Challenges to Consider With User Generated Content Marketing

User generated content has come a long way in content marketing and is being used more often by established brands to promote their products and services. There are plenty of advantages to take advantage of by utilizing user generated content. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that dealing with user generated content comes with some challenges.

Content Moderation

This is probably to be one of the more challenging aspects when using user generated content online. Companies that want to promote their products and services generally allow their customers to upload content on their website. If the content is not monitored and filtered, then unwanted content might be uploaded.

The online medium is largely an unregulated environment and inappropriate content that can damage the brand’s image can appear amidst publishing user generated content. Customers have the freedom to express their personal opinion and upload the contents of their choice. Moreover, online discussions sometimes take an ugly turn.

Legal

User generated content is technically owned by the individual who uploads it. Therefore it is essential that your business understand the legal aspect associated with user generated content. As a business, you will need the permission from the user to post their content on the website or social media platforms. Companies are required to explicitly state who the original owner/creator of the content is.

Fake Users

User generated content campaigns transfer a certain level of control to the customers. Fake user accounts have always been part of the online world. As a result this creates a risk of receiving false information from untrustworthy sources. This could impact the authenticity of your products or entire campaign as other customers question the validity of the uploaded content.

One method of dealing with this is by inviting only those who are in the company’s database and email list. You can also provide badges to users so that you can spot the real users from the fake ones.

Marketing Support

One thing you should keep in mind is that in order to receive high-quality ads that are authentic, the campaign may receive a large amount of poor quality content. Marketers, however, hope that users will upload content that is unique and provide utility to the company. Besides reviewing all content submissions, you also need marketing support in providing a strategy on the type of content users should send in and which ones to choose with viral potential.

Ethics

Ethics is another potential issue to consider when discussing challenges of user generated content. Unethical behavior can be a huge reputation blow to a brand. Issues related to information privacy, data sharing are hotly debated by the society, hence it’s vital to be aware of reputational risks. Other ethical challenges include: unreported endorsements where a given organization endorses a customer to give information about the brand without disclosing the information to relevant people is considered unethical.

Nonetheless, the challenges faced by user generated content campaigns can be overcome using appropriate methodologies. The potential of user generated content does not have a ceiling and can easily catch on to have a viral effect online for any type of business.