product into the video can capture the audience’s attention and potentially increase engagement for your brand
• It makes it easy for shoppers to purchase the product directly after watching the haul, as the video description often includes affiliate links or discount codes

2. Authenticity in action with behind-the-scenes videos on Instagram and YouTube

With behind-the-scenes videos considered highly engaging, American Eagle teamed up with influencers Maddie & Kenzie to craft a genuine narrative for their campaign. The goal? Connect with their customer community personally and inspire students to rock AE jeans in their everyday looks.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by American Eagle (@americaneagle)

The sisters got hands-on, trying out samples and putting their spin on the pieces. They shared feedback with the AE team, highlighting which outfits resonated most with their vibe. And it wasn’t all about pushing products — behind-the-scenes videos offered a peek into the real story behind the polished content, giving viewers a glimpse of the genuine effort that goes into it all. 

Why it works: 

• The raw, unedited moments during attire trials reveal the genuine person behind the scenes, making recommendations believable
• Witnessing the effort behind the scenes fosters community, trust, engagement, and inspiration
• You can offer unscripted, diverse content across multiple platforms

3. Integrate back to school videos with the latest TikTok trends

TikTok’s “For You” page has changed the game regarding shopping on social media. Whether serving up outfit inspiration with Get Ready With Me (GRWM) videos or showing off styling tips and room decor, content creators are shaping what’s hot and what’s not.

You’ve got to jump on those trends like the 2024 ins and outs list or dive into the silent reviews trend on TikTok. And for clothing, footwear, and makeup brands, it’s like hitting the jackpot! You can get your products reviewed while riding the wave of the latest viral trends on TikTok and Instagram. It’s not just about copying and pasting. You must seamlessly blend these trends into your back to school content in a fresh, creative, and relevant way.

Why it works: 

• Keeps your content relevant
• These viral trends are relatable to students, sparking major enthusiasm for your brand or message.
• Increases brand visibility and awareness

4. Embracing rawness with unpolished video content for YouTube Shorts and TikTok 

Jansport, the famous backpack brand, decided to switch things up for their back to school sales. Instead of heavily curated photos and images, they used raw, unedited, quick videos. 

They jumped on this viral trend of less polished content. With icons like thrift queen Emma Rogue, indie band DWLLRS, skater Eunice Chang, and gamer girl Krystalogy, they grabbed their iPhones and filmed videos all about school life and friendship.

It’s not just about what happens in the classroom — it’s about those moments outside, hanging around in cafes, stores, or skateboarding with friends. Jansport’s “Always with you” campaign perfectly captures how their backpacks are there for all those lifelong moments.

Why it works: 

• Unfiltered moments capture the essence of reality
• They could cut through the noise with the unscripted look, raw videos away from the polished veneer of traditional content 
• Featuring real people in real-life situations made them stand out as the target audience could relate to it

5. How-to and tutorial videos on prepping for back to school shopping

Sadie Aldis, a content creator with over a million YouTube subscribers, teamed up with Amazon last year to bring some serious value, especially during this crazy back to school shopping season. Her how-to and tutorial videos speak directly to students’ needs and interests.

Her 26-minute video covers everything from organizing school files to jazzing up your school bag, setting goals, and even keeping your skin game on point for prepping for back to school. 

But Sadie’s video isn’t just about giving tips — it’s about building a community of people looking for organization hacks, DIY projects for spicing up your school supplies, and even some fashion inspiration to make you stand out in the halls.

Tutorial videos like Sadie’s are a powerful way to showcase your products in the most natural way possible. It’s all about weaving them into a bigger story — giving viewers valuable content while subtly showing off some excellent products.

Why it works: 

• Increases the likelihood of getting into the DMs of your potential customers as how-to or tutorial videos have a high chance of shareability
• The informative and valuable content not only reaches the established follower base but has the potential to go viral as viewers share it with their friends, family, and followers, who may also find the content valuable
• In-depth product demonstrations, reviews and tutorials keep viewers engaged

6. Let your employees be the face of your video content on social media

Do you know what’s hot in the creator marketing world? Putting your employees at the front and centre to discuss your brand and products. In 2023, the footwear brand Foot Locker hopped on that trend by rolling out its “It’s Sneaker Season” campaign right at the heart of the back to school shopping season.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Foot Locker (@footlocker)

The video starred their staff — the Foot Locker Stripers — alongside sneaker shoppers, especially Gen Zers, hitting the store for fresh kicks. It was like the ultimate sneak peek into sneaker heaven, as you could see them smell those sneakers in all the videos. 

Why it works: 

• Highlighting employees as influencers adds credibility to the social video, as they possess specific knowledge or skills related to the topic
• Employees act as nano-influencers within the company, well-versed in the products and features
• Through their social media networks of friends, family, and acquaintances, it’s easy to broaden the reach of the videos. People tend to be more engaged with content shared by individuals they know, resulting in more likes, comments, and shares, ultimately boosting overall engagement

7. “Shop with me” is the new “GRWM”

Check out The Wads, a mom influencer promoting Target with her “Shop with me” video on YouTube. So, she heads over to Target to scope out all the back to school gear for 2023. And she picks up so much cool stuff that’ll have the kids going wild. She even swings by the office supplies and dollar spot sections.

