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Everything you need to understand about launching and scaling generational UGC programs

After reading this, two things will happen: 1. You'll never run a UGC program at a higher CPM than $0.75 and 2. You'll never have a negative experience with an agency or growth marketer that couldn't care less about your company.

Contact: ben@aratame.me

Introduction

I spent 2+ years obsessed with early stage consumer growth. I've been part of some of the most successful UGC programs, influencer marketing campaigns, Since the launch of opus 4.6, I've ventured into other roles that interest me. My mom always told me to help others when given the opportunity. So, I decided to write this so more consumer founders can succeed.

I've achieved 3B+ views and millions of app downloads. Most of my top creators never made content before joining my programs. Many grew accounts to 70k+ followers, $30k+ per month earnings, landed growth roles, and continue working with me (I literally have a creator group that I bring around LOL).

Extremely grateful to the mentors and founders who have helped me along the way.

Before I started @instinct_inc (methods app - 400k users, 37k+ reviews, $3m ARR) with Dris Elamri, I had the pleasure to be part of many incredible teams such as Ideogram, Cluely, Arcade AI, Airchat, Cal AI, Turbo, Coconote, Retro & more. I've hit top 10 in the app store 5+ times. I am also a creator with 200k+ followers, find me on TikTok at @ benar.

Ben Aratame (@benaratame), Sep 10, 2025: Small life update: We left Cluely We're starting our own thing so that I can get another supercar We at $1.2M ARR in 7 days Huge announcement soon @instinct_inc

View tweet

There are close to zero consumer startups that haven't experimented with UGC. Although it can be a great growth channel, it can be detrimental if ran incorrectly. There are more grifter UGC agencies and growth marketers than ever before.

Section breakdown

  1. Prerequisites
    • when to start UGC & when to avoid
    • different types of UGC programs
  2. Creators
    • recruiting & firing
    • compensation structures
    • creator program culture
    • outreach & sourcing
    • free creators hack
    • onboarding & contracts
    • consistency & communications
    • coaching
    • warm up period
    • social media platforms
    • trial period
    • shadow bans
    • incentives & bounties
  3. Content
    • formats
    • scripts
    • resources
    • post volume
  4. Systems
    • editors, scriptwriters, outbound VAs
    • international creators to US audience setup
    • manychat setup
    • creator payouts
    • post tracking
    • creator communications
    • post review
    • paid ads

1. Prerequisites

When to start UGC & when to avoid

Successful programs require bandwidth and money. If I were bootstrapped, I'd allocate ~$5-10k for month one creator payouts. Run it by yourself. You will always care more than agencies and have a better understanding of your target audience, creative direction, and vision.

I highly recommend starting with organic content & paid ads if you don't have enough budget and time for UGC.

Different types of programs

1. Regular

Typical UGC program. Work with 10-50 creators (increase as you scale), harder to recruit creators with existing audiences, mix of pay per post and retainer deals, cheaper to start.

2. Focused

Work with less than 10 creators, recruit experienced creators with an existing audience (in your target niche), mostly retainer deals (example: $1k/mo for one post per day + view bonuses + equity if applicable), more expensive to start.

For this article, I'll focus on regular programs. Focused programs will be a separate article.

2. Creators

Recruiting and firing

Ideal creator archetype:

  • EXTROVERTED EXTROVERTED EXTROVERTED
  • Has experience talking to the camera
  • Attractive but not too attractive (low conversions if they're too attractive bc viewers are only engaging for one reason)
  • Female creators perform better at non-talking head formats
  • No accent (sorry)

Recruit as many creators as possible, you lose nothing (you'll understand why once you implement trial periods).

Hire and fire fast, UGC creators are replaceable. I give extra chances if I think a creator has potential and works hard (extremely responsive, posting consistently, has an existing following, trying many different formats/scripts).

If a creator is inconsistent, take days to respond, do not give you a heads up before missing minimum number of posts per week or group meetings, fire them. Waiting days or weeks to fire creators could cost you tens of thousands of dollars.

