In short: This page answers the questions brands and creators ask most about UGC, in a few sentences each, grouped by topic: the basics, prices and payment, rights, rules, making and using videos, and how Usicri works. Every answer links to the longer guide, where the figures are attributed to their sources. Prices and platform rules change, so treat the numbers as published ranges, not promises.
The basics
What is UGC?
UGC stands for user-generated content: videos, photos and reviews made by people rather than by a brand’s own team. In marketing the term covers content customers post on their own and content that a brand commissions and pays creators to make in that natural style. See what UGC marketing is.
What is a UGC creator?
A person who is paid to make customer-style videos that brands use on their own channels, not posts for the creator’s own audience. See how to become a UGC creator.
How is UGC different from influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing pays for distribution: a creator posts on their own account and you borrow their audience. UGC pays for content: a creator makes a video and you decide where it runs. Many brands use both. See UGC vs influencer marketing.
Do UGC creators need followers?
No. Brands pay for the video, so creator guides say follower count is not what they buy. What they check instead is range, authenticity and reliability. See do you need followers to be a UGC creator.
Why do beauty, fashion and personal care brands use UGC so much?
These are products people want to see used before they buy: texture, fit, a routine. A video from someone who looks like the buyer, in normal light, answers questions a studio shot does not. See the practical guide to UGC for beauty, fashion and personal care.
Prices and payment
How much does UGC cost?
Published 2026 rate guides range from about $50–$400 per video for beginners and $150–$1,000 for mid-level creators to $500–$3,000 or more for established specialists. Insense lists beauty and skincare at about $150–$2,000 and fashion at $100–$1,500, and usage rights, exclusivity and rush delivery are priced on top. See what UGC creators charge.
How much can a UGC creator earn?
There is no single answer. Published 2026 guides put beginners at roughly $50–$400 per video and part-time monthly totals from a few hundred dollars to a couple of thousand. Take-home is videos per month times the average payout, minus costs, tax and unpaid hours. See how much a UGC creator can earn.
What should a UGC rate card include?
A base price with a clear definition, add-ons for usage rights, whitelisting, raw footage, extra hooks, rush delivery and extra revisions, any packages, and your terms. See the UGC rate card template.
How do UGC creators get paid?
In three ways: through a platform that passes on the brand’s payment, through an invoice to the brand, or as a commission when something sells. Each has its own timing and deductions. See how UGC creators get paid.
How do UGC platforms charge brands?
In four main ways: a price per video with the fee built in, a percentage on top of what you pay creators, a monthly subscription plus a smaller percentage, or a subscription with creator payments budgeted separately. See UGC platforms compared.
How many UGC videos does a brand need?
There is no universal answer. It depends on ad spend, how fast creative wears out and how many tests turn into winners. If you only plan to use videos on a product page or in email, you need far fewer. See how many UGC videos you need.
Rights
Who owns a UGC video?
The creator keeps the copyright; the brand gets a license that says what it may do with the video: where, for how long and in which media. See UGC usage rights explained.
What is whitelisting?
The brand runs paid ads through the creator’s own social account, so the ad appears under the creator’s handle. It is usually priced separately. See partnership ads, Spark Ads and whitelisting.
Can a UGC video use a trending song in an ad?
Not without the right license. TikTok says the songs in its General Music Library are not pre-cleared for commercial content, and points businesses to its Commercial Music Library. See music in UGC ads.
Do I need a UGC contract?
For deals outside a platform, yes, in writing. A useful one covers the same twelve points every time, from deliverables and approval to the license, music and cancellation. See the UGC contract checklist.
Rules
Do creators have to label paid content?
The US FTC says a disclosure must be hard to miss, placed with the endorsement itself (not only in a profile, at the end of a post or among hashtags), and written in simple words such as “ad”, “advertisement” or “sponsored”. Other countries have their own versions; in the EU, for example, commercial content must be clearly recognizable as advertising. See UGC disclosure rules.
What can creators say about skincare?
In the EU every cosmetic claim has to meet six common criteria and be backed by evidence before it is posted. In the US the line is between appearance and disease: claims to treat or prevent turn a cosmetic into a drug. The safe path is to describe your genuine experience and stick to the claims the brand supplies. See cosmetic claims in UGC.
