Coffee,Coolness,andCommunityEngagementinCBUS

It’snosecretthatColumbusishometoavarietyofcaféandrestaurantswhatwithColumbusbeingasmallerscaletestinggroundforlargerrestaurantsthatwanttoopeninlargercitiessuchasNewYorkorLosAngeles. Butoutofallthesecafés,howdoesaconsumerchooseaplacetopurchasetheirliquidenergy? CommunityengagementcomesinmanyformsinColumbus,OhiobutmostlyinUserGeneratedContent(UGC).Usergeneratedcontentisafairlynewconceptbutahighlyusefuloneforcompaniesandcoffeeshopsalike. ButwhatISUGC? It’sanythingthat’sorganicallycreatedthroughconsumersofabusiness.Thiscouldbeabeautifulpictureofsomeone’smorningcoffeeorausercommentingonsomeone’spostrecommendingthebusinessandtaggingthebusinessinit.Italldependsonhowacoffeeshopwantstomarketthemselvestotheiraudience.

• Ifyouwanttohaveprofessionalphotostakenofyourfooditemsorahippictureofacupofcoffeesatnexttoasucculentandyourbusiness’logo,great!

• Ifyouwanttotakesomemediocresnapswithaphonebutpairitwith

highqualityandcreativecaptions,great!However,boththosestrategieswillonlyreachthosewhofollowyourInstagrampage.

Discovering,supportingandutilizingUGC.

àDiscovering Abusiness,whethertheyruntheirownsocialmediaorhaveasocialmediamanagerdoingso,shouldkeepupmonitoringtheirownsocialchannels.Theyshouldchecktaggedphotos,theirlocation,andwhethertheyhaveoneestablishedornot,theirhashtag.Doingthiswillhelpthebusinesstoknowwhatpeoplelikedaboutitorbetterinformthebusinessastohowtheircustomersare“checkingin”(ifthey’reusingthehashtagversusjusttaggingthebusiness‘handleorwhattimeofdaythecustomeriseatingthere).DiscoveringandcompilingUGCcanalsoletthebusinessknowwhatkindofreachtheyhave.ThismeansifaUGCpostgot200likesandtheaccountthatpostedithas1,000followers.Thatmeansthattheirreachincludesnotonlythosewholikeditbutallthefollowersthatsawitaswell.àSupporting UGCshouldbeanorganicthingbutcanyouimaginegoingtoyourfavoritecoffeeshopeveryday,Instagrammingapictureofitatleastonceweekandthenneverseeinganykindofresponseoracknowledgementfromthatbusiness?It’simportanttoRESPOND.Thiscouldbegivingallofyourtaggedpicturesalikeoraheartfeltcomment.ItmakestheuserfeelconnectedtoyourbrandandbetterincreasesthechancesofmoreUGCinthefuture.àUtilizing Inmyopinion,usinganysortofrepostor“regram”applicationtopostaUGCInstagramisabittacky.However,forsomebusiness,itworks.Thisallcomesdowntoaesthetic.YourInstagram“feed”orthesquareblocksofpicturesshownasoneclicksonyourprofile,shouldbestrategicandcommunicatesomethingaboutthewayyourunyourbusiness.

• • • • •

• Ifthebusinessisanenvironmentallyfriendlycoffeeshopthatusesrecycledcupsanddonatesproceedstoenvironmentalcauses,yourfeedshouldlookcleanandshowcasehuesofgreen,whiteorblue.

• Ifthebusinessisanoldtimeyboardgameparlorthatservescoffee,

thelookofyourfeedshouldbeold-fashionedwithvintagefontorfilters.

It’simportanttobeconsistent.Therefore,onlypickUGCthatfitsyouraesthetic.Simplyscreenshottheoriginalphotoandrepostiteitherquotingtheoriginalcaptionorrespondingtoitwithin.Tagtheoriginaluserwhoposteditandvoila–you’restayinghipwhileutilizingyourUGC.