If you’re trying to build your personal brand as a UGC creator, but you don’t know where to start — this is for you. Does this sound familiar?: You’ve created your handles for your social media accounts as a UGC creator. You’ve optimised your bio and added the links to your portfolio where they should be. You might have even posted once or twice.
And then, crickets.
You are not alone. Creating a social media strategy for a brand is one thing, doing it for yourself as a UGC creator is another. And it can be difficult for three reasons:
❌ 1. Easy to attract the wrong audience
🗓️ 2. Hard to be consistent when other work comes up
😓 3. It can be a lot of work for seemingly no payoff
However, with a nudge in the right direction (and a kick up the a*s), your social presence can be your personal magnet for UGC inbounds. Today, I’m sharing six video styles you can work into your own content calendar that can get brands listening.
But first, why are you posting on social media?
Before I rhyme off videos for you to film, you need to know what your end goal is. When I talk about devising a social media strategy as a UGC creator, I tend to talk about three distinct directions. The product review Amazon girlie, the niched down account, or the creative strategist.
- Product review Amazon girlie
I heard Madi talk about this direction originally and it’s an approach I’ve always been so intrigued by. You’ll essentially create a new account and dedicate it solely to ‘TikTok made me buy it’, testing Amazon finds style videos. These are great for demonstrating your ability to sell a product, and allow you to make some extra $$$ through an Amazon storefront/TikTok shop whilst you build your UGC video.
- Niched down account
If you have expertise in a particular area, this is a great way to build your reputation in a specific industry and a case study for your ability to grow an organic social media account. A perfect example here is ClarkdoesAI — Clark is a successful UGC creator who has a dedicated TikTok for AI. (Hence, Clark does AI). Brands can get a feel for his ability to present, and he can become a known voice in the tech/app space.
- Creative strategist
This is the direction we’re going with today, but it’s a fine balance to strike. To position yourself as a creative strategist, you’ll be talking about UGC and direct response marketing principles. The key difference to normal UGC accounts is being conscious of your audience. This means not talking about how you got started in UGC, or how to build a portfolio. This account will be a platform to sell yourself as an expert: demonstrate your past results and show potential clients that you can do the same thing for them without a shadow of a doubt.
Ok, so how do we do that? Start with these.
What To Post On Social Media As A UGC Creator
The Strategy Showcase
This is the best way to show your strategic thinking. In this video style, you’re going to come up with a creative UGC strategy for a brand that you want to work with. Take inspo from the PR girlies that are doing this well.
For example, “If I was Djerf Avenue, here’s how I would sell more pyjamas on social media…”
Choose brands that are trending or noteworthy and give brands a sneak peek into what it looks like working directly with you. They can see your creative ability in action whilst you position yourself as an authority.
Be sure to tag the brand in your video, this is the easiest way to get your content in front of the brand — think of it as a pitch with personality. You’d be shocked at how often this will lead to a partnership.
Make this a series and boom, you’ve got one video per week in your calendar.
@takyrahj PR MOVES for @Skai Jackson 🥰 #greenscreen #prmoves #skaijackson ♬ Roxanne – Instrumental – Califa Azul
Top Ad Breakdown
We want to show that we understand what ad frameworks are working right now. First, head for the TikTok ad library and look at brands you’re interested in working with. Find some of their best converting ads and simply recreate them with your own twist.
When a brand finds a converting ad style, more often than not they just want more variations of that ad. A double down, if you will. “This ad is crushing it for {XYZ brand}. Here’s how I would make it even better.”
You already know that this brand is already running ads and therefore have budget and an appetite for UGC creators. Now, you’re simply providing that brand with another variation.
Video Breakdown
Next up, you’ll want to show some actual UGC you’ve created. However, you don’t just want to share the video. You need to add context. You can do this with text on the screen, a voice over, or using the green screen feature.
Play through your video, narrating any strategic choices you’ve made. Ie why you’ve used a boyfriend POV or why you experimented with changing up the frame.
Brands can take away the knowledge that you can get them results because you’ve demonstrated that you’ve not only done it before, but it was strategically done. Not luck.
@sociallyaziz Breaking down another one of my high-performing UGC ads with a strong hook that sparked controversy in the comments 👀 #ugc #ugccreator #ugcconcept #howtodougc #ugcexample #ugcforbeginners #greenscreenvideo ♬ original sound – Salha | UGC Creator & Coach
I Can Fix It
You can also go ahead and do this for content that you know isn’t performing well. Again, you’ll want to do a bit of research in the TikTok ad library or Facebook ad library.
Find a brand that you’d be interested in working with that is actively running ads that look like they might be under-performing. Then demonstrate how you would improve the performance.
This could be as simple as “Which UGC ad do you think will convert better?” Play the current ad, follow it up with yours, and then ask the audience which they think will convert better.
Here, you’re demonstrating your expertise. You’ve been able to identify a brand that is running ads, and that are likely struggling with performance. This means you’re in the perfect position to help them increase their ROI. Tag them, and wait for them to reach out.
Behind The Scenes
Filming content for your own channel cna be a little bit of a drain, I won’t lie. Each of the videos outlined in 1-5 require a fair bit of prep and research and if you’re looking to be consistent, you’re also going to want some videos that are a little bit easier to film.
Enter, BTS. Here, you can let the audience in on the behind-the-scenes of your filming process. Give them the personality behind the person.
For example:
1. Here’s how I film my voiceovers…
2. Here’s how I use backgrounds to make my house look different…
3. Here’s the type of transition I use in almost every piece of UGC…
4. This is what you get when you ask for my raw footage…
Whatever You Do, Be Consistent
What sets expert UGC creators apart from those that won’t last 6 months is a personal brand. Growing a personal brand is only possible with consistency and effort. If that means only committing two posts per week, then that’s what you do. With the five video styles above, you’ve got a great place to start.