If you’re unfamiliar, “Shop with me” videos are like a twist on haul videos. YouTube creators bring their cameras along on a shopping trip and then dish out all the deets on their finds when they get home. This trend has blown up big time! In the past few years, watch time has shot up over 10 times on mobile alone. It’s like everyone’s hooked on watching other people shop.

Why it works: 

• It gives audiences a chance to experience their products in a fun, familiar way, leading to higher engagement than traditional ads
• Viewers see how products look and function in real-life settings 

8. Product giveaway videos featuring YouTube content creators

Everyone’s on the hunt for discounts and killer deals when it comes to back to school shopping and sales. Teaming up with content creators to shout out those value-packed deals feels way more authentic than just pushing ads in people’s faces. It’s like getting a friend’s recommendation — it hits home with viewers and increases the chances of turning them into customers.

Princess Polly, an Australian online fashion boutique, partnered with influencer Paige Kaiser to hype up their back to school giveaway — $1000 cash, a $2000 wardrobe, and a $500 UberEats voucher. They partnered with Paige with some gift products to feature in her videos while spreading the word about their giveaway to connect with their target audience.

Why it works: 

• Giveaways incentivize viewers to watch the entire video
• Amplifies the reach and impact
• It creates more UGC as viewers can share content in comments or social media posts 

9. Shoppable livestream events

As part of their One Walmart initiative to make shopping seamless, retail giant Walmart teamed up with suppliers Skin U by Neutrogena and consumer health brand Kenvue for a livestream event on Talk Shop Live. This social selling network helped promote Walmart’s back to school in-store and online shopping campaign.

During the event, beauty influencer Mei Mei and a Neutrogena R&D scientist shared tips and tricks for healthy skincare routines, boosting shoppers’ confidence for the new school year. 

Why it works:   

• Shoppable videos provide an interactive experience, enabling viewers to click or tap on the video, seamlessly directing them to purchase pages
• Witnessing others use and endorse products makes them more appealing to viewers, creating a sense of social proof
• Allows viewers to transition from discovery to purchase within seconds of finding a product they like, ultimately shortening the marketing cycle
• You obtain  valuable first-party data insights on which products garner the most interest and clicks, allowing for future influencer partnerships and product development based on that information

10. TikTok Shop

Social media is exploding as a product discovery hub, and TikTok’s shoppable videos, “TikTok Shop”, take it to the next level. It seamlessly blends e-commerce with engaging content, allowing viewers to instantly discover and purchase products within the app. 

Shoppable videos integrate clickable hotspots, such as product tags or links, directly into the short-form video. These hotspots can reveal product details and reviews or whisk viewers to the purchase page.

Partnering with content creators who resonate with your target audience unlocks a powerful marketing strategy. Their voices and personalities build trust and excitement around your products, driving viewers to explore and purchase effortlessly.

Why it works: 

• Removes the friction of leaving the video to find and purchase a product — significantly boosts conversion rates
• Seamless buying journey, keeping viewers engaged throughout the entire process
• Valuable data on viewer behavior and product interest

Easily find creators with AI tools

For businesses like yours operating within tight marketing budgets this back to school shopping season, finding the perfect content creators for these videos can be a game-changer. Are you curious to know more? There’s a simple solution waiting for you!

Simply put, content reigns supreme. Every day, week, month, and year, the amount of content created nowadays — by brands and individuals — is pretty staggering. It’s the backbone of retail and digital marketing strategies, driving engagement and influencing purchasing decisions. And it’s what consumers demand.

Among this sea of content, user-generated content (UGC) has steadily gained influence over the years, mainly due to the trust people have in recommendations from their fellow shoppers — to the point that 78% of shoppers feel more confident purchasing when UGC is involved.

But as the sheer volume of content continues to skyrocket, navigating this terrain requires a better understanding of the new relationships forming between brands, consumers, and content creators.

This shift in influence towards creator- and user-generated content has prompted brands and retailers to rethink their content strategies, focusing more on authenticity and relevance to better engage with their target audience. Which is why mastering content distribution and refining your strategy is essential.

Chapters:

1. What is content distribution?
2. How you can refine your content distribution strategy
3. How to balance multiple content distribution goals
4. Get a fresh perspective on the content ecosystem

What is content distribution?

Content distribution is the process of publishing and sharing your content, like social media posts, blogs, videos, etc, to reach a wider audience through your various channels and platforms. There are three main types of content distribution channels:

1. Owned is the content channels your company owns, like your blog(s), newsletters, and social media pages
2. Earned channels are third parties promoting your content, including PR, mentions, guest publications, and UGC creators.
3. Paid is where you pay to promote your content on an external channel, whether that’s paid ads, sponsored content, or paid influencer collabs

Content distribution matters because without the ability to promote and share your content, it’s unlikely anyone will see it. Imagine writing the world’s most spectacular book and then just leaving it on your bedroom floor, gathering dust. What’s the point?

But now, with countless platforms and formats to navigate, the challenge for brands is getting their messaging — their content — in front of the right audience.

How you can refine your content distribution strategy

As we look to tomorrow, the way we distribute content today won’t be enough. Enter the concept of the Content Penetration Model. Coined by Bryan Gildenberg (reminder: CEO at Confluencer Commerce), the Content Penetration Model (CPM), a decentralized content generation model, marks a paradigm shift in how content is distributed and consumed.