Whoever runs your program should be good at sales and explaining the vision. Similar to pitching to an investor or someone you want to hire, you'll have to convince creators to accept lower base rates. Tell them about potential growth roles, company vision, ugc editors, pre-made scripts, existing consistency and view bounties (separate from view bonuses), examples of successful creators (requires you to have a successful example ofc).

Compensation structures

I don't have a specific criteria on how I determine compensation for each creator. Just like any other role, you develop a good eye on how much someone is worth.

Typically, all of my campaigns start at $20-30 per video + view bonuses. There are requirements that must be met to get paid out as a creator.

Payout details/requirements:

  1. Each unique video must hit 1k views on ONE platform, not combined (if they're getting <1k views, they're shadow banned or creating BS content.
  2. Must hit minimum number of posts per week
  3. View bonuses REPLACE the previous bonus/base, they don't stack
  4. Payment eligibility is two weeks (example: if a post reaches a new view threshold after two weeks, we don't pay more)

Pay per post creators get paid on a rolling basis whereas retainer creators get paid every 2 weeks. I built an internal dashboard and tools to manage all of this.

For better creators, it's often cheaper to pay retainer. $2k/mo retainer deals look more attractive than you think, but it's only ~$66.67 per video.

It's worth it considering the alternative is two mediocre creators for $30 per post + view bonuses). You're betting on the fact that the cracked creator will hit at least 2M views, resulting in a $1 cpm.

It's also easier to decrease number of bonuses when running retainer deals. Creators are guaranteed higher base income and you get great creators for cheaper. As long as you aren't a chud at giving feedback, it's a win win situation.

Creator program culture

Two methods for fostering successful creator groups:

1. Friend group method

Friend to friend basis with creators. Treat each creator like a friend.

One UGC program of mine met up in LA last year after hitting 500M+ views in <40 days. The app hit #7 on the app store (photo & video), 50K+ downloads, and is the most viral UGC format in history.

Funny story: a founder took out a personal loan, used my creators, content format, and hit $300k+ MRR in ~45 days. Absolutely incredible, love to see it.

Friend group method is sick. Creators post more often, think of content ideas, and share learnings with each other. Many of my creators become friends with each other and meet in person.

Method works best if you're younger (results in long-term creator relationships and stronger loyalty).

2. Internship method

Professional, organized, feels like work. This is self explanatory. It's easier to push creators to a baseline level of consistency but harder to scale past that.

Outreach and sourcing (most asked topic)

Everything I've used to source creators:

  1. Personal creator network
  2. Cold outreach on TikTok, Instagram, Email, Facebook via outbound VAs
  3. UGC mentorships/agencies (pay referral fee per creator that passes trial)
  4. Pay for story posts (pay creator -> they post your creator program application link). There are creators who post about UGC, side hustles, content creation, etc -- go for them first
  5. UGC marketplaces
  6. College clubs (Content creation, marketing, business, advertisement, startups, etc. Examples: UCLA's Bruin Creators or Duke Creator Labs)
  7. Organic short form content (make "I'm hiring marketing interns" videos, they lowkey perform well)
  8. LinkedIn, X
  9. Frats and sororities
  10. In program creators refer their friends for referral fee
  11. Poach from other UGC programs (I advise against this)
  12. Handshake (I'm so serious)
  13. College job posting sites
  14. Reddit (there are UGC/content creation subreddits)
  15. Friends (exhaust your social network)
  16. There are definitely more that I can't remember, I'll tweet more methods in the future

I recruit hometown boys to do outbound using my TikTok (200k+ followers), but you can get overseas VAs and train them. If you don't have an account with a decent following, grow a UGC account or buy one.

TRAIN YOUR OUTBOUND VAs. Ideal creator archetypes, answers to common questions, how to go through following/followers lists, target demographics, etc.

After many A/B tests, here's the message that has worked best:

(embedded media)

Establish credibility, clear and concise about recruiting and compensation, and explains next steps.

Free creators hack

You can recruit creators for free, they get college credits.

Almost every university has a career services or marketing/communications/business department where a student enrolls in an internship course.

Company signs a learning agreement and an end-of-term evaluation, and the school awards academic credit.

