How to Become a UGC Creator. 10 Steps to Success

by Lina Thorne • Updated 10/24/2024 · Posted in Marketing

User-Generated Content (UGC), as you can guess from the name, is content that’s created by an end user of a product or service. How is it different from professional ads or sponsored posts that are aimed at a large audience? It shows a product or service being used by real people in everyday life. UGC is simple and authentic. It’s an effective way to humanize your brand.

Being constantly bombarded with paid ads and sponsored posts, buyers tend to be much more suspicious of them nowadays. According to the latest data, about 90% of consumers no longer trusts influencers. Instead, 90% of buyers trust UGC more than traditional advertising or branded content (Tint, 2022), and 70% of consumers find UGC more authentic and trustworthy than content created by brands (Capterra, 2022). This has forced brands to adapt and include UGC in their marketing strategy. Businesses of various sizes partner with UGC creators and actually pay them for producing this type of content, which is then used on their social media accounts and websites.

Nowadays, there’s a huge demand for UGC creators. In this article you will learn how to become a UGC creator and what exactly you should focus on to build a successful career.

Who Can Become a UGC Creator?

Absolutely anyone.

The barrier to become a UGC creator is quite low. All you need to start is a digital or smartphone camera and a couple of creative ideas. Go online and search for examples of popular UGC. Then look around your home to find something that you use pretty often and actually like; something that has made your life easier or better. Then make a series of photos or a video about it. Try to be as creative as you can. Hype up the product. Show how exactly you use this product.

For example, if it’s a food supplement, maybe you add it to your smoothie or oatmeal. You can add text to your video or make a voiceover. The best thing about becoming a UGC creator is that you can practice and hone your skills in the comfort of your home and without spending lots of money.

As a UGC creator, you don’t need to be an expert. Although, having some knowledge in a specific topic can really benefit you. Your goal is to create engaging content that will attract potential buyers and show them that a product or a service can solve their pain point which is usually enough to prompt them to buy.

Keep in mind that your content should be authentic and even somewhat unpolished, but it doesn’t mean that it should look unprofessional.

As you’ve noticed, it’s not that hard to become a UGC creator. Which is why the competition here is pretty high. To succeed, you need to think outside the box, be truly creative and trustworthy not only for content consumers but also brands; if you want them to collaborate with you, that is.

How to become a UGC creator in 10 Steps

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to become a UGC creator:

1. Choose Your Niche

At first, you can try different niches – just to see what you like and what you’re good at. But eventually you’ll need to settle on one or two niches. So, think about what you like and enjoy, and what you want to learn more about it. It can be beauty, fashion, interior design, computer games, pets, travel, food, etc.

Think about what kind of content you often consume. You’ll need to generate lots of original and creative ideas as well as be aware of popular trends and know what exactly people like. So, it’s important for you to create content that you’re truly passionate about.

There are several benefits to this:

• This is how you’ll be able to attract followers with values and interests that are similar to yours. And you need a loyal community to be a successful UGC creator.
• You will receive honest feedback regarding your recommendations. That’s great social proof.
• It’s hard to fake genuine interest in something. So, your followers will know that you can really be trusted.

Many brands don’t really care if a UGC creator has a rather small audience as long as it’s loyal. Niching down will allow you to produce high-quality content that your followers will love and actively engage with.

Once you decide on a niche, you’ll need to do some research. Figure out who is an average consumer, what their pain points are. What type of content usually performs best. This will help you with your content planning.

2. Choose the Right Platform

When becoming a UGC creator, you should post on several social media channels. Yet it’s crucial to identify the right platforms to post on. To do that, you need to figure out what kind of content you want to produce.

The most popular type of UGC that brands usually go for is short 15-60 sec videos that fall under the following categories:

• unboxing and haul videos
• reviews/testimonials
• how to/product-in-action videos
• explainer videos
• new product release videos
• “come shopping with me” videos

The best platforms for video content are Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

UGC videos are vital to rank in social search. Instagram, YouTube and TikTok aren’t just social media platforms. In a way, they’ve become visual search engines. And the more posts from UGC creators a brand has, the higher the chances of this brand to rank for relevant keywords.

According to recent user-generated content statistics, 64% of Gen Z and 57% of millennials are willing to buy a product that they saw in a video review made by a content creator they follow.

If you want to create image content, you should go for Instagram or Pinterest.

They are ideal for visual and DIY content like recipes, home decor, and fashion ideas. Brands tend to use UGC photos on social media and websites quite actively. Here are the most popular categories:

• Before-and-after results
• Products “in the wild”
• Product aesthetics
• Visual testimonials

It’s worth noting that videos are usually more popular than photos because with videos it’s much easier to communicate why exactly you like a product. On the other hand, you might need to add text to photos or write a detailed caption to provide more information, if you have a UGC image.

Still, there’s a demand for UGC photos, as well. Brands can use them in their portfolio on a website or post them in a carousel on their social media account. Sometimes, they even run paid ads with UGC photos.

Text-based UGC includes product reviews and customers sharing their experience when interacting with brands. Naturally, the best platforms for this type of UGC are X or Reddit/Quora.

