What UGC actually is

UGC is material that looks like it came from an ordinary user, but which is commissioned and paid for by a brand. You film, the brand owns and publishes.

The difference from influencer marketing

An influencer sells their audience. You sell material. It sounds like a detail but it changes everything: what you charge for, what the contract has to cover, and who carries the responsibility for how the material is used.

If you have 300 followers it makes no difference to a UGC job. What counts is whether you can film something that works in their ad.

What the client is actually buying

Three things, in this order:

• Credibility. It has to look like a human being, not a commercial. That is the entire reason the format exists.
• Usability. Right format, right length, sound good enough to run as an ad.
• Predictability. That you deliver when you said you would.

The third is what gets you repeat clients. The first two are what get you the first job.

What it is not

It is not free advertising in exchange for products. Payment in goods is still payment, and a collaboration that has to be disclosed. More on that in track 2.