Content distribution has traditionally been measured by reach-based metrics to get content in front of as many eyeballs as possible at the lowest cost possible. Not anymore!

The new CPM model emphasizes what Gildenberg calls content penetration — the ability to deeply engage with consumers through relevant, authentic content that resonates with their interests and values. 

It’s needed because the shift towards UGC and the rise of creators has reshaped the traditional content landscape. For example, the creator economy was valued at just under $130 billion last year and is expected to grow another 22.5% by 2030. Brands no longer have full control over the conversation.

As Gildenberg puts it, “the content that is most meaningful to a shopper’s awareness of, and decision for, buying a particular product is increasingly not coming from brands themselves, but from other individuals.”

Instead, rather than solely relying on mass distribution channels, you’re better off cultivating relationships with UGC creators and influencers who can effectively convey your brand’s unique message for you.

How to balance multiple content distribution goals

The question now is this. How do you create content that cuts through the noise and piques your audience’s interest? By recognizing the dynamic nature of content consumption and adapting your strategies accordingly. 

According to Gildenberg, the critical element is balancing long-term brand assets with current assets. Sure, some aspects of branding will almost always remain constant (example: Coca Cola’s logo), but others need to evolve to stay relevant in a rapidly changing market (Coca Cola’s ads).

But brands must continuously refresh their current assets with fresh content that resonates if they want to stay relevant with consumers.

You do this by building out a content supply chain. Taking a holistic approach to content creation that leverages data insights, consumer feedback, and market trends to inform your content strategies. 

It’s not just about creating more content. Not at all. It’s about coordinating efforts across your different teams and workflows to ensure brand consistency and relevance. Shoppers expect consistency — 75% globally say that regardless of the channel they use (website, in-store, email, social media, etc) they expect to get the same experience.

When you understand the different types of content and their impact on your business, you can better develop a holistic approach to content creation and distribution that resonates.

Why better collaboration means better content

On that note, in the CPM era we’re shifting towards, collaboration is one of the main drivers of success. Brands can’t operate in silos. Instead, it’s all about forging partnerships with the right content creators, influencers, and other stakeholders who can get your message in front of shoppers where they are.

This content allows brands to tap into the creativity and expertise of external partners with niche audiences, all while maintaining control over their brand identity and messaging.

It would be amiss to ignore AI here, too. It’s everywhere lately (ChatGPT, anyone?!) and has become a powerful tool in content creation and distribution. But Gildenberg warns AI can just as efficiently produce irrelevant, misleading, or inauthentic content if not appropriately guided.

The Content Penetration Model provides a framework for navigating these complexities, by focusing on effectiveness rather than efficiency.

Get a fresh perspective on the content ecosystem

Essentially, the new CPM model offers a fresh perspective on how brands should approach content creation and distribution. By prioritizing relevance and authenticity, brands can forge deeper connections with consumers.

As the conversation unfolds, it becomes clear that success in the content ecosystem requires a multifaceted approach that balances creativity, strategy, and adaptability. Embracing the CPM model and adopting a collaborative approach to content creation will enable you to navigate the tricky digital landscape and forge deeper connections with your audience.

Looking to learn more? Watch the full conversation between Bryan and Doug (sneak peek above!) to hear first-hand how redefining content distribution can increase effectiveness, drive sales, and enhance your content supply chain. 

FEATURED RESOURCE

The future of content distribution: In conversation with Bryan Gildenberg

Watch here

Picture this: You’re walking through the store, your stomach is growling, and you’re looking for the perfect thing to eat. Then, out of nowhere, a person shouts, “Free samples!” and hands you a hot bite of pizza just oozing with melted mozzarella cheese. And hey, it’s dinner time…you want more! *Add to cart.*

Now, replace that pizza with anything else — wine, ice cream, a handheld vacuum. Once customers try it, they’re more likely to talk about it, buy it, and share it. That’s why, despite the costs, product sampling marketing is one of the most effective ways of collecting authentic content and increasing conversions on your e-commerce site, social pages, and beyond.

Chapters:

1. What is product sampling?
2. When should you launch a product sampling campaign?
3. Why you should launch a product sampling campaign
4. Product sampling strategies
5. Get started with product sampling

What is product sampling?

It’s the practice of offering goods or services to your audience in exchange for increased brand awareness, brand loyalty, reviews, feedback, and other revenue-boosting user-generated content (UGC). This is a form of experiential marketing because consumers are able to completely absorb and engage with the product prior to buying it.

Quick history lesson: Product sampling is a tried-and-true marketing strategy dating back to the 1850s. Benjamin T. Babbitt, a soap manufacturer, was one of the first people to hand out samples to his fan base. As time passed, the power of this marketing strategy was realized by others and has since become popular in a variety of industries.

Today, there’s several different product sampling methods:

• Traditional sampling means giving away free product samples to customers, so they will feel more confident buying the product
• Digital product sampling is a sustainable sampling method, where customers buy a product in a store or online with a provided coupon, or receive money back after uploading the receipt — no samples need to be shipped meaning no unnecessary packaging waste
• Sampler packs include small or trial-size products. If the customer likes the sample, they are more likely to buy the product at full size
• Mail drops are when you mail free samples directly to customers’ homes
• Limited time samples are free only for a specific amount of time, such as three days, a week, etc. This adds excitement and plays to the psychological fear of missing out (FOMO!)
• Virtual sampling is when consumers are able to try out a product online without visiting a store or receiving something in the mail. This type of product sampling campaign relies on technology like an app or artificial intelligence

When should you launch a product sampling campaign?

