Trust in traditional advertising methods online are declining. CTR for banner ads are lower than ever. Conversely, trust in earned media (what other say online about brands) is actually increasing. Advertisers must tap into this change by tapping into User Generated Content strategies. Every second millions of consumers upload content showing behaviour and consumption of brand. Millions of pieces of content are created each day. UGC and Earned Media go hand in hand. Successful brand marketers will find ways to encourage social sharing from real consumers across user networks and channel back with a positive feedback loop using paid and owned media methods.

1. Harnessing the Most Powerful Advertising Tool, Earned
Media, via UGC strategy.
USER GENERATED CONTENT
Earned Media
=
UGC

2. Earned Media V Paid & Owned
The paid, owned, earned online advertising theory. Increasingly blurred by ‘native ads’ & online
PR. Paid + Owned can drive Earned Media strategy. Positive feedback loop…

3. Consumer Trust Earned Media /
Paid & Owned
2012 Nielsen Study:
-92% of OECD consumers trust Earned Media above other
forms of brand communication.
-Next best was Owned Media, like websites, at 52%.
-40% of people trusted Paid Media messages like banner
ads and SEM.

4. OECD Consumer Trust in Advertising Media
90%
80%
70%
60%
50% Trust
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Paid Owned Earned
Source: Nielsen Online Consumer Report 2012

5. ‘Trust’ in online media advertising
channels.
• ‘Word-of-mouth’ from peers/influencers: 92%
• Online Reviews/ recommendations: 70%
• Owned media, such as company websites: 58%
• Emails (that they consented to receive): 50%
• Product placement in TV shows: 40%
• Radio advertisements: 42%
• Cinema advertising: 41%
• Online video ads: 36%
• Online banner ads: 33% (up from 26% in 2007)
• Paid search results: 40% (up from 34% in 2007)
• Sponsored ads on social networking sites: 36%
• Video or banner ads on smartphones and tablets: 33%
• Mobile phone text ads: 29% (an increase of 61% since 2007)
Source: Nielsen (2012)

6. “Consumers around the world continue to see
recommendations from friends and online consumer
opinions as by far the most credible…
“Successful brand advertisers will seek ways to
better connect with consumers & leverage their
goodwill in the form of consumer feedback and
experiences.”
- Randall Beard, Global Head of Advertiser
Solutions, Nielsen, August 2012.

7. How Social Media users trust what
their friends say via social.
• 2011 Study:
• 70% of US Facebook users would be “more
likely to buy a specific brand” after a positive
recommendation by a friend.
• - Morpace Market Research

8. Encouraging users to share UCG via
social
Brands must find ways to encourage users to share
authentic, positive brand experiences via social.
• #Hashtags, Check-Ins & Tagging: Use the power
of Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Vine, Pinterest to
encourage sharing of images, video OR encourage
tagging, check-ins on Facebook, Foursquare.
• Use owned channels: Website, packaging to
encourage social sharing.
• Influencer Outreach: Recruit influencers to
advocate for your brand via UGC, 70% of
consumers trust online influencer.

9. UGC campaigns
Check out these ongoing UGC campaigns from
Tourism Australia (Instagram), University of
Wisconsin-Madison (Pinterest) & Ford (Twitter)