by List Spikers |
Last Updated: December 11, 2021 User-generated content (also known as UGC) is content created by someone who isn’t an official representative of your firm but is associated with it.
It could be a status update on social media, a review, a video, a podcast, or a variety of other formats.
It’s user-generated content if it has something to do with your brand but was not made by one of your workers or affiliates.
On the other hand, a content upgrade is a piece of content that you offer as a bonus to your readers in exchange for their email addresses.
What Is User-Generated Content?
Word-of-mouth advertising has long been regarded as one of the most efficient forms of advertising. It drives $6 trillion in annual expenditure, and it usually happens through user-generated content in today’s digital world.
But what are some instances of user-generated content?
User-generated content (UGC) refers to content created and published by unpaid contributors, such as images, videos, and text. It’s also a huge triumph for brands.
Consumers who post about a brand on social media have an impact on the purchasing decisions of their followers. In fact, 85% of consumers believe user-generated content is more impactful than content created by brands.
How to Create User-Generated Content
We like to boil down our creation processes to their most basic elements because we like to keep things simple and easy for anyone to understand. So we boil down to creating user-generated content in two basic steps.
Step 1: Define the Problem Your Content Is Solving
As you may already be aware, content changes must be relevant to the issues that your visitors are experiencing or the question that they have. Before you start creating your content improvements, make sure you understand the issues.
You must be specific in order to enhance your conversion rate and please your visitors. To identify and define the problem, it may be helpful to take polls on your social media platforms or ask specific questions in comment sections.
This increases user engagement and also helps you narrow down what your visitors are after!
Step 2: Develop an Irresistible Starting Content Piece
You only need to do what you typically would in this step: develop your content. You need to present the answer within your content piece because you already know the problem you’re trying to tackle.
This is not the “content upgrade” piece.
It is simply the answer to the question you know your visitors are asking.
This is kind of like the moment you smell a cake in the oven so you know it’s there, but it’s not quite done cooking yet!
That’s what your starting content piece is.
Step 3: Expand the Value
If you’ve ever built buyer personas for your blog, you’ll know that you need to tailor your content to a particular group of people dealing with a specific set of issues. Most of the time, those visiting your site are not just looking for one answer to one question, they’re looking for multiple answers to several questions all within a niche area.
With that said, you must ask yourself how you will expand your value to provide them with not only the answer they’re looking for but a reason to come back to your blog or website.
Giving them a PDF without any additional content as a thank you for example won’t make much of a difference in their lives.
Always strive to provide more excellent value to your visitors.
Taking the most important lessons and insights and improving them is the most straightforward approach to increasing your content piece’s worth.
You can do it in a variety of ways:
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How to Create a Content Upgrade for Your Blog
Are you putting out excellent content on your site but yet haven’t gotten any subscribers? Do you think about what could happen if you grow your email list quickly? You surely can with content upgrades!
What is a Content Upgrade?
A content upgrade is a gift that you give to visitors in exchange for their email address, which is specific to the blog post or content that they are presently reading.
If your readers are coming to your site for guidance or to find an answer to a burning concern, you may build a tailored content upgrade that you know they’ll love. Let’s discuss how to do so.
Define the Type of Content Upgrade You Want to Provide
You must first determine the type of content upgrade you’ll make before moving on to producing it.
Here’s the cool part: you can employ a variety of content upgrades, there are dozens to choose from.
Since the development of a content upgrade depends on the piece of content, your style, and the value you’re providing, there is no “good” or “wrong” type of content upgrade.
The following are the most common:
- The audio version of the article
- Sheet of cheats
- Checklist
- A list of resources
- Templates
- Transcription \Video \ Worksheets
The Best Performing Content Upgrades for Your Website
When it comes to constructing your content update, to ensure that it is a success, make it relevant to the article.
While site-wide lead magnets can work to grab emails, an upgrade created through user-generated content that is specific to a blog article a user is currently reading will convert far better.
An eBook on healthy eating or fitness, for example, could be a site-wide lead magnet; if you’re writing about how to lose five pounds in a month. On the other hand, a good content upgrade would be a checklist or a cheat sheet for following the same steps you mentioned in that specific article they are currently reading.
Make it worth it
Don’t just hand out a mediocre PDF that took you five minutes to make.
Consider whether you’d be delighted or excited to receive this as an upgrade. If you wouldn’t be delighted, you may need to reconsider your plan.
Keep it basic, though; you don’t need to give out a 400-page eBook that only a few people will read. Although it’s easy to believe that more material equals more excellent value, individuals often prefer shortcuts.
Make it pretty
You may certainly send an essential word document that appears to be a book. However, just as you should make your blog posts appear great to boost readability and engagement, you should make your upgrades look nice as well.
After all, it’s usually only a matter of spending an extra 20-30 minutes to make it seem nice. It’s that little something extra that makes you stand out.
Closing Arguments
Your lead-generation approach doesn’t have to be centered on a single opt-in form on a single landing page. In fact, it shouldn’t.
You can boost your conversion rates by using content upgrades to convert qualified, interested leads.
Why?
As opposed to generic lead magnets, content enhancements are more specific and targeted.
Bonus content can be added to a blog post or article as a content upgrade. By giving their contact information, readers can gain unrestricted access to the content.
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