Now, text can be great when paired with photos. But you won’t be able to earn much – if anything – when creating text-based UGC alone. Surely, some brands do invest in this type of UGC, but not a lot of them. So, if you want to become a successful UGC creator, you should focus on creating videos or photos; preferably, both.

3. Create High-Quality Content

Your content should catch the attention of potential customers and resonate with them. To prompt them to make a purchase, you need to evoke a positive emotional response. Therefore, the higher the quality of your UGC will be, the better.

Here’s what you should pay attention to when creating UGC:

Lighting

The key to creating visually pleasing and high-quality content is good lighting. It’s true for both photos and videos. There’s no need to get a whole lighting setup – you can use natural light, instead.

In this case, make sure to set your scene near a large window in the daytime. You can also shoot outside if you want. Now, you need to be aware that direct sunlight will create lots of contrast and deep shadows; plus, your video might get overexposed. To prevent this, either avoid shooting in these conditions or use a light diffuser between your scene and the sun.

If you want to shoot outside, try to do so on an overcast day or during the golden hour (1 hour after sunrise or before sunset). Shooting at nighttime isn’t a good idea. Only some smartphone cameras can handle tricky lighting conditions relatively well. You don’t want your content to be noisy and of bad quality. Invest in some LED lighting if you want to be flexible with the time.

Environment

The background should be clean, plain and free of any distractions. You can use some seamless paper, fabric or even construction materials. A product should be clearly visible. Make sure that there’s enough light in the overall scene.

When recording a video, there should be no odd sounds in the background. Your camera or a smartphone have a built-in microphone, but it’s not a good idea to rely only on it as it might pick up extra noises. To get the perfect sound, you need to invest in a microphone. It can be a shotgun or a lavalier microphone; nothing too fancy. This goes without saying, but you shouldn’t record a voiceover during heavy rain, next to a washing machine, in a crowded space, etc.

Script

Even if your UGC video is only a couple of seconds long, it should have a plot that will encourage the audience to take immediate action.

Here’s what your video should include:

• Hook – get the viewers’ attention and keep it for the first three seconds.
• Problem – address the pain points of potential customers.
• Solution – provide your audience with the solution.
• Special selling points – describe how the product is different from others.
• Social proof – show that the product has helped you.
• CTA – encourage the viewers to make the purchase.

Camera Settings

You should film in 1080 HD and at 24 or 30 FPS; ideally, go for 24FPS. Also, if you want to make a slow motion, you should shoot at 60 FPS. Specify these settings in your camera menu. If you are using a smartphone, go to Settings > Camera > Record video. Make sure that the HDR (High Dynamic Range) is turned off. Otherwise, your UGC might get overexposed.

Editing

If you want to create engaging UGC videos, you’ll need to learn how to edit them. Luckily, there are apps like CapCut or InShot that are unbelievably easy to use and intuitive as well as available for free. TikTok and Instagram have in-app editors, so you can also use them. But please note that you will get much more room for creativity and experimentation in CapCut thanks to its broader set of tools and features.

Canva and Watermarkly are perfect for photo editing. With their help you’ll be able to easily add text to your photos or crop an image before publishing it online. It’s even possible to watermark your UGC content, if necessary.

4. Engage with Your Audience

To boost the engagement, you need to reply to comments and DMs, chat with your followers, show them how much you appreciate their support. Nobody likes being ignored. The key to success is to foster a loyal community as well as to give people a sense of your personality, of who you are. There’s no other way to do it but to actually interact with your followers.

You want to motivate your audience to share your content with others and mention you if your content has helped them. Additionally, it’s important to inspire both your audience and fellow creators to use your content in creating their own. Video replies are extremely popular on TikTok. So, for instance, they can react or respond to your UGC content with a video.

Finally, if you want to grow your account, you need to post regularly. It doesn’t mean posting every single day. But you need to come up with a certain schedule and stick to it. For instance, you can post 1-2 videos a week.

5. Optimize Your Content

For your content to be more visible, use relevant hashtags and tag brands. In addition to this, if you want to reach a broader audience, try to incorporate trending hashtags. Please note, however, that they should be relevant to your content, or you need to adapt your content to them.

You also need to switch to a business account, if you haven’t already. This will give you access to analytics tools, like Instagram Insights or TikTok Analytics. With their help you will be able to track reach, engagement, demographics and some other valuable data. They will help you determine what type of content performs best.

Last, but not least, you should prepare your content for publishing online. To put it simply, you need to resize your images so that they meet the size requirements of social media platforms. Otherwise, they might get compressed automatically which often has a negative effect on image quality.

This is also true for videos, so make sure that they have the right size and resolution. On top of that, some platforms – like Instagram – also require you to change the aspect ratio. This can be achieved by cropping your photos or videos.

6. Build Your Online Presence

To work with brands as a UGC creator, you will need to build a portfolio. So, think of nearly all the content you post online as a part of your portfolio. A good portfolio should showcase your value, skills and creativity.

You can also create a portfolio that consists exclusively of your best works. This kind of portfolio can help you score brand deals. A visually appealing UGC portfolio can be created with the help of Canva. It has a ton of various templates for a portfolio or a media kit, including some nice free options.

