Do you know that several brands are emphasizing more authentic and real-life content to promote their products and build strong connections with customers? And this demand is giving rise to a new role, i.e., UGC creator.
UGC stands for User-Generated Content, and it is considered to be one of the best ways to advertise products and services organically through social media marketing. As a UGC content creator, you collaborate with various brands on social media platforms.
So, let’s go through this article to understand the meaning, benefits, and process of becoming a UGC creator, some of the best apps, tips, and much more, and give wings to your UGC career!
A UGC creator is an individual who creates authentic and reliable content for brands and receives payment from them in return. However, these videos or photos are shot in a way that doesn’t look promotional and reflects real customer experience. Brands use such content in their testimonials to promote marketing campaigns, websites, and social media presence and build credibility in the industry.
As a UGC content creator, you can build your own audience and collaborate with brands you love. You need to be original while following the latest trends like transitions, using popular audio, or following any other meme to get noticed. This way you build a career in the field by crafting your content creation skills.
Do you also wonder, are UGC creators and social media influencers the same?
Not at all! However, they both focus on creating content related to different brands but their purpose and goals are completely different, which you can clearly understand with the help of the given table:
| Factors | UGC Creators | Influencers |
| Main Focus | Creating content for the brand’s marketing purposes. | Promotion and brand exposure to their own followers. |
| Audience Reach | No need to have a large social media following. | It requires numerous followers on social media to engage and promote sales. |
| Distribution of Content | Mainly on the brand’s platform. | On the influencer’s social media handles. |
| Goal | Create authentic, relatable content to inform users. | Deriving brand awareness and sales through personal influence. |
| Payment Structure | Payment made for the content creation services is not as per the audience size. | Payment is based on audience size, engagement, or campaign reach. |
Many brands are shifting to UGC content to advertise their products and services, as this is one of the most generous sources for consumers to know about the brand. Some of the foremost benefits that brands leverage by collaborating with UGC creators are as follows:
It is one of the prime reasons why brands prefer UGC. Instead of collaborating with highly paid influencers and expensive photoshoots, brands can contact UGC creators who share the real experience of using the product, which promotes credibility as well.
UGC helps brands to generate trust among customers as it reflects authenticity and transparency and hence builds long-term relationships with them.
User-generated content has the power to drive consumer behavior in the favor of the brand. It highly influences their purchase habits more than traditional videos, comparison charts, or other media formats.
To explore new products, consumers are now relying on others’ experiences and recommendations that match their conditions as well.
Ads and social media content featuring user-generated content bring more engagement to the brand because they sound more generic, not promotional.
All these benefits of UGC creators support brands in inviting new audiences and increasing their products’ or services’ visibility on the internet without burdening their budget, and hence, is a great way of promoting small businesses.
To record engaging videos or capture perfect photos as a UGC creator, you need to have some gadgets that are highly helpful during your journey. Some of them are given below:
Furthermore, you also require a video editing app, a UGC-specific social media account (optional but helpful), a smartphone with good camera quality or a professional camera (for HD shoots), and other items as per the niche-specific requirements.
Want to make profits through your UGC content? First, understand the process that you have to follow to enter the field and get success. It is described below in detail:
In the content creator journey, it is highly crucial to first identify the brand you want to work with. You need to choose the industry and brands that align with your interests, values, and goals. To find your perfect UGC brand:
Look for the topics, industries, and products that excite you and motivate you to create content with dedication and fun. If you pick the most suitable niche, the content will look more authentic and genuine. You can consider products you’ve already used, check out the competitors and their partner brands, explore relevant hashtags on social media, or get help from UGC platforms.
Give some time to research your target audience’s demographics, interests, and buying habits so that you can identify the brands that resonate with them.
Once you have researched the potential brands, check out their products and services, mission, and values to ensure they match with you and your audience’s interests. Make a target list of brands, including their website URL, contact details, relevant social media accounts, and notes on past UGC campaigns (if available). And then you can select the most appropriate brand(s) from them.
You’ve got to promote the brand’s credibility and reputation, with which you want to crack the deal. For this, check out the customer reviews and analyze user feedback to know whether the company is promoting ethical business practices. Prefer to work with a brand that has a positive image in the market because, in the end, you have to be honest with your audience.
Instead of one-off collaborations, try to build consistent partnerships with brands that will support deeper integration and help you earn more.
Along with this, don’t limit yourself to a single product or brand. Always be open to new opportunities and explore different niches to diversify your portfolio.
