Iconic London sees a 126% lift in conversion rates with UGC

Iconic London truly understands its customers’ shopping habits and preferences. The company has always relied on social media and UGC (reviews, images, videos, and other content created by shoppers) to grow its brand and connect with fans. But while Iconic London collected a sizeable amount of UGC, the company was looking for an effective way to distribute all this content across digital channels to foster customer relationships and financial growth.

“We’ve been very good at outreach, making people aware of the voice of the brand, but we’re in a competitive industry with a lot of brands with great messaging and fantastic products. What we needed to do was find a way to make the social piece work for us, both in awareness and financially, and that’s what Bazaarvoice helped us do,” says Eleanor Assa, CMO at Iconic London.

Partnering with Bazaarvoice, Iconic London launched Like2Buy on Instagram and implemented Bazaarvoice Galleries on product pages and their homepage, creating continuity across digital channels and boosting e-commerce metrics.

User-generated content drives digital engagement

UGC is often the driving force behind community-centred industries like health and beauty. Makeup reviews, beauty hacks, and skincare guides are social media staples, and when brands encourage UGC, engagement naturally grows. After all, who doesn’t want their Instagram post featured on a brand’s website?

“As a niche brand, we exist because when people experience our formulas, they love them and want to talk about them. We can use that messaging to help drive our brand forward and drive the awareness forward in such a competitive environment,” says Assa.

This community spirit of sharing and consuming UGC in the beauty sphere helps brands tap into the creator economy — a landscape that’s opening up to small creators. Iconic London used insights, like photo tags gleaned from its UGC collection, to spot partnership opportunities with new creators, leading to the output of more authentic content. “It helps us identify nano influencers and people whom are fans of the brand who we might want to work within a larger capacity, which is also exciting,” explains Assa.

But shoppers aren’t just creating UGC. They’re also engaging with it on product pages, home pages, and social channels. “By offering UGC, customers have content to engage with, and it means that they can do as much research as they want about us, as a brand and about the products. We’re giving them more ways to engage with us and I think that’s the most exciting part for us,” says Assa.

Bazaarvoice Galleries boosts e-commerce metrics across the board

Bazaarvoice Galleries allows brands to customize their product and home pages with visual UGC from social media. This strategy pushes continuity across all channels and creates an uninterrupted shopping experience. It brings a level of authenticity to a channel that’s traditionally more branded, which is exactly what shoppers want.

“When we talk about Bazaarvoice and the UGC piece of the puzzle, this is our opportunity to add authenticity to our formula,” says Assa. Authenticity drives sales. When Iconic London featured Bazaarvoice Galleries on their homepage and product pages, they saw a 126% lift in conversion rate and an 11% increase in average order value over 12 months. Customers also spent more time browsing UGC and product pages, with a 361% lift in time on site.

“Time on site is a really exciting one for us. We were very pleased with that increase because I think that just proves that what we suspected about our audience was right — they like to have a browse, they like to look at people who look a bit like them. And at the same time, they’re looking at multiple images and product pages. Keeping people on site for longer is really important to us,” says Lizzie Newell, Head of Marketing, Social, and Campaigns at Iconic London.

Sharing UGC on its storefront also helped Iconic London spread love back to its customers. “Product page galleries have been a huge success and really exciting for us. We’re finally making use of the hundreds of tags we get every day — it’s amazing. And it gives our customers a chance to shine as well, which I think is really nice,” says Newell.

Like2Buy connects social and web experiences

Like2Buy turns social content into a shoppable experience with easy links to product pages, creating a user-friendly experience for shoppers. Social commerce is predicted to experience significant growth over the next few years, and Iconic London was quick to embrace the shift because the brand has always been a social-first company.

“We know that our customers like shopping in a social environment. It’s the way the industry is going, but especially Iconic. So having Like2Buy allows us to maintain that social shopping experience a bit longer. It allows it to overflow into the website, onto the product page, and the homepage,” says Newell.

Implementing Like2Buy on Instagram was an effective solution for Iconic London to help boost revenue when Apple’s iOS update led to losses for multiple industries. “Like2Buy has been amazing for us. We plugged it in at a time where we saw Instagram revenue starting to decline slightly due to digital landscape changes, and it more than compensated for that, bringing us back up again, which was really exciting to see,” says Newell.

Build trust, show authenticity, and connect with customers through user-generated content

Building trust through authenticity, continuity, and connections is at the heart of Iconic London’s digital strategy. With a heavy emphasis on UGC, Iconic London plans to expand its reach in order to showcase a wider range of beauty lovers across its digital channels.

“We want to continue to grow in our home country but also be outward looking and make sure that our content appeals to all the different markets that we’re in. And this is where UGC is so helpful. You get so many different people from so many different countries. The representation becomes much more true to the consumer, and it’s really exciting for us as a brand to have that inclusivity,” says Assa.

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