6 Steps to Boosting Your Outdoor Brand’s E-Commerce Sales With UGC

Need more evidence of the power UGC can deliver for brands? Consider these compelling UCG-related statistics:

• Nearly 85% of surveyed consumers say they’re more likely to trust a brand that incorporates UCG in its marketing efforts.
• Surveyed retailers rank written customer reviews (56%) and photo/video content from customers (38%) as the most influential elements of their advertising.
• 80% of consumers say they’d prefer to see brands using real customer photos over stock photos in their consumer outreach.

How to boost e-commerce sales with UGC

UGC can also bring big benefits for outdoor brands looking to boost the effectiveness of their e-commerce efforts. After all, when nearly 80% of surveyed consumers say they’re more likely to buy from a brand that incorporates UGC in its marketing efforts, it’s clear that these user-created assets can create a considerable impact on online conversions.

Looking to elevate your outdoor brand’s e-commerce sales with the help of UGC? Consider taking these six UGC-centered steps that can increase your e-commerce conversions:

1. Add customer reviews and ratings to your product pages

Authentic customer feedback acts as a powerful form of social proof, enhancing trust and credibility in an outdoor brand and its products. Potential customers are more likely to make purchasing decisions when they see positive reviews from fellow outdoor enthusiasts, thus increasing conversion rates. In addition, the presence of customer reviews provides valuable insights into product performance, functionality and durability, helping prospective buyers make informed choices tailored to their specific needs. And by actively responding to reviews, your outdoor brand can demonstrate a commitment to customer satisfaction and brand transparency, further bolstering trust and solidifying the brand-consumer relationship.

(Need expert tips on ways to get more online reviews and ratings? Check out this TBA Outdoors blog article for some of our insights on the topic.)

2. Encourage more UGC creation and sharing

Encouraging customers to create and share user-generated content presents numerous benefits for outdoor e-commerce brands. Encouraging them to do that can be achieved via tactics like offering incentives such as discounts and rewards, running contests and giveaways, creating branded hashtags, and featuring UGC on your brand’s social platforms. By spotlighting the experiences and perspectives of satisfied customers, user-generated content can deliver authentic and relatable endorsements that resonate strongly with potential buyers. Further, when customers showcase your brand’s products in real-life outdoor settings through photos, videos or testimonials, they create compelling narratives that inspire trust and credibility in the brand. This form of content not only reinforces the features and benefits of your offerings, but it can also demonstrate their practicality and effectiveness in various outdoor scenarios. And as an added bonus, UGC can help foster a sense of community and engagement, encouraging existing customers to become brand advocates and attracting new audiences through social sharing and word-of-mouth referrals.

3. Tap into testimonials

Showcasing testimonials on your outdoor brand’s website and/or in its e-store offers numerous benefits that can significantly impact your bottom line. Testimonials serve as powerful social proof, providing prospective customers with authentic insights into the experiences of satisfied buyers. When potential customers see positive testimonials from real people who have used your products when engaging in various outdoor activities, it instills confidence and trust in your brand, ultimately driving increased conversion rates. Further, testimonials can often help address common objections or concerns that potential buyers may have, reassuring them of the quality and effectiveness of your products. By prominently featuring testimonials throughout your outdoor brand’s website and e-store, you can effectively influence purchasing decisions, differentiate your brand from competitors and ultimately drive higher sales volumes.

4. Employ UGC in your advertising campaigns

Including UGC in your outdoor brand’s advertising campaigns offers numerous benefits that can significantly enhance marketing effectiveness and drive revenue growth. When incorporated into advertising materials such as social media ads, display ads or promotional emails, UGC helps to humanize your brand and its products, making them more relatable and appealing to consumers. This authenticity often fosters trust and credibility, leading to higher engagement levels and increased conversion rates. By leveraging UGC in its advertising campaigns, your outdoor brand can also create more compelling and persuasive marketing messages that resonate with your target audience.

5. Create a dedicated UGC page on your website

By creating a dedicated page for user-generated content on your outdoor brand’s website, you can deliver a dynamic showcase of authentic experiences shared by real customers, offering valuable social proof that builds trust and credibility in your brand and its products. By aggregating UGC such as photos, videos, reviews and testimonials from satisfied customers, such a dedicated UGC page provides potential buyers with compelling insights into how your products are used and enjoyed in real-life outdoor scenarios. This immersive and relatable content can not only reinforce your brand’s authenticity, but it can also help address potential buyer objections and uncertainties, ultimately leading to increased conversion rates. Further, a UGC-dedicated page can serve as a hub for customer engagement and community-building, fostering a sense of belonging among customers and encouraging them to share their own experiences and adventures.

6. Share customer stories with your blog posts

Sharing customer stories in your outdoor brand’s blog posts allows you to leverage the power of storytelling to connect with potential buyers on a deeper level. By featuring real-life accounts of customers’ experiences with your brand’s products in various outdoor adventures and activities, these stories serve as compelling testimonials that resonate with readers and inspire trust and confidence in your brand. Customer stories help humanize the brand, making it more relatable and authentic to consumers, which in turn can lead to increased engagement and conversion rates. Additionally, by showcasing how customers have successfully used your brand’s products to overcome challenges or achieve their outdoor goals, these stories help demonstrate the practical benefits and value proposition of your products in a tangible and relatable way. Further, sharing customer stories in blog posts can help to differentiate your brand from competitors by highlighting its unique selling points and positioning it as a trusted authority in the outdoor industry.

Inspire more UGC for your outdoor brand — with help from TBA Outdoors

By taking some strategic steps, your outdoor brand can inspire the creation of more user-generated content focused on your products and services. And here at TBA Outdoors, our team of outdoors-obsessed marketing professionals has the experience and know-how needed to leverage that content to elevate your e-commerce efforts.

Further, our fully integrated marketing firm can cover all of your outdoor brand’s marketing needs — all in one place. Whether you’re looking for help in areas like branding strategy, research and analytics or need assistance with creative, social media, e-commerce, public relations, video production and more, we’ve got you covered. To explore how we can help your outdoor brand elevate the effectiveness of all its marketing efforts, contact us today.