This is legal under FLSA's primary beneficiary test

Role: Short-Form Content Intern, Social Media Marketing Intern, etc. Defined learning outcomes are content strategy, production, analytics, brand work, etc. Semester or school year duration.

Post on Handshake and email internship coordinators in relevant departments (business, advertisement, marketing, film, comms, etc). Try school clubs and professors, they might help.

Onboarding and contracts

20 minute onboarding call with every creator.

Creator onboarding calls are 100% necessary so that every creator knows exactly where everything is. Everything I go over:

  1. Program strengths (they get to work with me, in-house editors, consistency bonuses, occasional view bounties, in-house scripters which means they can request personalized scripts, account ownership, account warm up automation, rolling basis creator payouts, work with other top creators, pay increases with good performance & active involvement, future growth opportunities & learn about startups).
  2. How the program works (trial period, minimum number of posts, review/approval process, what to do if they have a video idea, who to contact, calls, the entire system, how to properly set up social accounts).
  3. Info we need from them (previous programs they've done, where they want to take content creation, what content they enjoy making, what content they have most experience with, what got them into content, full name + email + address + age + college/school, what makes a program appealing to them, previous program compensation structure and minimum number of posts per week, specific starting date taking warm up period into consideration).

During the call, I onboard them to the iMessage creator group chat, creator portal/dashboard, discord, and send over contract & w9 or w8-ben

Contracts: I give creators ownership over their accounts as it builds loyalty, trust, and makes them feel like they're building a personal brand. This is a personal decision as I don't see a benefit in owning their accounts. The only scenario where I'd take ownership is to use their accounts for outbound DMs.

🚨Make sure you have ownership over their content for ad purposes.

Outline the trial period, account ownership, compensation structure, compensation eligibility (minimum number of posts, minimum view count), liability, termination, payment timeline, etc.

I use SignWell API to automate contracts, w9s, and w8-bens. Works well.

Consistency and communications

Use iMessage to communicate with creators. Everyone checks texts more than discord or slack.

Every morning at 10am ET, I send a daily update text.

Here's the structure:

🚨Good morning _ creators! The week started Sunday (mm/dd), so you have until Saturday mm/dd (11:59pm ET) to post all [minimum posts per week]

[any announcements & directions on how to get pro plan]

Scripts:
//i built my own internal dashboard & tools to manage ugc campaigns so i use those script links, but you can just drop a screenshot of the script or link to a notion page

1. Talking head: [script title] [script link or screenshot]
2. Slideshow: [script title] [script link or screenshot]
3. Skit: [script title] [script link or screenshot]
—
Resources:
//i explain each of these in the "content" section of this article
[link to creator manual]
[link to product tutorials]
[link to background sounds library]
[link to content crash course]
—
Extremely excited to see all of the new posts, LETS GO

(like this message so i know you read it)
//i only add this every now and then to keep creators on their toes

Consistency: I don't give creators many chances. I give them ONE warning if they miss the minimum number of posts per week without giving me a proper reason ahead of time.

One of my interns check in frequently with each creator.

For most programs, minimum number of posts is 5-7 per week and maximum is 14 per week (twice a day).

Coaching

Two calls for each creator every week. One group creator call every Saturday and one weekly 1:1 creator call.

Group creator calls: common mistakes with specific formats that keep arising, scripts/formats that work and don't work, any general updates/announcements that they should know.

My intern makes a slideshow every week for these calls, I just tell them what to include.

Weekly 1:1 creator calls: discuss strategies, scripts/formats that work or don't work, and what they can improve on moving forward.

Account warm up

Crucial onboarding step that determines if a creator hits the algorithm/FYP or not. Without proper warm up, creators will continue to get sub 1k views.

Initial warm up period: two days, 1 hour and 30 minutes each day. Scroll and engage with your feed (like, comment, repost, repost to story, save, etc). DO NOT rush the engagement process, they should be engaging as if they were on their main accounts. After the first 2-3 days, most of the content on the FYP/feed should be similar to the content niche that your product is in. They should be following 30-50 niche relevant creators by the end of the warm up period.

