A UGC brief must contain nine things: the project goal and placement, the audience, the product and the claims a creator can and cannot make, three to four written hooks, timed beats instead of a script, a shot list, technical specs, disclosure instructions, and the usage rights, timeline and payment terms. Keep it to one or two pages, lock the strategy, and leave the exact words to the creator.
This is the fill-in version of the briefing system from our guide to briefing UGC creators, with the rights language from the UGC usage rights checklist baked in. Copy the whole thing with the button below, replace every [BRACKET], delete what does not apply, and send. Tightly briefed projects cut revision rates from "most first submissions" down to 15% to 20%, and the hour this takes buys back 3 to 5 hours of revision ping-pong.
Project overview
Brand: [BRAND NAME] Product: [PRODUCT NAME + PRICE, e.g. "Driftwell magnesium sleep gummies, $34 a tub"] Goal (one line): [THE SINGLE THING THIS VIDEO MUST MAKE HAPPEN, e.g. "first-tub purchase at $34"] Platform + placement: [e.g. "Paid Meta ad, Reels + Feed" / "TikTok Spark Ad" / "organic post"] Paid or organic: [PAID / ORGANIC] Audience temperature: [COLD / WARM / RETARGETING] Whitelisting: [YES, we will run this from your handle / NO] Who this is for: [ONE HUMAN, NOT A DEMOGRAPHIC, e.g. "the person who is exhausted but still doom-scrolling at 1am, brain will not switch off"] Real customer quote (paste unedited from reviews): "[EXACT REVIEW LINE]"
Why this matters: a creator who does not know the goal, placement and audience temperature builds for nowhere. This box decides hook speed, pacing and where the CTA lands.
Product + claims: allowed and banned
What it is and how it is used: [e.g. "magnesium supplement, two gummies before bed"] Key benefit, in the customer's words: [BENEFIT AS A FEELING, NOT A FEATURE] Tone phrases (optional flavour, not a script): "[PHRASE 1]", "[PHRASE 2]", "[PHRASE 3]" MUST say / show: - [REQUIRED CLAIM OR FACT, e.g. "it is a magnesium supplement"] - [REQUIRED USAGE, e.g. "two gummies before bed"] NEVER say: - [BANNED CLAIM, e.g. "cures insomnia"] - [BANNED WORDS, e.g. "medical", "guaranteed"] - [COMPETITOR OR REGULATED PRODUCT NAMES, e.g. any sleep medication] Category compliance notes: [e.g. supplement / skincare / finance rules that apply]
Why this matters: the tone lines are a gift the creator can ignore; the guardrails are not. For anything ingestible, skincare or health-adjacent, this section keeps you out of trouble.
Hooks + script direction
Shoot ALL of these openers (first 2 to 3 seconds), deliberately different angles: 1. Confession: "[WRITTEN-OUT OPENER]" 2. Question: "[WRITTEN-OUT OPENER]" 3. Visual cold open: [DESCRIBE THE SHOT, THEN THE FIRST LINE] 4. Contrarian: "[WRITTEN-OUT OPENER]" Beats (hit each beat in your own words; this is a shape, not a script): - 0-2s HOOK: one of the four openers above. - 2-6s PROBLEM: [THE ACHE, TOLD AS A STORY, NOT A SYMPTOM LIST] - 6-13s TURN: [FIRST USE OF THE PRODUCT, HONEST SCEPTICISM WELCOME] - 13-18s PROOF: [WHAT CHANGED. HONEST, SMALL, SPECIFIC. NO MIRACLE LANGUAGE] - 18-22s CTA: [ONE ACTION, SAID ONCE, e.g. "tap to try your first tub"] Do NOT read from a script. Say the beats the way you would say them to a friend.
Why this matters: lock the hooks, free the words. The first 3 seconds set the hook rate, and 3 to 4 genuinely different openers is a real test instead of a coin toss.
