What is UGC? Examples, creator work and brand campaigns

UGC stands for user-generated content: videos, photos, reviews and other posts made by the people using a product or platform. A customer filming an unboxing is one example. So is a player sharing a clip from a game.

In brand marketing, you will also hear “UGC” used for content a company pays a creator to make. That might be a product demonstration filmed at home, a screen recording of an app or a short video published on the creator’s account. The content can look informal while still being an advertisement.

The useful question is what the creator is being asked to do: make something, publish it, or both. That determines the brief, the payment and where the finished work appears.

What UGC looks like

A customer photographs a pair of shoes after wearing them for a month. A gamer shows the moment a new feature helped them win. A home cook records a recipe using a particular pan. Each gives another person something concrete to watch or inspect.

UGC is broader than short video. Reviews, photos and community contributions count too. Google’s definition includes text, images, videos and other contributions people make to a site or app.

For a brand, the format should follow the question customers have. An app tutorial can show whether a feature is useful. A close-up can show how a product fits or feels. A testimonial can describe someone’s experience, provided that experience is real.

Customer posts and paid creator content

Someone may post about a product they bought without any relationship with the company. A brand can also commission a creator to make a video. Both get called UGC, but the audience should be able to tell when a commercial relationship exists.

For US-facing endorsements, the FTC’s disclosure guide covers payments, gifts and other connections to a brand. A video disclosure belongs in the video itself, not just its description. A creator also cannot describe personal experience with a product they have not tried.

That distinction matters when writing a brief. “Show how to use this feature” gives someone a demonstration to film. “Say this changed your life” asks for an experience you cannot supply on their behalf.

What does a UGC creator get paid for?

Making the content

A brand commissions a video or photo set and pays for the agreed work. The creator may deliver files without posting them. The agreement should explain what the brand can do with those files, including whether it can use them in ads. A creation fee does not describe every possible usage arrangement.

Publishing to an audience

A creator makes a post and publishes it on their own account. Now the brand is buying distribution as well as content. The creator’s audience, location and account history can matter. This is where UGC and influencer work can overlap; the label alone does not tell you what a deal includes.

Generating eligible views

Some campaigns pay according to eligible views instead of offering a fixed production fee. The rate, approval rules, minimum payout and maximum payout belong to that particular offer. Filming a video does not, by itself, guarantee payment.

If you want to compare those models, start with our UGC pricing guide. For the difference between content production and audience access, read UGC creators and influencers.

Three real briefs show how different the work can be

These public briefs were checked on November 1, 2026. They illustrate the work requested, not a promise that a campaign will stay open or accept every creator. Follow the campaign link for its current rules.

Show an app doing something useful

Gorka Studio’s Stylit campaign asks for short videos showing an app that uses AI to put outfits on a person. Its public brief welcomes faceless and on-camera formats. The creative task is to make the feature understandable in a short demonstration.

Use a product in its natural setting

Ascent GG’s competitive-gaming campaign asks creators to show its desktop app through gameplay, highlights and relatable competitive-gaming moments. A creator who already understands those games has a specific way into the brief.

Bring an angle to supplied material

Next Wave Viral | ClipFarm’s Biz2Gig campaign supplies footage for creators to make content about wholesale clothing packs for resellers. Its public description says creators do not need a pack. The work is to develop the take and presentation, without pretending to have personally used a product they have not received.

Those organizations run the campaigns. Content Rewards provides the infrastructure behind them. Naming the operator makes it clear whose brief a creator is joining.

How brands turn UGC into a campaign

Start with the job the content needs to do. Is a customer unsure how the product works? Do you need people showing it in use? Or do you want creators publishing to reach new audiences? A request for “viral UGC” leaves all of those decisions unanswered.

For campaigns where creators make and distribute content, Content Rewards gives brands and agencies a place to publish briefs, review submissions and manage campaign payments. The operator sets the requirements; creators can see opportunities and decide which fit their work.

Give creators the product or access they need and a clear description of what to show. Keep supplied long-form footage for a clipping campaign: our content-type guide explains the difference between clipping existing material and commissioning new UGC.

If you plan to turn a creator’s post into paid advertising, arrange the necessary permissions. For example, TikTok Spark Ads can use creator posts with authorization. Finding a public video is not the same as getting permission to advertise with it.

Ready to put a brief in front of creators? Launch a campaign on Content Rewards.

Where creators should start

For paid campaigns that involve creating and publishing content, start with UGC campaigns on Content Rewards. Look for a brief that suits something you can actually make: an on-camera explanation, a product demonstration or a screen recording, for example.

Read the individual requirements before making the video. Some offers have location or account restrictions, and a view-based campaign is different from a fixed-fee commission. Choose the work with that distinction in mind.

If you have not made a sample yet, our guide to becoming a UGC creator walks through your first portfolio. You can begin with a product you already own. Show what it does, make your role clear, and give someone a reason to keep watching.