How to find UGC creators

If you need creator-style videos for ads, product pages or your own social accounts, you're looking for UGC creators, not influencers. This guide explains how to find UGC creators in four places, how to vet a portfolio in a few minutes, and what to agree on before you pay, so the videos you buy can actually run where you need them.

UGC creator or influencer: what are you buying?

The two overlap, but you're paying for different things.

Many creators do both. Plenty of UGC creators have small audiences of their own, and plenty of influencers will sell you footage without posting it. Decide which one you need first, because it changes where you look and what you check.

Where to find UGC creators: four sources

1. UGC marketplaces

Dedicated UGC platforms let you post a brief and receive applications or finished videos from vetted creators. They're the fastest route for your first few videos: payment, contracts and delivery are handled for you. The trade-off is less choice over exactly who you work with, and pricing that includes the platform's margin.

2. Social search

UGC creators market themselves where you'd expect: on TikTok and Instagram.

• Search "UGC creator" plus your niche ("UGC creator skincare", "UGC creator pets") and look at bios, not just videos.
• Check hashtags creators use to show their work, such as #ugccreator and #ugcportfolio.
• Look for a portfolio link in the bio. Serious UGC creators keep a page with sample videos, the brands they've worked with and how to book them.

This is free and gives you full control, but it's slow, and you'll need to check every portfolio by hand.

3. Creator databases

A database lets you search creators by what's in their bio and what they've already made. In topYappers, you can search for creators whose bios describe UGC work, then filter by niche, country and past promotions. Our list of male UGC creators only includes people whose bios say it themselves, because inferred demographics aren't reliable enough for that. Here are three of them:

#CreatorFollowersEngagementAvg. views

1. 1
   

   Justin(opens Instagram profile)

   @90skid4lyfe🇺🇸United States

   Retro gaming · Nostalgia

   Has promotedN64Game Boy Color

   Followers

   3.9M

   Engagement

   9%

   Avg. views

   180K

   Followers

   3.9M

   Engagement

   9%

   Avg. views

   180K

2. 2
   MI

   MikeCheck(opens TikTok profile)

   @itsmikecheck🇺🇸United States

   Gaming · Reviews

   Has promotedAge of Mythology RetoldThe Front Room

   Followers

   433K

   Engagement

   6.1%

   Avg. views

   2.7M

   Followers

   433K

   Engagement

   6.1%

   Avg. views

   2.7M

3. 3
   

   Emre Kaya(opens Instagram profile)

   @whatnextfind🇺🇸United States

   Product reviews · Family life

   Has promotedlinyoviaim

   Followers

   121K

   Engagement

   5%

   Avg. views

   60.6K

   Followers

   121K

   Engagement

   5%

   Avg. views

   60.6K

4. Your own customers

Your happiest customers already like the product and can talk about it naturally. Ask in a post-purchase email or on your own account: "Do you make videos? We pay for UGC." You'll get fewer polished portfolios, but some of your best ads will come from people who genuinely use what you sell.

Which source to use

Vet a UGC portfolio

A good portfolio tells you more than a follower count ever will. Watch at least five videos and check:

1. The first two seconds. Is there a hook that would stop you scrolling? Ads live or die here.
2. Product handling. Does the creator actually show the product in use, close up, with good light?
3. Sound. Clear voice, no echo, no copyrighted music you'd have to strip out.
4. Range. Testimonials, unboxings, tutorials, problem-solution videos. Range means you can test more angles with one creator.
5. Ad-native style. Does it look like a real person on their phone, or like a TV commercial? For paid social, the first usually wins.
6. Brands in the portfolio. Past work in your category is a plus, but check they're not currently making content for a direct competitor.
7. Turnaround and files. Ask how long delivery takes and whether you get raw clips for your editors.

Brief and pricing basics

UGC creators can only deliver what you describe. A one-page brief should cover:

• The product and the single problem it solves
• The audience, in one or two sentences
• The format: length, vertical or square, voiceover or on camera, number of hooks
• Must-say points (at most three) and anything they must not say
• Examples of videos you like, from any brand
• Deliverables: edited video, raw clips, extra hooks, captions

Prices vary with the number of videos, length, revisions, raw footage and especially usage rights. Rather than guess, ask creators for their rates against the same brief so you can compare like for like, and use our creator rate calculator as a sanity check.

Usage rights: settle them before anyone films

Usage rights decide where and how long you can use the content. They're also where most disputes start.

• Organic vs paid. Posting the video on your own account is different from spending money behind it as an ad. Paid usage is usually priced higher.
• Duration. Agree a period, such as three or six months, and what happens after.
• Running ads from the creator's account. On TikTok, Spark Ads let you promote a creator's own post once they share an authorization code from the post's ad settings. On Meta, partnership ads put ad spend behind a creator's branded content, and Meta itself tells creators they can negotiate higher pay for those extra usage rights.
• Edits and cut-downs. Can your team re-edit the footage, add captions or combine clips?
• Exclusivity. If the creator can't work for competitors for a while, that should be in the price.

Put all of it in writing. Our free UGC contract creator turns these terms into a simple agreement you can send with the brief.