User-Generated Content: The Infinite Landscape

“To infinity, and beyond!” This is where UGC takes your brand. To the land of infinite possibilities. “Why?” you may ask yourself. Well, let’s break it down. UGC is created constantly. Every minute of every day. According to Statista, about 500 hours of content was uploaded every day during the month in February of 2022. That’s not just a lot of content… that is a staggering, I can’t even wrap my head around it, amount of content. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. We could work on the same project twice and find completely new content for the same specific brief within months of each other. This unlimited pool allows for brands and advertisers to keep their campaigns fresh. Let’s talk about point two now. Content is never going to go away. With the rise of the smart device era, it dawned a new technological time where everyone in the world has content producing software at their fingertips. After that the spawn of social media. Now, there’s not a chance in Hades that it’s going anywhere. People now rely on social media for so many things other than just posting about their lives. Catching up with old friends, news, shopping, business networking. You name it and social media has a place for it. Some people actually use social media as their main source of income, such as creators and influencers. We’ve worked with many and this is their livelihood. Our last point; obtaining UGC is very cost effective comparatively to its production counterparts. Licensing can be tricky, but that is why we specialize in this but overall, it is fairly priced in most cases, and we’ll get you the best deals that are also fair to the creators themselves. We’ve worked with over thousands of creators and influencers. This is not our first rodeo and we work hard for our partners. That said, content is QUEEN and she’s staying put. If you want to reach for the stars, then partnering with us will allow you to fly into infinite possibilities.

Splitting Sides with UGC

They say laughter is good for the soul and humor is making a comeback in the advertising world right now. I mean, who can blame brands? This type of advertising works for a plethora of reasons. The Journal of Marketing found that “humor is more likely to enhance recall, evaluation, and purchase intention when the humorous message coincides with ad objectives, is well integrated with those objectives, and is viewed as appropriate for the product category.” People love humor. They remember it. 90% more to be exact, according to Oracle. They also connect with it… and they connect with user-generated content more than paid advertising. So, why not put these two together to give yourself a recipe for advertising success? Our recent agency partners at Erich & Kallman did just this with their UGC campaign for Impossible Foods. Humans are emotional beings and tapping into this is a great way to create lasting relationships with consumers. Humor and UGC both have a way of creating positive emotions toward the brand which results in customer loyalty and engagement. In the case of humor, this is possibly caused by the cognitive humor effect. This effect occurs when the viewer becomes distracted due to the humor stimulus that diverts their attention from the original focus (the brand/product). Either way, the parallels between the two are eerie. Aside from what’s noted above, they both also increase trustworthiness to further boost brand credibility. This is why we believe that combining these two methods is a great way to improve advertising your brand. Together we can work to keep advertising fun!

AI User Generated Content

UGC is best known for its ability to humanize brands, strengthen consumer trust, and produce lasting emotional connections. With the rise of generative AI recently, there is now talk of AI-generated content. This is any form of UGC that is created or enhanced by artificial intelligence. It can change existing UGC or create new content from scratch. We feel that there are so many things that can go wrong here. Does it not take away the entire point of what benefits UGC has to offer in the first place? People trust real people… How can you “humanize” your brand if you’re not even using humans? AI will never have contextual understanding and it will lead to users feeling disconnected. UGC contains local events and current trends that are based on context many times. AI will not be able to touch on this. The biggest elephant in the room is AI's lack of diversity and bias. These machine learning models are trained by humans and therefore, will inherit bias and stereotypes. Another important point to make is that no matter how “creative” the content it spits out will be, it will never have originality or depth. The only way AI can create this content is by using UGC which is already out there for a baseline. It takes all of this content and mixes it to come up with another piece of content. UGC captures emotional moments of joy, fear, comedic relief, and empathy that AI could never replace.

Interestingly enough, two different companies did two separate interviews with our CEO. One was done through a series of questions that were then generated into an article via AI programming. The other was conducted by a journalist and written by them. When we released the two articles separately about one week from each other. The human-written article outperformed the AI-generated article. We’re sure that many factors could have contributed to this, such as time of release, etc. But, we can’t help but wonder if people responded more positively to the article written personally by the journalist because deep down they felt it was more human and emotionally written. After all, it was—just something to think about.

Time to Get Fresh: Tips on Giving Your Brand a Refresh

Coming up with your brand image takes a lot of thought effort and time as we’re sure you know since you did that when you started your company. However, a brand refresh can be just the thing you need to spice up your business if you’ve fallen stagnant instead of a full overhaul. A good refresh is sometimes necessary if your brand has become a little outdated and we all know that keeping up with pop culture in this day in age is crucial to success. This can be anything from a new logo to new a color scheme but no matter what you do there are a couple of elements that a successful brand refresh.

