4. Leverage User-Submitted Content
User-submitted content is a great resource for capturing social proof because it helps you to connect and engage with prospects. For example, Lay’s launched a “Do us a Flavor” campaign that invited customers to invent their own flavors; fans could vote on their favorites, and a large cash prize was awarded to the winning idea. The campaign received 3.8 million submissions.
This is a B2C example, but B2B marketers can use it to inspire their strategy and content marketing ideas. For example, using social media such as Twitter or LinkedIn, you could ask prospects to vote on their most pressing pain points around a topic that ties in to your product. During this process, the emails of those who voted could be collected so that final results can be shared.
The most frequently cited pain point can then be used in content marketing efforts. For example, a white paper could be developed around the number one pain point and sent to those who participated in the survey to generate leads and nurture those relationships. Survey participants could receive an email that says, “You spoke and we listened. Your number one pain point was XYZ, and we’ve created a white paper that solves that problem.”
Encourage people to comment on your blog or to contribute to your forum or on a LinkedIn group so you can listen to what they say but also use their exact words in content marketing efforts to drive engagement.
Key takeaway: User-generated content isn’t just great for leveraging social proof; it’s an engagement tool as well. Capturing and employing user-generated content helps prospects feel truly heard.