Now that you have selected brands, products, and services you want to move ahead with, it’s time to start creating content. For this, you can consider the process given below:
Focus on the content type you are passionate about, i.e., photos, videos, or blogs. Also, decide if you want to share reviews, unboxing videos, talk-in-front-of-the-camera videos, etc.
Do some thorough research to understand the content landscape in the chosen niche and style by identifying and analyzing competitors. This will help you to create further strategies and optimize your content as per the demand in the market.
Consistency brings success! To be in the race, you need to create and post content regularly and try to take the first mover advantage of any newly launched product. This promotes audience engagement and growth. You can create a content calendar to plan and schedule your posts and stay organized. However, don’t compromise quality over quantity; otherwise, you’ll lose customers’ and brands’ trust in the long run.
After posting the content, start engaging with your audience by replying to their doubts and comments. This will foster a sense of loyalty. Also, take feedback positively and try to work on it to better meet your audience’s needs.
Finally, never stop yourself from experimenting with new things and ideas; you can explore different content formats, topics, or styles to stand out from the crowd. Take help from new technologies and adapt market trends to stay relevant.
But don’t forget to analyze your performance and monitor engagement, reach, click-through rates, and other metrics to figure out the effect of these changes. And then, adjust your strategies in the same direction.
Once you’ve created the content, think carefully about which platforms align best with your skills, style of the content, and target audience. For example, you can prefer YouTube for short as well as long-form video content, Instagram and TikTok for short-form video or photo content, websites for blog posting, etc.
Prefer to create content that resonates with all the top platforms. Also, check out which channels the brands you want to work with are the most active and proceed accordingly.
A strong social media presence helps to showcase your work to a wider audience and get noticed by brands. However, as a UGC creator, you don’t need a large follower count. So, instead of focusing on increasing your followers, prefer to demonstrate your skills and creativity through the content.
Learn TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram algorithms to boost visibility. This is also a great way to connect with fellow creators and share valuable insights.
A portfolio is a document that will represent you and your work to the brands, and that’s why you should be extremely careful while preparing it. A well-organized portfolio can make a significant difference in your UGC journey. To build and use your portfolio, continue with the given process:
Your portfolio must reflect your skills, styles, and versatility along with some of your best pieces to let the brands know your content creation and marketing efficiency. It plays a significant role in getting brand deals.
Don’t be rigid; instead, always be open to tailoring your portfolio to meet different niches or industries you want to work in. For example, if you’re more inclined to the fashion industry, create a dedicated section for it in your portfolio. This customization will make it more appealing for brands.
Always make sure your portfolio is easy to navigate and that all the sections are clearly mentioned. Prefer using high-quality images and videos to showcase your work. You can also add brief descriptions if needed.
Don’t hesitate to ask for feedback from peers or mentors. This will help you to get valuable insights about your portfolio and the work so that you can fill the loopholes. By keeping your portfolio updated, you can increase the probability of cracking the deals.
Tips!
Before pitching a brand, prefer to engage with them through social media by liking or commenting on their posts, sharing your thoughts, or tagging the brand in your content to get noticed.
A portfolio is the source of presenting you and your work to the brands and that’s why it should be too specific, clear, and top-notch. While creating your portfolio, there are some key headings that you can’t miss, including the following:
Tips!
If you’ve previously collaborated with any brand, mention it in your portfolio along with a showcase of past work, as this will increase your chances of getting more offers and build credibility.
While you are aiming to get some brand deals through UGC content, it is necessary to work on its quality. Several free apps and platforms that will help you in content creation, editing, management, and posting are discussed below:
Canva is one of the most popular and used apps among content creators. It helps you to create posts, invoices, portfolios, and other media files by using available templates. The platform has a simple click-and-drag interface that makes it easy to use.
Plann is a social media scheduler that lets you plan and share content across different social media platforms simultaneously. It helps in content planning and social media strategy, along with the AI tool to generate captions. You can also explore new trends and ideas, auto post, content chart, and much more on this software.
It is a user-friendly tool for making animated videos, and narrative videos, design graphics, and creating blogs and journals. Adobe Spark helps in enhancing your production approach and gives your content a more attractive presentation. This is a SaaS product and hence, you don’t need to download an app to access these features.
If you work on talk-in-front-of-the-camera videos, Teleprompter is the platform for you that lets you read the notes without remembering them. It levels up the quality and flow of your videos by managing your scripts and creating subtitles.
A free and user-friendly app, Capcut allows you to edit videos. On this platform, you can adjust video speed, enhance audio, use premade templates, add captions, use green screens, and much more to make your videos highly professional.
