The Complete Guide To Making UGC Ads - Every Step From Creative Brief to Final Ad

Alysha: "Hi, I'm Alysha, Creative Strategy Lead at Motion, and today you're going to shadow me through the first stage of the UGC ad creation process, which is briefing."

Alysha: "I'm going to walk you through writing three briefs for creators, and once I've sent them off, they are going to walk you through the process of filming and delivering the content. Now you might be wondering, aren't you a creative strategist? Don't you make the ads?"

Alysha: "And while yes, I do make ads sometimes, and I do think it's really beneficial for a creative strategist to get in front of the camera, my job as a creative strategist actually isn't to make the ads. My job is to make sure that the right ads get made."

Alysha: "So with that being said, let's get right into it."

Alysha: "Before you hire anyone, you should know exactly what sort of ad you want to create based on your customer research, your performance insights, and your hypothesis."

Alysha: "For this video, let's assume that all of that work is already done. Now something I get asked about all the time is finding creators."

Alysha: "While there are many platforms that are very helpful for helping you find and hire creators, honestly some of the best creators I've ever worked with are the ones that I found through my own research on organic social."

Alysha: "Now when I'm looking for creators to hire, follower count isn't necessarily what's important to me unless I specifically need to hire a creator with influence. If I'm just looking for great content, I'm much more concerned with the creator being aligned with the customer that I want to speak to in that ad, their on-camera presence, and whether or not they can speak confidently about this product."

Alysha: "So for example, if I'm hiring a creator for an electrolyte brand and the messaging angle is dehydration headaches, I want to find a creator who's already made content about having headaches."

Alysha: "And this is beneficial for two reasons. One, the content is just going to sound way more authentic. When the creator is aligned with the product and the messaging angle, it flows and you can really tell the difference."

Alysha: "Two, if you're running partnership ads with a creator, alignment matters. Partnership ads run under the creator's handle and they leverage signals from your brand account and from the creator's account, and this helps Meta optimize for performance and delivery."

Alysha: "So the more relevant that creator's content is to your niche, the more valuable those signals are. And when I'm sourcing creators, I also think of them in two different types."

Alysha: "First we have the leader, which is a creator with a really unique point of view and a signature style. You're going to want to give this creator a rough outline and get out of their way."

Alysha: "And then we have the followers. These are your UGC creators through and through. These are the creators that you want to hire to carry out your very specific vision."

Alysha: "Now with that being said, I don't think there's a right or wrong way to find and hire a creator, and I don't think there's a right or wrong creator to hire. At the end of the day, it all comes down to creative testing and what performs for your brand."

Alysha: "For this brief, I'm going to pretend that I work for Ridge Wallet because we love them."

Alysha: "Now every brief I write starts with a quick brand overview: who we are, what we sell, and who we sell it to. Plus links to our website and our social media so that the creator can do their own research."

Alysha: "Now this time around, I'm going to request three different UGC ad types so that we can test those approaches against each other."

Alysha: "The first one is the lo-fi yapper. Yes, you heard me right, yapper."

Alysha: "The yapper is getting a lot of attention on X and LinkedIn right now, and for good reason. It's raw, it's unpolished, and it looks like a creator just propped up their phone and did a one-take video in an inspired moment."

Alysha: "The whole point of this ad is that it doesn't feel like an ad. This is always shot on a phone with no tripod, no ring light. The lo-fi aspect is a feature."

Alysha: "So instead of a script for this one, I just gave the creator some talking points to hit in their own words, plus some hooks to inspire the direction of their conversation."

Alysha: "The second type of ad I'm going to request is the very traditional, long overdone, problem-solution UGC ad."

Alysha: "This is a lot more refined than the yapper, but it's still supposed to feel real. This format gets a lot of hate recently because it's been done and maybe overdone in the last few years, but the truth is, if it's executed well, it still can work on Meta."

Alysha: "The features of this format is good lighting, a clean background, talking head clips, and b-roll cutaways."

Alysha: "So for this brief, I'll give the creator a really specific script, but I'll also make it clear that they don't have to follow it word for word. I don't want this to sound robotic. I want them to memorize the line and then say it naturally."

Alysha: "I also like to give the creator a few prompts to add lines in their own words. Partly to mix it up, partly to see if we get anything useful, but also to gauge whether or not this creator is good at coming up with their own messaging."

Alysha: "And the third type of ad I'm going to request is the hi-fi UGC."

Alysha: "Still authentic, but the production quality is significantly elevated. The type of creator that I usually hire for this one is the leader that already has that signature style, and that's specifically what I'm hiring them for."

Alysha: "So even though that production quality is there, their style is proven to work on organic. The scripts can range for this type of creator. Sometimes I'll follow their signature style and kind of map my script to that, or I'll give them a more flexible brief like the yapper where I just give them talking points to hit and let them have full creative freedom."

