Learn / New ads # How to get every version of a UGC ad from one creator video A UGC ad is a creator talking about your product in their own voice. The money is in what you ask them to film: get it right and one shoot becomes a month of versions. Abinash Senapati Founder, eonik Updated 2 Nov 2026 4 min read Checked against Meta’s and TikTok’s creator ad rules, the FTC’s disclosure guide and Meta’s Stories and Reels specs on 2 Nov 2026 The short answer A UGC ad is a creator’s own video about your product, run as an ad. Ask the creator for raw, vertical footage with several different openings, the product close up and their own words, then cut it into every opening and every placement yourself. Run it from the creator’s account with their permission or from yours, and disclose the paid relationship in the video itself. - Ask for raw footage and several openings, not one finished edit. - A partnership ad runs from the creator’s handle with their permission, which they can take back. 1 - The FTC says a platform’s paid-partnership label is not enough on its own: say it in the video. 4 - A real person’s voice stays theirs: cut and caption it, never make it say something new. On this page Decide whose account it runs from Brief the shoot for the edit Disclose it where people will see it Cut every opening, then every size Keep their voice theirs Common mistakes Questions Sources UGC ads work for one reason: they look like the people watching them, not like a brand. That is also why they go wrong. A creator handed a script reads it like a script, and a creator handed nothing films one long take that fits one placement. The guide below is the middle path: a short brief for the shoot, then the editing that turns one video into every version the plan needs. What you need - A creator who uses the product and agrees, in writing, to how the footage may be used. - The claims your product is allowed to make, so the creator does not say one it cannot. - The placements your media plan buys, so the shoot covers each shape. ## Step 1 Decide whose account it runs from There are two ways to run a creator’s video, and they are decided before the shoot because they change what the creator signs. From the creator’s account From the brand’s account On Meta A partnership ad: your spend behind their post, shown with their handle, with their permission 1 The creator sends the footage; you run it as your own ad On TikTok A Spark Ad: the creator authorises the post with a code valid for 7, 30, 60 or 365 days 3 The same: their footage, your ad What it needs The creator’s permission, which they can withdraw 1 A written licence to use the footage From Meta’s partnership ad permissions and TikTok’s Spark Ads guide, read 2 Nov 2026. The creator’s account carries their face and their followers into the ad, which is much of why the format works; the brand’s account gives you full control of the copy, the timing and how long it runs. Many brands do both: the creator posts it, and the brand runs the best cuts from its own account under a licence agreed at the start. Some products cannot run as branded content at all, and others need Meta’s permission first; check your category against Meta’s branded content policies before you book anyone. 2 ## Step 2 Brief the shoot for the edit The brief for a creator is short, and almost all of it is about what to film, not what to say. Their words should be theirs; the shots are what make the edit possible. - Vertical, filmed close Feed, Stories and Reels can all be cut from it. - Several different openings The same point said three ways, so you can test how it starts. - The product, close up, in their hand Shots you can cut to while they talk. - Their own words A list of points to cover, never a script to read. - Room around the face Captions and the button need space that stays clear. - What they must not say The claims your product cannot make. Ask for the raw files, not their finished edit. A creator’s own cut is made for their feed; you need the pieces to make yours. Agree in writing how long you may run the footage and where, before the shoot, so a version that keeps running does not run past what was agreed. ## Step 3 Disclose it where people will see it If the creator was paid, given the product free, or has any other connection to the brand, US law treats that as a material connection that has to be disclosed. 4 The FTC’s guide is specific about how. - In the video itself Said or shown in the video, not only in the caption. 4 - In plain words “Ad” or “sponsored”, not “sp” or “collab”. 4 - Not only the platform label The FTC says a built-in paid-partnership label may not be enough alone. 