UGCStars
The short version
To find UGC creators, decide who the viewer of the ad should see, search one or two places where those creators list themselves, check each one’s recent work before you contact them, and send a short message with the job, the dates and the budget.
There are five places to look: creator databases, the creator marketplaces run by the social platforms, your own search on social media, your customers, and agencies or managed UGC platforms. They differ in cost, speed and how much of the work you do yourself. A database or a marketplace gets you a shortlist fastest. Social search costs nothing but time. An agency does the work for a fee.
Most of the effort goes into vetting, not searching. A creator with the right look but the wrong format, poor sound or no experience with briefs costs you a reshoot later.
If you’re a creator, the same steps show what brands check before they write to you. The section for creators explains how to be easy to find and easy to book.
- Write a one-paragraph profile of the creator your viewer should see.
- Choose one fast route to a shortlist and one backup route.
- Shortlist 10 to 20 creators who fit the profile.
- Vet each one against the same checks.
- Send a short first message to your top five to eight.
Start with who the viewer should see
Before you open a single profile, write down who the person in the ad is. The viewer should recognize themselves in the creator, so start from your customer, not from the creators you already follow.
Cover four things: where they live and the language and accent they speak in, their age range, the lifestyle detail your product depends on, and the format of the video. A moisturizer needs someone with dry skin. Pet treats need a dog in the shot. A car seat needs a parent with a child the right age.
| Product | Who the viewer should see | Format | Must-haves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hydrating serum | Women aged 25–34 in the US | 30-second testimonial | Dry or combination skin, films in daylight |
| Dog treats | German-speaking dog owners | 15-second unboxing | A dog that will eat on camera |
| Baby monitor | Parents of toddlers in the UK | 45-second demo | A child’s room to film in |
| Budgeting app | People aged 22–35 in the US or UK | 30-second testimonial with screen recordings | Already uses a budgeting app |
Keep it to three must-haves. Each extra requirement shrinks the pool, and anything that’s only nice to have can be a tiebreaker later. If a detail matters for the shoot but not for the person, such as a bathroom with good light, put it in the brief instead. How to write a UGC brief covers what else goes in it.
Where to look: the five routes
Each route trades money against time. Pick one that gets you a shortlist quickly, and keep a second for the profiles the first one doesn’t cover.
Creator databases
A database lists creators who have joined it, with filters for country, niche, language and age, and often lifestyle details, plus contact details and sample work. You pay for access, then contact and pay creators directly, so there’s no commission on each job. On UGCStars, for example, creators set their own starting rate, which shows on their profile, and you can filter by skin type, pets and kids.
Platform creator marketplaces
TikTok, Instagram and YouTube each run a marketplace where brands can find creators who have opted in to brand work. They’re strongest when the video will run on that same platform, because you can see how the creator’s posts perform there. They list creators by their audience on that platform, so creators who only make videos for brands to post may not appear.
Searching social media yourself
Search TikTok and Instagram for the hashtags creators use to advertise their work, such as #ugccreator and #ugc, together with your niche. Look in the bio for a portfolio link and an email address. It’s free, and you find creators already posting about your category, but it’s slow, and many profiles have no contact details.
Your own customers
People who already use and like your product make credible creators. Look through posts that tag you and your product reviews, and ask the customers who post about you whether they’d make a video for a fee. Expect to coach them on lighting, sound and briefs, so this suits brands with time to spare.
Agencies and managed UGC platforms
An agency or a managed platform finds the creators, handles the brief and delivers finished videos. You have less say in who films and pay a management fee or a markup on each video, but you save the most time. It suits teams that need many videos quickly and have no one to manage creators.
| Route | Cost to you | Time to a shortlist | Contact details | You choose the creators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creator database | Access fee, then each creator’s rate | Hours | Usually included | Yes |
| Platform marketplace | Depends on the platform | Hours to days | Usually through the platform | Yes |
| Social search | Your time | Days | Sometimes, in the bio | Yes |
| Your own customers | Product, discount or a fee | Weeks | You already have them | Yes |
| Agency or managed platform | Management fee or markup | Days | Handled for you | Partly |
Which route fits your goal
The most common choice is between searching social media yourself and using a creator database. This is how they compare for the goals brands usually have.
The two work well together. Use a database to build the shortlist quickly, then open each creator’s own accounts to see their latest posts before you decide.
How to vet a creator before you reach out
Check every creator on your shortlist against the same list, so you compare them fairly. It takes a few minutes per creator and saves a reshoot later.
- Watch three recent videos in the format you need. A great dancer may not be a good talking-head reviewer.
- Listen with headphones. Clear sound matters more than a sharp picture, and it’s harder to fix.
- Check that they look and sound like your viewer: country, accent, age range and the lifestyle detail you need.
- Look for past brand work, and whether they labeled it as a paid partnership. It shows they can follow a brief and the platform’s rules.
