Today we’re going to be going over the top seven mistakes new UGC creators are making when it comes to their content. These are the big UGC no no’s I see time and time again as a creative strategist — and we’re going beyond filming in landscape and forgetting to mirror your work.
There’s a good chance you’ve not even considered five out of the seven on this list, but if you’re a UGC creator and you’re guilty of these, it could be costing you repeat work.
Here’s the cardinal sins of UGC content, straight from the horses mouth of a frustrated creative strategist who works with creators.
1. Slow Pacing
We’re going to start off strong with something that annoys me to no end: slow pacing.
If you have too much dead space or you pause in between your sentences or take a deep breath, throw that into Premiere Pro. Look for when your sound lines are dead and literally just chop it up and take it out. When I see slow-paced content, it’s like I’m in the middle of Times Square behind a tourist, and I’m like, ‘Go, go, get to the point!‘
Or I just scroll up and move on with my life, which is what most people are going to be doing if they are watching your slow-paced UGC video.
2. Not Changing Up The Frame
A common mistake from new creators is not changing up the frame enough. This is probably one of the most common edits I give to my editors at the agency where I work: change the frame. If you have a testimonial where someone is talking to the camera straight on, add some B-roll.
You should really be changing that frame at a minimum every two seconds, or else people are just gonna get bored. They don’t want to just look at your face the entire time.
3. Lazy Hook
Number three is the cardinal sin, which is a lazy hook. This is so important. You should be spending a majority of your time just thinking about what your hook is going to be. If you think of a good hook, that’s probably going to tailspin into the rest of your video. You also need to think about your hook in terms of messaging, what is actually on the screen — your text overlay, as well as the visuals.
Both of those play a really big part in how that hook is actually going to perform.
4. Frame Changes
This is similar to number two, in the sense that, yes, you should be changing up the frame a lot, but I want to dive deeper for this one to say that you should also not keep the frame in one place. You should zoom in, you should zoom out.
This makes things like testimonials and reviews way more engaging for people to watch. All of this is going to help exponentially with getting people to actually pay attention to what you’re saying.
It makes me physically ill when I watch a UGC video that is in one place and doesn’t jump in and out to emphasize certain points and doesn’t entertain with the visuals, man. Like, stop.
4. Frame Changes
This is similar to number two, in the sense that, yes, you should be changing up the frame a lot, but I want to dive deeper for this one to say that you should also not keep the frame in one place. You should zoom in, you should zoom out.
This makes things like testimonials and reviews way more engaging for people to watch. All of this is going to help exponentially with getting people to actually pay attention to what you’re saying.
It makes me physically ill when I watch a UGC video that is in one place and doesn’t jump in and out to emphasize certain points and doesn’t entertain with the visuals, man. Like, stop.
5. Text and Caption Overlays
Number five is basic AF, but I’m just gonna say it because a lot of people still get this wrong. Yes, you should be using text overlay and captions in all of your UGC videos. It’s 2023, right? Ads need these because number one, it’s more engaging for the user. Number two, it’s inclusive, and number three, a lot of people are watching with the sound off. So, all of those things together, at a bare minimum, you need to have one or the other.
This makes things like testimonials and reviews way more engaging for people to watch. All of this is going to help exponentially with getting people to actually pay attention to what you’re saying.
6. Native Overlays
While we are talking about text and captions, a common error is not using native text for Facebook ads, reels, and especially TikTok ads. If you are going to be making UGC content for a specific platform, be sure to use specific native text for that platform. It really does make things a better cohesive and platform experience for your viewers, which should really be all of our top priorities because that’s what makes sales and it also makes people happy.
7. No Storyline
A flat storyline or no storyline at all kills your ad before you ever get started. There are frameworks for good storylines or formulas for UGC content that make this simple. I don’t necessarily mean that you need to tell your life story, but rather you need to have a tried and tested method for moving people through your content. How do you get them from A to B and retain them to Z? Your storyline for your UGC content is ultimately going to be the thing that can save you, even if all of the things in this video are not done to my liking.
You’re gonna have to get on the platform, see what types of stories people are telling, see what sort of formulas they’re using, and hell, boil them down to a recipe, and then try it for yourself, you know, see what’s really working here. But a flat storyline will kill you way faster than not changing up your pacing, or forgetting your text and caption overlays.
