Real people, real voices, content your customers actually believe.

UGC, or user-generated content, is content created by real people rather than by the brand itself. In marketing it usually means videos, photos and reviews made by customers or creators showing and talking about a product in a natural, relatable way. Brands use UGC in paid social ads, organic posts, product pages and email because it tends to feel more trustworthy than polished brand advertising. Much modern UGC is commissioned, with creators paid to produce content in an authentic style. It works best when it still reflects your brand.

A UGC agency manages the process of planning, sourcing, briefing and producing user-generated content for brands. At Vertical that includes UGC strategy, finding and vetting creators, writing briefs and scripts, shipping products, managing feedback and timelines, agreeing usage rights, editing footage into ads and tracking performance. Because we also run paid social and creative, the content is designed to perform in your campaigns, and the results inform what we brief next. We handle the logistics end to end, so your team gets finished, usable content without having to manage a long list of individual creators, shipments and deadlines.

Influencers are valued mainly for their audience. Brands pay them to share content with their followers. UGC creators are valued mainly for the content they make, which the brand then uses on its own channels and in its advertising. A UGC creator may have a small following, or none at all, but be excellent at producing natural, persuasive videos. Some people do both. We help you decide which approach suits each goal, and our influencer marketing service covers audience-led partnerships. Many brands benefit from using both together.

UGC tends to blend naturally into social feeds, so it feels less like an interruption and more like a recommendation. Seeing a real person use a product, explain why they like it and react honestly helps viewers imagine using it themselves. It also brings variety, because different creators speak to different audiences in different ways. That said, not all UGC performs. Strong hooks, clear product demonstration and genuine enthusiasm matter, which is why briefing and testing are so important. We plan every brief around these principles.

We source creators through creator platforms, our own network and targeted searches, then vet them for fit with your audience, product and brand values. We review their previous work, how natural they are on camera, the quality of their content and their reliability. For each project we usually work with a mix of creators so we can test different personalities and styles. We also check that creators are comfortable with your product and can talk about it honestly. Successful creators are invited back, building a reliable roster over time.

Rights depend on the agreement made with each creator, which is why we handle this carefully from the start. Agreements set out where content can be used, such as organic social, paid ads, website or email, for how long and whether it can be edited. Paid advertising usage, particularly when ads run from a creator’s own account, usually needs specific permissions. We make sure the rights match how you plan to use the content, so there are no surprises later. We keep clear records of every agreement for reference.

It depends on how much you spend on paid social and how quickly content fatigues with your audience. Brands running steady paid campaigns usually benefit from a regular flow of new videos so they can keep testing new hooks, angles and creators. Brands using UGC mainly for organic social or product pages may need less. We recommend a volume based on your budget, channels and goals, then adjust it as we learn what performs. It is usually better to start with a manageable batch, learn what works and scale up the formats and creators that perform best.

Yes. Raw creator footage is usually the starting point rather than the finished ad. We edit videos into multiple versions with different opening hooks, lengths, captions, text overlays and calls to action, sized for each placement. This lets us test what works best without commissioning new footage every time. We keep the natural feel that makes UGC effective while adding the structure that helps it perform as advertising. We also combine clips from different creators into compilation ads and add product shots where they help. Every edit is reviewed by our team before it goes live in your campaigns.

We track performance by creator, hook, angle and format, looking at metrics such as hook rate, watch time, click-through rate, cost per acquisition and return on ad spend. Grouping results this way shows patterns, such as which opening lines or product demonstrations work best, rather than just which individual ad won. Those insights feed directly into the next set of briefs, so the programme gets sharper over time. We also review comments and engagement on the content, which often reveal the questions and objections customers have. Reports explain in plain language what we learned and what we are briefing next.

UGC works well for many consumer brands, particularly in beauty, fashion, food and drink, wellness, home and tech, where seeing a product used by a real person helps. It can also work for services, apps and some B2B products, though the approach looks different. It is less suited to situations where regulations limit what can be said, or where the product is difficult to demonstrate. We will give you an honest view of whether UGC is a good fit before you invest.