- Scroll back through a month or two of posts. Anything you wouldn’t want next to your brand is a no.
- Check for a business email or a portfolio link, and a starting rate if they list one.
- Note when they last posted. A creator who hasn’t posted in three months may not be taking work.
Red flags
- Samples that are all one format when you need another.
- A portfolio link that’s broken or hasn’t changed in a year.
- No email address, only direct messages, for paid work.
- Rates or usage terms that change from one message to the next.
Follower count matters less than you might expect. You’re buying the video, not a post to their audience, so judge the work. UGC vs influencer marketing explains the difference.
A worked example
A skincare brand needs three creators in the UK for a serum launch: women aged 25–34 with dry or combination skin, filming 30-second testimonials. The numbers below are hypothetical, to show how a shortlist narrows.
| Stage | Creators | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Matched the filters | 64 | UK, women aged 25–34, skincare, dry or combination skin |
| Shortlisted | 18 | Watched three videos each and kept those with testimonial samples |
| Passed vetting | 10 | Dropped eight for poor sound, no recent posts or no brand work |
| Messaged | 8 | Sent a first message to the top eight on the same day |
| Replied | 6 | Five within two days, one after a follow-up |
| Quoted within budget | 4 | Two asked for more than the budget allowed |
| Booked | 3 | Chose the three whose samples fit the brand best |
Two things stand out. Vetting removed almost half of the shortlist, which is why it’s worth doing before you message anyone. And messaging eight creators to book three left room for the ones who were busy or too expensive.
The brand kept the other replies on file. Next time, it starts with creators it has already vetted.
How to write a first message creators answer
Vague messages are easy to ignore. The ones creators answer say who you are, why you picked them, what the job is and what happens next, in a few short lines. Send it to their business email if they list one.
| Part | Example |
|---|---|
| Subject line | Paid UGC for Velloe: 2 videos in November |
| Who you are | I’m Ana, the social lead at Velloe. We make a fragrance-free serum for dry skin. |
| Why them | Your morning routine video in window light is exactly the style we want. |
| The job | Two 30-second testimonials, vertical, for our paid ads on TikTok and Instagram for three months. |
| Budget and dates | Our budget is $400 for both, including usage. We’d send the product this week and need the videos by 20 November. |
| The ask | Are you available? If so, I’ll send the full brief. |
Mistakes that cost you replies
- Leaving out the budget. The creator can’t tell whether the job is worth their time.
- Offering only free product when you plan to run the video as a paid ad.
- Sending the same message to everyone. One line about their work shows you looked.
- Attaching the full brief before they’ve said yes. Keep the first message short.
Follow up once, three or four working days later, then move on to the next creator on your list. How much do UGC creators charge helps you set a budget that gets replies.
How long it takes
With a database or a marketplace, the search itself is quick. The waiting is in vetting and replies. This is how a first search can split across three weeks. Social search and your own customers take longer.
- Write the creator profileWeek 1
- Search and shortlistWeeks 1 to 2
- Vet the shortlistWeek 2
- Send first messagesWeek 2
- Follow up and compare quotesWeek 3
- Book and send the briefWeek 3
- Keep a bench of backupsWeek 3, ongoing
Keep everyone who replied but wasn’t booked. With a bench of vetted creators, your next search can take days instead of weeks.
For creators: how brands find you
Brands search the places described above, and they vet you the same way. Making both easy is most of the work of getting found.
- Be listed where brands search: a creator database, the marketplace on the platform you film for, and a clear bio on your own accounts that says you make UGC.
- Fill in every detail brands filter by: country and city, the languages you can film in, age range, niches, and lifestyle details such as pets, kids or skin type. A missing field can leave you out of a search.
- Lead your portfolio with three videos in different formats, such as a testimonial, an unboxing and a demo. How to build a UGC portfolio shows how to make them without paid work.
- Put a business email in your bio and on your profile, and reply within a working day.
- Show a starting rate. It tells a brand with a fixed budget whether you fit before they write to you.
Answering a first message
When a brand writes to you, reply with your interest and the three things you need to quote: how many videos, where they’ll run and for how long, and the deadline. The brand email templates in the Creator Hub cover this reply and the ones after it.
Before you start your search
Use these lists before your next search, or before you update your profile.
For brands
- Have we written a one-paragraph profile of the creator our viewer should see?
- Have we kept it to three must-haves?
- Have we picked one fast route and one backup?
- Do we vet every shortlisted creator against the same checks?
- Does our first message include the job, the usage, the budget and the dates?
- Do we keep vetted creators we didn’t book as a bench for next time?
For creators
- Am I listed where brands search, with every filter field filled in?
- Do my first three samples show three different formats?
- Is my business email in my bio and on my profile?
- Is my starting rate visible?
- Do I reply to brand messages within a working day?
- Do I ask about usage before I quote?
Once you know who you’re looking for, the search is quick, and the checks you make before the first message are what get you the right creators.