Mastering UGC Collaborations: A Step-by-Step Guide For Brands (Including Pitch Template)

You know that user-generated content (UGC) is the way forward for your marketing campaigns. But how do you master UGC collaborations with creators?

That’s the million-dollar question on everyone’s lips.

Fortunately, this guide has answers. It explores the essential elements of a strong pitch, how you can personalize it to stand out, and how to define its parameters accurately so you get what you want.

Let’s take a look at what you need to do.

The Essential Elements of a UGC Pitch

Before we delve into some of the more advanced aspects of pitching to UGC creators, let’s cover some essential elements. What can you do to maximize the likelihood of them taking you up on your offer?

Be Selective

Start by being selective with the UGC creator you choose. Find someone who can represent your brand naturally.

This part of the process is time-consuming when done manually. But UGC platforms, like Billo, can speed it up for you. For example, our search filters let you screen by multiple influencer characteristics, helping you generate a shortlist of individuals who are natural fits for your brand. You can get granular recommendations from a library containing over 5,000 curated creators.

Communicate In Fewer Sentences

Next, keep the wordiness of your communications to a minimum. Don’t bombard the creator with long, difficult-to-read sentences. Respect their time and energy.

Say what you want in the first sentence (or paragraph) and fill out the details below. Don’t use vague language that could lead to confusion. If in doubt, run the pitch by someone else in your office to see if it makes sense.

Billo users can use custom-crafted in-app communication tools to chat directly with influencers. These make it more straightforward for them to understand your instructions.

Provide Links To Your Previous Campaigns (If Available)

Lastly, it’s sometimes helpful to provide links to your previous campaigns if you have any. These show UGC creators what you’ve done in the past, and what they can become a part of if they join you.

Focus on how the UGC influencer you worked with benefited in these cases. Talk about the perks that will come the creator’s way if they decide to work with you and what they can expect from a partnership.

Personalize Your UGC Pitch to Stand Out

Those are the fundamentals of pitching to a UGC creator. But if you want to stand out you’ll need to go beyond that. Top influencers receive hundreds of communications daily, so being strategic is essential.

The trick here is to personalize your pitch to the recipient. Explaining why you want to work with them specifically is a superpower.

So, what can you do?

Talk About Why You Chose Them

Start by explaining why you chose them somewhere in your pitch. You could highlight their presentation skills, look, or deep alignment with your values: whatever it is, make it flattering. Explain how it complements your requirements and that working together could be fruitful.

Reference Their Content

Also, try the old trick of referencing their content. Explaining why you like it and how it relates to your company is an excellent way to build rapport.

For example, suppose you are reaching out to a health influencer as a supplement brand. You could highlight a post where they covered the benefits of the products you sell (i.e. algae oil).

Mental Mutual Friends

Another excellent tactic is to mention mutual friends. Perhaps you already work with someone they know and want to bring them into the fold.

This strategy works because of the network effect. If they know someone who trusts you, they will see you favorably.

Talk About Long-Term Potential

Mentioning the long-term potential of any UGC partnership is also helpful. Showing you value the creator beyond a one-off project may make them more willing to invest time and energy in you. (It depends on how they usually work with brands).

Mention Their Audience

Talking about their audience in detail is another powerful trick. Mentioning it proves you have done your homework and aren’t reaching out as part of some automated process.

Discuss how your brand could interest their audience and how a partnership could benefit their social media channels. For example, suppose you want to create fishing tackle-related UGC with an angling vlogger. Working with you would be a natural choice for them since your products would effortlessly slot into their content.

Personalize The Tone

Lastly, it pays dividends to personalize the tone you use in your writing to UGC creators. Getting it right can make it more likely they will work with you.

Some UGC ad creators will require formal introductions, while others won’t. It all depends on profiling the target individual and learning more about how they operate and what they expect.

How Craft a Clear Value Proposition UGC Creators Will Respect

At the heart of your UGC pitch should be value. You need to explain what you will offer in return for the creator’s efforts.

Specifically what you do will depend on whether you target a professional UGC creator – an influencer who works with brands – or a regular customer.

For Professional UGC Creators

You can find thousands of professional but authentic UGC creators on Billo. But how do you pitch to these individuals?

Discuss Monetary Compensation

Start by outlining your financial offer. Tell them your proposed compensation for an upcoming campaign. Be upfront about what you are prepared to give them.

Being candid often generates respect and puts the influencer in a simpler negotiating position. Knowing what you are willing to pay helps them make a counteroffer.

If you don’t want to deal with this, Billo solves payment problems by taking care of it on the backend. (You pay a flat fee per video).

Offer Exclusive Access

You could also offer exclusive access to a product a month before launch and tell the influencer they will be the only person to receive it, giving them a temporary monopoly on social media. (This tactic can serve as a substitute for money in some cases).