Can a fashion creator say a product is sustainable?
Only if the claim is specific, true and supported. EU rules that Member States must apply from 27 September 2026 ban generic environmental claims without demonstrated performance. See sustainability claims in fashion UGC.
Is paid UGC a fake review?
No, it is advertising in a person’s voice. It becomes a problem when it is presented as a customer’s review, or when it describes an experience the creator did not have. See paid UGC vs customer reviews.
Can brands use AI-generated UGC?
AI tools are not banned as such, but the rules are tightening: the FTC’s fake-review rule names AI-generated reviews by people who do not exist, the EU AI Act’s transparency duties for deepfakes apply from 2 August 2026, and the platforms have labeling rules. See AI-generated UGC vs real creators.
Making and using videos
How do I film a UGC video?
You need a recent phone, a window, a quiet room and a steady hand. Shoot vertically, face soft daylight, keep the microphone close to your mouth, show the product in use and put the hook in the first three seconds. See how to film UGC videos.
What format should UGC videos be?
Vertical (9:16), at 1080×1920 where the phone allows, as an MP4 or MOV, with text and the product kept away from the edges where apps place their buttons. Length depends on where the video runs. See UGC video specs.
Should UGC videos have captions?
Yes. Captions let people who cannot hear the video follow it, and automatic captions need a check for mistakes. See captions and subtitles for UGC videos.
How do I brief a creator?
Keep it to one page: what the video is for, the product facts, the single message, the format, the things to avoid, the rights and the dates. Give the points to cover, not a script. Templates: beauty and skincare and fashion.
How do I choose a creator?
Check range across formats, written usage rights, platform experience, turnaround and revisions, communication and an itemized quote, and run a short paid test first for a bigger booking. See how to choose a UGC creator.
How should brands review UGC videos?
Check each against the brief, not against taste. Approve it if it passes, ask for a fix if one thing is wrong and can be corrected, and reject it if it fails on something that cannot be fixed. See how to review UGC videos.
Where should brands use UGC videos?
On product pages, in paid social ads, in email and on the brand’s own feed. On a product page, put them in the gallery near the top, keep them short and vertical, and show a few relevant ones. See UGC on product pages.
How do I measure UGC performance?
Start from your goal, pick one business metric, and use hook rate, hold rate and click-through rate only to find out why. Give each test at least a week and change one thing at a time. See how to measure UGC performance.
When should I start UGC for Black Friday?
Weeks ahead. One 2026 playbook says to have creator briefs out by 15 October for Black Friday, which falls on 27 November in 2026. See UGC for Black Friday and the campaign calendar.
How do I run a UGC campaign?
In seven steps: set one goal and one number, write a one-page brief, choose creators, settle rights and product delivery before filming, review every video in one place, use the winners and note what you learned. See how to run a UGC campaign.
Should I use an agency, a marketplace or a freelancer?
They differ mainly in who does the work: a freelancer sells their own time, a marketplace gives you control and costs your time, an agency saves your time and costs more. Guides disagree on the volume at which one overtakes another. See UGC agency vs marketplace vs freelancer.
Do I have to send a product to creators?
Only when the video needs it. Ask for delivery details once a creator has said yes, say in writing what you expect, check carrier rules for liquids and aerosols and track the parcel. A free product still has to be disclosed. See how to send products to UGC creators.
How do I test UGC ads?
Change one variable at a time, brief creators for several hooks, name files so results trace back and agree a stop rule before you spend. See UGC ad creative testing.
How Usicri works
How does Usicri work?
A brand creates a campaign: the payout per video, how many videos it wants and whether it sends a product. Creators see the price and open spots, film to the brief and upload. The brand reviews every video and pays only for the ones it approves, with no platform fee at the moment. An approved, paid video comes with a non-exclusive, worldwide license without time limit that covers advertising (section 5 of the Terms of Service). Creators keep 100% of the payout, and approved earnings are paid out through Stripe once they reach 20 USD. Submissions to a campaign are not guaranteed. See how it works for brands, open campaigns and the UGC glossary.
For the surveys behind the numbers, see UGC and social video statistics, with sources.