Developing a User-Generated Content Strategy with Stickers

*This blog post is an in-kind promotion collaboration between McLernon & Co. and StickerMule. We will receive free product for this; however, we have only accepted the collaboration because we truly love the company and recommend the stickers.

We’ve talked in the past about the importance of bringing user-generated content into your social media content strategy; it not only saves you time and resources on content creation, but also inherently engages your audience while building brand awareness and trust with your audience.

UGC on social media isn’t always easy to generate, however, especially if you’re a new or lesser-known brand, or if you are a primarily service-based company that doesn’t have an easy-to-photograph or photogenic product.

Enter: high-quality stickers from Sticker Mule!

Stickers are a fun and interactive way to share your brand imagery and message with the world…and encourage UGC.

McLernon & Co. Founder and CEO Amanda McLernon says, “I want to specifically recommend Sticker Mule because I love the quality of their stickers for the price I pay. I also find their ordering and approval process simple and love that they are a company who knows how to have fun- check out their Mule Sauce. So fun!”

A few reasons stickers can be a great piece of your overall marketing strategy include:

• Stickers are unique – they break through the noise of other marketing content that we see daily, and engage us in different ways. A well-designed sticker can resonate with a wide audience, and encourage people to share it with their own networks.

• Stickers can go anywhere – we’ve all seen stickers on lamp posts, laptops, and water bottles. You can send stickers out to your network, slap them (respectfully and consciously!) in public places, and place them on your own personal possessions.

• Stickers can have a long life and extensive reach with very little cost – strategic sticker placement can get your brand in front of thousands of new eyes, without the costs that come from traditional advertising or media placement.

Pro tip: to make your stickers as unique, appealing, and effective as possible, focus on finding creative ways to visually communicate your mission and core values, rather than just printing an image of your company logo.

So, how do stickers lead to UGC?

There are a plethora of ways stickers can lead to UGC, but here are a few possible scenarios:

• You send a friend a great sticker in the mail, they put it on a possession of theirs, and share an image of it on their social media, tagging you and your brand.

• Someone comes across your sticker in the wild, the message or image resonates with them, and they share it on their social media, using your branded hashtag.

• Someone sees a sticker on their friend’s water bottle, they love the message, they find your brand on Instagram, and follow you.

• Someone sees one of your branded stickers and wants one of their own, and reaches out to you on social media to request one (stickers can also be a revenue generator, as well as a marketing tool, for your business, if you have enough interest!).

‍To effectively generate UGC with stickers, be sure to include at least one of the following on your stickers, so people can easily find and engage with your brand:

• Branded hashtag(s)

• Social handle(s)

• Website

• Brand/company name

These elements can certainly be in smaller/fine print, but are key to helping people take the next step after the sticker has captured their interest and attention.

Having quality branded stickers, and a quality strategy for sharing them, can increase your brand awareness, deepen your existing business relationships, and grow your social media engagement and following.