You should launch a product sampling campaign when you need to boost word of mouth or get feedback on a new product.

• You have a high-quality, effective product ready for people to test. It’s important to make sure you’re delivering something genuinely good before people’s opinions start flying. A bad product will be all the more maligned by product sampling
• Your budget can handle sampling costs. This includes the cost of the samples as well as shipping, handling, staffing, and marketing. Note: Digital product sampling alleviates a lot of fulfillment costs!
• You need increased brand awareness for an existing product. If your brand isn’t well-known but you have a great product, you need positive word of mouth to increase brand awareness and fill your sales funnel. Just make sure expansion is feasible for you based on your current business model
• You have a new product to launch. Product sampling will help with product development, as well as create some additional buzz. People who sample your product and love it are more likely to buy it, tell their friends, and even create shareable content about it

Why you should launch a product sampling campaign

Product sampling marketing helps brands boost feedback, conversion rates, positive reviews, and social content for both small and enterprise brands alike.

Get valuable product feedback

Product sampling is a way to connect with and get feedback from your audience.

According to Ryan Stewart, a marketing expert and the managing partner of WEBRIS, “We normally ask them questions about their experiences with our services, show how they use them, or even invite them to take part in an online contest that involves using our services.”

You can also use surveys to collect quantitative and qualitative data. This feedback can help you further develop the product into something your audience will love.

Boost sales and conversion rates

Sampling a product makes customers want to buy it. It’s wired into our psychology. Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist at Duke University, knows samples create desire. “If I gave you a tiny bit of chocolate,” he says, “all of a sudden it would remind you about the exact taste of chocolate and would increase your craving.”

Take Costco, for example. An oft-cited study about Costco revealed the grocery store saw a significant boost in revenue thanks to its free food samples. And Stewart confirms sampling is a solid way to increase sales. He asserts, “People who feel like we value their opinions are more likely to buy from us when they need something similar in the future.”

Gathering UGC and reviews from shoppers also gives brands a significant boost in sales. Absolution Cosmetics wanted to support product launches, build brand awareness around their healthy skin care messaging, and boost customer loyalty and engagement to ultimately increase sales. The brand implemented a dual review collection strategy, combining an evergreen sweepstakes on their website, ensuring a constant influx of fresh UGC and reviews, and targeted product sampling campaigns to support new product launches.

As a result, in just a six-month period, Absolution increased its revenue per visitor from 14% to 123%, customer engagement from 28% to 61%, and earned $107K directly attributed to ratings and reviews.

Encourage positive reviews due to a sense of reciprocity

Free samples encourage potential customers to play into the idea of reciprocity. In other words, people who receive the sample want to do something for your brand in return — like posting a positive review on social media.

This by no means every review is going to be positive of course. Neither should that be expected. Product sampling isn’t “we’ll send you a product sample in return for a positive review.” By contrast, reviews should be honest regardless of the sentiment. And even negative reviews provide added authenticity for your brand.

But one of the reasons sampling does yield such positive results is because the right provider (like Bazaarvoice ) can create campaigns for a hyper-targeted audience across demographics, behaviors, preferences, and more. When the recipient is the exact target audience the product is for, the review is much more likely to be positive. Just make sure your sampling provider can accommodate this.

“Product sampling allows us to get our audience involved in the creation of our content, which gives them a sense of ownership over what we’re sharing,” says Stewart.

For instance, after TTI Floor Care North America allowed top brand loyalists to sample Dirt Devil vacuum cleaners for free, they saw an 86% response rate and more than 700 reviews full of positive, authentic UGC. As a result, Dirt Devil product reviews went from 2.8 to 4.5 stars. These reviews not only filled TTI’s own webpage but were also syndicated on major retailers’ sites.

Supercharging brand awareness with social content

You probably already know that social content is an important way to reach consumers. Combining the reach of social media with the effectiveness of sampling gives you a unique marketing campaign powerhouse.

Most Bazaarvoice Sampling customers are brand managers who use sampling to generate and feature content on social media.

“Linking sampling to social is a core tenant of any e-commerce plan,” says Kerry Bridge, Global Director of Advocacy at Bazaarvoice. “You need to be able to collect that great content from social in order to populate your product pages. Plus build your community.”

