15 Reasons Why You Should Spend More Time Thinking About B2B User Generated Content In Your Startup Marketing
Is User Generated Content (UGC) integral to your b2B content marketing strategy? If not, it’s time to give it serious consideration.
B2B marketing is no walk in the park. You face intricate decision-making processes, technical target audiences, and longer sales cycles. To succeed, you need a deep understanding of your market to deliver the right message at the right time to the right people.
However, even when you’ve mastered these aspects, building credibility and trust as a startup in the B2B landscape remains a significant challenge.
This is where user-generated content (UGC) comes in—a powerful content marketing tactic that can address these challenges head-on.
If you haven’t incorporated UGC as an integral part of your content marketing strategy, here are 15 compelling reasons why you should give it more thought.
What is User-Generated Content ?
UGC refers to content created by your users, showcasing their experiences, opinions, or interactions with your brand.
Gartner defines it as “User-generated content (UGC) refers to original, brand-related content — including text, video, images, podcasts, etc. — that is created and published online by customers and brand advocates, as opposed to employees or official representatives of that brand.”
1. You'll increase brand credibility and trust.
UGC is the epitome of social proof. Think about it: when considering a purchase, would you trust a fellow consumer or a brand sales representative? B2B buyers exhibit similar behaviors, relying on customer testimonials to validate a brand’s promises and lend credibility.
Particularly crucial when you’re targeting Enterprise Accounts that may feel reluctant to purchase from a startup. Establishing connections between your brand and other well-known, established brands will significantly enhance your brand’s credibility and foster a greater sense of security.
2. You'll increase customer engagement.
Customer engagement goes beyond having a good product or a customer success team. Turning customers into brand ambassadors makes them more invested and accountable, fostering deeper engagement. Encouraging users to share their experiences, insights, and case studies creates a collaborative environment where clients feel valued and included—a foundation for building a solid relationship.
3. You'll get more opportunities to upsell and cross-sell.
Upselling and cross-selling are major strengths in the B2B realm. Think about it; you spent money on acquiring an account but expanding it should be much easier. In fact, Marketing Metrics suggest that it’s “about 50% easier to upsell and cross-sell to existing clients than to find new ones”. By actively engaging with your customers and increasing their loyalty, you gain access to new opportunities for upselling and cross-selling.
The real game-changer, though, is when your brand advocates sell your project within their own companies, potentially leading to additional departments or subsidiaries coming on board. In Enterprise accounts, this is very powerful. Don’t underestimate it.
4. You’ll increase customer retention.
During economic downturns, customer retention becomes vital. Engaging your customers with your brand creates a sense of loyalty that prevents them from switching to competitors. Remind them why they chose your brand in the first place.
5.You'll listen more to your customers.
One of the fascinating facts I noticed when interviewing customers was that they appreciate being heard. Even when they’re generally satisfied, they relish the opportunity to voice their concerns and know they’ll be listened to. You could argue that it falls under the customer’s success, sales, or product team’s jurisdiction. But having another person to interact with gives them that added sense of security about their concerns being addressed (and this is usually the case).
6. You'll create more bonds with your customers.
Your customers already know their sales rep, customer success manager, and product team. By involving marketing, you can connect with other individuals within the company, such as the communication department or press relations team. It allows you to forge stronger bonds with your customers.
And the more bonds you create, the more secure your account will be.
7. You can help them professionally.
I’m convinced that giving is getting. And UGC perfectly exemplifies this principle. Sometimes your customers need a career boost, to prove their work, showcase results, and gain visibility within their own companies. What about if you give them this power? Using what they achieved through your joint project, providing visibility to your customer will raise not only your brand’s visibility but also theirs.
Make your customers your stars.
8. You'll understand better your personas and use cases.
Discussing regularly with your customers and understanding their pain points and concerns, what they do with your solution, what features they like, and what benefits they get are immensely valuable for your marketing activities. You’ll get to know your personas better at a deeper level. And you’ll be able to feed your marketing machine with real-world insights, resulting in personalized campaigns that resonate with your audience. You can also actively seek their input on topics they’d like to read and learn about, which will fuel your content machine.
