Over the past few years, we've seen companies struggle with finding the right content for the right channel. Digging through stock image libraries to find that one piece of unique content you hope no one else has used before or hiring a photographer to create original content, is both time-consuming and tends to be fairly expensive.To get around this issue, smarter brands have turned to using customer-generated content (CGC) to satisfy their growing content needs. In fact, 47% of high-performing marketers extensively use customer-generated content...compared to 8% of under-performing marketers (Forrester).Why customer-generated content versus stock imagery? It goes beyond the fact that CGC is free and easy to collect. Effective marketers are expanding their brand governance to include more input and guidance from communities outside the control of the brand...letting their customers tell their brand's story. Because if you can't get outside parties interested in what your brand does, your brand's relevance is likely on the decline.So to help smart marketers on their journey to master the art of CGC, our recent feature release is all about making the CGC collection and distribution process as easy as possible - with a few other platform improvements thrown in as well. Here's what's new!

Craft better e-mails with better content

Don't let stale content slow down your marketing campaigns and automation! MailChimp is a crowd favorite amongst all marketing landscapes. But the struggle to find engaging content can hinder the most robust MailChimp campaigns. TrueLoyal's MailChimp integration lets you tap into the endless supply of customer-generated content - content that's engaging and relevant to YOUR brand because your customers create it. This CGC can be used in marketing newsletters, forms, or even in landing pages built with the MailChimp platform.

For Enterprise plans

Grow your CGC library with ease

Let's face it, asking permission to use a customer's photo isn't always easy. Coming up with unique and personalized messages for each customer is time-consuming, especially for those prone to writer's block. That's why we've introduced a message generator right inside your UGC Rights panel! Simply click to generate a new message and use one of our pre-built templates to create your request message. You can also customize the Approval Hashtag instead of using the standard #yes, to create custom, on-brand hashtags to grant rights. We've also built a spam filter that notifies you if you've made too many requests and are hitting Instagram's request limits.

For Performance and Enterprise plans

Capture more eyes with movement

Your audience no longer has to click video posts in your TrueLoyal to get them to play. This puts your static feed in motion and creates a visual experience that attracts more eyeballs on your website or on in-store display! To enable this feature, head to your Settings tab and enable In-Line Video Playback under TrueLoyalLABS. This feature is currently only available for the Classic Theme.

For all plans

Take more control over your display

We've added functionality to our Display Controls to give you more control over your live TrueLoyal display. Keep popups up longer, configure videos to auto-play or loop, control transitions and animations and create more engaging and attention-grabbing experiences.For all plans

File handler facelift

Access more content sources in our newly revamped file handler when creating custom posts, banners or backgrounds!For all plansThese features are a big step towards allowing brands to grow their businesses and build brand awareness through CGC. In 2018 we'll continue to expand our functionality around CGC utilization and to improve our Analytics dashboard to provide brands with better performance insights.Try out the updated features and new integrations today.