1.     Refined brand story: This gives your brand a humanized feel. It must be a clear and concise narrative that is compelling. When people feel they can connect to your brand on a human level, they’re more likely to buy into it.

2.     Stay connected with pop culture: This gives your brand credibility with the masses and can show why your brand was great to begin with.

3.     Know your audience: This one should be a no-brainer but we can’t emphasize enough the importance of this one. Customer insight will help elevate your refresh by addressing their serious issues with your brand. This can be done in a variety of ways, such as interviews, reviews, blogs, articles, etc.

These things have to be kept in mind when conducting a brand refresh, but you’re probably asking yourself what actions you can take to conduct a refresh in general. Here are some of our top tips on things you can do for a simple, fresh look.

1.     Update your color palette: A new color palette can bring up new emotions for people. Make sure that if you do this, it is across all platforms. Consistency is key.

2.     Update your logo: A new logo can strike up new buzz for your brand. This goes hand in hand with a new color palette. They can both be easily done in synchronicity.

3.     Launch a new product: A new product can also generate new press for your brand. Something new, something different that catches people’s attention.

4.     Update your customer promise: What is your promise to your audience? Can it be better? How? Challenge what you have already and modernize it.

5.     Website redesign: This can also go well with a new logo and color scheme. If you’ve changed those, chances are you’ll need to update your website anyhow.

Spring is a good time for some brand spring cleaning. It’s a perfect time to assess whether or not you need a fresh look. Are things slowing down at the company or do you feel like you’re losing touch with your audience? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, it might be time for a fresh look. A successful refresh will help your brand better relate to your audience, retain the attention of an ever-shifting market, and best reflect your current mission and offers.

Content Syndication 101

Go big or go home as they say. Content syndication helps your brand increase its reach to a larger audience and isn’t this the goal of every brand to expand and grow? So, what is content syndication exactly? It’s republishing the same piece of content to one or more different sites. Here’s how it works. Your brand creates original content, such as a UGC commercial on your website. Then, you target other websites and/or platforms that are a good fit for this content as well. You approach them with the opportunity to republish your content on their site. If they agree, then they repost with a source that links back to your website. Now, anyone who visits their site will see your content as well. Distribution networks work with large brands with each content syndication vendor. This means that the pricing structures will vary slightly between them. You can go this route or you can search yourself for particular partners that match your brand. According to HubSpot, you can Google Search for articles that mention: “originally published in,” “republished with permission,” or “originally appeared on.” This way is a bit more time-consuming but good if you’re marketing on a tight budget. 

Let’s talk about the benefits of content syndication a little bit more now that you have a basic understanding of how it works.

1.     Wider audience reach: When searching for partners to syndicate your content, you want them to be larger than your brand. This way your reach grows.

2.     Increase brand awareness: This one is a no-brainer since you are using a larger brand to increase your audience. It will inherently increase your brand awareness. This can help establish more credibility as a brand in your industry as well.

3.     Building relationships: When you create partnerships, you’re creating business relationships in your industry that may extend further than just content syndication if all goes well.

4.     Drive website traffic & improve SEO: When you syndicate content on a third-party site, they link the source back to your website and that will increase your traffic. This will also improve your SEO.

5.     Generate new leads: Reaching out to a larger audience means reaching new customers. These leads can generate new business for your brand.

You can track all these metrics with hard data once you begin syndication through website traffic, engagement, and lead generation data. This strategy is a valuable one for brands looking to increase growth and build lasting partnerships with other industry leaders.

Why Asking Open-Ended Questions is Important for Creative Businesses

How? Why? What? Open-ended questions are questions that start this way. They are designed to be thought-provoking and allow for longer and more detailed responses. Differing from closed-ended questions that typically are answered with yes or no or have some short response, they have no predetermined answers and will require some explanation. A good open-ended question always seeks genuine interest in the person’s answers. Since these types of questions require deeper thinking they can often end with breakthrough answers. The point is not about having a right or wrong answer with these so that they can elicit collaboration within a team. You can already see why this type of thought provocation within your business can be beneficial, especially when you’re trying to solve some problem. They can build rapport between employees and foster positive relationships within the company. If you’re not sure where to start with asking open-ended questions here are some tips and examples.

1.     Be mindful: Keep an eye on yourself and the types of questions that you tend to ask naturally. Are they closed or open-ended in nature? If they are mostly closed, try turning them into open. For example, you ask, “Did you like the presentation?” Now, let’s turn this into an open-ended question instead by saying, “What did you think of the presentation? Do you see improvements that need to be made? What things do you particularly enjoy? Now, instead of a yes or no and possibly even a meh it was ok answer, you have opened up the door for discussion.

2.     Follow up with an open-ended question: First, look at the above example again by asking, “Did you like the presentation?” Followed up with, “What did you like or not like about it?