We’ve pinpointed a few different reasons why social content and sampling go hand-in-hand:

1. New product launches benefit greatly from large amounts of recent UGC. 89% of shoppers check reviews before making a purchase, and 60% of shoppers feel more comfortable making a purchase if they can see product images or videos first. A great way to collect this valuable UGC is to employ sampling
2. Entering new markets helps you expand your reach. Each demographic is different, and over 70% of shoppers are looking for perspectives that reflect their own. Product sampling can help you get your foot in the door and provide UGC that speaks to these new markets in a relatable way
3. Supporting your core SKUs with product sampling allows you to collect quality content at scale. Your core products are hot sellers for a reason — get them in your fans’ hands through a sampling campaign and encourage them to create content. Data from our Bazaarvoice Network of over 12,500 brands and retailers found a 135% increase in conversion rate and a 164% increase in revenue per visitor when shoppers engaged with social content from their peers
4. Working with the right content creators can help you skyrocket your brand awareness and success. Creator collaborations add to your content volume, and by sharing with their own engaged audiences, they also extend your reach

Relaunch your products

There may be times when you want to shift your brand strategy and reformulate or reinvent your product. With the introduction of the FTC’s 2023 review hijacking legislation, reformulating your product isn’t just about tweaking its features — it’s about ushering it into the market as if it’s an entirely new line. It’s a unique challenge, with the daunting task of resetting your review count and content collection to zero. But sampling can help you rapidly rebuild from this new starting line.

• Relaunch your product with fresh advocacy: Successfully relaunch your reformulated product by targeting the right audience, providing an experience, driving UGC from day one, and gaining actionable insights from product samplers
• Combat misleading reviews with authentic content: If the reformulation means the product is “substantially different” in “one or more material attributes” from the prior version (as per the FTC), it would be deceptive to continue using existing reviews. A sampling campaign can generate fresh reviews and customer photos quickly and effectively so you have an arsenal of new social proof you can show off to shoppers

Product sampling strategies

Ultimately, all sampling campaigns help your potential customers get a preview of what you’re selling while helping you get more visibility for your product and brand overall. The individual strategies can take several different forms, from in-store food samples (Costco) or mailed glasses to try on (Warby Parker). The details depend on your business model and campaign goals.

Here’s seven examples from the masters that you can imitate when you craft your own campaign, including the relevant sampling program they used.

Costco nails the traditional sampling strategy

Costco is famous for the traditional, in-store, free sample method. People have gone so far as to tour the sample tables at various Costco stores. The more samples people try, the closer they get to a free lunch. Personal finance and food bloggers have picked up on this idea as well and have even written articles encouraging the practice.

Costco’s store sampling draws people to its stores, thanks to one key message: Going to Costco is fun (and yummy!)

While you might be nervous about handing out “freebies,” the benefits far outweigh the costs. In fact, according to the College Marketing Group, “Interactions — the company that handles Costco’s sampling — found that their efforts led to a 71% increase in sales of beer and a 600% increase in frozen pizza.”

Traditional sampling works especially well for supermarkets like Costco, as well as other brick-and-mortar stores like makeup counters. Just remember that the goal for this type of sampling is to increase sales and positive word of mouth. You probably won’t get a lot of usable content out of it.

L’Oréal gets personal with virtual sampling

Since its target market is focused primarily on beauty, personalization and creativity are everything for L’Oréal. That’s why L’Oréal’s special offers and promotions are tailored to this demographic’s specific preferences and needs in the form of virtual sampling.

Customers simply select a product like hair dye or blush. Once they grant L’Oréal access to their camera, a small window shows them what they would look like wearing that product. It’s kind of like Zoom + the Sherwin-Williams ColorSnap Visualizer. But instead of paint, it’s a beauty product.

Virtual sampling is attractive because it’s incredibly scalable, not to mention germ-free. Brands aren’t limited by physical space in stores or the cost of making or shipping the product. Instead, consumers are able to instantly get a good idea of what the product would be like for them without the hassle of applying the sample color to their wrist (eww), applying to a program, handing over their personal info, or potentially wasting a product if they don’t like it.

This technique is also sometimes more helpful and realistic than physical store samples because the tool takes into account different product combinations and how they affect each other. For example, if I dyed my hair bright red, would that red lipstick look good? Hmm… maybe a more subtle shade would be better.

Brands can use virtual try-ons to fill their social media calendars. If you have a tool like this, inspire your customers to post a photo of themselves on social media “trying on” your product. Then collect, store, and track that content using Bazaarvoice’s AI-powered Media Library.

Warby Parker masters the mail drop

Warby Parker prides itself on its choice selection when it comes to new, stylish, and comfortable eyeglass frames. It provides a quiz to help customers determine exactly what type of frames will best suit them and then a personalized selection based on their responses.

After completing the quiz, customers can choose up to five frames that are delivered right to their homes, where they can test them for five days. After finding that perfect pair, customers can buy what they want and ship the rest back. The return shipping is free with Warby Parker’s return label.

For something you have to wear all the time (like glasses), comfort and style are paramount. Warby Parker helps customers feel assured that both needs will be met because customers can literally see the results for themselves at home before buying.

For brands that want a turnkey sampler program, Bazaarvoice offers a white-labeled sampling program to help retailers get their product samples directly into the hands of their community and start generating UGC.

Neuro optimizes product development

Sampling isn’t just to market and sell existing products. Kent Yoshimura and Ryan Chen, co-founders of wellness company Neuro, explain in this podcast one of the key ways they achieved their success: making sure Neuro Gum was as perfect as possible before they jumped into product activation. They gave out free samples of the gum to family, friends, and co-workers to test a variety of key details such as:

• Different ingredients (20 milligrams of caffeine to 80 milligrams of caffeine)
• New flavors
• Different sweeteners
• Hard chews vs. soft chews

After perfecting the product, Yoshimura and Chen surpassed their crowdfunding goal in just three days and ended up selling over 12 million pieces of Neuro Gum. And those people who sample the product became loyal customers.

