How to Find UGC Creators for Your Business

A clear picture of what you need makes it much easier to spot the right creator. Work out:

• Where it will be used: paid social ads, your organic TikTok or Instagram, product pages, email or all of these.
• The format: vertical video, photos, or both, and roughly how long each video should be.
• The style: unboxing, talking-to-camera review, tutorial, day-in-the-life, or a walkthrough of your venue.
• How much: the number of videos or photos, and whether you want variations such as different opening hooks.
• Who it's for: the customer the content should speak to. If you sell mainly to Australians, a creator with Australian settings and voice can make content feel more relevant.

Search social platforms

Many UGC creators promote their services on TikTok and Instagram. Search for terms like “UGC creator” together with “Australia” or your city, and look for accounts whose bios mention UGC, a portfolio link or a contact email. Some post examples of their brand work directly on their profiles.

Look at your own customers

Customers who already post about your products are making genuine user-generated content. If you'd like to reuse a customer's post, ask their permission first and agree how you'll use it. Some of these customers may also be happy to create content for you on a paid basis.

Use a creator marketplace

Marketplaces let you post a brief and receive applications from creators who want the work, which saves searching and messaging one by one. Collabify is an Australian marketplace being built for this, currently in pre-launch. Read how businesses will find UGC creators on Collabify.

Ask for referrals

Other business owners, your marketing contractors or agencies may know UGC creators they've worked with and trust. A recommendation from someone who has seen the creator hit deadlines is valuable.

Check portfolio sites

Many established UGC creators keep a portfolio on their own website with examples, the types of content they make and how to enquire.

A creator's portfolio is the main thing to judge. Look for:

• Strong openings. Do the first few seconds give a reason to keep watching? This matters most for ads.
• Technical quality. Clear audio, good light, steady framing and clean edits, even when the style is deliberately casual.
• On-camera delivery. Do they come across as natural and believable?
• Relevant experience. Work in your category, or with similar products, is a plus.
• Range. Can they work in the styles you need, not only one format?

Then check how they work: turnaround times, how many revisions they include, whether they supply raw footage, and how clearly they communicate. For a first collaboration, a small paid trial (one or two pieces of content) is a low-risk way to see how the process goes before committing to a larger package.

Good UGC comes from clear briefs that still leave room for the creator's own voice. A useful brief covers:

• your product or service and the one or two key messages to get across
• who the content is for and what they care about
• deliverables: how many videos or photos, length, aspect ratio (usually 9:16 vertical for social) and variations
• must-include points, and anything to avoid, including claims you can't support
• examples of content you like, and why
• deadlines, the number of revision rounds and how files should be delivered
• whether to include music (for ads, licensed-music issues are easier to avoid by adding sound yourself) and captions
• how the product will reach them, if it needs to be shipped
• usage rights, covered next

In Australia, the creator of content is generally the first owner of its copyright unless they're your employee or they assign it to you in writing. Paying for content doesn't automatically mean you own it. So agree clearly what you can do with it:

• Licence or assignment. Most UGC is licensed: you get permission to use it in agreed ways, and the creator keeps ownership. Outright ownership is less common and typically costs more.
• Where. Organic social, paid ads, your website, email or anywhere.
• How long. A fixed period (such as three or twelve months) or ongoing.
• Edits. Whether you can cut, caption or combine the content with other footage.
• Creator's own use. Whether the creator can show the content in their portfolio.

Wider rights and longer periods usually increase the price, so decide what you actually need. This is general information; for a larger or ongoing arrangement, a proper written agreement is worth the effort.

UGC creators usually quote per video or photo set, or as a package. Raw footage, extra hooks or variations and broader usage rights are often priced as add-ons. Creators registered for GST will add GST to their invoice. Many of the same factors that shape influencer quotes apply, apart from audience size; see what affects creator pricing for more.

The appeal of UGC is that it feels genuine, which is exactly why it needs care. The content you publish is your advertising, and the Australian Consumer Law prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct.

• Don't present a paid creator as an independent customer review.
• Only make claims about your product that you can back up, and don't ask a creator to make them for you.
• Therapeutic goods (a category that in Australia includes many sunscreens and supplements) have specific advertising rules, including restrictions on testimonials. Check the TGA's guidance if this applies to you.

When you find UGC creators whose content performs well for you, keep working with them. They'll learn your product and your standards, briefs get faster, and results often improve. Share useful feedback, including which videos did well, pay on time, and treat them like the skilled contractors they are.

Collabify is an Australian marketplace for paid creator collaborations, currently in pre-launch. When it opens, businesses will be able to post a UGC brief, receive applications from interested creators and review their profiles and work. Find out more about how Collabify will work for businesses. If you're a UGC creator yourself, see how creators will find paid collaborations on Collabify.

Decide what content you need and where it will run, then look for creators through social search, your own customers, marketplaces and referrals. Judge them on their portfolio and how they work rather than their follower count, try a small paid trial, write a clear brief, and agree usage rights in writing before production starts.

If you also want to reach a creator's audience, read how to find influencers for your brand in Australia.