4 ## Step 4 Cut every opening, then every size Now the footage becomes a set. Cut one version per opening first, with the same middle and end, so the only difference between them is how they start. Then lay each one out for every placement the plan buys. Version Opening Placements Length A The problem, in their words Feed 4:5, Stories and Reels 9:16 Under 16 seconds B The product in hand Feed 4:5, Stories and Reels 9:16 Under 16 seconds C The result they got Feed 4:5, Stories and Reels 9:16 Under 16 seconds Example. One shoot, three openings, each cut for three placements. Your footage and plan set the rest. Once the versions run, read which opening held people, version against version: the middle and the end are the same, so the difference is the opening. How to read hook rate and hold rate shows how to compare them fairly. Instagram Stories plays videos under 16 seconds in full, so a version that must run there is cut short from the start. 6 On the tall shapes, keep captions and the button inside Meta’s bands: 14% of the height clear at the top, 35% at the bottom and 6% at each side. 5 How to resize a video ad covers laying one cut out for every shape, and making it in another language covers captions for a second market. ## Step 5 Keep their voice theirs Cutting, captioning and resizing a creator’s video is editing. Making them appear to say something they did not say is something else, and it breaks the trust the format runs on. If a line needs to change, ask the creator to record it. Change Fine Ask the creator Trim, reorder, shorten Yes Captions of what they said Yes A new size or shape Yes A new line in their voice Yes, they record it A different language in their voice Yes, with their consent What an edit may change in a creator’s video, and what needs the creator. ## Common mistakes - Asking for a finished edit . You get one ad for one placement, cut for the creator’s feed. - Writing the creator a script . It sounds like an ad, which is what a UGC ad exists not to sound like. - Relying on the platform’s partnership label as the only disclosure . - Cutting the long version first and trimming it for Stories, instead of cutting short and adding . Doing this in eonik Open the creator’s footage in eonik on your Mac, cut each opening, and eonik lays every version out for each placement with the captions inside the safe bands. It never puts words in a person’s mouth. Get eonik for Mac → ## Questions ### What is a UGC ad? An ad made from a creator’s own video about a product, in their voice and on their phone, rather than one made by the brand. It can run from the creator’s account as a partnership ad or from the brand’s. ### Can AI make UGC ads? Tools exist that generate a presenter who reads a script. That is a different thing from a real customer’s video, and many viewers can tell. eonik works with real footage and never makes a person say words they did not say. ### Do UGC ads have to say they are ads? In the US, yes, whenever the creator was paid or given the product. The FTC asks for the disclosure in the video, in plain words, and not only through the platform’s label. 4 ### How long should a UGC ad be? Short enough to play whole where it runs. For Stories that means under 16 seconds; longer cuts for Reels or feed add to it rather than the other way round. 6 ## Sources - About partnership ad permissions , Meta Business Help Center . A brand runs a creator’s post as an ad with the creator’s permission, which the creator can revoke. Checked 2 Nov 2026 - Branded Content Policies , Meta Business Help Center . What paid partnerships may promote, and the categories that need permission or are not allowed. Checked 2 Nov 2026 - How to create Spark Ads , TikTok Ads Manager Help . The creator authorises a post with a code valid for 7, 30, 60 or 365 days. Checked 2 Nov 2026 - Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers , US Federal Trade Commission . A free product or payment is a material connection; disclose in the video itself, in plain words like “ad”. Checked 2 Nov 2026 - Video ad specs, Instagram Reels , Meta Ads Guide . 9:16, 1440 × 2560, the same safe zone, what Reels ads may not contain. Checked 27 Oct 2026 - Video ad specs, Instagram Stories , Meta Ads Guide . 9:16, 1440 × 2560, the 14% / 35% / 6% safe zone. Checked 27 Oct 2026 ## Read next How to resize a video ad Learn How to make a version in another language Learn What a creative strategist does, week by week Learn On this page Decide whose account it runs from Brief the shoot for the edit Disclose it where people will see it Cut every opening, then every size Keep their voice theirs Common mistakes Questions Sources ## Make your next ad in eonik. Download for Mac Free to start. No card.