Share and Share Alike

Three rules for generating quality UGC on your social feeds.

User-generated content (UGC) can bolster a travel brand’s engagement, build user trust and grow online presence, especially when on a tight budget. “UGC provides a true sense of authenticity to the messages that travel brands are striving to convey,” says Dave Thomas, associate manager of global e-commerce and online marketing at RCI. Eliciting the right type of quality UGC from customers and spurring them to share will make an impact on your brand’s social feeds. Here are three ways to help maximize participation from your social audience.

Listen to your audience

You first have to know what their likes and dislikes are. “Listen to conversations on forums or other like-minded brands’ social outlets to get a sense of what resonates among similar communities,” Thomas says. By taking account of what performs well and what falls flat, you can better strategize the type of content that will solicit a strong response among your travel brand’s community.

Ask the right questions

When crafting questions related to user interest, remember to keep them simple and not make the users work too hard. “Open-ended questions are a great way to spark response as they often do not require much effort from the user to respond,” Thomas says. A simple question like “Beach or pool?” requires minimal effort in terms of response but can ignite a conversation among engaged users.

Add visuals

Social channels such as Facebook and Instagram operate via visually driven timelines. If a question is posted without a supplementary image, it’s less likely to get a response. Source images from a stock-photo site or professional photographer. And when there’s a response that you want to use, always ask for permission. “Crediting customers who share their content can take engagement to the next level and encourage others to share,” Thomas says.

Image credit: iStockphoto