User-generated content (UGC) has become central to brands’ marketing and customer experience strategies over the past decade. But as social channels and trends have evolved, so too have brands’ methods for collecting, amplifying and monetizing their UGC.
In August 2024, the FTC issued a formal ban on fake reviews and testimonials — an effort designed to prevent businesses from purchasing and “growth hacking” inaccurate, malicious or misleading content. During this episode of Retail Remix, Bazaarvoice CMO Zarina Stanford digs into:
- Why new policies were needed as the social media landscape evolved and expanded;
- How some businesses monetized, even weaponized, UGC for their own gain, and what the new ruling means for this gray area of the web;
- What brands can do to comply with new guidelines, and how they need to adapt their UGC strategies moving forward; and
- The unknown ways brands could be misleading consumers with UGC, and what they can do to course correct.
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