“Once we introduce that product to somebody, the repeat purchase rate can be up to about 40, 45%,” said Chen. “Our challenge is getting people to try the product. Sampling is a really big opportunity for us.”

Neuro ensured it had a good, high-quality product and an active community of fans, thanks to product sampling. According to Chen, “We’ve grown such a loyal group of customers that they give us feedback all the time. It’s built a community which has been inspiring for us and has given us the motivation to keep going.”

After their initial success, they continued sampling with specific cohorts like the CrossFit community. They’ve also shipped product samples to new distributors to explore a potential new market in Africa.

Using samples and collecting customer responses is the most effective way to get meaningful feedback about your product, so you can improve it and launch with confidence.

Bazaarvoice’s sampling programs can help you learn from sampler feedback and expand into new markets via our robust, global Influenster community.

Home Depot doubles conversion rates with Managed Sampling

Home Depot Canada wanted to increase the volume of UGC, particularly reviews, its brands get on its product pages. So they partnered with bazaarvoice to create the Home Depot Seeds Sampling program.

“UGC is becoming increasingly important. It’s no longer a ‘nice to have.’ It’s a necessity. We see our site as a research tool, so even if people come into the store, they still use their phones to see ratings and reviews and make a final decision.”

Gabriela da Silva, Senior Brand Advocate Analyst, Home Depot Canada

Seeds Sampling is a review-seeding program that puts a brand’s highest priority products into the hands of its shoppers, in exchange for honest reviews on HomeDepot.ca. Since the program’s inception, it’s already led to some brands doubling their conversion rates on HomeDepot.ca.

It’s not just legacy products either. WiZ, a brand featured on HomeDepot.ca, used Seeds Sampling to generate buzz for new products and earn that UGC before they’d even launched. 

It worked, too. The conversion rate for the products used in Seeds Sampling was 68% higher than products not part of the program. Not bad at all.

Home Depot isn’t the first retailer to turn to Bazaarvoice for a Managed Sampling program. We’ve built sampling programs for Walmart, Target, and Sam’sClub, to name a few. And you could be next.

Get started with product sampling

Ready to experience the power of product sampling marketing in your own business? Bazaarvoice makes it easier than ever to get your products into the hands of the perfect customers, leading to a surge in reviews, social media buzz, authentic word-of-mouth, and sales.

You can learn more about Bazaarvoice Sampling here, or get started directly below.

LEARN MORE

Buyer’s guide: Find the perfect product sampling partner

Read here

By integrating user-generated content into your marketing strategy you’ll build brand authenticity, drive sales, and seamlessly integrate your brand into the ever-growing creator economy. All absolute necessities to succeed in today’s turbulent market.

Chapters:

1. What is UGC (user-generated content)?
2. The benefits of user-generated content
3. How to increase engagement with user-generated content
4. UGC best practices guide
5. Curate your brand identity with user-generated content

What is UGC (user-generated content)?

User-generated content, or UGC, is a form of content that’s created by real people to promote your brand. This includes written ratings and reviews, photos, videos, and even audio that your brand’s customers, followers, ambassadors, or even employees create and share across social and other digital platforms.

Recently, user-generated content has evolved to include professional-quality images, engaging videos, and thoughtfully written content that seamlessly support your brand identity. The days of grainy selfies and lacklustre videos are long gone, but UGC has retained its essential component of authenticity.

UGC doesn’t feel like an ad, and just like a word-of-mouth recommendation, it’s often more influential than one.

UGC is far more powerful than traditional brand marketing. Essentially user-generated content is the modern-day equivalent of a product recommendation, and the numbers back it up. 84% of consumers are more likely to trust a brand’s marketing campaign if it features user-generated content, and 77% are more likely to buy a product they found through UGC. 

Who provides UGC?

User-generated content is usually found through your customers, brand loyalists, and employees. An easy way to turn customers into UGC creators is to make it easy for them to leave reviews and add their own product photos. Brand loyalists are repeat customers who love your product so much that they’re willing to advocate for you without incentives.

Love them or hate them, the infamous Crocs knows how to rally its brand loyalists, with its hashtag #croctok gaining traction on TikTok and spreading its message to over 300 million viewers.

Finally, employee-created content, like video content discussing the company’s values, acts as a source of UGC that demonstrates diversity, support, and authenticity.

The benefits of user-generated content

Not only is user-generated content more influential than traditional advertising, but it’s also free, authentic, and engaging. There’s several benefits to UGC that have a big payoff for brands.

Builds authenticity and trust

User-generated content showcases how actual people use products in real-world settings. This creates authenticity for brands and allows them to promote products without being overly salesy.

Authenticity means a lot to consumers. 84% of millennials say user-generated content influences their purchasing decisions. And nearly half of Gen Z cites social media as their chief source of inspiration — even above family and friends.

Plus, people trust peer recommendations over branded advertising. A whopping 85% of consumers say they turn to visual UGC, rather than branded content, when making purchasing decisions.

Boosts search engine optimization ratings

Search engines place a premium on fresh and relevant content. UGC often contains keywords and phrases that can enhance the visibility of your brand in search results, indicating that the content is higher quality and more relevant to the reader, which leads to more organic traffic visiting your site.

