User- or consumer-generated content is not an easy tactic to put in place, but when it works, it can be extremely worth it.

When building content strategies, something we often tell clients is: ask them what they want!

In part, this is something akin to going the U.G.C. (user-generated content) route.

This means relying or basing part of your strategy on the fact that your audience will participate and contribute relevant and high-value content. It can be photos, comments, but it could also be entire stories.

This is what Sunwing is betting a recent campaign on. Travelers telling stories of their missed travels and missed milestones due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

How did they put it together? In part by partnering with a platform that does have people who like telling their stories: Wattpad.

Wattpad is an online self-publishing platform that allows authors and storytellers to distribute their written and literary creations. For Sunwing, it became the perfect partner for finding people willing to tell their stories (with the talent to tell it!).

“Working in a literary environment, as opposed to more visually engaging platforms like Instagram and YouTube, allows brands to get a longer message across and to reach marginalized voices that are often shut-out from online spaces,” says Chris Stefanyk, Wattpad’s head of brand partnerships.

You can read more in the full Strategy article by Justin Dallaire, but in the meantime we are curious, how could your brand leverage user or consumer generated content? Has it in the past? Was it successful? We’d love to hear more about YOUR stories.