UGC Campaigns: How to Plan, Brief, Pay For and Measure One

A UGC campaign pays creators to make and post content about a brand's product in their own style, instead of the brand producing one polished ad. On Content Rewards a campaign has one content type, a written brief, a payment model and a budget. Creators join, post from their own accounts and submit the links, and the brand reviews each video against the brief and pays only for approved work.

This guide walks through the decisions a brand makes before launching, using the Content Rewards help center for the platform details. For the basics of the format, see What is UGC?, and for how it differs from influencer deals, see UGC creator vs influencer.

Choose the content type

The help center article Clipping, UGC or slideshows lists the content types a campaign can use. The main ones for UGC work are:

• UGC with face: a person on camera talking about or using the product. You supply the product or access to it, talking points and what not to say.
• UGC faceless: hands, screens, voiceover or memes showing the product without a presenter. You supply screen recordings or product footage, brand assets and the key moments.
• Slideshows: carousel posts that tell a story and land on the product. You supply the story angle, images and the moment the product appears.
• Clipping: short clips cut from your existing long-form video, such as a podcast or founder interview. You supply the long-form footage.

The help center's guidance is to start with clipping if you already have long-form content, because it is the simplest campaign to run and the cheapest per 1,000 views. Without a content library, UGC or slideshows are the options. Slideshows are the fastest to test, and UGC with face asks the most of a creator, so it needs a clear brief and a higher rate. Keep types in separate campaigns, because each attracts different creators and is reviewed against different rules. More detail is in Types of clipping campaigns.

Supply material and write the brief

Every campaign needs at least one reference material, such as a shared folder, a playlist, product footage or brand assets. Add new material every two to three weeks so creators are not all cutting the same moment.

The brief is what every video is judged against. Only rules written in the campaign's requirements count, so a rule that lives in a chat or a separate document is not a valid reason to reject. Put the things that matter in writing: the hook or angle you want, where the product appears, required captions, tags or links, length, language and anything creators must not say. The help center's guide to writing a brief creators will follow covers the structure.

Audience targeting works through requirements too. Organic content is shown wherever the platform shows it, so the help center suggests writing an audience share as a rule, such as a minimum share of views from certain countries, and turning on the demographics requirement so creators attach their audience breakdown when they submit.

Pick a payment model

The model is chosen when the campaign is created and cannot be changed afterwards. The help center article Which pricing model should I use? frames it as two questions: do you want to pay for views or for videos, and do you want one batch or an ongoing cadence?

• CPM pays per 1,000 views, with a minimum a video must earn before it is paid and a maximum per video. It suits brands that want cost to move with results.
• Per post pays a flat amount for each approved video that reaches a minimum view count. It suits a set number of original videos you want to reuse, and most per post campaigns use an application so you choose the creators.
• Retainer pays the same creators a set amount each cycle for agreed deliverables. It suits a predictable cadence once you have found creators who fit.

The same article notes that many brands start on CPM to learn which hooks travel, then move the creators who stood out onto per post or retainer. For setting the rate, minimum, cap and total budget, see How to budget a clipping campaign.

Decide who can join

A campaign can be open to any creator, application only or private. Open campaigns let any creator join at once. Applications let you ask questions before creators join, and private campaigns run with creators you have already checked. Use an application or a private campaign when the audience or the presenter matters, such as UGC with face, where the presenter is part of the content.

Know what rights you get

Under the Content Rewards licensing terms in plain words, an approved video comes with a permanent, worldwide license to use it anywhere, including in paid ads, at no extra cost. The license is not exclusive, so the creator can use the video too. You own the finished video outright when it was made from footage or assets you supplied, and retainer deliverables are work for hire. The creator is responsible for clearing music and anything else in the video that is not yours or theirs, but check before you put ad spend behind a video.

Review and measure

Review submissions daily. Each rejection has to rest on a rule written in the brief, and the bot score on each submission helps flag suspicious views before they are paid.

The dashboard shows views, engagement, approved videos, payouts and effective CPM, which is what you actually paid per 1,000 views. It does not track sales. The help center article What you can target and what you can measure suggests three ways to connect videos to results: a trackable link in the creator's bio, a promo code per campaign or creator, or a landing page only creators send people to. Treat the rest as reach.

Common mistakes

• Mixing content types in one campaign, so the brief fits nobody.
• Writing rules in a chat instead of the requirements, then rejecting on them.
• Expecting one video to carry the campaign instead of reading results across many.
• Leaving the same source material in place for weeks until every video opens the same way.
• Judging a UGC campaign on sales the dashboard cannot see, without setting up links or codes first.

FAQ

How is a UGC campaign different from a clipping campaign?

UGC is new content a creator makes about your product. Clipping cuts your existing long-form video into short clips. Both can run on CPM, per post or retainer, but each needs a separate campaign with its own brief.

Do creators need large followings?

The help center lists no follower minimum for joining an open campaign. Use an application or a private campaign, or write audience requirements into the brief, if reach in a specific audience matters.

Can I use the videos in paid ads?

Yes. An approved video comes with a license to use it in any medium, including paid advertising, for your own products and brands.

Where can I launch a UGC campaign?

Brands can start from Launch a campaign. Creators looking for live UGC and clipping campaigns can browse Discover.