Let’s talk about why brand engagement even matters but first, it’s important to know that there are two types of brand engagement: internal and external. Internal is that within the company through engaging with employees. External is engagement with the brand audience and what we will focus on in this article. External customer engagement is all about the emotional connection to the brand itself. This helps drive customer loyalty and word of mouth business. And let’s be real, word of mouth business is the best kind of business. People trust the people they know to steer them in the right direction. Brand engagement will also increase overall customer retention and help a brand improve on their products and/or services through getting feedback from their audience. “Literature found that customer-brand engagement exerts significant effect on organizational performance, particularly growth of sales, reductions of cost, products/services development, customer commitment, satisfaction, and loyalty” (Harrigan et al. 2017; Kumar et al. 2010). In an ever-increasing social media space, CBE (customer brand engagement) has never been easier. There are many types of ways to engage consumers with a brand, such as email newsletters, surveys, polls, contests and, most importantly, in-person customer interactions. However, in the digital space, sourced content is one of the most beneficial ways to increase customer engagement. An in depth, scientific study concluded that UGC has, “functional and emotional values (that) exert positive and significant effects on customers’ brand engagement.” But why? Why does this type of content advertising increase engagement between brands and consumers more than traditional advertising? Well, it’s simple really. People trust people. Not logos. “UGC is created by a fellow consumer for their friends and online followers. This content gives viewers a sneak peek into people’s lives and daily habits, which deepen the audience’s connection to the product.” (Forbes) Younger generations want brands to be aligned with their own personal beliefs and values. With social media channels the way they are now, people can voice their own opinions through likes, comments, shares and even direct messages to a brand on social media platforms. Therefore, since there is a positive correlation with UGC and increased brand engagement, companies should be mixing in this form of user generated content marketing to increase overall productivity.
