User-generated content is any non-branded content that is created by users like your customers, creators, or influencers in your specific niche.
This has become quite a relevant content format on social media and now brands are leveraging the same to run ads too.
The best thing about UGC ads is that they are highly converting ads due to the raw nature of the content and authenticity. However, creating such ads at scale for advertising is a difficult task for brands and agencies too.
This article will take you through a 10-stage process that any DTC agencies and brands can follow to create UGC ads content for their paid campaigns.
A. Onboarding: 📃
This is where we onboarded the client and dive deeper into their business.
The best way to have a detailed knowledge transfer is to get clients to fill out a thorough onboarding form where you collect all the details regarding the brand, its products, its audience, and its current requirement for UGC ads.
Check this Google form that we use for our onboarding process for our UGC and other creative projects.
B. Product Selection 🛒✔
If you are a brand with limited SKUs and some proven bestsellers, you have nothing much to choose from. Feature your best-selling products in your UGC ads.
The challenge is for high-SKU brands where their choice will depend upon:
- A hero product/hero products
- A hero collection/product category
- A seasonal/festive/SALE event
C. Customer Research & Creator Hunt 🔍
Now that you have finalized the product, you need to understand the end user who will be using the same. Your choice of creator or influencer has to be coherent with your customer persona.
For instance, if your target market is Women living in the United States within the age group of 18 to 24; find a creator that falls in the same demographic. UGCs are a top-performing ad format because people like to buy from other people like them.
We at Adscellent Media have our own Creator Program where content creators can join us and create UGC ads for our clients.
D. Shipping Products to Creators 🚚💨
Awesome! So we have studied the brand, understood its customers and its UGC requirement, and also finalized the product and the creator.
Now we simply ship the products to the creators. You can either:
- Directly ask the client to ship products to the creators’ location
- OR get a temporary coupon code with 100% off that creators can use and place the order as per finalized video requirement.
E. Creative Strategy 💡🤔
This is when the UGC creation begins in the pre-production phase. Listed below are the key elements you want to focus on are:
Video Angle
A narrative that connects the end consumer with your product. Example: A brand selling protein powder can use angles such as
a product demo in a fitness lifestyle, a product review by a regular gym dude, a protein source narrative for the vegetarian audience, a pricing angle with a ‘price & protein content per scoop’ narrative, etc.
Video Hook
You gotta hit it right in the very first 3 seconds of your video. Based on the angle you choose, ideate and shortlist some hooks that directly address the core proposition of the angle. [PRO Tip: Try to have the brand name inside the hook.]
Video Script
Read ‘point F’ below for details about the script
Brand & Production Guidelines
Even after having the perfect script, the output is as good as the direction. Ensure that your video brief document not just gives the script, but also clearly highlights the brand and production guidelines. Brand guidelines include the brand’s tone, colors, fonts, and certain specific instructions. Production guidelines are for both the creator and editor regarding the visuals, lighting, audio, video sizes, and other editing requirements.
F. The Video Script & Creative Brief ✍🏻📃
Your video script and the brief are what will make or break your UGC creation process.
Just like no movie can be shot without a clear screenplay, a UGC video’s soul is the script.
Here are the elements you must include in your script structure for every broken-down scene:
- Scene number (1,2,3…)
- Dialogue (spoken / voiceover)
- Creator Action (what does the creator do in this scene?)
- Screen Elements (what text, image, etc. appears on the screen)
- Scene duration (how long is the scene?)
After the video script, do not forget to include the 2 sections mentioned before:
- Brand Guidelines: Colors, fonts, tone, and personality of the brand.
- Production Guidelines: Indoor/Outdoor, Lighting, Audio, editing style, format requirements, etc.
View our Creative Brief template to get a better idea.
G. UGC Production Begins 🤳🏻
It’s time for action! By now creator has the product and the brief; basically, everything for him/her to start shooting the content.
Let the creators be creative.
Don’t restrict them with the script. We have seen some cool improvisations that have in fact improved the video more than harmed it at all.
I’ll recommend not letting creators do the editing. Leave it to the editor.
Creator’s job is to record the scenes and voiceovers. Once ready, we can move to post-production.
H. Editing First Round (for agencies) 💻
Collect all the raw media shot by the creator.
Compile them and send them to the editor for the post-production phase.
Based on the guidelines provided, get the first version of the video ready.
If you’re an agency, ensure that you implement multiple changes internally before sending the first version to the brand for approval.
I. Editing Second Round (for agencies) 💻
Once the brand has reviewed a UGC video, collect all the feedback and change requests at once.
Forward them to the editor for the final version.
J. Final Video Approval & Deployment
After both rounds of editing are complete, send the video to the brand for final review.
Voila! You’ve made it.
Waste no time before deploying this UGC video in your paid social advertising campaigns and start monitoring the performance and gathering learnings.
I will soon write a detailed post on testing and scaling UGCs with Facebook ads for 2023.
Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!