Why the brief decides the quote
UGC agencies price work around a few variables. How many videos, for which platforms, with how many hook variations, under what usage rights, by when. If a brief leaves any of these open, the agency either guesses or asks follow-up questions. Guessing leads to quotes you cannot compare, because one agency assumed organic usage and another assumed paid. Follow-up questions add days before you see a number. When every agency receives the same structured brief, the quotes line up. You can compare price per video, minimum spend and rights terms on the same basis, and you can see quickly which agencies are not a fit.
Product and audience
Start with what you sell and who buys it. Keep it short and concrete. Name the product, the price point, the main problem it solves and the type of customer who buys it. Mention anything a creator needs to know to film it well, such as whether it needs to be shown in use for a few days, whether results are visible on camera or whether it is fragile in shipping. Add a line about where the buyer is in the journey. A video for people who have never heard of the brand needs a different hook from a video for people comparing you with alternatives.
Platform and deliverables per month
Name the platform first, because it shapes length, format and editing style. TikTok, Instagram Reels, Meta feed and stories, YouTube Shorts and Amazon listings each have their own norms. If you need several aspect ratios, say so. Then state the volume as deliverables per month rather than a one-off count. Agencies plan creator capacity by month, and a monthly figure tells them whether your program fits their roster and minimums. Be explicit about what counts as one deliverable. Is it one finished video, or one concept with three hook variations? The answer changes the quote considerably.
Hook angles to test
The first seconds of a UGC video decide whether anyone watches the rest. List the hook angles you want tested, in plain language. Useful angles include a problem the viewer recognizes, a surprising result, a comparison with what they use now, an unboxing moment, a reaction to a common objection or a creator speaking straight to camera about why they switched. Three to five angles is a practical range for a first round. Fewer limits what you learn, more spreads the budget too thin. If you have run UGC before, note which hooks worked and which did not, so the agency builds on your evidence. The collection of UGC video examples can help you name the formats you have in mind.
Rights window and deadline
State where the videos will run and for how long. Organic only, paid usage for 30 days, paid usage for 90 days, perpetual, whitelisting or Spark Ads authorization, raw footage. This single field changes the price more than almost anything else, so it belongs in the brief, not in a later negotiation. The guide to UGC usage rights explains each option. Give a real deadline for the first delivery and say whether it is fixed, such as a launch date, or flexible. Agencies need time to ship product, cast creators, film and edit, so a realistic deadline gets you a realistic answer.
Must say, must not say and references
Creators need guardrails as much as direction. List the claims they must include, such as a key benefit or an offer, and the claims they must avoid. Avoid lists matter most for regulated categories like supplements, skincare and financial products, where an unapproved claim can get an ad rejected or create legal risk. Add two to five reference videos that show the tone and pace you want. References say more than adjectives. Note what you like about each one, because the agency will otherwise guess.
Budget range
Many brands leave the budget out, hoping for a lower quote. In practice it slows everything down. A budget range tells the agency at once whether your program meets its minimum and which package makes sense. It also stops you from spending a week on agencies whose minimums are well above your range. Give a monthly range, not a single number, and say whether it includes usage rights and product costs.
The UGC brief template
Copy the fields below into a document and fill in each one. The same fields appear in the brief builder on our directory, so a brief written here transfers directly.
- Product, with name, price point, the problem it solves and who buys it.
- Platform, such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, Meta feed, YouTube Shorts or Amazon, plus the aspect ratios you need.
- Deliverables per month, with a clear note on what counts as one deliverable.
- Hook angles, three to five angles to test, plus any hooks that worked before.
- Rights window, such as organic only, paid usage for 30 or 90 days, perpetual, whitelisting or Spark Ads, and raw footage.
- Deadline, with the first delivery date and whether it is fixed or flexible.
- Must say, the claims, benefits or offers every video includes.
- Must not say, the claims, words or comparisons to avoid.
- References, two to five links with a note on what you like in each.
- Budget, as a monthly range, with a note on whether it covers rights and product.
If you are new to UGC, read user generated content for brands first for help deciding goals and platforms before you fill this in.
Send one brief instead of ten contact forms
Once the brief is ready, the slow part is usually sending it. Each agency has its own contact form with its own questions, and you end up retyping the same details many times. On our directory you filter agencies by platform, budget, rights terms and turnaround, select the ones that fit and send them the same structured brief at once. How it works explains the steps, and sending a brief costs brands nothing.