In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, User-Generated Content (UGC) has emerged as a powerful strategy for brands looking to deepen their connection with audiences. With a decade of experience in content creation, I've witnessed firsthand the transformative impact UGC can have on a brand's online presence and customer engagement. Let's dive into what UGC is, and why it's time for all content creators to start offering UGC as a service + stop leaving money on the table!

WHAT IS UGC?

UGC is content related to a product/service that is created by individuals and not by the brand itself. UGC is raw, authentic, and more experience-driven than brand-pushed content because it is made by real people/customers like you & me. I like to think of UGC as the modern-day word of mouth.

TYPES OF UGC CONTENT

UGC assets come in a ton of different formats, think videos like testimonials, unboxings, trends, product reviews, tutorials & more. 

 Even static images, product reviews, blog posts, challenges, giveaways, live streams, and podcasts can be considered user-generated content.

WHY START UGC?

1. Get paid to do a job you love, remotely from anywhere in the world. Set your own schedule, rates and take autonomy over your career. Plus it’s a great side hustle to afford that fancy Pilates membership, pay your car bill, or grab the daily $6 latte. Show me the $$$.

2. You get to grow as a marketer + entrepreneur: you’ll learn a bit of sales, SEO, negotiating, advertising, digital marketing, social media management, + more. If UGC is not the dream job, it is a great expander that can help teach the skills to become an entrepreneur in the digital space! The possibilities are endless!

3. You don’t have to post on your accounts, use your face, or have a following to be a UGC creator + the barriers to entry are low. All you need to start is a mobile phone and a free content editing app like CapCut to begin your UGC journey!

4. There is a lot of money to be made as a content creator on social media.

• In 2023, influencer/creator marketing spend amounted to $26+ billion dollars in the US.
• The average salary of a content creator for 25 hours/week is $100K.
• On average, intermediate UGC creators make around $2,000+ per month.
• You can expect to make $5K -$10K+ per month part-time once you learn to perfect the UGC process + book multiple brand deals/month. This isn’t something you should expect overnight, it comes with practice, patience & delivering quality converting content. 

UGC 101 TERMINOLOGY: A - Z 

AESTHETIC -   refers to the intentional design and presentation of visual elements that shape the overall look and feel of your social media presence.

A/B SPLIT TEST - Also known as split testing, this is a method of comparing two variations of an ad, content, or any other material to determine which one performs better. A/B Testing involves changing one element at a time to refine your results. For example, changing the hook of a video and seeing which one gets more engagement from the audience, or choosing 2 target audiences to share the content with and testing which audience converts to purchase more.

ALGORITHM -   is a set of rules and calculations used by social media platforms to determine what content to show to users and in what order. Applying certain principles to your content and account will help you rank higher on social media algorithm in turn serving your content to more people.

BRIEF - A brief or creative brief is a document provided to UGC Creators to give clear context, deliverables, and requirements by the brand. It should outline the script, content filming preferences, target audience, brand identity + more. Essentially, it's your guide to follow for that specific brand partnership (make sure to read it + more than once).

CALL TO ACTION - or CTA's are to push an immediate response or action from the viewer. For example,  sign up now, download today and save, click the link in my bio are popular.

COMPLETION RATE - the percentage of the video that gets watched. If users scroll away too quickly, your video won’t perform as well in the algorithm. The longer viewers stick around for, the better.

CONVERSION RATE - The percentage of users who take a specific action, such as making a purchase.

COPY - Written content.

DEINFLUENCING -  is a trend on social media where influencers tell their followers why they should not buy a product. 

DELIVERABLES - The services/products/actions that you are expected to produce, as confirmed in the outreach and negotiation phase. For example, the deliverables might be one video 30 seconds long, three images of the product, and 2 minutes of raw footage.

DIGITAL PRODUCTS - anything you can make and sell online that isn’t a physical product, they're intangible items. For example, a landing page template is a digital product. You can’t hold it in your hands, but it has value and exists electronically. Examples of digital products range from software, code, online courses, templates, streaming music, and more.

DUET - This is a way of reacting to someone else’s video on TikTok. When you Duet someone, your video plays alongside the original. This can be great for amplifying someone else’s message, reacting with shock, or other creative approaches.

ENGAGEMENT RATE - A measure of how many people interact with your social media content; the total of likes, comments, views, shares, and saves divided by the number of views the piece of content received. For example, if you have a Facebook page and post a message which was liked and shared by 25 people and seen by 100 people, then it has an engagement rate of 25%.

EXCLUSIVITY - Refers to the amount of time you are prohibited from working with a brand competition, this will be included in the contract. Make sure to read the fine print.

FYP - a personalized feed of recommended videos for each user on TikTok. It’s designed to create an engaging experience for each user.

GATEKEEPING - withholding/not disclosing information to keep something exclusive. For example, a creator refusing to share where they got something for fear that it will sell out as a result. Cough, Kylie Jenner, cough. Here is another use case, "Here are my top must-have skin care products, no gatekeeping."

GIRL MATH - a trending phenomenon that emerged on TikTok and is used to describe the way girls justify their spending habits. Aka, when I use cash, it's free.

GREEN SCREEN - An effect on social media, you can utilize green screen to speak in front of something, whether it’s a photo of a place you went on vacation, an article you want to discuss, or something else.

