Today’s perpetually connected consumers have taken control of the marketers’ message. They decide where, when, and how they want to engage with brands. They widely share their experiences — good, bad, and in-between — on the products they use and the brands they love. These communications are highly influential because they are more trusted than typical brand messaging. But many marketers have yet to realize the brand building power of this immature but influential marketing discipline. To fulfill user-generated content’s brand building potential, marketing leaders must solicit authentic, value-added content from their customers and measure results to build maturity.
In May 2014, BazaarVoice commissioned Forrester Consulting to understand how marketing decision-makers are leveraging user-generated content (UGC) like Q&A, rich media, photos and videos, and ratings and reviews to increase brand resonance. Forrester conducted in-depth interviews with 14 marketing leadership professionals in the US and Europe. These interviewees shared their strategies, successes, and hurdles for generating, capturing, and measuring user-generated content as part of their brand building efforts