After, have your creators post two relatable videos relevant to the niche (just copy an existing viral video). If both videos get 1k+ views, they can start making UGC videos. If they get <1k views, tell them to warm up for another day.

Continued warm up: common mistake in most programs is creators stop warming up after the initial warm up period. Make sure creators continue to scroll and engage/interact with their feed.

You can automate the entire warm up process using Geelark cloud phones.

Social platforms

TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube Shorts, Facebook. Make your creators post on every platform. Could be leaving 100M+ views on the table if your creators are only posting on TikTok & Instagram.

Trial period

Every creator gets 14 days to break 10k views on a single post (on one platform, not combined).

When a creator hits 10k views on a single post, they get paid $100 (they DO NOT get paid base + view bonuses for posts made during the trial period). Good creators won't see this as an issue bc they're confident they can hit 10k views in ~2 videos.

Shadow bans

Two ways to figure out if a creator is shadow banned:

  1. Posts are consistently getting <1k views
  2. Most of the likes on a video are from mutuals

How to fix:

  1. Tell creators to archive videos that have <1k views after 4-5 days have passed
  2. Have them take 1-2 days off of posting and warm up again (encourage them to create content and get them approved in the meantime)

If creators get restricted:

This was an extremely common issue when we were building Methods (we invented the side hustle scripts/format that every UGC program are using now LOL). Many creators would get restricted or suspended/banned bc they were teaching people how to make money.

  1. Change the wording, remove the product name, try alternative scripts/formats until restrictions are lifted.
  2. If possible, get connected to a few meta/tiktok reps

Incentives and bounties

To get programs started quickly & increase morale, I always set two bounties:

  1. $500 for the first video to hit 500k views.
  2. $1,000 for the first video to hit 1M views.

These are separate from the base + view bonuses.

It's easy to structure incentives for specific creators once you understand what they want. Get that information during the onboarding call or weekly 1:1 calls.

Occasionally, I'll implement consistency bounties (usually month 1-2). Example: minimum number of posts per week is 5, so I pay an extra $50 if they post 7 times per week.

Physical products work better as bounties (even when cash would be more LOL). Example: Airpod Pros for the first person to hit 1M views on a single video.

3. Content

One format, three scripts. Test for three days and iterate based on performance.

A creator group of fifteen means 45 posts come out in 3 days. More than enough shots to see how formats and scripts perform.

Better to iterate fast and miss out on one or two viral formats, than to burn thousands because you "wanted to wait to see if a format/script would stick."

Use affiliate links, pay close attention to data, iterate fast, work with exceptional creators, be extremely attentive when giving feedback, find ways to increase morale, communicate both big wins and issues. That is how you win in almost anything in life. No difference when it comes to UGC.

Formats

First few days of a program: spend a few hours daily searching up viral content, top creators with cult-like followings, and go through tight knit community forums (reddit, quora, x, etc) within the niche.

Research is important -- every niche's top creators have a specific way of speaking, community inside jokes, etc.

Categories:

  • Entertainment (prank format, I DM'd hundreds of people and got x number of responses, snapchat format). BTW, entertainment formats are good to build a following but rarely convert into users and subscriptions. There are exceptions -- the example below was a format I invented at Methods (hit #5 app store in weeks). Built an audience and high conversions.

    (embedded media)

    (embedded media)

  • Side hustle (here's how you can make $x in a week/month). High converting format but the creator has to be great at talking head. Also, side hustle accounts get banned frequently. Set up Manychat and expect 1,000+ comments whenever a video goes viral. Think of ways that your product can help other earn an income.

    (embedded media)

  • Career advice (how to get a job, how to get into UGC/content creation, etc).

    (embedded media)

    All of these creators didn't make content before working with me. ZERO EXPERIENCE.

  • Non-talking head (shocked reaction + text on-screen -> product demo)

    (embedded media)

    (embedded media)

Resources

All of the creator resources I use:

  1. Creator manual
  2. Background sounds
  3. Product tutorials (make a notion page with a few videos going over key product features and capabilities)
  4. Content crash course

Outdated by a few months, will update them when I have time.