Alysha: "Now beyond those ad concepts and scripts, every single brief also includes information on our deliverables, whether or not I asked for the fully edited videos or raw footage, our agreement about partnership and whitelisting, standard filming specifications, and then I also really like to include ad examples for inspo."

Alysha: "Alright, now we're ready to send the brief to our creators."

Anthony: "Dude, dude, we just got a brief from Ridge."

Kyle: "What? No way. I love the Ridge."

Anthony: "Of course you do. Everybody loves the Ridge."

Anthony: "Okay, so the first thing we need to do is read the brief. If it's giving us a lot of freedom, we just jump right into a creative brainstorming montage."

Anthony: "We'll get inspiration from pop culture, social media trends, past ideas, and our own personal experiences."

Anthony: "Man, the most annoying thing happened to me when I was at the coffee shop."

Kyle: "Like this boring story that Anthony is telling me, it could be super relatable. So if we could connect it to the Ridge wallet, we could have a perfect UGC ad concept that people could really see themselves in."

Anthony: "Are you even listening to me?"

Kyle: "No, I wasn't listening, but I do have an idea for our ad."

Anthony: "Once we have a script, we can break it down into a shot list, noting all our scenes, lines, and directions."

Anthony: "For lo-fi UGC, you really just need a decent phone, mount or tripod, a mic, and a light. If you want something more polished, consider upgrading to a mirrorless camera, a sturdy tripod, a monitor, on-board microphone, and more lights."

Anthony: "I have a lot of lights, but you don't need this many lights."

Kyle: "When you hear terms like hi-fi and lo-fi, it's almost always talking about the visual because there's not many situations where audio like this is going to be good for your ad."

Kyle: "So you always need to have a mic."

Anthony: "You may also want to use a... um... sorry, what's the line?"

Kyle: "What, you can't read? It says a teleprompter or teleprompter app so you don't need to remember your lines."

Anthony: "If your set isn't dependent on the script, then you'll want something that reflects your audience."

Anthony: "For Motion ads, we have these shelves filled out with old cameras, design references, and other creative trinkets to reflect our creative audience. Add some books, a laptop, a desk, and you got yourself a creative office space that works for a variety of visual formats, narratives, and styles."

Kyle: "Since the Ridge wallet is for everyday guys like me, my ad should put me in an everyday guy location where I can be doing everyday guy type things."

Kyle: "For our lo-fi yapper, I could do a walk and talk like this. It feels natural and unscripted, which is what this ad sort of relies on."

Kyle: "Just watch out for shadows like this that kill the magic."

Kyle: "That's why people film in their cars. It doesn't seem like an ad. Instead it just feels like I had this random thought I needed to get off my chest."

Anthony: "How about you get that fucking wallet off your chest?"

Kyle: "Yeah, okay, okay, okay. Here, take it."

Anthony: "I'll take that. Is that a Ridge?"

Kyle: "Yeah."

Anthony: "Oh my god, that's nice. Is that gunmetal?"

Kyle: "I think so."

Anthony: "Wow, that's really nice."

Anthony: "So wherever you film, man, you want to be mindful of different background variables like people."

Kyle: "Am I on TV right now? Hi TV! Hey!"

Kyle: "That said, those sorts of bloopers can actually help with engagement. So if they do happen and they are on video, consider keeping them because..."

Anthony: "I thought I told you to close the fucking window."

Anthony: "Now if you want ambient lighting, filming by a window is perfectly fine, but you can't really have control over that lighting."

Anthony: "If I'm shooting a long take that gets edited down, the changing light could mess with my whole continuity."

Anthony: "But if you're just filming some quick UGC, then this is perfect. It looks natural and you're not backlit."

Kyle: "For hi-fi UGC, you're going to want to block out most of your windows to give you complete control over your lighting. You can go moody and artistic with heavy shadows and high contrast, like a Caravaggio painting. I might use this if I was telling a dramatic story about how a product really turned my life around."

Kyle: "You can use colored lights if you want to get a more futuristic sci-fi sort of look. This could work for a brand that's in gaming or some sort of innovation."

Kyle: "Or you can go with your classic three-point lighting if you want a more polished look that doesn't lean too far into any stylistic direction."

Kyle: "Here we're going for the classic Rembrandt lighting effect. We set up our biggest and softest light just off center of our talent. Opposite to that, we have a backlight, which is providing separation between our subject and the background. And on the left side of him, we have our fill. This could be a bounce like we're using here, which is bouncing light onto the opposite side of his face, or another big soft light dimmed down. To achieve this look, put your lights here, here, and here."

Kyle: "You can also edit your lighting with AI, but ultimately whatever you choose, the vibe should align with the brand or the ad that you're making."

