ugc for your email Ad products?
good morning media folks ☀️
So I’m currently working with a publisher in the Sports category. And they’re hiring some UGC creators to create content for their audience outside (and inside) the newsletter. And it sparked something.
Why aren’t we using UGC for Ad products?
What I mean by that is… if your readers are using products you advertise, why aren’t we sourcing that data and using it to our advantage?
The fact is, a ton of newsletter Ad Products are failing advertisers. There is a bubbling sentiment that newsletter Ads aren’t performing. Advertisers want to switch to performance-based pricing and affiliates, there's bad communication, and they're not getting the white glove treatment.
And that could be for a few different reasons. Could it be publisher bandwidth? New publishers that don’t know how to support an Advertising business?
Where I am seeing it, it's the lack of Ad product innovation.
I’ve said this a million times, but The Hustle and Morning Brew Ads from 2018 don’t work the same anymore. Plus, you can’t just take the Advertiser’s copy, inject it into your email, and expect amazing results.
So what can we do about it? I have some ideas.
the power behind UGC
When you’re competing against an already crowded market, you have to innovate… fast. Leveraging UGC in 2024 will give you an advantage. You’ll be able to:
- find new ways to build trust
- create authenticity and relatability
- build a real community through Email
- increase Advertising performance
- enhance brand loyalty
- further conversations
When you add real-life experiences (like reviews, stories, photos…) you create a place that reflects perspectives, making your newsletter Ad products more engaging and trustworthy.
strategies to gather UGC
A ton of ways to do this. The first is tagging a survey form at the bottom of your Email Ads. You could say something like this:
“Have you used this product before? Tell us about your experience here.”
You can have your readers submit any type of content you want. Short form video, 1-2 sentence testimonial… whatever fits for repurposing. If you can’t source, then ask your Advertisers to provide them for you. They have testimonials on hand that you can repurpose into your Ad product.
The last option is to gameify. You can add widgets to source, or use promotional campaigns like vouchers and gift cards. A fun one is that you can work with the Advertiser and send their products to your readers and have them review it.
incorporating UGC in email design
A few ways I’ve thought about approaching this. The first is using written UGC testimonials directly into your Ad copy. A quick pitch of the Advertiser's product, and a few testimonials from your readers who have used the product.
An example is this Skillshare promotional email. Now, I recognize it’s not an email publisher, but the idea is the same. Incorporate your Advertiser's content with your UGC (remember, no publisher is doing this right now!!).
The second is embedding short-form video. Directly from your readers about the advertising product. ESPs can handle this now. Just be careful of deliverability issues. Make sure you keep tabs on the current software you're using.
You can also point to a YouTube embed, Loom embed, or whatever you feel that works. YouTube can give you that extra reach, and Loom can make it feel more exclusive.
But never steer away from your email design. Make it feel native. Once this starts feeling programmatic, it can hurt your Ad performance.
going forward
Nothing is personalized anymore. Things feel robotic, and the email publishers that put maximum effort into innovating their newsletter products will continue to produce revenue and delight their audience.
The role of UGC will be more powerful than ever because readers will finally feel like they’re part of a legit community.
see you next week,
shaan
New here? You can sign up for the money tlks! newsletter - delivered to your email every Sunday morning at 8 AM MST. We bring together the most pertinent info you need to be successful in #media.