4. Systems

Editors

Hire international short-form editors for $2.5-5 per video. They can edit your top creators' videos to ensure quality and add SFX, engaging captions, and overlay images. I typically post "hiring short-form editors" on X or Instagram. The best method to find generational editors is paying a small fee to creators who create content about video editing to post the opportunity on their story or share to their community.

If you sell this correctly to creators, you'll recruit good creators at a lower rate.

YOU SHOULD ONLY DO THIS WITH GOOD CREATORS. IF YOU DON'T, YOU WILL REVIEW 10X MORE VIDEOS.

Creator films raw footage -> adds to google drive -> editor edits -> sends frame link -> you review (ask for changes or approve).

Scripters

Already went over this in the creator section but here's a bit more:

As a founder or head of growth, there are likely more important things to focus on OR maybe you don't use social media. Hire a scripter for a few hundred dollars per month. Ideal scripter is a creator who is capable of consistently going viral with multiple formats.

Good scripters cost ~$1k/mo for 8-10 scripts per day.

Check each script, give them directions frequently, teach them about the product, share your vision.

Outbound VAs

Already went over this in the creator section but here's a bit more:

There are plenty of experienced international outbound VAs. Hire one or a few for ~$1k/mo and have each send 200-300 messages per day. Personally don't have much experience hiring from overseas platforms for VAs, so I won't give recommendations.

Set up a system for them to log their messages to avoid duplicates

Creator coaches

Hire a coach to handle post reviewing, creative direction, etc. Works best if they're a creator with a decently large following.

I recommend checking every other day to ensure that the content being approved is high quality.

Hire someone who can be encouraging and EXTREMELY attentive to the small details.

US audience targeting for international creators

Use NordVPN.

Use a VPN combined with a US phone number (can buy on Amazon for ~$10).

Try using geo hashtags such as #california #sf #usa #nyc

Affiliate links

Use Dub Partners.

You can track conversions of each creator & each of their accounts. Has API if you're building your own internal dashboard.

There's a huge amount of conversion data drop off bc of safari on mobile (90%+ mobile users use safari).

Manychat setup

Manychat is EXTREMELY useful. This should be used in every UGC program in existence (if you care about conversions).

Creator says "comment [word] and I'll send you the link" -> viewer comments [word] -> creator's account automatically DMs viewer.

Make sure they use their affiliate links!

Manychat setup guide is on my site

Creator payouts

Went over most of the information in the compensation structures section.

I pay creators on a rolling basis, so I made sure that my internal dashboard tracks when a video hits a new view threshold.

Much better to wire/ach so that you or the creator don't deal with fees.

Post tracking

There are many API marketplaces that have scrapers for every social platform (apify, rapid, etc).

Costs less than $100/mo (1-2 regular size UGC program) to buy subscriptions to the API keys to track YouTube, TikTok, Instagram posts.

Kinda annoying but if you don't 100% trust creators, pull post metrics frequently for fraud prevention (if a creator's engagement spikes randomly, has extremely low engagement rate relative to views, etc)

Creator communications

  • iMessage for daily updates and 1:1 creator communications
  • Discord for community purposes
  • Internal dashboard + creator portal for everything else (post submissions, automated payouts, resources, post performance metrics, etc).

Use Claude and build one. Other than Methods and the one I built for personal use, I don't know any good alternatives (sorry).

Reviewing posts

Be strict, attentive, encouraging. Every post counts. Try to imagine that you're swiping your credit card every time you approve a post.

Created this doc when I was reviewing 500+ posts per hour for Methods app: common feedback

If one or multiple creators make a mistake multiple times, address it in the iMessage creator group chat.

Always review within 1-2 hours. It's incredibly annoying as a creator to refilm specific clips if a ton of time has passed.

Give all feedback in bulk.

Paid ads

Almost no company does this correctly.

Spark ads and exporting UGC videos for ads, do both.

Send scripts that you know will only work well for ads (occasionally), and keep scaling.

Again, I built an internal dashboard (personal use) that has a bulk export feature but I'm sure other tools have this too (I think).