The Massive Impact Of UGC On Instagram [Supercharge Your Engagement on Instagram]

The way brands advertise is shifting. No longer are companies searching for polished TV segments or banner ads. Instead, they are shifting their focus to the creator community and getting them to do outreach for them.

User-generated content (UGC) is a hot topic today, and rightly so. It has the potential to turn the old paradigm on its head.

Rather than getting brands to create cheesy commercials, it passes the responsibility over to influencers – customer peers who enhance their reach.

The potency of UGC is particularly evident on Instagram. The platform’s unique characteristics make it an opportunity for companies wanting to use this form of branding.

Why Instagram is Ideal for UGC

 Brands can leverage UGC on most social media platforms. But Instagram, as it turns out, is particularly amenable.

Visual focus

Instagram’s visual focus is one factor. It emphasizes photos and videos, making it more straightforward to showcase your company than on, say, X.

This quirk boosts the platform’s engagement rate. Data show Instagram has an engagement rate 6.8 times higher than Facebook, and over 14.8 times that of X.

Discoverability

Instagram also has helpful hashtag features to make your content more discoverable to those who want to find it. Users can type in search terms and the platform will direct them to relevant, themed content it believes they will enjoy.

Research reveals content with around 11 hashtags denoting what it contains is the most impactful. The top three most engaging hashtags to date are #funnyvideos, #calisthenics, and #reelstrending.

Community engagement

Then there’s the community engagement aspect. Instagram is famous for its extensive comment sections where UGC creators can interact with brands’ target audiences.

However, the impact varies by content type. Research shows that video posts get around 3.15 times more likes than images on the platform, with carousels sitting somewhere in between and simple static images with the least engagement.

Authenticity

Lastly, Instagram UGC helps to build authenticity. When creators post on the platform, it generates social proof where audiences can see what their peers think of your brand’s products/services. Trust builds faster than direct outreach, which may explain why nearly 70% of users swiped up to access links on the app’s branded stories.

How To Supercharge Engagement Through Organic UGC on Instagram

Supercharging your Instagram engagement through organic UGC requires the proper strategy. But what should you do?

The answer is more straightforward than you might think. Many brands see success in a few months because user-generated content is highly effective and Instagram is tailor-made for it.

Host Live UGC Events

One obvious option is to ask influencers to host live UGC events and Q&A sessions on your behalf. These get influencers and followers talking about their experiences with your brand.

The sessions are invaluable because they let viewers share their thoughts and reactions in real time. Nothing is filtered, making any feedback more authentic.

It also allows brand partners to answer critical questions about products and services. These responses often help audiences overcome their pain points and encourage them to buy.

Use UGC Demonstrations

UGC demonstrations are an option for companies wanting to explain more about how their products work. Influencers test them and report back to their audience.

UGC demonstrations can be effective for virtually every product on the market, from makeup to leaf blowers. Revealing to customers how to use specific items boosts the incentive to buy.

For example, you could ask influencers to show the incredible concealing power of makeup on the skin or the ability of a leaf blower to remove all the leaves from a front drive. It doesn’t matter what it is specifically, as long as audiences can see the benefits in action.

Add Polls to Stories

Another option is to ask influencers to add references to your brand in their UGC Stories. Research suggests that 62% of Instagram users become more interested in a product after seeing it in this format.

Adding a poll at the end posing a question may increase engagement levels further. Getting users to provide their opinions draws them into your narrative, turning them into brand ambassadors.

Encourage Followers to Share Content Organically

You can also ask influencers to get their audiences to share UGC content organically. More sharing can trip the Instagram algorithm and encourage it to promote a post on users’ feeds, increasing the likelihood that people will see it. Branded posts sometimes go viral through this mechanism.

Host UGC Contests

Hosting UGC contests is another option. These campaigns get users to submit videos to you, showcasing something to do with your product.

For example, you could ask users to submit videos of how they use your products and offer a prize for the best submission. Or you could get them to develop content for a new campaign you want to launch, picking the best one for your outreach.

Hosting a UGC contest yourself is challenging. But doing it through a dedicated platform, like Billo, makes it easier (more on that later).

Create A Branded Hashtag

You can also enhance your Instagram engagement by creating a catchy branded hashtag for influencers to use. These make it more straightforward to track your UGC efforts and allow you to build brand recognition more widely. Several leading brands do this already, including Audi (#WantAnR8), Calvin Klein (#MyCalvins), an Disney (#ShareYourEars).

Ideally, you want your branded hashtag to:

• Create desire in audiences
• Be a point of interest
• Make audiences and influencers feel like family
• Instill positive emotions, like happiness and pride

Keep Using UGC

Using UGC regularly is another pro tip. Sharing content in your branded feed or Stories motivates others to create content for your brand.

For example, you could:

• Pick one customer video review to feature in your Stories weekly
• Highlight a specific piece of UGC with viral or artistic merit
• Host monthly competitions to create the best Instagram fan video and repost on your main feed

As you continue using UGC, your customers will acclimatize to it and later expect it. Eventually, you will build a following of people hooked on your brand and a library of user-generated content to build trust with new customers faster.

