Raise your hand if UGC content is all over your for you page ✋
UGC (User Generated Content) is a hot topic lately, and not just on TikTok. Brands themselves are looking for creators that can provide content for them to use on their channels, in ads, and everywhere. This is because the consumer demand for UGC is enormous. This isn’t a new way to market, it is THE way to market.
There is still a lot of room in the UGC industry for those looking to become a creator. With UGC you don’t need to have a platform, you just need to be able to create high-quality content.
This guide will break down how to become a UGC creator, how to build a UGC portfolio, what to charge as a UGC creator, and how to get UGC partnerships with brands.
- How can I become a UGC content creator?
- Building a UGC Portfolio
- How Much To Charge As a UGC Creator
- How many UGC creators are there?
- Is UGC paid?
- How do I work with brands as a UGC Creator?
How can I become a UGC content creator?
The first step to becoming a UGC creator is to just START. That might sound unhelpful, but actually creating UGC is the most important part of being a UGC creator. Before you get brand deals you will need to build a portfolio. To build a portfolio, you simply need to find products that you love and already have and create content around them. Act as if a brand has come to you and they need three videos for their upcoming campaign. Give yourself a deadline, create the deliverables, and then “deliver” them to the client by adding them to your portfolio! Once you have created content, you are now a UGC creator. To start getting brand deals and making money off of UGC creation, here are a couple of things you may need.
UGC Creator Toolkit
- Tripod
- Camera/Phone
- Portfolio
- A platform for brands to find your work (TikTok or Instagram)
- Platform/Agency Partner/Pitch Strategy
With the items above, you are ready to turn content creation into a full-time job.
How to Build a Portfolio
Your portfolio can live on a PDF, a Canva file, a website, or on a portfolio platform. The easiest and most economical ways are creating a PDF or using Canva. Canva also has “websites” you can create if you don’t want to pay to have a website built and hosted.
In your portfolio, you’ll want to include your
- Name
- Examples of work
- Brands you have worked with (skip this if you don’t have any under your belt yet!)
- Rates and Packages
If you are creating your portfolio from scratch, create a few pieces of content with products around your house and use those as examples of your work. Be intentional about the content you create and make sure it reflects the types of brands you want to work with.
NoGood Tip: Don’t just create a video pouring creamer in a cup of coffee in front of a window. Showcase your storytelling ability, have a few videos with you speaking in them, and think outside of the box. These are meant to be videos that are authentic and native to the platform, so make them look like authentic and native videos.
In your portfolio, you also want to include your rates and packages. Rates depend on your experience level and what the deliverables are, however here is a guide on how to price yourself as a UGC creator.
Is UGC paid?
Brands do compensate for UGC, but how they compensate may differ. Some brands offer free products and/or exposure as compensation. This is helpful for new creators who are hoping to build some new relationships and get some work under their belt. For seasoned UGC creators, they may not take gifted partnerships anymore. If brands have a UGC budget (which we highly recommend they do!), then they do pay for the content.
Now, how much do brands pay?
How to Price Yourself as a UGC Creator
Rates are still fairly subjective since the UGC creator space is so new. However, there are a few ways to get a grasp on how others are pricing themselves so you can establish your own rate.
@byletitia provided a great method for checking other creators’ prices. Head to Fiverr.com and type in “UGC”. It will pull up a large list of UGC creators with their prices. From there, narrow it down to “new sellers” and establish who has the most reviews. You can take an average of their prices and use that to base your own!
As you grow your portfolio and gain more experience, your prices can increase. Additionally, when doing multi-video deals with brands, you can add packages that bundle a number of videos together for a reduced rate per video.
How Many UGC Creators are There?
Wondering how many UGC creators there are? There isn’t really a way to know exactly how many there are, but to give a perspective…
There are 1082 listings on Fiverr
UGC Platform Trend has over 3700 creators
Now at first, that might seem like a lot, but in reality, the UGC industry is still very young (cue the TikTok sound *I’m just a baby 🍼*). We are seeing high demand for UGC and the pool of creators is still very small. When we are looking for creators we are taking into account
- Quality of Work
- Storytelling Capabilities
- Industry Specialties
- Age
- Gender Identification
- Personality
All of these factors are taken into consideration to match the right creator with the right brand. If we need content for a bold, bright clothing company for young moms, we aren’t going to have much luck with a 40-year-old male creator who specializes in tech. Each creator is unique, and their style of creation is unique.
So if you’re considering being a creator, know that…
- There is plenty of room
- Quality of work matters
- It’s helpful to identify your style of videos and industry specialties (it can be multiple! Just ensure your portfolio shows that!)
How do I work with brands as a UGC Creator?
If you have a portfolio, you are ready to pitch to brands. In the UGC Toolkit, we mentioned you’ll need a platform/agency partner/pitch strategy. These are the methods with which you can get UGC jobs. Let’s go through them.
Platforms
What is a UGC platform? There are several places you can look for partnerships that are being advertised. UGC platforms and agencies provide a middleman to help you find the brands that are currently in need of your services.
NoGood has our own Creator Community that we use to match our clients with the right creator. You can join communities like ours with agencies to have some support partnering with brands. These relationships are very beneficial because
- You can grow a long-term relationship with the agency and the brand
- You get peer-to-peer communication on the projects
- You don’t have to look for jobs on your own
- You have a team behind you presenting the best brands for your content
Outside of agencies, you can also join UGC platforms like the ones listed below to look for job postings.
- Aspire.io – Has both gifted and paid campaigns for you to scroll through and find new jobs in various industries.
- #Paid – Can set your own rate and you’ll get matched for campaigns that are a good fit.
- Collabstr – Can set your rates for different deliverables and the brands will come to you or you will be invited to apply to different campaigns.
- Influent – Gives you suggested rates and has an option for brands to leave reviews.
Also, check out this article about How to Find Brand Collaborations as a Creator
Agency Partners
As we said previously, NoGood has our own Creator Community that we partner with to match brands with creators that can create authentic and meaningful content. We value building relationships with the creators to provide partnerships that are beneficial and authentic to them. Our hope is to provide our creator partners with the tools they need to be as successful as possible.
If you want to join our Creator Community, we would love to meet you! You can apply here and we will be in touch if it’s a good fit!
Though we are the best, there are several agencies out there that also match brands with creators! Here are a few…
This guide should give you everything you need to be a UGC creator, but it takes practice to become a really good one. Don’t assume that just because it’s a short-form video that it doesn’t take a lot of skill. The creators that shine in this new UGC industry will be the ones who prioritize storytelling, distinguish themselves in their content style, show their personality, and prove that they can make a video that is engaging, authentic, and relatable.
