How to get user-generated content from your customers, and post it with permission

Ask when people are happiest with you, get a written yes for the exact use before you post, and credit them on every network. Collect the files with one link that drops them into a folder of your library, no account needed, and post them as you post your own: from a queue, in a campaign of their own, with alt text on every picture. Never repost something only because you were tagged in it: a tag is not permission.

User-generated content is anything your customers make about you: a photo of the dish, a video of the unboxing, a review, a before-and-after they share, a Story where they tag you. It works for two reasons. People trust other customers more than they trust a brand, and each one is a post you did not have to shoot.

Most people are glad to share if you ask at the right time, in one sentence, and make it easy:

• Right after a good moment. At the till, in the thank-you email, on the card in the box: “Show us how it turned out, we may share it.”
• With a hashtag of your own. A short one, printed where people see it, so their posts are easy to find. How many hashtags to use on each social network.
• With a theme for the month. “Your first coffee of the day” or “your desk on a Monday” gives people an idea, and gives you a series.
• With a link that takes the files. Many good photos never get posted at all. A link where people can drop the originals gets you those too, at full quality, without a long message thread.

A tag, a mention or a public post is not permission to use someone's photo on your accounts. Before anything goes out:

• Ask for a yes to the exact use. “Can we post this on our Instagram and Facebook, with your name?” A written answer, even a direct message, is your record: keep it.
• Credit the person on every network. Their handle where they have one, their first name where they do not, and never pass their photo off as your own.
• Say when something was free or paid for. If you sent the product for free or paid for the video, say so in the caption: many countries require it.
• Ask again for anything new. A yes for one post is not a yes for an ad, a flyer or your website. A child's face needs a parent's consent, and a post comes down the day anyone asks.

1. 1

   Make a folder for it. In Media, create a folder such as “From customers”, or one for each campaign.

2. 2

   Create a link that asks for files. Open the folder's menu and choose Request files…. Write what you are asking for, which is what people read when they open the link, choose how long it stays open (7 days, 30 days or for good) and copy the link.

3. 3

   Send it where people already are. In the thank-you email, as a QR code on the card in the box, in a Story, in your reply to whoever tagged you. They need no account, can add their name, and never see what others sent.

4. 4

   Know when something arrives. SPREVA tells you who sent files, and describes each photo as it arrives, so “the one with the red bag” is a search, not a scroll.

5. 5

   Close it when you are done. Choose Request files… on the folder again to see how many files came in, or to Disable link.

Write the post once, with the credit in the first line, then press Adapt to each network and check each tab: a person's handle is often different on each network, so write in each tab the one they use there, or their name. Give each picture its alt text, as you would for your own. Then add the posts to a queue, so a customer's photo goes out every week without anyone having to remember.

A few customer files are enough for a month of posts:

• The customer of the week. One photo, their words, their name.
• A carousel of many hands. Eight customers' photos of the same product, in eight different homes.
• A review as a picture. One sentence from a review and the reviewer's first name, over a photo of what they bought.
• The clip they sent, cut short. The first seconds of an unboxing or a first try, as a Reel, a TikTok and a Short.
• Their question, answered. Something a customer asked in a comment, answered in a post, quoted with their permission.

Put customer posts in a campaign of their own. The calendar shows them in the campaign's colour, and in Analytics the Campaign filter shows their reach, engagement and clicks. Filter by your own posts' campaign over the same weeks to see which does better. How to plan and track a social media campaign, from the first post to the results.

Reposting someone else's post as it is, with a repost, a Remix, a Stitch or a Duet, happens in each app, and so do the messages where you ask. SPREVA starts from the file: the photo or the video they sent you, posted from your accounts with their name on it.

Make a folder, create a Request files… link for it, and send it to the last five customers who said something kind. Every plan starts with a 7-day trial. A media library that knows what is in it.