And as we know, more traffic means more MQLs.

Increases engagement

User-generated content is all about connecting with consumers, building an online community, and creating a conversation between customers and a brand. So it’s no surprise that your content receives 28% higher engagement when UGC is integrated alongside your typical posts.

This is evident in all types of marketing content, including digital ads. When direct-to-consumer bedding and bath brand Parachute incorporated UGC into its retargeting ads, the ads generated a 35% higher click-through rate and a 60% lower cost per click.

What’s behind this higher engagement? It comes down to the fact that people want to get in touch with their favorite brands through social media channels. 60% of millennials alone say brand loyalty influences their purchasing decisions, according to joint research by Future Workplace and Elite Daily.

Plus, the most followed brands on social media are those that share their followers’ content. And engagement breeds further engagement, which inspires the creation of more UGC.

Drives sales

Using data from our Bazaarvoice Network of over 12,500 brands and retailers, we found there’s a 144% lift in conversion rate when shoppers engage with UGC and a 162% lift in revenue per visitor. Further research shows that visual UGC is more likely to convert compared with brand-created content.

78% of shoppers gain more confidence in a purchase when they see UGC, and 35% indicate they’re depending more on UGC during the cost of living crisis, according to our SEI. UGC provides social proof that assures consumers they’re making the right purchase, which translates to more sales.

However, some brands have experienced much greater growth in conversions, thanks to UGC. Take apparel brand Tuckernuck, for example. When Tuckernuck implemented a gallery of user-generated content on its website, as well as displayed UGC and influencer photos on its product pages, conversions skyrocketed by 190%.

“Having social content on our PDPs really helps with conversion,” says Kayla Robinson, a Tuckernuck customer experience and marketing associate. “When a customer sees other customers and influencers wearing the product, it inspires her or him to purchase it as well.”

User-generated content can be particularly beneficial to certain industries. The table above compares the click rate of posts both with and without UGC among various industries.

Provides audience insights

Consistently engaging with customers and analyzing the content they post about your brand allows you to better understand your audience. This enables you to not only improve how you interact with customers but also make adjustments to products and services based on customer feedback.

For example, branded hashtags often offer a ton of insight into what consumers want. If you own a cosmetics company, try searching for product names on social media to see what your target audience is saying. Do they want a more diverse shade range or sustainable ingredients? If a lot of people are voicing similar concerns, it’s time to take action and adjust your product offering. 

Ratings and reviews also contain a wealth of insights. If you’re constantly seeing customer reviews containing similar feedback, you know how to improve your products going forward. European retailer Vertbaudet noticed multiple customers had left reviews saying a maternity line dress was too small.

So in response to this feedback, the brand reassessed the dress and fixed the sizing of the cut which led to the average customer rating increase significantly.

Synchronizes with social commerce

Advertising on social media isn’t a novel concept, but social commerce is quickly becoming the new generation of shopping. 69% of shoppers say social media has inspired them to purchase products, and 52% have already shopped through social media. Consumers name convenience and product photos as the top reasons for embracing social commerce. 

User-generated content seamlessly aligns with social commerce because UGC takes the place of a branded ad and becomes an authentic, shopper-approved recommendation. Social media users see the UGC on a TikTok or Instagram post, click it, read the reviews, and purchase the product because it’s convenient and doesn’t require them to go to a different website to checkout. 

How to increase engagement with user-generated content

Let’s take a look at some of the most inspiring UGC campaigns in the world to emulate for your own UGC strategy.

Host contests or giveaways

Holding contests or giveaways is a classic way to have your customers get directly involved with your marketing campaigns and generate user-generated content

Offering a compelling prize is a crucial element to encourage more consumers to join in with your campaign. However, a good reward isn’t necessarily an expensive gift or a large amount of money. Starbucks, for example, came up with the #WhiteCupContest, encouraging customers to doodle their cups and upload a photo to social media with the #WhiteCupContest hashtag. The best part? The winning white cup drawings were featured as Starbucks’ limited edition reusable plastic cup.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Brita Lynn Thompson (@zenspiredesigns)

The contest generated great buzz on social media and within three weeks there were over 4000 doodled cups uploaded to Twitter and Instagram.

Incentivize your products/services

By giving customers good incentives to feature your products or services, you can quickly generate a huge number of organic content and tap into their follower communities at the same time. ‍

Hilton Grand Vacations encourages customers to upload their holiday pictures on social media with the hashtag #myHGV for a chance to be featured on their Instagram Feed.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hilton Grand Vacations (@hiltongrandvacations)

These beautiful images act as a source of authentic inspiration for potential customers to book their next vacation at the hotel.

Develop authentic and inclusive brand messaging

Building an emotional connection between your products and customers is one of the best ways to improve customer engagement and form long-lasting relationships with loyal shoppers.

Women’s clothing brand Aerie launched the #AerieREAL campaign to promote body positivity and inspire women to be comfortable in their skin. The brand encouraged users to post unedited photos of themselves in Aerie’s swimsuits and shared customers’ photos with authentic captions. As part of the company’s initiative to promote real women’s bodies, the campaign was a move to empower women who are fed up with the idealised body type promoted by fashion brands.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Aerie (@aerie)

Aerie leveraged UGC to create an inclusive community of brand advocates on social media. By spreading the message of body positivity through its customers, there was also a huge boost in terms of brand image.

