Unleashing the Power of User-Generated Content: From Ad Revenue to Social Commerce

The Prompt:

As a Columbia Business School student, I need to come up with a  300-400-word blog post leveraging AI and picking a topic in Digital Marketing for an assignment.  I want to dive into the relevance of User-Generated Content (UGC) on major platforms today.  What's intriguing is that UGC isn't just about ad revenue anymore but also a bourgeoning driver for commerce. While it's a well-established practice in Asia, it's gaining momentum in the United States, with major social media giants placing big bets on its future. Given these criteria and ideas, can you come up with a 300-400 blog spot for my Digital Marketing class assignment?

The Post (w/ my own edits)

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, UGC continues to be an emerging topic.  Platforms such as TikTok and YouTube Shorts leveraging UGC to drive ad sales revenue are now relentlessly pushing short-form video content to drive social commerce initiatives, and to revolution the way we shop and engage online.  While social commerce / live streaming within short video platforms is thriving in the East, especially in countries like China and Indonesia, it has not taken off in the States (Insider Intelligence, 2023).  Meta initiated a soft launch of these efforts in 2021 but paused due to limited adoption. Interestingly, TikTok and YouTube have continued to explore this trend, showing their commitment to reshaping the digital marketing landscape. This contrast in strategies raises the fact that live streaming / social commerce it is still up in the end for the States, but I am excited to see how the cookie crumbles.

UGC has gained a whole new dimension with short videos.  For example, TikTok has become a global sensation due to the organic and authentic content created by its users.  UGC builds trust and authenticity, which are essential in today's digital marketing landscape. Consumers are more likely to trust recommendations and reviews from their peers than traditional advertising. By harnessing UGC, companies can tap into the credibility and relatability of everyday people to promote their products or services.

TikTok and YouTube Shorts have been quick to incorporate UGC into their advertising strategies. Short video platforms have introduced features that allow brands to collaborate with content creators to produce engaging and entertaining ads. These ads often seamlessly blend into the platform's content, reaching a vast and engaged audience.  Brands are not only generating higher engagement rates but conversion rates as well.  With the rising popularity of short videos, these platforms have become ad revenue powerhouses, attracting marketers from all industries.

But the most emerging aspect of UFC is the addition of social commerce and live shopping dimensions to their platforms. TikTok purchased warehouses to control the entire end-to-end shopping experience (The Verge, 2022). The fact that TikTok is going beyond the drop ship model and investing in their own US fulfillment centers is signaling that this is just the beginning.  Users can now seamlessly transition from watching a fun video to making a purchase without leaving the platform, creating a frictionless shopping experience.  As digital marketing continues to evolve, one thing is clear: the power of UGC is here to stay, reshaping the future of advertising and e-commerce.

Notes:

I prefer Claude over ChatGpt because of its discretionary, straight to the point, and more up-to-date information.  While I'm not a natural writer, Claude allows me to string together words and ideas in a clear, concise way. The AI helps formulate content that is easy to read and digestible. At the same time, I recognize that Claude has limitations. Because of the discretionary nature of Claudei, the content can sometimes be a bit generic compared to my own research and knowledge from listening to podcasts and analyzing digital marketing strategies.  I use Claude as a starting point but then put in additional effort to customize the content and ensure it reflects my own perspective, research, and insights. The AI assists me but does not wholly replace doing my own work to come up with compelling assignments.  Finally, it helps to add context to the beginning of the prompt (CBS students writing a blog post for Digital Marketing Class) to determine the tone and messaging the output will reveal.