What makes a video a UGC video
A UGC video looks like something a real person filmed for their own feed: handheld, vertical, natural light, the creator talking to camera or showing the product in their kitchen or bathroom. The point is that it doesn't look like an ad, even when it is one and is disclosed as one.
Brands get UGC videos two ways. Organic UGC comes from customers who post on their own. Paid UGC comes from creators you brief and pay, and it's what most people mean when they say "UGC video" in a marketing context. The paid version is a deliverable, with specs, a script or angle, and usage rights.
Common UGC video formats
The formats that show up in most briefs: the unboxing, the talking-head testimonial, the demo or how-to, the before-and-after, the "three reasons I switched" listicle, and the day-in-the-life with the product woven in. Each is usually 15 to 45 seconds and starts with a hook in the first two seconds.
Example deliverable list: "Three UGC videos, 9:16, 20 to 30 seconds. Video one: problem hook plus demo. Video two: unboxing with first impression. Video three: 30-day results talking head. Raw clips plus one rough edit each, no music." Modular files let the editor cut new variations without a reshoot.
How brands use UGC videos
The main use is paid social. UGC videos run as Meta and TikTok ads, often as Spark Ads from the creator's handle, and the winners get iterated with new hooks. The second use is owned channels: product pages, email, the brand's own TikTok, where a customer-style video does the job a studio shoot used to.
Buy them with rights that match the plan. A video for organic posting needs less than a video you'll put ad spend behind for six months. State the platforms, the term, and whether you can edit, and price the rights separately from the production so both sides know what they agreed to.
How it's used
Send the brief for three UGC videos with a 6-month paid social rights term and raw footage included.
That UGC video outperformed the studio ad on cost per purchase, so we're briefing four more in the same style.