What is UGC?
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UGC stands for User Generated Content. Content creation has been around for years, but the term “UGC” is quite new. Essentially, a lot of brands are now paying content creators to create pieces of content for them, that they will then post on their own brand channels, rather than paying influencers/content creators to promote the product on their channels. They may do a mixture of both, or they may prefer to pay for UGC – but either way, it’s becoming an increasingly popular form of marketing.
It’s a great addition to the marketing industry, because it means that lots of us can now create content in exchange for being paid by brands, without having to have large followings on our own social media platforms. It can take content creators years to build up a really good following and it’s always disappointing when certain brands have no interest in working with you, unless you have 100k+ followers.
Some creators, like myself, do a mixture of content on my own platforms as well as UGC. I have been creating content since 2015 so I’ve grown my following and client base within that time, but if I was brand new to the industry then UGC would be the perfect place for me to start with little to no following.
Here is some of the work I’ve personally done as a UGC Creator. You may have even seen me pop up on your TikTok for you page from time to time on brand adverts. I’ve created quite a few videos for Homesense which was unreal, they’re one of my favourite homeware brands. I also did some coffee content for MOMA which I loved, as these are the kinds of videos that I also create for my own channels. I created an ad for Dyson which was an incredible opportunity, and the ad came up on my own TikTok for you page quite a few times, as well as on my partners and my friends, and had over 8M views!
How do you become a UGC creator?
I’ve decided to put together a quick guide on how to become a UGC creator because I’m tired of the UGC courses I keep seeing advertised all over TikTok. Let me tell you now, do not buy them, because they are an utter scam. I’ve looked on lots of these peoples profiles and there isn’t a single piece of actual UGC to be seen. Unfortunately, it’s become a really popular money making scheme online to sell courses on how to make money doing something, when it’s the course itself that is making the money with probably next to no good advice inside it, UGC being a prime example.
Moving on from that, I’m not here to sell you a course. I’m just going to tell you honestly how to get into the UGC game, or certainly what worked for me. UGC has the ability to make really good money, but it will take a lot of time and dedication to get there. Whilst building up a portfolio and client base, you have to learn what you’re worth to these brands financially, and how to negotiate your worth with them. It’s such a learning curve, and honestly, it still is for me, even as a content creator nine years in.
If this still sounds like something you want to dive into, then keep reading.
Start with a social media platform – or two!
The first, most important step is to start your social media platform/s. You need a social media page that’s essentially going to act as your portfolio. Brands don’t want to see a page full of “how to earn £££ as a UGC creator” posts (red flag: course selling people!) they want to see your work. I’ve been in the content creation industry for a long time, and out of the thousands of brands I’ve worked with, 90% have reached out to me through coming across my social media pages. Even if you don’t want to be an influencer, the best way to grab the attention of brands seeking content creators, is to be actively doing exactly what they’re looking for.
UGC creation isn’t that different to other forms of content creation, it’s a new and exciting industry that’s developing every day, but brands will find you through your social channels. In the past 12 months I’ve worked with some of the huge brands that I’ve already shared above, and they all reached out to me after discovering me via social media. A couple of them even contacted me directly on TikTok itself, but I’d always advise on having your email in your bio so that it can be easily found.
Think about your content
You should aim to pick a niche for your page, even if you want to share a variety of things. I would recommend that you try and keep some consistency within your page so that it has the ability to do well and get that reach. My own social media pages are predominantly home focused, so nearly all of my content is aesthetic home interiors, daily routines, that kind of thing. I don’t post things like fashion advice, or chatty to the camera videos, but I’m still able to post a variety of topics whilst keeping a niche if that makes sense.
If you have a personal social profile where you share your family, children, day to day things (that aren’t creatively put together videos/content) maybe make a brand new page for your work. So just as an example, over the many years that I’ve been a blogger, I’ve shared everything in my life during that time including becoming a mum and I’ve shared my children growing up, and worked with many brands as an influencer/blogger. However, I now don’t really share my children at all, and I even combed through and deleted almost every post with them/their faces in. I did want to stop sharing their faces online anyway, for safety reasons, but my pages are now incredibly content focused, and it’s turned out great for me as a self-employed creative. I still share a lot of my life and personality, as I do think that’s still a little important when you have a following, and want people to be able to relate to you, but I just keep my kids and anything overly personal out of it.
The honest truth is that my folder of brand work, and my income, are the best they’ve ever been since I dedicated my pages to content creation, rather than mixing in family life and personal photos. My pages are very much focused on aesthetic content, but that’s because that’s kind of my niche and my job. So as a UGC creator, I think it’s best to have that professional aspect shining through, and to think of your social media as a CV/Portfolio.
How will brands find you?
Make it easy for them, fill your page with content. This does mean spending a lot of time creating your own videos, that aren’t brand work or paid, but that’s why I say that it takes a lot of dedication to start. I try and post a video to my IG and TikTok daily, which I consider as part of my job, because whilst the specific video I’m sharing that day may not be paid for by a brand, by keeping my social media growth and engagement consistent, it’s that which brings me under brands radars.
It is hard work thinking of video ideas to post daily, but my best advice would be to browse social media for inspiration, and then try and come up with your own ideas based on what you’re inspired by. It’s so important to be creative. I find writing a list of content ideas really helps me too, and then I’ll cross them off after I’ve filmed and posted them.
Once you’ve got the content ideas nailed, then post, post and post some more. Create an audience and a community so that your content is pushed out to brands feeds. Use hashtags so that they can find you.
You can reach out to brands too, and let them know you’re available for UGC work, but again, they’ll still want to see a portfolio of work and an IG or TikTok page full of your work is the best way forward. You can have a private collection of any brand work that you’ve done, and you can send this out too, provided the brand in question has given you permission to share it as part of your portfolio. However, it’s still best to have a social page full of different videos to show off your talent.
Join creator platforms
My next advice would be to utilise platforms. There’s app such as SoSquared, Vamp, and Insense that advertise UGC opportunities. You can apply to these and let the brand know why you’d be a good fit. Again, you’ll be linking your social platforms so this is where you’ll need a solid portfolio of work for them to browse.
The TikTok creator marketplace is a great place to look too. There are lots of well known brand opportunities posted on there that you can apply to, and my favourite part is that you can even negotiate the fee. A lot of opportunities on these apps have a fixed fee. I’ve had a few brand invites via the TikTok creator platform and I’ve been able to reject their fee offer and negotiate higher, which most of the time, gets accepted.
Do let me know if you have any questions that I may be able to help with. I really hope this helps anyone wanting to get into the UGC game. If you’re looking for advice on what to charge for UGC, you can read this post here. And if you’re looking for what tools you might need, you can read this post here.
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