By Rafaela Ruf - Head of product at GUURU and UGC expert
Community Content: The Most Trusted Form of User-Generated Content
In December last year, I wrote a post about transforming importance of User-Generated Content (and how to extract it easily from live customer conversations). It’s been eight months, and a lot has happened since. Our product team has been tirelessly refining Community Content, making small yet impactful steps to ensure this high-quality, low-effort form of UGC truly embodies the values of trust and community that will soon distinguish successful brands from the rest.
Each month, we witness new applications and discussions about using AI to enhance customers’ online experiences. I love AI; we use it to scale authentic, real-time conversations between loyal and potential customers. However, with these advancements, it’s becoming increasingly crucial for brands to add layers of credibility and human connection to their eCommerce websites.
Brands need to be strategic in using AI to foster trust and brand affiliation. Making sure human connection is at the forefront of your brand isn’t just a way to stand out among synthetic or untrustworthy content, but it’s the easiest way to highlight your brand’s unique qualities and strengths. I’m thrilled that we’ve discovered an approach to UGC that amplifies both trust and connectedness.
Let’s start with an example of Community Content.
Bike Angebot is a German online bike store using Community Content.
Community Content extracts product-related UGC from live conversations among Bike Angebot customers, genuine bike experts, and shoppers. These conversations take place through Bike Angebot’s Community Advice chat.
Community Content helps Bike Angebot pull valuable advice into relevant product pages. This UGC is showcased as “Community Opinions.”
UGC inspired by live customer conversations
Our mission at GUURU is to humanize brands. We do that by creating community-powered tools that make it as easy for brands to involve passionate customers in pivotal points on their online store.
Community Content fits that mission like a glove.
We’re taking live conversations between verifiably experienced and knowledgeable customers and we’re extracting the most impactful advice within these organic exchanges. The outcome is the easiest, most trusted form of UGC.
What’s the difference between UGC and Community Content?
Community Content is UGC extracted directly from real and live customer conversations. Relevant content is extracted from the natural advice that’s exchanged when like minded consumers talk.
Community Content isn’t just content; it’s content that matters in genuine customer conversations. Created by real customers, this content not only resonates with shoppers, it also allows shoppers to have real-time customer conversations for personalized advice whenever they need it, using the Community Advice chat.
Here is another example of content extracted from conversations between DIY enthusiasts and website visitors on Casando’s online store:
Trustworthy by design
The goal we had with this UGC product was to make life easier, for brands and their customers.
For brands, layers of trust are already integrated into the solution. The advice provided is high-quality because it comes from our Community Advice Chat, which ensures answer quality and credibility. To offer advice, customers invited to join the Community Advice program must be certified and knowledgeable. This certification involves passing a brand-specific knowledge test on the GUURU app. Each certified customer also has an expandable profile that highlights their passion and experience. Additionally, every author is available through the live Community Chat, allowing shoppers to know exactly where the content comes from and connect with the authors if needed.
For customers, trust is just a no-brainer and engagement feels natural. Our AI matches like-minded consumers in the chat, which means the extracted community content isn’t just a star review, it’s practical and lifestyle-specific tips or recommendations from someone who shares an interest in skiing or cycling for example.
To come back to my first post on UGC, we designed it to be as low-effort as possible, without compromising on the relevancy and quality of the content. Our advanced AI does all the hard work. It recognises the nature of the content exchanged between customers, identifying compelling product-relevant advice and extracting it into the best format, before placing it on relevant product pages. It’s a seamless experience of community-led product opinions.
As Head of Product, there’s just nothing better than building trust and ease-of-use into a future-oriented product. If you share my vision on UGC, let’s connect.
You can find me on Linkedin or book a call with my colleague Jutta Stienen.
About Rafaela Ruf
With 15 years of experience in product management, Rafaela loves being the connecting piece between what users want and what technology can build. Joining GUURU in 2020, Rafaela enjoys lean experimenting and the hands-on work at a startup. She is also a passionate dancer and member of Lisbon’s Forró dance community. Follow Rafaela on LinkedIn.
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