UGC glossary
UGC marketing glossary
Plain-English definitions of UGC, creator marketing, and paid social terms, written for brands that run creator campaigns. Each entry starts with a one-sentence definition, then explains how the term shows up in briefs, rates, and ad accounts.
40 terms
A
B
- B-rollB-roll is supplementary footage cut over the main shot; in UGC deals it means the extra product clips a creator delivers so editors can re-cut ads.
- Brand ambassadorA brand ambassador is a person who represents a brand over an extended period, promoting it repeatedly in exchange for payment, product, commission, or perks.
- Brand dealA brand deal is a paid agreement in which a creator produces or posts content about a brand in exchange for a fee, product, commission, or a mix.
C
- CPMCPM means cost per mille, the price an advertiser pays for one thousand ad impressions, calculated as ad spend divided by impressions multiplied by 1,000.
- Creative strategistA creative strategist is the person who decides what ads to make and why, turning customer research and performance data into briefs, hooks, and test plans.
- Creator economyThe creator economy is the market of individuals who earn money by making content, plus the platforms, brands, and tools that pay them or sell to them.
- Creator fundA creator fund is a program in which a social platform pays creators from a pool of money based on the views and engagement their content earns on the platform.
- Creator marketplaceA creator marketplace is a platform where brands post content jobs, creators apply or get matched, and the platform handles payment while taking a fee.
- CTR (click-through rate)CTR means click-through rate, the percentage of people who clicked an ad after seeing it, calculated as clicks divided by impressions multiplied by 100.
E
- Earned mediaEarned media is exposure a brand gets without paying for placement: press coverage, organic shares, reviews, and creator posts the brand did not pay for.
- Engagement rateEngagement rate is the share of an audience that interacts with a post: likes, comments, saves, and shares divided by followers or by reach.
H
I
K
M
- Macro influencerA macro influencer is a creator with a large audience, often quoted as 100,000 to 1 million followers, whom brands pay mainly for reach rather than content.
- Media buyerA media buyer is the person who plans, launches, and manages paid ad spend, deciding which ads run where, at what budget, and against which audience.
- Micro influencerA micro influencer is a creator with a small, engaged following, commonly defined as roughly 10,000 to 100,000 followers, whom brands pay to post to it.
N
- Nano influencerA nano influencer is a creator with a small following, conventionally under about 10,000, whose recommendations land like advice from a friend.
- Native adA native ad is a paid placement built to match the look and format of the content around it, so it reads like a regular post rather than a banner.
O
P
R
- Raw footageRaw footage is the unedited video and audio a UGC creator records before cutting, captioning, or adding music, delivered so the brand can edit its own versions.
- ROASROAS means return on ad spend, the revenue an ad campaign generates for every dollar spent on it, calculated as attributed revenue divided by ad spend.
T
- Talking head videoA talking head video is a clip in which one person speaks directly to the camera, framed from the shoulders up, and is the most common format in paid UGC ads.
- Testimonial videoA testimonial video is a clip in which a customer or creator describes their real experience with a product, used as proof in ads, product pages, and email.
- TikTok Shop creatorA TikTok Shop creator is a TikTok affiliate who tags products from TikTok Shop in videos and livestreams and earns commission on the resulting sales.
- TikTok Spark AdsTikTok Spark Ads are ads that boost an existing organic TikTok post from a brand’s ad account using an authorization code the creator generates.
U
- UGCUGC is content about a product made by customers or creators rather than the brand; in marketing it usually means paid creator videos that look homemade.
- UGC adsUGC ads are paid social ads built from creator-made, phone-shot video that looks like a customer’s own post rather than a studio commercial.
- UGC campaignA UGC campaign is a planned effort to source creators, commission content to a brief, and run that content in ads or owned channels toward a defined goal.
- UGC contentUGC content is the set of deliverables a brand buys from a UGC creator: vertical talking heads, demos, unboxings, testimonials, B-roll, and photos.
- UGC creatorA UGC creator is a person brands pay to produce authentic-looking content, usually short video, for the brand to use in ads and on its own channels.
- UGC examplesUGC examples are the common formats of user-generated content brands commission or collect, such as product demos, unboxings, testimonials, and how-to videos.
- UGC marketingUGC marketing is the practice of collecting or commissioning customer-style content and using it across ads, product pages, and social channels.
- UGC meaningUGC means user-generated content: in marketing, product videos and photos made by everyday people or paid creators rather than the brand itself.
- UGC portfolioA UGC portfolio is a creator’s curated set of sample videos and past brand work that a brand reviews to judge on-camera quality and fit before hiring.
- UGC videoA UGC video is a short, phone-shot video made by a creator or customer that shows a product in real use, which brands run as ads or post on their own channels.
- Unboxing videoAn unboxing video is a creator video that opens a product on camera and shows the packaging, the contents, and the creator’s first reaction.
- User-generated contentUser-generated content is any review, photo, video, or post about a brand made by customers or creators, which brands license and reuse in marketing.
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