The short answer
UGC ads are ads built from short, natural videos of real people using your product: an unboxing, a quick review, a before-and-after. They work because they look like the content people already watch on Reels and Shorts. Meta says that adding partnership ads, which run creator content as ads, gives on average about 19% lower cost per acquisition and 13% higher click-through rate[1].
Three ways to use creator content
- UGC on your own page: you buy videos from creators and post them as your brand. Good for steady content and product pages.
- Partnership ads: you run a creator's post as an ad, shown under both the creator's and your brand's name. People see a real person, and you control targeting and budget.
- Influencer posts: the creator posts to their own followers. Best for trust and reach in a specific audience.
How to brief a UGC creator
- Who the customer is and the one problem the product solves
- Three key points to mention, in plain words, and claims to avoid
- Format: length, vertical 9:16, with or without voice, captions
- Three to five hook ideas, and ask the creator to suggest more
- Examples of videos you like, and ones you don't
- Deliverables: number of videos, hooks, raw files, deadlines
- Usage: organic only or paid ads, which platforms, for how long
Testing UGC ads the right way
- Start with 3 to 5 creators and 2 to 3 hooks each, so you test people and openings, not just one video.
- Run them in the same ad set with the same budget, and judge on cost per purchase or lead, not likes.
- Give each test a few days and enough spend before you decide.
- Turn the winning hook into new videos with other creators. Winners fade, so refresh every few weeks.
- Use the same video across Instagram, Facebook and YouTube Shorts.
Rules to follow in India
When a creator posts paid content on their own account, ASCI's guidelines require a clear label such as #ad, #collab, #sponsored or #partnership in the first two lines of the caption, or on the image or video if there is no caption[3]. Also make sure every claim in the video is true and provable, especially for health, beauty and finance products.
- Written agreement with fee, deliverables, usage period and platforms
- Ad label on any paid post from the creator's account
- No fake reviews or scripted "customer" claims that aren't true
- Before-and-after results that are real and typical
Run UGC ads with Retales
Retales finds creators, writes briefs, shoots product content, edits UGC videos and runs them as Meta ads, with results reported in your dashboard. Talk to us for a UGC test campaign.
Sources
Every statistic in this article comes from one of these publications. Links open the original source in a new tab.
- 1Meta streamlines brands' creator partnerships with AI-powered updates Meta reports partnership ads deliver about 19% lower cost per acquisition and 13% higher click-through rate on average.
- 2From Content to Commerce: Mapping India's Creator Economy 2 to 2.5 million monetised creators in India influence over $350 to 400 billion of consumer spending.
- 3New influencer marketing guidelines mandating disclosure on promotional content Paid posts must carry a label like #ad, #collab or #sponsored in the first two lines of the caption, or on the video itself.
This article is for general information and isn't financial or legal advice. Figures are as published by each source on the date shown.