GRWM - stands for "Get Ready With Me". It is a popular social media hashtag and trend that involves posting a video or series of photos showing the process of getting ready for an event or activity. Check out Alix Earle the queen of grwm's.

HANDLE - On social media, a handle is another term for username. Unlike other usernames, though, a handle is usually preceded by an “@” sign. For example, @netflix is the handle for Netflix's TikTok.

HOOK - The first few seconds of a UGC asset, are designed to catch the audience’s attention quickly + enough to stop their scroll to learn about your product or service. It should make you think or feel. For example, Don’t make this mistake, Unpopular opinion, I’m done gatekeeping…

INBOUND - When a brand reaches out to you with an offer, requesting to work with you, is called an inbound lead. They contact you first.

KPI - Metrics used to evaluate success in specific objectives such as CPC (cost per click), CTR (click-through rate), CPM (cost per million), etc.

LEAD - a person or a company who has shown interest in a product or service. It could be someone who has filled out an online form, subscribed to a newsletter, or shared their contact information in exchange for a coupon.

NICHE - A small segment of the population that has unique and very specific characteristics. UGC creators can choose a niche to specialize in like small businesses, women-owned businesses, sustainable organic products, skincare, travel, wellness + more.

ORIGINAL SOUND - created by the TikTok user. It may simply be them talking, a dog snoring, a remix they made, an ASMR, or anything. Other TikTokkers can then use this original sound in their own videos if they like it.

ORGANIC - Content meant for entertainment and engagement on a brand's social media, not intended for paid ads. They can furnish the client's socials or landing page, be included in their newsletters or reviews, etc.

OOTD - Outfit of the day, used to show off your look on any given day.

PAID - Content that brands spend a targeted paid ad budget on. Think Sponsored and #Ad. UGC ad content requires carefully crafted scripts, hooks, and CTA the goal is to drive a response. UGC creators should charge usage rights when doing paid ad collaborations with brands.

PAYMENT TERMS NET 30/60 - The amount of time it will take for you to get paid after the agency/brand receives your invoice. Net 30 means you’ll be paid within 30 days of receipt of invoice and net 60 means 60 days after. This is why you should pay close attention to your payment terms in your contract.

PERPITUITY - The release of content rights for an infinite amount of time in the future. In other words, when the collaboration is over, the brand has indefinite rights to your content. This is included in the contract.

PITCH - In the context of marketing and social media, "pitch" refers to the act of presenting or promoting a product, service, or idea to a target audience, brand, or potential customers.

POV - (point of view) video is a type of video filmed from the perspective of the person who is creating it, giving the viewer a sense of being there in the moment and experiencing the events as they unfold.

RAW FOOTAGE - Raw footage or B-Roll captures the behind-the-scenes footage of a creator’s work; candids, impromptu pauses, unscripted moments, etc. Uncut footage that has not yet gone through the editing process. 

REACH - The total number of people who have been exposed to a social post or ad. This metric does not necessarily indicate that all of these people have actually seen your content. They could have scrolled right past it, for instance.

ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) - A key metric showing the revenue generated from each dollar spent on advertising. The amount profited after subtracting the amount spent on the content/advertising campaign.

SCOPE OF WORK - Detailed outline of the work you and the brand have agreed upon.

SPARK ADS - the native advertising of TikTok format that allows brands to leverage organic posts in ads by spending a budget to boost the post on the account.

SOCIAL PROOF: a tendency people have to conform to the actions of others, utilized in advertising to show popularity, virality, or endorsements (e.g., customer testimonials).

STITCH - a feature on TikTok that allows users to incorporate a section of another user's video into their own.

STORYBOARD - A visual representation of the video's narrative, you can add this to a brand proposal to help them visualize + bring to life a UGC concept. 

TESTIMONIAL - an endorsement from real people who have used your products or services and loved them enough to share with friends, relatives, colleagues, and strangers on the Internet. Testimonials are social proof, when used effectively, they show credibility and convince potential customers that they should purchase now.

TEXT TO SPEECH - This feature on social media platforms allows you to add text over a video and select a robotic voice to read it aloud. This is helpful for times when you don’t have enough content for a voiceover or simply don’t feel like recording one.

TRENDING AUDIO - can be a popular song or an original sound created by a user–either way, it’s an audio clip that you’re likely hearing all over your FYP. If you catch an audio early, it can help your video perform better, sounds in the 3-5k range are audios that can help boost your content in the algorithm.

USAGE RIGHTS - Usage rights give brands the permission to use UGC content in a certain way, for a certain time. They protect you from brands misusing your assets and can lay out terms for royalties + extra payments.

VIRAL - To "go viral” on social media means that a piece of content has become extremely popular and is being shared by a large number of people on various social media platforms. Think of a virus spreading.

VOICEOVER - videos that can be recorded right in TikTok, replacing the video’s original sound. These work well for explaining a project you did, talking about your workday over a timelapse of you working, and many other uses. 

WHITELISTING - The UGC creator shares the content to their own social media account and the brand runs paid ads to the content through your profile. On TikTok, this is known as a Spark Ad, when you see an ad on TikTok posted by a creator and it says ‘Sponsored’, this is whitelisting.

 Refer back to this glossary during your UGC journey.