Partner with influencers

Influencer marketing is a great way to generate buzz and awareness around your products. Collaborating with the right influencers allows brands to tap into an existing audience and drive purchasing decisions.

Before the release of the Samsung Galaxy A model, Samsung collaborated with Blackpink to launch the hashtag challenge #danceAwesome. The dance challenge includes a short dance on the campaign’s catchy music, “Awesome screen. Awesome camera. Long-lasting battery life,” which perfectly highlights the smartphone’s features.

The brand then partnered with influencers like TikTok influencer @hollyh — who has about 16 million followers — to drive awareness of the challenge.

@hollyh working with @samsung on my audition for blackpink #danceAwesome #galaxyA #ad ♬ Awesome Phone Song(BLACKPINK Ver.) – BLACKPINK

These user-generated content videos went viral across social media and resulted in a whopping 4.7 million user videos with a combined 16 billion views.

UGC best practices

Adding UGC to your marketing strategy is an easy decision, considering the value it delivers, but there’s a few rules you should keep in mind. Follow these best practices to ensure your UGC works for you and your customers.

Develop a UGC strategy

With so many different types of UGC available, and with the countless ways your brand can utilize it, it’s easy to become overwhelmed. However, developing a user-generated content marketing strategy will help you search, curate, and publish the most effective UGC for your specific brand.

Provide clear guidelines

Tell your target audience exactly what kind of content you’re looking for. Only 16% of brands provide clear guidelines about the kind of content they want fans to create and share, but 53% of consumers want specific instructions on what to do.

Let’s say you’re running a giveaway on Facebook for a new product. Make sure the instructions on how to enter are super clear, and the value prop is front and center. Consumers appreciate clear directions as well as general guidance.

Include calls to action on site, on social, in emails, and on receipts, product packaging, and in-store displays. If you’re really in need of UGC, cast a wide net. You can also use a social commerce tool that’s created to source and sort existing user-generated content.

Ask for permission (and give credit)

Just because a customer tags your brand in a post or uses your hashtag doesn’t necessarily mean you can reuse it. So before reposting a user’s creation, reach out to them — whether it’s through email, comment, or direct message — say something complimentary about the content, and request permission to use it.

Once you receive permission, keep a record of it. Take a screenshot of the conversation or save the email in case any issues or questions come up in the future.

Always credit the original source of the content, and tag them if possible. This is respectful of the creator, and it encourages them — and other users — to continue creating content and sharing it with your brand.

Moderate it

User-generated content is considered quality if it’s created by real, non-paid users and conforms to your brand and community guidelines, government regulations, and audience expectations. That’s the only UGC you want. Any low-quality UGC (blurry images, typos, etc) or prohibited UGC (nudity, hate speech, etc) needs to be filtered out, reported, and binned. 

Content moderation can make or break your brand. Wanting a high volume of UGC is understandable, but quality is better than quantity. You don’t want to become known for showcasing low-quality UGC because, “Lawsuits and marketing to rebuild a bad public image are expensive” warns Abi Schuman, Senior Director of Content Management Services at Bazaavoice.

Share diverse content

Diversity and inclusivity are essential in marketing. Not only does it help your brand reach more customers, but it also makes your brand more accessible.

Users want representation, plain and simple. To quote Ad Age: “Given the fact that social networks are accessible by people of all backgrounds, shapes, sizes, and families who experience different seasons, communities, and landscapes, the diverse visual content found in UGC feels more like native social media content than advertising.” Couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

Make sure your audience finds this diverse content by syndicating it to everywhere they are.

Track content

Keep an eye on all the UGC around your brand — even the content you don’t use. UGC is like a continuous feedback loop you can use to stay on top of what people are saying about your brand. Bazaarvoice’s Insights and Reports offer a user-friendly dashboard to track and analyze your brand’s different types of UGC content, from reviews to social media posts. 

Evaluate content performance

The UGC cycle doesn’t end with distribution, it ends with an evaluation. Consistently compiling product reviews on your product pages that no one sees is a waste of time and money. That’s why evaluating the performance of your UGC campaign and monitoring the data is essential. 

Start with our UGC audit webinar here to learn the six core factors that should be evaluated, and get a handy scorecard to see how your content measures up. 

Curate your brand identity with user-generated content

Your customers are already talking about your brand on social media.

They’re posting selfies and uploading stories that feature your products. They’re comparing items and making recommendations. So take advantage of this and curate your brand’s content from the multitude of user-generated content out there. And with 69% of people making purchases because they saw a product on social media, it’s also the very kind of content that will inspire your customers to convert.

After all, this is the authentic and relatable content that your followers want, the essential meaning of UGC.

When it comes to answering the question “what is UGC?” few are more qualified than Bazaarvoice. As the #1 user-generated content platform (not our words, the words of G2) we’re well positioned to provide you with a comprehensive UGC education.

Looking to get started with UGC? Contact us below to learn how Bazaarvoice, the leading UGC platform, can help you transform your brand and marketing strategy with user-generated content and drive a better ROI for your business.

LEARN MORE

Masterclass: How lean teams can drive e-commerce growth with UGC

Watch here