Give Them Creative Freedom

You can also offer them creative freedom. Telling them they have free rein and don’t have to tow the corporate line helps them maintain the trust and respect of their audience.

Access To Industry Events

Lastly, you could offer them extra perks for working with you, like access to industry events. These could be a goldmine for their content creation efforts.

For Casual UGC Creators

For casual UGC creators, including regular customers, the following strategies can help you craft a clear value proposition:

• Offering a chance for them to feature on your website or social media account
• Sending them a free product in the mail
• Providing them with additional exposure on social media (if they want to become professional creators)
• Setting up contests and giveaways to win exclusive prizes
• Promising future collaborations if all goes well with the current one

Define and Communicate Deliverables

Finally, UGC creator pitches should define and communicate your deliverables – what you want the creator to produce. Being clear on these makes it more likely you will get the output you want.

As a brand, you will need to communicate the following:

• Type and format of the content you want (i.e. photos, unboxings, reviews, lifestyle shots, tutorials, informational pieces)
• The number of deliverables you want (i.e. five video blogs on your new camera or a sixty-second dance video on TikTok)
• When the UGC should be available (i.e. next Monday)
• The brand guidelines you want the influencer to follow (i.e. avoiding curse words)
• Any call-to-action (CTA) they should include
• Any usage rights permissions you require (i.e. using their UGC off the social platform they first publish it)
• When they should feature products and services (i.e. within the first ten seconds of the video)

Billo makes defining and communicating what you want simpler than email. You can customize briefs as you work with UGC creators and revise content you don’t want. You can also sift through UGC submissions and use tools to determine their suitability. Tracking where UGC will be published and what elements to include (i.e. CTAs) is straightforward.

Tips for Building Stronger Relationships with UGC Creators

Building strong relationships with UGC creators as a brand can be challenging. Sometimes, getting them to work with you takes effort.

Even so, it is something that most brands can achieve if they work at it. Building stronger relationships with UGC creators is primarily about cultivation. Creating fertile soil can help wonderful partnerships blossom.

1. Align Your Brand Messaging With Their Values

Start by aligning your brand messaging with their values. Point out how you are the same team, serving the same audience.

Take virtual private network (VPN) providers, for example. These often work with creators and influencers who value privacy and dislike government snooping. Partnerships get off to a roaring start because of shared ethics.

Similarly, makeup brands celebrating different body types can work with influencers who do the same. Seeing beauty in every form is a shared value that can build strong alliances.

2. Work Through A Platform

You could also consider working with creators through a platform like Billo to build stronger relationships. Using a trusted intermediary reduces some of the early challenges of finding suitable influencers and providing them with instructions about what you want.

3. Talk To Them Regularly

Don’t let UGC creators feel like they’re on their own. Provide them with plenty of support and assistance, including resources, samples, and people they can contact for help.

Avoid speaking solely about business if that’s what they want. Chit-chat can build rapport and encourage them to become full-blown brand ambassadors.

4. Respect Their Time

Finally, respect their time. Set clear expectations and schedules, but don’t ask for more than you pay for. Sometimes, it pays to be flexible with them: they aren’t your employees!

If you want more structure, you can use Billo. We tighten deadlines and UGC creation to align more closely with your brand’s requirements.

Sample UGC Pitch Template for Brands Who Want To Work With UGC Creators

So, let’s get down to the brass tacks: how should you pitch to a UGC creator?

Here’s a sample you could use:

Dear [Creator Name],

My name is [Your Name] from [Your Company] and I’ve been following your work for some time. Our whole team loves your style and how you connect with your audience. Your recent work on [mention post here] stood out to us. Consequently, we’d love to work with you on creating content for a marketing campaign.

Here’s what we’d like to offer:

• Financial compensation. We’d like to pay you [fixed amount/amount per week or month] for you to work with us [on a one-off project or period of time].
• Free product/service. We’d also like to treat you to a free [product or service name] so you can share it with your audience.
• Creative freedom. Working with us, you will retain creative freedom over how you present [product or service] provided you adhere to some minimal requirements (listed below).

What we’d like from you:

• Deliverables. We’d like you to provide [specific number of posts, blogs, videos, etc.] per [week/month].
• Platform. We want you to post the new content on [mention specific platforms, i.e. TikTok]
• Brand-sensitive tone. We’d like you to keep your style because we value the authenticity you provide. We’d like to see how you present the [product/service]

We chose to work with you because we share the same core values: [list shared values]. That’s why we think you’d be an ideal fit for a partnership.

If you are interested in working with us, I’d like to discuss any questions you may have further with you. If you have any concerns, I’d be more than happy to address them.

I look forward to hearing from you soon,

Best wishes,

[Your Name]
[Your job role or position]
[Your company]
[Your professional contact information]