Kyle: "So now we are ready to start filming."

Anthony: "Camera's rolling? Okay. My girlfriend got me this wallet and..."

Kyle: "No, no, no. Stop, stop. You have to leave space for the edit. You can't just jump in. So pause, then get into the line so we can make a clean cut."

Anthony: "Okay. My girlfriend gave me this wallet."

Kyle: "Alright, stop, stop. What is that logo on your shirt?"

Anthony: "Oh, it's this company called Brand with Problematic Views. They're super cool."

Kyle: "Dude, you can't be wearing that. This is for Ridge. How do you think that reflects the Ridge, man?"

Anthony: "Okay, what about this shirt from Motion?"

Kyle: "Okay, I know Motion is amazing in like every way, but no, no logos."

Anthony: "Fine, I'll just wear this badass duster instead."

Kyle: "No, you won't wear the duster because Ridge customers don't wear dusters and look like idiots. They need to look at you and see themselves and relate to this ad."

Kyle: "So try again."

Anthony: "My ex-girlfriend bought me this wallet."

Kyle: "Cut. Why are you reading it like that?"

Anthony: "Because that's how ads sound."

Kyle: "But you don't want to sound like an ad. You want to sound like it's just a regular unscripted video."

Anthony: "But this is an ad."

Kyle: "I know, but no one's going to watch the ad if they think it's an ad. Act normal."

Anthony: "My ex-girlfriend got me this wallet. She's a bitch and so is this wallet."

Kyle: "And cut. No. What was that? Dial up the energy."

Anthony: "You know, if you have so much energy, why don't you just come in here and do it yourself, huh?"

Kyle: "Yeah, okay, fine. Yeah. Give me the wallet."

Anthony: "Fine. Come on."

Kyle: "I'll do it myself."

Kyle: "My ex-girlfriend bought me this wallet, and here's why it reminds me of our relationship."

Anthony: "Fine, you're right. That was better."

Kyle: "I know."

Anthony: "Why don't we film a few different hook variations so that Ridge can test them against each other?"

Kyle: "Yes. Love the initiative. What, uh, what were you thinking?"

Anthony: "I got one. Let's try making it a list."

Kyle: "Here are three reasons why this wallet reminds me of my ex-girlfriend."

Anthony: "Alright, let's get into this. Make it a gifting ad."

Kyle: "My girlfriend says I'm impossible to buy gifts for, but she crushed it when she got me this."

Anthony: "Perfect. Now make it sad."

Kyle: "My relationship totally fell apart. Just like my wallet."

Anthony: "Oh, I'm heartbroken. Now, a relatable question."

Kyle: "What is the most random thing that makes you think about your ex? Mine is this wallet."

Anthony: "Oh, that was fantastic. Now I want to see an angry one. Grrr."

Kyle: "You know what I hate more than my ex? This wallet she gave me. Damn thing fell apart just like we did."

Anthony: "Alright, cut. Perfect. I'm going to go watch it back, make sure we got it. Good job."

Kyle: "When filming for UGC, you need to be mindful of framing because different platforms will put different UX elements on top of your ad. We call this the safe zone."

Kyle: "You want to make sure anything important is inside this box, like captions and headline text. Which is why a lot of ads look like this."

Anthony: "And if you're doing more of a hi-fi ad, you want to give yourself enough space around the subject so you can punch in and punch out."

Kyle: "You done?"

Anthony: "Hmm? Oh, yeah."

Kyle: "Okay. The reason we do punch-ins and punch-outs has to do with engagement. Fast cuts and movement are important tools for holding attention."

Kyle: "That can be cutting to a different angle. Now maybe don't film directly up my nose. Something more dynamic, like this."

Kyle: "You can also cut to a different location."

Anthony: "Or a different person."

Anthony (voiceover): "Or b-roll, like this."

Kyle: "And if you don't do those things, a simple punch-in or punch-out is often enough to break the monotony."

Anthony: "Here's what your hook might look like in the end."

Kyle: "What's something random that reminds you of your ex?"

Kyle (voiceover): "Mine is this wallet because in just a few months it started falling apart."

Anthony (voiceover): "Let's break it down."

Anthony (voiceover): "Up here you have your text hook. Then we use Kyle's movement into the scene as a visual hook."

Anthony (voiceover): "From there it's quick cuts to hold attention and we state the subject, the wallet, within the first three seconds."

Anthony (voiceover): "Now this is just one hook, but even here we can turn it into different options by changing the text tag and opening visual."

Kyle: "When it comes to showing the product, you don't want to just launch right into filming. Because showing it in the box or being opened for the first time is great footage for communicating the full customer experience."

Kyle: "You really want to highlight how the product will be used as a sort of proof point. If I show an empty Ridge wallet just sitting on the table, that doesn't really answer many questions. But if I show someone stuffing it with cards, it proves its utility and eliminates doubt."

