How to get more User Generated Content in Ecommerce

User generated content (UGC) such as product reviews, questions & answers, photos, videos, and more provide a number of benefits to ecommerce sites. They improve your site’s online shopping experience, build trust with new customers, improve brand reception, and serve as a resource for creating promotional and marketing materials. But, just because you build space for UGC into your site doesn’t mean shoppers will come and start providing content. Use these tips to encourage your customers to submit more UGC, more frequently.
    

Incentivize

There are several ways you can reward customers for contributing UGC. Let contributors know that their content is appreciated and makes a difference by notifying them when other shoppers find their photos, reviews or answers helpful. If your site has a customer portal, you can borrow some ideas from gamification and award users with badges or redeemable points for actively contributing UGC.
    

Provide tools to make creation and submission easy

Users are more likely to provide UGC if you can make the experience as frictionless as possible. Some ideas include using review submission forms with writing prompts or icons for mobile that launch a camera app for quickly sending product photos or video.

Highlight privacy and security features

Give contributors a way to preview how UGC submissions will appear onsite (including how account info will display to other users) before they go live. If you are hosting a platform for shoppers to communicate with one another (e.g. a user forum or Q&A product page section), make sure it is moderated well to prevent offensive content.

Ask for UGC

Redesign the visibility of UGC throughout your site and use clear calls to action for shoppers to participate. Offsite, send follow up emails to customers after they receive an order and ask if they can write a review or answer other customers’ questions. You may need to adjust the timing of this follow up to ensure customers have had enough time to properly evaluate the product.