To build a strong online presence, collaborate with other UGC creators, bloggers or influencers in the niche of your choice. You can make collaborative posts, cross-promote each other. It’s a great idea to make friends with other creators in real life. This way you can not only increase your credibility, but visibility, too.

Remember that you can get new followers not only online, but also offline, in real life. Tell everyone you meet that you are a UGC creator, give your acquaintances and friends some advice and encourage them to follow you on social media.

In addition to all this, keep up with the trends in your niche as well as trends that are popular across several niches. Take part in viral challenges to get exposed to a broader audience.

7. Reach Out to Brands

It’s crucial for you to use relevant hashtags as well as tag and mention brands in your posts with UGC. This might help you get noticed. Avoid using hashtags like #UGC or #UGCcreator, though. Otherwise, the algorithms will show your content only to other UGC creators.

It’s a good idea to add one or two ways of contacting you into your bio. For instance, your email address or phone number. This will make it easier for brands to contact you since not all of them will reach out to you in DMs.

When becoming a UGC creator, the quickest way to start working with brands is to create an account on various UGC platforms, like Brands Meet Creators, JoinBrands or Billo. You may be surprised but some brands also post job offers for UGC on Upwork or Fiverr, so you can check them, too. The best thing about these platforms is that the process of looking for job opportunities is much easier since brands here really need UGC right now.

Another option for you to get brand deals is to actually pitch to brands.

Say, there’s a specific brand that you want to work with. First, find their email. It might be a good idea to go on LinkedIn and look for the head of their marketing department, get their email and write directly to them. In your pitching letter, you need to introduce yourself, provide a link to the post with their product. Yes, you need to create some UGC with their product. You also need to describe what your UGC can do for the brand. Finally, provide a hyper-link to your portfolio or attach it to the letter if your portfolio is in PDF. End your letter with thanking them for their time and remember to add a professional-looking signature with all your contact details.

You can reach out to brands of any size, but it might be a good idea to start with small brands. Especially as a new UGC creator. Look for startups and small businesses that have just started to build their online presence. There’s a higher chance that they would want to collaborate with you.

If you pitch to big brands, it’s absolutely vital for you to get straight to the point in your letter. Remember that tons of other UGC creators, bloggers and influencers send them collaboration requests daily. Be respectful and concise, provide all the key information. On top of that, your pitch needs to stand out. It might be better for you to approach big brands once you have more experience and a more prominent portfolio, though.

It might come as a surprise but there are also UGC agencies.

So, you can also reach out to them. Show them your portfolio and describe what the advantages of working with you are. It’s important to demonstrate that you are a professional who is flexible and can meet deadlines.

Last but not least, some brands actually hold UGC contests or campaigns. Yes, this is how brands boost their engagement as well as get tons of UGC content for free. But for you it’s a great way to get noticed and increase your visibility.

8. Monetize Your Content

Just like with influencers and bloggers, the amount of money that you will be able to earn depends on the size of your audience. Surely, if a brand is looking for the type of UGC that only you can offer, there’s a chance for you to get paid well even as a beginner. But if that’s not the case, then you will need to focus on building a strong online presence and growing your accounts to earn more money.

Take a look at these rates provided by the influencer marketing platform LeaLi:

• UGC creators with around 10K followers can make $100 for a 60-second video.
• UGC creators with 100K followers can make $500 for the video of the same length.
• Creators with 1M followers or more can earn as much as $2,500 per 60-second video.

In addition to this, you can charge extra if a brand wants to use your content in various ways. For example, if a brand wants to run ads with your UGC. You can also charge extra for providing raw footage or creating various hooks for a single video.

9. Be Authentic

You need to be like that one friend who you always turn for advice to because they know what skincare products are amazing or where to get the best kitchenware.

You need to be genuine with your audience. Share your actual and honest opinion. Your UGC can look good, but it doesn’t have to be absolutely perfect. These days people don’t really like content that’s overly polished or was clearly made for advertisement.

It’s vital for you to share your good and bad experiences. Don’t be afraid to tell the truth about products or services. Consumers appreciate honest and transparent UGC. And brands usually want to know whether there are any issues that should be fixed.

10. Keep Learning

If you want to know how to become a UGC creator, this is the most important step. You need to get creative and experiment with various formats and tools – AI, AR filters, live streams. Learn from fellow creators and get some ideas from them.

It’s also vital for you to keep learning. Learn compositional rules, color theory, some video editing tricks and techniques. Learn more about photography, videography and lighting as well as marketing and human psychology. All of this knowledge can make your content more impactful.

You need to put all your knowledge into practice, too. Figure out how to light a scene properly. How to edit your content. How to tell stories with your photos. If you want to make videos, you need to learn how to write engaging scripts with effective hooks. There are lots of things for you to learn and practice, but that’s what makes becoming a UGC creator both challenging and really fascinating.

Wrapping Up

Now you know how to become a UGC creator and what steps you need to follow to get started. It might seem daunting and scary, but it’s actually not that hard. Don’t think of this as an easy way to make money, though, because it’s not. You will need to put in a lot of work, but if content creation is something you’re truly passionate about, you will definitely succeed.