Module 6 Assignment: User Generated Content

As social media consistently grows more ingrained in our daily lives, it's becoming increasingly difficult for organizations to strive without some form of social media presence. However, simply having a social media profile is not nearly enough. In order to succeed on social media, brands have to foster a digital environment where users feel engaged, interested and compelled to share. One of the most obvious - and trickiest - ways to accomplish this level of engagement is to have the users create their own content for your brand, which is known as user generated content.

When done right, user generated content can be an extremely valuable tool for organizations. While expert social media campaigns can attract attention, users also don't always relate to them or trust the brand's motives. According to a HubSpot Blogs article, "consumers are more interested in hearing the views of their peers than reading cleverly written sales messages" (Siu). A positive recommendation from another trusted user serves as free advertising for an organization, while still conveying the brand's goal and message. This effectiveness is only amplified when the campaign prompts a specific task or call to action from users. The brand can carefully craft a specific call to action that will showcase the campaign's goal, which in turn controls the content that users generate. 

For example, a 2014 Starbucks campaigns showed the value that a positive user generated campaign can add to a company. The campaign asked consumers to submit a picture of their personal doodle on a Starbucks cup, then chose the winner's design as the template for a new limited edition Starbucks cup (Siu). By giving users the impression that their opinions mattered to the company, consumers felt both engaged and personally invested in the brand and campaign. This call to action was also fun and not restrictive; any user with a cup, marker and a camera was capable of submitting.

However, a poorly planned campaign can have the complete opposite effect and actually become damaging to the brand. For example, McDonald's launched a 2012 campaign inviting users to contribute their #McDStories. According to Forbes, the campaign was "hoping that the hashtag would inspire heart-warming stories about Happy Meals. Instead, it attracted....McDonald’s detractors who turned it into a #bashtag" (Hill). Users tweeted horror stories about their McDonald's experiences, including @Alice_2112's "Hospitalized for food poisoning after eating McDonald's in 1989. Never ate there again and became a Vegetarian. Should have sued. #McDStories" (Roberts).  

Another unfortunate example is often seen when celebrities or public figures do live Q&A sessions on social media. In June 2015, Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James experienced unexpected backlash when she launched her #AskELJames Twitter session. Tweets included anything from @maybemarvellous's "would you donate some of your money to women who became victims of abuse thanks to your books? #AskELJames" to @thatswedishgirl's "My boss said no when I asked if I could kiss him and then I did anyway because no means yes right? Things at work are awkward. #AskELJames" (York).  

In both of these cases, the organizations lost control of the direction of the campaign and neglected to plan for any possible backlash. While the intention of the campaigns was to positively engage with users, the open-ended nature of these questions invited naysayers to contribute freely. As mentioned by Inbound Marketing Agents, "because [McDonald's] launched their campaign on Twitter – a platform over which they have no control – there was nothing they could do once their hashtag began to backfire" (Corbett). The Starbucks campaign was relatively controlled due to the subject matter; it's more difficult to hijack a monitored photo submission contest with such a specific audience and incentive. For both McDonald's and E.L. James, the use of the public forum made it easy for the hashtag to snowball into a mockery of the original mission.

However, these negative examples shouldn't deter organizations from launching user generated content campaigns. For example, in the case of E.L. James, her Fifty Shades of Grey series had already caused a great amount of controversy in the media - mostly related to the raunchy nature and glamorization of domestic abuse. According to Inbound Marketing Agents, a recent bad piece of press can still be fresh on users' minds, so launching a user generated campaign could actually spread double the negativity (Corbett). If organizations keep context, control and incentives in mind, then a user generated campaign can be incredibly successful and foster a personalized, engaging environment for users and consumers.  

Works Referenced

1. Siu, Eric. "10 User Generated Content Campaigns That Actually Worked." HubSpot Blogs. HubSpot, Inc., 12 Mar. 2015. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.
2. York, Chris. "EL James Held A Twitter Q&A And It Was An Utter Disaster." The Huffington Post UK. AOL (UK) Limited, 29 June 2015. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.
3. Hill, Kashmir. "#McDStories: When A Hashtag Becomes A Bashtag." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 24 Jan. 2012. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.
4. Roberts, Hannah. "#McFail! McDonalds' Twitter Promotion Backfires as Users Hijack #McDstories Hashtag to Share Fast Food Horror Stories." The Daily Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 24 Jan. 2012. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.
5. Corbett, Hannah. "User Generated Content: How to Avoid the Backlash." Inbound Marketing Blog. Inbound Marketing Agents, 14 Feb. 2015. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.