Anthony: "If you want to get creative, get footage of your product in motion or with a cool lighting effect. But you can basically do all this now using AI."

Kyle: "For the CTA, we basically want to tell people what to do next. So in the case of Ridge, it would be order online."

Kyle: "So for hi-fi UGC, maybe we do an animation of the customer experience."

Anthony: "For lo-fi, we can actually just get away with filming our monitors with our phones. Just watch out for reflections."

Kyle: "And for our super lo-fi yapper, we'll take the CTA in a different direction because the second we say 'so buy now', we sound like an ad and our whole natural and unscripted feel goes out the window. So instead we'll go with something softer, like..."

Kyle: "I probably spent like five grand on physiotherapy just to find out the problem was my wallet. So before you make the same mistake, if your back is totally messed up like mine was, you're going to want to check this out."

Kyle: "Because that feels way less pushy and scripted. Here we're not exactly going for a sale, we're just giving you advice based on our own personal experience."

Anthony: "Okay, so when we're done filming, we upload all of our raw footage to our A-roll folder, which lives inside of a footage folder, which lives inside of a project folder."

Anthony: "This is how we organize projects when we're responsible for the post-production."

Kyle: "It allows us to keep our b-roll, animated assets, sound effects, and scripts all organized. And this folder structure, you can get it as another free download."

Anthony: "If the client has their own editors, we'd organize the footage like this so it makes it easier for them to navigate."

Anthony: "And we wouldn't do any editing unless there was major issues with the footage."

Anthony: "Like this clip of Kyle and I settling our creative differences. Sure, it's an example of my raw strength and power, but the client doesn't need to see that."

Kyle: "Here's a quick rundown of tools we use for post-production. CapCut is perfect for UGC because it has a lot of great drag and drop effects for scene transitions and for animating text."

Kyle: "For more complex projects, we'll use Premiere for video editing and After Effects for motion graphics."

Kyle: "For sound polishing, we use this free Adobe Podcast browser tool where you just upload your audio tracks and it spits out a version totally clean and balanced."

Kyle: "For any AI graphics, we use Krea."

Kyle: "And we grab music and sound effects from Artlist."

Kyle: "Then when we're finished, we send the ads for review through Frame.io because it allows people to leave time-stamped comments, making it easy to communicate revisions."

Kyle: "Of course, we don't want any revisions. We're hoping for a 'this is amazing, no edits needed' sort of message. So we're going to spend the next few hours whispering positive affirmations to our Alysha voodoo doll."

Anthony: "Oh my god, that ad was so sick."

Kyle: "You guys did such a good job."

Anthony: "You guys are like creative geniuses."

Kyle: "You guys are so funny."

Anthony: "That's good. Okay, um, feed it the orange. I'm going to finish the video. Okay?"

Kyle: "Okay. Okay."

Kyle: "Are you getting hungry? Have a little taste."

Kyle: "So let's recap our full process."

Kyle: "First, get clear on the request. Then break your script down into a storyboard or shot list to keep the shoot organized and efficient."

Kyle: "Pick the right gear for the job. Hi-fi ads need a quality camera, good audio, and stylized or deliberate lighting. Lo-fi ads can be done with just a phone and a mic because you actually want them to look as organic as possible."

Kyle: "Your set and your on-camera character should both reflect the script, obviously, and your brand because your audience should be able to see themselves in the ad."

Kyle: "When filming, watch out for variables like uncontrolled lighting, background elements, and logos."

Kyle: "Be mindful of safe zones when you're framing your shot and leave enough outside padding for crops."

Kyle: "Always film a variety of hooks so the client has different versions to test against each other."

Kyle: "Get more product footage than you think you'll need. Show it in different contexts and use cases that match the brand and the style of your ad."

Kyle: "When handing off files, whether they're raw footage or finished ads, make sure they're organized and simple to navigate so the client can easily communicate changes."

Anthony: "Okay, let's send it back to Alysha."

Alysha: "Now once I've received the content, I will review it personally to give any feedback, ask for any revisions, and hopefully if my brief was clear enough, I won't have to ask for a reshoot. Now here is arguably the most important thing to remember."

Alysha: "Do not let perfection get in the way of launching an ad. In 2026, Meta rewards volume and speed, and the faster you can get that ad into the ad account, the sooner you're going to learn from it."

Alysha: "So spending two weeks with a creator going back and forth on revisions for one ad is a very bad trade. Plus, a good enough version might outperform your idea of perfect anyway."

Alysha: "Once your ads are finalized, you're ready to launch and measure. Which of these three, the yapper, the problem-solution, or the hi-fi, do you think is going to perform best? Thanks for watching and enjoy the rest of the Motion Creative Strategy Bootcamp."