How to Find UGC Creator? A Complete Guide in 2025

Let’s talk about User-Generated Content (UGC)—it’s not just a trend; it’s transforming modern UGC marketing. Did you know that 88% of consumers say UGC influences their buying decisions more than any other form of advertising? That’s because UGC brings something to the table that polished UGC ads just can’t—real, authentic voices of actual users.

It’s about putting trust and genuine connections front and center. Nowadays, those who share their real-life brand experiences, UGC creators, are not just part of the crowd; they’re leading the charge in building brand credibility and deepening customer relationships.

So, how do you find these goldmine creators? This guide will walk you through the nitty-gritty of scouting the best UGC talent.

Why UGC Creators?

The power of UGC lies in its ability to create trust and increase engagement through honest, unfiltered content. UGC stands out for its raw honesty in a world where overly polished and edited ads are the norm. The real-life experiences users share lend credibility to a brand, building trust in a way that traditional marketing often can’t.

UGC creators, often regular people who use a brand’s products or services, share relatable content that resonates deeply with consumers. Their diverse perspectives and voices enhance brand inclusivity, drive engagement, and broaden reach as their content is shared across social platforms.

11 Steps to Find UGC Creators

Finding and nurturing relationships with UGC creators involves identifying potential partners who align with your brand’s ethos. Here we are discussing the steps to find UGC Creators:

Finding UGC (User-Generated Content) creators involves identifying individuals who produce content related to a specific topic or industry. Here are steps you can take to find UGC creators:

1. Define Your Niche or Topic:

• Clearly define the niche or topic for which you want to find UGC creators. This could be related to your brand, industry, or specific interests.

2. Use Social Media Platforms:

• Explore popular social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube. These UGC platforms are often rich sources of user-generated content.

3. Search Hashtags:

• Use relevant hashtags related to your niche to discover UGC content creators. Many creators use specific hashtags to categorize their content and make it easier to find.

4. Utilize Search Functions:

• Most social media platforms have search functions. Use them to search for keywords, topics, or phrases related to your niche. This can help you discover both popular and emerging creators.

5. Engage in Communities:

• Join online communities, forums, and groups related to your niche. Platforms like Reddit and Facebook groups are excellent places to find and connect with content creators.

6. Monitor Influencers:

• Keep an eye on influencers in your industry. They often collaborate with or feature content from other creators. Engaging with influencers can lead you to UGC creators within their network.

7. Use Content Discovery Tools:

• Explore content discovery UGC tools and platforms that help identify trending or popular content creators. Some content creation tools allow you to filter by niche, engagement metrics, and other criteria.

8. Encourage User Participation:

• Actively encourage your audience to create and share content related to your brand or industry. This can be done through contests, challenges, or simply by showcasing user-generated content on your platforms.

9. Leverage Analytics and Insights:

• Use the analytics tools that social media platforms provide to identify who engages with your content and creates related content. Look for patterns in user behavior and identify potential creators.

10. Network and Collaborate:

• Attend industry events, webinars, or online conferences. Networking can help you discover creators who are active in your space. Consider collaborating with them on projects or UGC campaigns.

11. Research and Verify:

• Once you identify potential UGC creators, research and verify their credibility. Look at their past content, UGC rates, and audience demographics to ensure alignment with your goals.

Remember to approach UGC creators respectfully and transparently. Building genuine relationships with these creators can lead to fruitful collaborations and mutual benefits.

Tools and Strategies for Finding UGC Creators

In the world of UGC, identifying and collaborating with UGC creators requires appropriate strategies and tools.

1. UGC Creator Platforms

Leverage platforms like Tagshop, Billo, and Taggbox to efficiently find UGC creators. These platforms are beneficial for searching for potential creators, managing campaigns, and having effective collaborations.

2. Analyzing Brand Mentions and Tags

Utilize social listening tools like Mention and Brand24 to monitor brand mentions across various online media. This helps identify potential UGC creators who align with your brand story and values, enabling you to discover authentic content sources.

3. Leveraging Analytics

Analyze social media metrics to identify who is engaging with your brand. Focus on key performance indicators such as audience reach, engagement rates, and content quality.

This data provides insights into your target audience and ensures your collaborations with UGC creators resonate with them.

4 Tips to Find the Right UGC Creators for Your Brand

Given the importance of authentic UGC, as highlighted by the statistic that 86% of consumers trust brands more when they showcase real content from real people, let’s now delve into some tips for finding the right UGC creators for your brand.

1. Start With Your Goals

Before you start scrolling through social media or reaching out to creators, pause for a second. What exactly do you want this UGC to do? Is it about spreading the word? Driving more sales? Building loyalty? Hyping up a new product?

Your goal determines the kind of creator you need.

Trying to go viral? Look for creators with large, engaged audiences who know how to get people talking.