ChatGPT is a well-known AI tool to write scripts and get creative ideas. It also helps in keyword research, creating outlines, writing effective metadata, and other tasks that save your time and effort.
Additionally, you can also use photo editing tools like VSCO, Adobe Lightroom, and Upscale Pro to increase resolution and enhance image quality.
Now, you are aware of how to be a UGC creator, but it’s not enough. There are some exclusive tips and tricks that you should remember to beat others in the field and get highly paid brand deals:
Start with researching popular content categories and figuring out market gaps to begin your journey as a UGC content creator. The more informed you are about a particular category and create unique content in it, the higher the chances of getting brand deals.
Using a personal email for business inquiries is not at all a good idea. You can create a dedicated email for this purpose, as this will look more professional and help to organize the important business emails.
A contract always protects your interest. You should clearly mention payment details, indemnity, and how your content will be used. Various points that you should cover in the UGC contract are as under:
Use props like mirrors, fake grass, plants, fabrics, or other decor items to beautify your videos and give them a unique texture. You can also change the locations, which will enhance visual appeal.
It is necessary to build a network to connect with other creators to get brand deals and potential clients.
A strong social media presence can be a great source to promote your content. You can promote your TikTok profile and Instagram account as this will help the social media socialism to showcase your account to a wider audience including brand as well.
Don’t wear or showcase branded products in the video that are of different brands. This clearly reflects the focus brand of your content and avoids any potential conflicts.
To avoid legal issues, it is suggested to use copyright-free music in your videos. You can explore some such libraries like Pixabay, SoundCloud, Uppbeat, etc.
Use different camera angles and shots, natural lighting, clean camera lenses, and try other photography techniques to create dynamic and engaging content.
Prefer to keep the invoice template ready so that you can save some time. To create customized professional invoices, you can take help of Canva.
Furthermore, you should be aware of some technical jargon of your niche and key industry terms like CTA, hook, A/B testing, etc., while coming into a contract with the brands. This will promote effective communication and make you sound more professional.
Initially, it might take a lot of work to find brand deals. For this, you can sign up to any of the given well-known platforms and establish your roots as a UGC creator:
Billo is an excellent app for landing brand deals by connecting with companies that need authentic videos for their marketing campaigns. All you need to do is create your profile, browse and apply to campaigns, make product reviews or other content, and receive payment.
Backstage is another popular software that provides brand deals to UGC creators, mainly in the media and entertainment industries. Here, you need to create a professional account including your portfolio, skills, experience, and other required details, and start searching for casting calls and applying for jobs. However, to access these features, you have to buy the app’s subscription.
It is a versatile and generic platform for content creators to get long-term partnerships with brands and make earnings. On Creator Hero, you can create your own storefront to display and sell products of the brands that you love. To start earning, explore brand catalogs, promote their products, and get money through affiliate sales and commissions.
Undoubtedly, UGC content creation is exciting and profitable, but it also comes with its own set of challenges. Some of the common hurdles that you might face as a newcomer or expert are given below, along with the solutions to beat them:
Creating new and unique content every day might be challenging. If you’re facing a creative block, prefer to take a break and regroup yourself. Also, you can try to cover other niches, follow some online trends as well, or try some apps and tools.
There is a huge competition in the content market, which makes it highly difficult to stand out. To deal with content saturation, you have to analyze the competitors and try to be unique. You can also target a more specific niche, e.g., focus on skincare or hairstyling products only in the beauty industry.
In the UGC business, the competition always stays high. Hence, it’s not just the content that can keep you ahead of the curve. You also have to focus on several aspects as well, such as presentation, video/photo quality, voice quality, etc. So, work on your photography and editing skills also.
Therefore, by dealing with these setbacks, you can automatically build a healthy and long-term relationship with the viewers as well as brands.
Now that you know all the little things about user-generated content, it’s high time to establish yourself as a UGC creator and crack brand deals while enjoying content creation. You can also master various tools and apps discussed above to avoid creating boring content, take your content creation to the next level, and resonate with the audience effectively.
Remember to make authentic content, build an attractive portfolio, pitch the brands, and start making money!
Yes, they make money through affiliate sales and commissions for each sale generated through their content links.
To start your career as a UGC creator, identify your niche >> create original content >> set up your social media accounts >> make a portfolio >> start pitching brands.
The charges may vary depending on the brand, type of content, and experience. You can ask for somewhere between $100 and $500 per piece of content, which may go higher once you have established yourself in the field.
You can use platforms like Billo, BackStage, Creator Hero, etc. to find brand deals or build a strong online presence and good quality content and brands will directly contact you.