9. You'll get precious and unique content.
In Content Marketing, offering unique and insightful content is crucial for success.
And what could be more unique and insightful than real-life stories?
Nothing beats customer feedback on what they tried to solve, how they did it, and what they achieved when it comes to providing valuable content to your audience.
This is personalized, high-quality content that you can produce with relative ease. By curating and sharing user-generated content like testimonials, success stories, or guest blog posts, startups can position themselves as trusted authorities and experts, further solidifying their credibility.
10. You'll get access to free content marketing.
Highly qualitative and almost free! Creating top-notch content often comes with a hefty price tag. You need skilled experts who charge a premium for their unique content. However, UGC offers you the same level of quality without the expert cost. It’s a budget-friendly way to obtain valuable content for your marketing efforts.
11. You'll increase your conversion rate with high-performing decision-stage content.
UGC plays a crucial role in guiding your prospects during decision-making by offering valuable insights into why they chose your product or service and the benefits they gained from it. For prospects weighing their options and comparing different offers, UGC can be the tipping point that seals the deal. Compelling UGC formats such as video testimonials or customer case studies are particularly effective in converting deals and driving conversions.
12. It will boost metrics that your investors will love.
When it comes to revenue metrics that investors prioritize for early-stage companies, let’s turn to the recently published 2023 Sales KPI Report by Insights Partners. This report highlights key indicators, including:
- Win rate
- New & Expansion Bookings Growth Rate
- NPS
- Gross Revenue Retention
User-generated content (UGC) directly influences three out of the four metrics mentioned:
- UGC positively impacts the Win rate by providing customer cases that support the decision-making journey. By adding trust and security, UGC increases the likelihood of winning deals.
- UGC influences the New and Expansion Growth Rate by attracting new customers and facilitating upsell and cross-sell opportunities, resulting in higher Expansion ARR.
- UGC also directly impacts NPS by fostering customer engagement, leading to happier customers.
Although the impact on Gross Revenue Retention may be less evident, increased engagement through UGC will likely involve customers who are already a good fit for your solution. This reduces the likelihood of churn, contributing to improved GRR.
13. You'll achieve better alignment among your growth teams.
Implementing a successful UGC strategy goes beyond just marketing—it requires the involvement of your customer success, sales, and product teams.
By establishing common goals, you can maximize the potential of your strategy. For example, customer success can guide you to the right customers; sales can include communication as early as the deal signature, and product can lead you to the most active customers or compelling customer cases.
As having a great UGC strategy leads to increased NPS, higher conversion rates, and more engaged customers, everyone is winning, and your teams can work together and in the right direction. You’ll enhance alignment and team spirit by working together towards common objectives.
14. You'll get the best out of your PLG machine.
As a Product-Led-Growth company, you work hard to provide exceptional product experiences to your users.
Leverage these efforts to encourage customers to give feedback. Encouraging them to advocate for your product will help you fuel the PLG machine to drive viral growth.
15. You'll discover that your customers are pretty nice.
I might have been very lucky, or I only worked in companies with exceptional products, but all the customers I worked with were smart, friendly, and very interesting. Working with your customers is not only a very impactful practice but also a real pleasure.
Incorporating user-generated content into B2B startup marketing strategies can be a game-changer. I hope I convinced you at that point. It increases brand loyalty, credibility, and conversion rate, feeds your marketing strategy to resonate better with your target audience, and is very insightful and pleasant overall. If you’re ready to embrace the power of user-generated content and unlock its potential to elevate your startup’s B2B marketing efforts but don’t know how to start, you can contact me.
Share This Post
Subscribe To Our Newsletter
Get marketing tips for startups
More To Explore
Why Are Post-Opportunity Nurturing Workflows a Great Idea to Accelerate Deal Conversion?
Ever encountered the frustrating challenge of prospect procrastination? You’re not alone. Let me introduce you to post-opportunity nurturing workflows to accelerate deal conversion.
Unlocking Startup Growth: 7 Proven B2B Marketing Tactics for Early-Stage Startups
20% of startups falter due to weak marketing strategies. We dive into seven B2B marketing tactics that can significantly uplift your startup.