Shot list
A-roll: talking straight to camera, [SETTING, e.g. "bedroom, evening, lamp light"] B-roll cutaways (minimum two): - [PRODUCT IN HAND, e.g. "the tub in hand, label readable"] - [PRODUCT IN USE CLOSE-UP, e.g. "the gummies close up"] - [OPTIONAL EXTRA, e.g. "the morning-after moment"] Setting / lighting: [e.g. "natural daylight where possible, no ring-light glare"]
Why this matters: two named b-roll cutaways cost the creator thirty seconds on the day and save your editor a reshoot when the hook needs swapping later.
Technical specs
Format: 1080x1920 vertical (9:16) Length: [e.g. 21 to 34 seconds] Audio: clean spoken audio, talk straight to camera, no trending sound underneath Lighting: [e.g. natural daylight, no ring-light glare] Delivery: raw AND graded versions of every clip, plus the b-roll cutaways as separate files
Why this matters: a file in the wrong ratio or three seconds short is a whole new shoot. This box takes thirty seconds to write and prevents the most expensive kind of revision.
Disclosure (not optional)
Add a visible on-screen "#ad" in the first frame and keep it up for the full video. Say "[this is a paid partnership with BRAND]" near the top if it fits the flow. NEVER put the disclosure only in the caption or below the fold.
Why this matters: the FTC treats any material connection as something that must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously, penalties run up to $50,120 per violation, and the advertiser is liable for what the creator does.
Usage rights + exclusivity
Grant: Creator grants Brand a non-exclusive licence to use, reproduce, edit, caption, dub and distribute the Deliverables (including raw footage) in PAID and organic advertising on [PLATFORMS: e.g. Meta (Facebook, Instagram), TikTok], territory [WORLDWIDE / NAMED COUNTRIES], for a term of [6 / 12 / 24] months from the Delivery Date. Renewal option: Brand may extend by a further [12] months at [DEFINED RATE] within 30 days of expiry. Whitelisting (if applicable): Brand may run Partnership Ads (Meta) / Spark Ads (TikTok) through Creator's handle, capped at $[SPEND CAP] over a [90 / 180] day window. Creator may revoke on 48 hours' written notice. Brand moderates comments. No political, religious or competitor-brand targeting from Creator's handle. Raw footage: included in the Deliverables (agreed here at briefing stage). Edit approval: Creator waives approval over edits for the paid-media uses above. Exclusivity: Creator will not create paid content for [NAMED DIRECT COMPETITORS] during the Term. Does not extend to organic personal content.
Why this matters: if the contract does not name a right, you do not have it. Paid use on an organic-only licence is a takedown waiting to happen, and asking for raws after delivery is a scope change that often gets refused.
Timeline + delivery
Deliverables: [e.g. "1 hero video + 4 hook variants, vertical, raw and graded"] Due: [e.g. "7 days from product arriving"] Delivery method: [e.g. "upload to this Drive folder: LINK"] Revisions: two rounds of minor revisions included. Extra rounds at $[RATE] each.
Why this matters: rushed 48-hour turnarounds get rushed work, and naming the revision terms now means round three never becomes an awkward email.
Payment terms
Fee: $[TOTAL], covering the base rate plus the usage rights named in section 07. Extra revision rounds: $[50 to 150 IS STANDARD] per round beyond the two included. Payment trigger: [ON DELIVERY / ON APPROVAL], via [PAYMENT METHOD]. Invoice to: [BILLING CONTACT + EMAIL]
Why this matters: ambiguity on money is where creators and brands fall out. Quotes usually cover organic only, so name the rights uplift inside the fee and there are no surprises on either side.
How to use this template well
- Keep it to one or two pages. Past two pages you have stopped briefing and started scripting, which strangles the natural delivery that makes UGC convert.
- Lock sections 01, 03, 06, 07, 08 and 09. Job, hooks, disclosure, rights and terms are non-negotiable. Leave the audience feel and the beat wording loose so the creator sounds like a person.
- Never send a word-for-word script. Beats and example phrases, not a screenplay. Audiences smell scripted promo instantly.
- Budget the rights as their own line. Paid ad rights typically add 50% to 100% on top of the base rate. Run the numbers with our UGC cost calculator.
Where the numbers come from
Every default in this template is pulled from our published guides: the eight-box briefing anatomy and revision stats from how to brief a UGC creator, and the rights clauses, whitelisting caps and uplift ranges from the UGC usage rights checklist.