How to Encourage High-Quality User-Generated Content

User-generated content (UGC) can make or break your businesses reputation. Engaging reviews with inviting photos attracts new customers, while fuzzy or unflattering images can drive them away. Here’s how to encourage great UGC while minimizing poor-quality contributions.

Proactively Encourage High-Quality ContentAsk happy customers to share. One of the simplest ways to get high-quality UGC is to ask customers directly. Train your staff to encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews and share photos. A simple prompt like “If you enjoyed your meal, we’d love for you to share a photo and review on Google!” can work wonders.

Create in-store and digital prompts. Use subtle but effective reminders to encourage quality content:

• Add a note on receipts or menu footers: “Tag us in your best food pics on Google & Instagram! @YourBusiness #YourBusinessName”
• Use a QR code that links directly to your Google review page with a friendly message: “Love your meal? Share your experience with a photo!”

Leverage social media to set a standard. Customers tend to mimic what they see. Regularly post high-quality images of your products on social media. When you showcase stunning UGC on your own platforms, you set an example of what good content looks like.

Minimize Low-Quality Content (Without Discouraging Reviews)Subtly educate customers on “good” photos. Instead of explicitly telling people what to post, guide them subtly by posting social media content like, 'Voted best pics' or 'How to snap the best review pictures'.

• Offer controlled photo opportunities. Set up a well-lit “photo spot” in your business, like a fun/stylish/festive backdrop, table, or area. This naturally encourages better photography by giving your customers the tools to show your business in the best light.
• Limit the impact of bad UGC photos by encouraging a wave of positive reviews and better pictures to push it down.
• Upvote better images so they appear more prominently.

If a photo is particularly misleading or inappropriate, request content removal. Most 3rd party sites have a process such as Google's Removal Tool.

Monitor & Manage Your Online Presence
Be consistently vigilant. Regularly check reviews & photos - especially those posted to Google. Keep an eye on Google reviews and photos, up-voting high-quality ones to make them more visible.
Report any misleading or inappropriate images.
Encourage reviews on platforms with better photo quality. Google compresses images, sometimes reducing their quality. Encourage reviews on Instagram, Yelp, or Facebook, where images appear more polished, and then re share them to Google via posts.

Incentivize High-Quality Reviews While Adhering to Google Policies
Offer small perks for engagement. While you can’t pay for reviews, you can encourage participation:

• Host monthly contests. Run social media contests like “Best photo of the month wins a BOGO coupon!” to encourage customers to take better pictures.
• “Show us your review at checkout for a surprise treat!”
• “Tag us in your favorite food pic & we might feature you on our page!”

Follow, promote and attract local micro-influencers so they seek out your business. Invite local foodies or micro-influencers (1K-10K followers) to review your business. They’re more likely to take high-quality photos and help set a better UGC standard.

Final ThoughtsSet the standard for your brand. Proactively encouraging great content, subtly guiding customers, and leveraging incentives, you can shape your online presence without needing to remove bad content directly. The more high-quality UGC you help generate; the less impact poor content will have on your brand.

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