User-generated content (UGC) is one of those terms that flud the internet in the last few years. The massive popularity of Influencer Marketing has now transferred to UGC creation.
So what is it exactly?
UGC is a type of content created by a consumer of a specific product or service. The biggest difference between Influencer Marketing and UGC is that the content is posted on the brand’s social media channels. You might heard how “anyone can be a UGC creator” and how “you don’t need any followers” to do so and I’m going to be frank from the start as I’ve been trying to be a UGC creator for over a year, and say that this is not the complete truth.
The Darker Side of UGC
If you come across a video of the UGC creators telling you how you can “make thousands of dollars in just a month” if you start being a UGC creator, think twice before you turn in your resignation letter. Although this might be true for a small percentage of those wanting to make a living while making content for brands, most people give up as soon as they realize that this is not the complete truth. They make it seem like (1) it’s easy to find brands that want to work with UGC creators, especially small ones, and (2) anyone who starts will get reached overnight.
So what does it look like when you start your UGC journey? Here is what mine looked like a year ago and is still looking now.
I’ve been a content creator for over 5 years. I have different social media platforms but my main ones are my website where I post lifestyle, beauty, and skincare content, and Instagram where I mainly focus on skincare reviews and tips. I started posting online purely as a hobby and it slowly turned into me wanting to do it for a living. I’ve been working with brands on a gifted basis as I don’t have a large following and had a hard time securing a paid collaboration.
Last year after seeing so many girls talking about how they are making a lot of money by creating content using products that they enjoy without needing to have a large following I decided that this might be exactly what I need to do.
So I started to look more into how I can make this happen as I already have some following, niche, and in my opinion, high-quality content I already made promoting brands that I love for free. It sounded like I already had a head start and this is going to be easy.
Well, it didn’t go exactly how I wanted it to go….
After creating a portfolio, I started looking for brands in my niche and sending emails proposing a UGC collaboration. The success rate was really low, and by that I mean I only got offered free products in exchange for a high-quality Instagram reel. As I’m sure we all know, you can’t use skincare products to pay rent.
Most of the brands I emailed I never got a response from and bear in mind that I mainly emailed brands that I saw were working with UGC creators. Just reaching out to brands took a lot of time and although I knew that probably a lot of brands already work with certain UGC creators and influencers, I still thought that at least some of them would be interested in working with me, as all the “UGC experts” said that it is that easy to work with brands.
What I realized is that although they say that you don’t need to have a following or engagement, I do believe that brands still look at your social media profile. They add more value to numbers and stats of creators’ social media profiles when in this instance it really shouldn’t matter that much as the brand is posting the content as some sort of organic AD to their social media platforms. Some brands ignored the part where they are supposed to post the content on their social media and regarded it as influencer marketing that of course they didn’t want to do as my following isn’t exactly appealing to them.
That “easy money” expectation quickly turned into a disappointing reality. The disappointment doesn’t come from the fact that I didn’t make money in the first month, it comes from the fact that UGC is presented unrealistically. I had experience creating content so I knew how much time, effort, and money goes into it, but I thought that it would be easier to find brands to work with as a UGC creator than as a small influencer.
The Reality of Creator Compensation
The first myth we need to debunk is the one that says that UGC creation is a way to go if you want to earn “easy money”. My experience shows that brands with rather compensate your work with free products or discounts than actually look at your offer as a creation of an AD for their social media. Of course, not all brands want or need to work with UGC creators or influencers.
This is especially relevant based on where you are living. For example, UGC is much more known and popularized in the USA, while in Europe it is not as common for brands to work with UGC creators. That’s why you may face brands that don’t even now what this concept means.
The Emotional Toll of UGC Creation
Some “UGC experts” say that you should be reaching out to more than 100 brands per week. Sometimes reaching only 20 a week can be mentally consuming, especially when probably you won’t get a response from any of those brands. As you can imagine, this can be very demoralizing. You start to doubt yourself, and your content as everyone makes it seem so easy to do and you are failing.
When you start from the viewpoint of making “easy money” and then realize that it is not as easy as you thought, that is where most people end up giving up. I’m not writing this article to make someone even more disheartened than they probably are if they wanted to make UGC creation a living, but I want to show a realistic side to this. You will need to make much more effort than you think you would if you want to make as much money as those so-called UGC experts are saying they are making in a month. Be aware that they are not showing you the whole picture.
Advice From Someone Who Is Still on The UGC Journey although it Hasn’t Been Successful
Maybe you are reading this after you watched TikTok in which they are stating how they are making thousands of dollars on only one video they make for a brand and how you can do it too, and you feel overwhelmed by this conflicting information.
First of all, I believe that if you feel passionate about it you should try it. I’m not saying that all of those who are stating that they made thousands of dollars in their first month of doing UGC are lying, I’m just saying that you should have realistic expectations. Also, don’t take it personally if a brand doesn’t reply to your email or only offers you a free product, as I’m sure they are being bombarded with so many people wanting to do UGC for them and their budget is limited.
As I’ve mentioned I’ve been creating skincare-related content on my Instagram and those are the materials I’ve added to my UGC portfolio that I send to brands. If you have a minute of your time I would love to get your feedback on my content and what you think I should do differently. You can click here!
Also, if you are also on a UGC journey and have a similar or completely different experience than me, I would love to hear it in the comments!
Post a Comment