What's worth noting here is the fact that the user might be delighted about the repost. Hence, make a fair attempt to dignify people posting about your brand. All that you need to do is familiarize yourself with the legalities involved in reposting UGC.
#2 Ask For Permission:
UGC is ringing a bell in the users' ears as they find it trustworthy and reliable before making any purchase decision. Therefore, brands are constantly looking out for more and more UGC to showcase their social-media handles. While surfing through the explore feed, through hashtags, or via the mentions, brands are making way for uplifting user experience to showcase the same on their feed.
But, seeking permission for the same is non-negotiable, even when they have tagged their post with your specific hashtag.
While some brands use their exclusive hashtag to check for mentions and tags, looking out for specific UGC, but some brands like to use universal UGC, i.e., they feature people working hard to build a community or if their aesthetic is similar to that of the brands. In any case, you are attempting to reuse work created by a creator, who also holds the copyrights for the same. Hence, you must make efforts to seek permission for reposting it.
#3 Give Creator Credits:Your responsibilities aren't over just yet; once you have had the permission, you need to give proper credits to the creators. You can either tag them or add a link to their account in the content of the post.
Instagram is all about building a community by discovering more and more creators. When you give credits, you are honoring their work and creating trust in the minds of your audience as they might visit the handle of the creator before investing.
#4 Never Skip Out On The Story:People tend to often overlook the stories, blame it on their time-sensitivity. It also gets difficult to keep up with the legalities involved more often than not. Fortunately enough, there aren't any hard and fast rules attached to reposting stories. But, you still need to follow some specific guidelines to widen your community and grow under your UGC campaign.
#a. Do not alter the original postInstead of taking a screenshot and reuploading the content, share it with the icon provided on Instagram, as it can cause the original content created by the creator a disservice. You can also ask for permission by sliding into their DM with the story.
#b. Ask for permission before adding it to the highlightsThis is the most missed out on. But, it is extremely crucial to ask for permission if you plan on saving the content generated by your users as a highlight. When you save the content on the highlight, it is made available for an indefinite span of time for the audience at large. Hence, it is important to seek explicit permission from the creator.
Over To YouLeveraging user-generated content is a great growth strategy for Instagram. But, in the process, no harm should be caused to the social image of the brand. Even one act of negligence can have some serious repercussions. Hence, follow the steps mentioned above to make a repost on Instagram, and they do not forget to give credits!
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
