How to hire a UGC creator without the usual mistakes

The first time a brand hires a UGC creator, it tends to choose by the best-looking videos on Instagram, and only halfway through the project does it find out what was never agreed: whether the video can go into ads, how many changes it can ask for, who issues the invoice. UGC, short for user generated content, means videos in which a real person shows your product to camera, filmed for your brand to use on social media and in ads. I chose each of the more than 100 Portuguese creators in my network one by one, so I'm writing to you from the hiring side.

Where to find UGC creators in Portugal

There are three routes, and each one wins on one thing and loses on another. The first is to go straight to a creator, on Instagram, on TikTok or on her own website, and deal with the person who films, with nobody in between. In return, the choosing, the instructions and the follow-up are all on your side, and if you need five creators you do it all five times.

The second is a campaign with someone who has a network of creators, which is what I do with more than 100 Portuguese creators. I pick the ones that suit each product, write the scripts, follow the shoots and deliver the finished videos in about 5 working days, and you always talk to the same person. You also pay for that coordination and you don't pick from a catalogue, because the selection is made by someone who already knows the creators.

The third is the platforms that connect brands with creators, where you usually post what you're looking for and creators apply. There's plenty of choice and you can get going quickly, but sorting the good ones from the rest is down to you, and the rules on payment and on using the videos are the platform's, so read them before you sign.

What to look for in a portfolio

When I choose creators for campaigns, the first thing I look at is how each video opens, because in an ad the first few seconds are where someone decides whether to stay or scroll on. Then I look at the rest, in this order:

• The first few seconds. Check whether the video opens with a problem, a promise or an image that makes you stop, or with a hello and an introduction, which is where you lose anyone scrolling past.
• Talking to camera. Notice whether she says the lines in her own words, the way she'd talk to a friend, or whether you can tell she's reading.
• The product in her hands. It has to appear early, and she should handle it like someone who uses it, opening it, applying it, showing the result, instead of holding it next to her face like a billboard.
• Sound and light. The voice has to come through clean, with no echo or street noise, and her face has to be clearly visible, which the light from a window is enough for.
• Variety. Look for different formats, such as a demonstration, a testimonial or an unboxing, which is the package opened for the first time on camera, and products from different areas, which show she can adapt.

Ask her for two or three full videos as well, beyond the cuts she chose to show. If any were made for a brand, even better, because that's where you see how she works from someone else's instructions.

Start with a small project

Even with a good portfolio, I wouldn't sign a big package straight away with a creator who's never worked with you. Start with a small project, one or two videos of the same product, ideally with two or three different openings, known as hooks, so you can see which one holds attention best once it's running as an ad. Pay for that test like any other job, because asking for free videos drives away the creators with full diaries, who tend to be the ones you want.

In the test you also see everything around the video: whether she asked questions about the product before filming, whether she met the deadline without you having to chase her, and how she reacted when you asked for a change. That's what you'll get with the videos that follow, and if the test goes badly you've lost very little.

What has to be in writing

When a brand and a creator fall out, it's usually over something each side thought was obvious and nobody wrote down. So before she films, put these five points in an email that both sides confirm, or in a simple contract:

• The brief, the document where you explain the product, who it's for, what the video has to say and what it mustn't say, and whether the script comes from you or from her.
• The deliverables: how many videos, how long, how many hooks, whether they come with captions, and whether you get the raw files, meaning the unedited footage.
• Changes: how many you can ask for and what counts as one, because swapping a line is far less work than filming again with a different idea.
• The deadline: the day the product reaches the creator, the day of the first version and how many days you have to ask for changes.
• Usage rights: where you can put the video, on the brand's profile, in paid ads or both, and for how long.

Of the five, usage rights carry the most weight. Portuguese copyright law says that, for a commissioned work, who holds the copyright depends on what was agreed, and that permission to use a work can only be given in writing, stating how it may be used and the conditions of time, place and price.

How payment works and which invoice to ask for

In Portugal, anyone working for themselves registers an activity with the tax authority, known as the Finanças, and issues what are called recibos verdes, or green receipts, on the Portal das Finanças, and that's what you'll usually get from a creator. If you pay her at the moment she issues the document, you get a fatura-recibo, an invoice-receipt, and if you pay later, she issues the fatura, the invoice, first and the receipt once she's been paid. For the invoice to be in your company's name she needs your NIF, the Portuguese tax number, so send it to her early on, and ask whether her price has IVA, Portuguese VAT, on top or whether she's exempt.

If your company keeps contabilidade organizada, the formal accounting regime, the Portuguese income tax code also requires it to withhold part of the tax when it pays for certain self-employed work. The rate depends on the activity of whoever's invoicing and some cases are exempt, so show the invoice to whoever does your accounts before you pay.

The warning signs

There are three things that make me set a creator aside in the very first conversation, and they hold just as true for you. The first is having no portfolio, or only a personal profile full of holiday photos, because without videos made for brands you've nothing to judge her work by. The second is steering clear of anything in writing: someone who says you'll sort it out later, won't talk about usage rights or doesn't issue invoices is leaving all the risk on your side.

The third is promising sales. The Carlega campaign, for a brand that sells car products, ran on Meta Ads with videos I filmed and brought in 469 purchases, with a return of €6.43 for every €1 spent, and even so I don't promise those numbers to anyone. Sales also depend on the product, the price, the page the ad leads to and how the campaign is managed, and anyone guaranteeing you results before filming is selling you something they don't control.

What a creator can promise you is what depends on her: the agreed video, by the agreed deadline, with the rights in writing. My UGC campaigns always include three months of paid ad usage, unlimited revisions within the approved concept, and videos ready in about five working days. Tell me what you sell and I'll reply within 24 hours.