3.     Don’t go through the motions: Try to remember that sometimes running off on a tangent will happen. These questions are designed to provoke thought and collaboration. Sometimes you may have to reel it back in a little but don’t be too rigid on how the conversation should go. “Be like water my friend” - Bruce Lee.

If you need some ideas of examples for open-ended questions to get you started here are a couple to get you going.

1.     What do you believe is the root of the problem?

2.     What objectives can help solve this problem?

3.     Could you provide an example of what you’re talking about?

4.     If this isn’t working for you, can you help me understand why?

5.     Would you mind elaborating?

We hope this helps you on your way to opening up discussions within your teams for your business. Having a team that thinks deeply in the creative spaces of advertising is crucial to coming up with good ideas. Sometimes all you need is a conversation to take your minds where they hadn’t thought to go yet.

Using Grateful Practices to Expand Your Business

Every morning I sit and journal for 20 minutes to unload my mind and declutter my thoughts. If you’ve ever read The 5 am Club by Robin Sharma, then you know what this 20/20/20 rule is all about. I digress though. If you want to know what it’s about you’ll have to read the book. Wink Wink. Once I’m done with this journaling practice, I write down 5 things I am grateful for that day. It can be as complicated as, “I am grateful for the ability to shift my focus to things I can control when I am burdened with situations that are out of my control.” Or they can be as simple as. “I am grateful that I woke up today or for the roof over my head.”  

Business is truly about the relationships that we foster. Our relationships with other businesses, our team, and our customers are all equally important. According to Forbes, 134% of people are more likely to stay in work cultures where leaders prioritize gratitude. As a leader do you want your company to be fueled by gratitude to grow? Of course, you do. Who wouldn’t? As leaders, we’re always seeking ways to expand our businesses but usually, this is done through business strategies and less of a mindset approach. However, practicing gratitude can transform your mindset and your business model. When people feel heard they feel valued so while simple thank you’s are nice, they aren’t all you need to cultivate a gratitude culture at work.

To embrace gratitude as a business skill you need to practice a few things.

1.     Self-reflection for what you are grateful for in your business and why daily

2.     Enhance relationships with your team through genuine appreciation for your team and others you do business with

3.      Promote growth by being grateful for what your business already has and it will create new opportunities

4.     Advocate positivity at work and create gratitude routines as an entrepreneur

You can use these tools and grateful practices to overcome challenges and increase employee satisfaction. Following just a few strategies as a leader can improve your business model. What is it that they say? “Your attitude determines your latitude.” Your mind is your most powerful weapon.

Theory of Reasoned Action

We recently listened to a great episode of the Mark Groves podcast with costar guest, Robert Greene on the art of seduction. By seduction, we don’t mean what you all think. Seduction is persuasion and is an element of gaining power. This is something all brands strive to attain to gain new customers. All advertising is based on some sort of persuasion to influence attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. This is where the Theory of Reasoned Action comes into play. This theory is an attempt to understand the relationship between attitudes, and beliefs and determine behavioral intention of human actions. There are three things to consider here. 1. Attitudes as a function of beliefs and evaluations of the outcomes. 2. Subjective norms of society as a function of normative beliefs. 3. Motivation to comply and self-control is a function of these beliefs with consideration to how much sway they hold over the person. These three things lead to behavioral intentions. So, now it’s important to understand what controls these beliefs that we all have and where they stem from. Some background factors are personal, demographic, and environmental.

1. Personal

   1. Self-esteem

   2. Personality traits

   3. Emotions

   4. Health

2. Demographics

   1. Age

   2. Gender

   3. Race, ethnicity

   4. Education level

   5. Income

   6. Religious beliefs

3. Environment

   1. Stress levels

   2. Media exposure level

An interesting study done on one Nike advertisement can explain how understanding this theory can help brands promote a paradigm shift to sell a product. The ad was “I Have Thunder Thighs.” In this case, they’re promoting body positivity for women. They tell women to embrace their thunder thighs and it’s a compliment to be told that you have them. Let’s take a deeper look here. The study shows that the first component is the attitude of beliefs and evaluations. They try to sway their audience to love their body as it encourages positive attitudes toward self-esteem and confidence. Next, they tackle subjective norms of social pressures to engage or disengage from behaviors based on what is considered “socially normal.” Nike encourages a community of women who support each other as they are and that they want you to be healthy and fit. Behavioral intention is next inferred to adopt a healthy lifestyle or continue one. Lastly, and most importantly, behavior is what Nike wants their audience to do. They want them to exercise, be confident, and embrace themselves despite what size and shape society tells them to be. This ad shows how advertising uses persuasion techniques to sell a product. Understanding this theory can help advertising agencies the best ways to go about persuading the audience in favor of their product.