Converse With Your Audience

Finally, don’t neglect to communicate with UGC creators and thank them for participating in campaigns. Liking and sharing their posts shows them you care.

Commenting is even more powerful. It creates a two-way dialogue where you can learn about your audience, and vice versa.

How To Make Effective Use Of Instagram UGC

Even if you know methods for using UGC to drive engagement on Instagram, you can’t always put them into action. Therefore, learning the fundamental UGC tactics is essential. Understanding the principles will put you ahead of 99% of the competition.

But what should you do?

1. Curate Your Content Carefully

Your first task should be to curate your content carefully. Don’t put anything out there that could contradict or jar with your brand.

Filtering through UGC is time-consuming if you do it manually. But Billo makes this process a breeze by pre-vetting influencers and automating parts of the moderation process.

Once you have processes for curating content, you can better align creator-generated messages to your branding and audience requirements. Avoid irrelevant or unflattering UGC: it can have the opposite effect and even put off potential customers.

2. Reshare Reviews Wherever Possible

You also want to prioritize leveraging reviews to the maximum extent possible. Milking them for all they’re worth boosts social proof and ensures any UGC your brand generates goes further.

Estimates suggest around 98% of people read online reviews before a purchase. As such, getting this aspect of Instagram UGC right is essential.

Your brand can repurpose reviews on:

• Social media account pages
• Product landing pages
• Website home pages

Recycling can improve credibility and build trust for online brands.

3. Create New Accounts For UGC Submissions

Lastly, it can help to create off-shoot accounts for UGC submissions. These let you narrow down your target audience and manage your inbox.

Multiple brands already do this. For example, Red Bull has numerous Instagram accounts for different countries (like Red Bull Greece) and the sports it sponsors (Red Bull Bikes). It also has miscellaneous categories, such as Red Bull Arts and Red Bull Adventure.

The idea here is to enable Redbull to structure itself online to respond to specific customer groups. It wants to generate as much UGC as possible, targeting customers based on their requirements without creating admin.

Tools and Features on Instagram for UGC

Like most social media platforms, Instagram offers various tools to help brands amplify their UGC’s reach. These make your life more straightforward, but they won’t solve all your UGC-related problems.

Options include:

• Branded hashtags encouraging users to share content with your brand
• Hashtag challenges to promote the creation of UGC around a specific theme
• Reposting Stories to your feed
• Adding UGC to your Stories in Highlight Reels
• Adding UGC in Short video format on Instagram Reels
• Engaging in Reels Challenges, encouraging users to share UGC to create a buzz around your brand
• Tagging products in Instagram Shoppable UGC, allowing users to purchase items in-app
• Adding Instagram polls and question stickers in Stories to gather more suggestions and feedback from your audience
• Using collaborative posts to co-author content with willing partners
• Finding high-performing UGC that may feature on Instagram’s Explore page for added discoverability

Unfortunately, Instagram’s tools and features will only get you so far with UGC content. Taking it to the next level requires specialist tools.

That’s where third-party solutions can help. These make it far easier to collaborate with creators and generate UGC for campaigns.

For example, Billo allows you to order creator videos in only four steps.

First, you decide what you need. Some brands benefit from UGC video ads while others are better served by organic content. With Billo, you choose how many videos you want to order and how you want them to appear.

Next, you create a brief for Billo’s network of pre-vetted UGC creators. You choose from various video variations and select a brief structure.

Billo then matches you with the creators that fit your demographics, brand styles and interests. These individuals are most likely to reflect your requirements in their content and connect you to suitable audiences.

You can choose from any creators who apply to work with you and instruct them to create the UGC immediately or wait until you send them product samples to review. Then, it is just a matter of waiting a few days for the finished content.

Why Billo For Instagram Engagement?

Billo has several advantages over conventional influencer outreach. While it remains collaborative, it simplifies the process, boosting your efforts in numerous ways.

For starters, it is cost-effective. Billo’s pricing begins at a transparent $99/video, which is less expensive than most influencer fees. Added to this, it is also fast. You can scale your UGC outreach, whether you need one or a hundred videos for your campaign.

You can also customize creators’ output. You decide what appears in the content and have the final say on whether to release it onto Instagram. Videos arrive in ready-to-launch format, or you can request revisions – it’s up to you.

Numerous brands are already using Billo to increase the impact of their UGC on Instagram. For example, app publishing company Brickster used our app to support its agency work. It leveraged our scalability to deliver dozens of videos to its clients, reducing costs and achieving better value for its customers.

It was a similar story for Adore Me, a growing swimwear and lingerie brand. It worked with numerous creators to showcase wearing its products, achieving a 15% higher click-through rate and 8% lower cost per acquisition compared to its non-Billo ads on TikTok.

Billo segments UGC creators by niche to make them easier for brands to find. Influencers are available for health and wellness brands, cosmetics and beauty companies, home and lifestyle firms, and many more. Thousands of brands are already benefiting.