Launching something niche or community-focused? Partner with smaller creators who have a loyal following and really connect with their audience.

Also, think about the format. Are you after slick, edited videos? Raw, in-the-moment shoutouts? Shareable infographics?

The clearer you are on your goals, the easier it’ll be to spot the right people to bring your vision to life. This will influence the platforms you focus on and the creators you evaluate. Want reach and viral potential? Start with TikTok and YouTube, and work with creators who know their way around a camera.

2. Use a Centralized Platform

Every piece of UGC counts, but will one or just a handful of them be enough to establish the credibility that drives conversions? Probably not. Like all good things that are worth it, consistency matters. Being consistent in posting UGC is key to building your business’s reputation as a brand people love.

But when you start sourcing UGC content at scale, managing that process and all that content can get messy. That’s where using a centralized UGC platform and creator marketplace like Popular Pays makes a lot of sense.

Think of it as the ultimate matchmaking service but for UGC and influencer marketing. The platform offers a diverse database of 160k+ vetted creators, allowing brands to quickly find and connect with content producers that align with their specific needs in terms of demographic, skill, audience size, preferred channels and engagement rates. It also offers a tool powered by Lightricks AI that enables vetting talent for brand safety factors based on their past activity. 

Next, you can create one brief and share it with the UGC creators you see as the best fits for your campaign. Discussions, legal agreements, campaign analytics and payouts are likewise handled in one handy dashboard. This way, you always have a constant stream of authentic, on-brand UGC. So all your UGC-related work—from creator discovery to performance tracking—becomes centralized, enabling scalable workflows backed by metrics.

3. Assess Content Quality and Creator Fit

You want to post quality content. But “quality” is a very subjective term. With regards to UGC, how do you objectively measure the quality of a creator’s work? Well, there are two ways, qualitative (no pun intended) and quantitative:

• Qualitative: Check out their portfolio (if they have one) to assess their work for professionalism, creativity, and how they uniquely engage their audience.
• Quantitative: Look at the numbers—likes, comments, shares. High engagement means the creator has real influence and a solid connection with their audience. That kind of trust can make your promo land harder.

But numbers aren’t everything. It can be off-putting for your audience to see you associate yourself with a creator who doesn’t really fit your brand’s ethos, aesthetic, or values.

So, make sure to review their content with this lens: see if their style, personality, and tone match what your brand stands for. Creators whose values and audience align with your brand can produce far more authentic and effective UGC.

4. Prioritize Authentic Engagement

If your choice of UGC creator has an impressive follower count, that’s great. If their posts garner thousands of views, that’s great. But what about real, authentic engagement with their audience? Because unless your sole goal is improving your brand’s reach, all those followers and views are only as good as the genuine interactions they drive.

Authentic engagement goes beyond mere vanity metrics. Examine the interactions on the creator’s posts to see if their audience is genuinely interested in the content. Comments that show real conversation or personal anecdotes suggest a deeply engaged audience.

Consistency in engagement levels across posts can indicate a loyal following. Creators who maintain steady interaction are likely to have an honest connection with their audience, making them more effective for long-term collaborations. Oh, and also, watch out for signs of manufactured engagement, such as spikes in likes or comments that don’t match the content context. This can include engagement from accounts that appear fake or generic, which might indicate the use of bots, bought followers, or engagement pods.
A tool like Social Auditor can help here. It makes it easy to vet influencers. It works across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, digging into follower quality, engagement patterns, and sketchy behavior to spot fake followers or bots. You also get a clear view of who their audience really is.

Establishing Relationships with UGC Creators

Building lasting relationships with UGC creators is crucial for true collaborations.

1. Personalized Outreach

Engage with UGC creators personally and authentically. Take time to understand their interests, values, and content style. Show that you view this as a partnership, not just a transaction, and express genuine appreciation for their work.

Personal connections with UGC creators encourage them to produce authentic content and lay the groundwork for long-term collaborations, which is ultimately what you want. 

2. Offering Incentives and Recognition

Reward UGC creators with incentives or recognition to show your appreciation for their contributions. These incentives could be in the form of cash, exclusive experiences, or free products.

Publicly acknowledge their efforts by featuring their content on your channels or launching campaigns highlighting their contributions. Showcasing successful collaborations can inspire and encourage further participation.

Conclusion

Incorporating UGC is essential for genuine audience engagement and authentic brand storytelling. Establishing sincere relationships with UGC creators based on shared interests and values is crucial for effective collaborations. 

UGC’s transparent and trustworthy nature makes it a vital component of modern marketing. Social media, personalized outreach, and targeted strategies are key to fostering a community of engaged brand advocates and expanding your reach through compelling storytelling. 

In the dynamic world of digital marketing, the essence of successful UGC strategies is creating lasting, genuine connections between brands and creators.