How to become a UGC creator who wins brand deals with data
TokConnect shows UGC creators which brands get creator videos right now, the hooks that sell a product, the exact phrases buyers search and the questions in the comments, so your pitch leads with numbers.
How to become a UGC creator, the data route
A UGC creator films product videos that a brand posts or runs as ads. The brand pays for the video, not for your followers. So the way in is a pitch that shows you know the product's buyers better than the next creator does.
Lots of people are asking how to start. "how to be ugc creator" drew 212,836 searches in the 7 days to 8 October 2026, and its 30-day curve read 212,835 that day, the highest point of the month. "how to be a ugc creator", worded slightly differently, drew 75,262 with no matching videos.
| Search | 7-day searches | Videos |
|---|---|---|
| upwork for ugc creators | 292,453 | 0 |
| ugc content creator examples | 287,171 | 1,151 |
| how to be ugc creator | 212,836 | 1,159 |
| ugc creators needed | 157,552 | 156 |
| ugc creator needed | 150,445 | 0 |
| ugc agencies for creators | 142,214 | 128 |
| how to be a ugc creator | 75,262 | 0 |
| beginner ugc creator | 60,005 | 168 |
Global searches in 7 days to 8 October 2026, TikTok Creator Search Insights. Tinted rows have no matching videos.
Which TikTok searches about UGC jobs in [your niche] have high demand and few or no videos? Show 7-day searches and video counts.
Check your nichePick a category where brands already pay creators
Start where money is already moving. We asked TikTok for the past month's top "collagen" videos. 12 of the 20 it returned were posted between 8 September and 8 October 2026, with a median of 171,250 views. 4 of those 12 carry TikTok's ad label and link a TikTok Shop product.
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Cevitol
2 ad posts in September from one creator with 112,300 followers, both linking a Marine Collagen product on TikTok Shop: 215,200 and 15,800 views.
The two Cevitol accounts tagged had 576 and 64 followers, and the smaller one's bio asks for affiliate partners.
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Vital Proteins
A Shop video on 13 September from a creator with 16,400 followers, linking Vital Proteins Collagen Water.
3 of the top 20 "collagen powder" videos come from creators naming the brand, and its own Prime Day posts carry #VitalPartner.
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Noble Nature
Tagged in a 368,400-view video from May 2026 by a creator with 51,900 followers, captioned as a warning to watch before you buy collagen.
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Ancient Nutrition
Tagged in a 1.5 million view review from 2023 that still ranks for "collagen powder". The caption sends viewers to the brand's TikTok Shop.
TikTok video search for "collagen" (past month) and "collagen powder", public data pulled 8 October 2026. Creators are described, not named.
The fourth ad-labelled video, a Shop listing from an account with 67,900 followers, reached 1.6 million views. Brands in a category like this are paying creators now, so it is a good place to aim a first pitch.
Which brands in [your niche] got TikTok creator videos in the last month? List each video with its views, saves, ad label and any TikTok Shop product it links.
Find active brandsThe hooks and formats that sell collagen powder
Before you film a sample, copy the shapes that already work. These are creator videos from TikTok's top 20 for "collagen powder", with views, saves and the opening the creator chose. The median across all 20 was 20,950 views.
| Format, opening, creator | Views | Saves |
|---|---|---|
| Hindsight testimonial. Opens on what the creator wishes someone had said in their early 20s. 137 seconds. 17,400 followers | 2,100,000 | 92,100 |
| Reply to a viewer's comment, tagging Ancient Nutrition. 106 seconds, from 2023. 1.4M followers | 1,500,000 | 36,300 |
| Love-it testimonial, tagging Vital Proteins. 94 seconds, from 2025. 109,000 followers | 540,700 | 5,157 |
| Warning before you buy, tagging Noble Nature: "You need to see this before you think about buying collagen". 34 seconds. 51,900 followers | 368,400 | 980 |
| Sourcing review of Vital Proteins: "Not all collagen is created equal". 42 seconds. 7,670 followers | 207,200 | 1,233 |
| Side-by-side comparison of the most popular collagen powders. 82 seconds. 194,100 followers | 28,000 | 180 |
TikTok video search for "collagen powder", top 20, pulled 8 October 2026. Openings come from captions and TikTok's own subtitles.
Followers did not decide reach here, and personal stories drew the saves. For more formats with their numbers, see our UGC examples from TikTok search.
Show the top 20 TikTok videos for [product type] with views, saves, length and creator followers, and the opening line of each where TikTok has captions.
Study the hooksCollagen powder searches, 7 days
has videos no matching videos
Pitch with the phrases buyers type
A pitch that says "I love your product" gives a brand nothing to check. A number from TikTok's own search data does. Two Vital Proteins phrasings drew 250,925 and 242,927 searches in a week, and the second has only 156 videos behind it.
The gaps are sharper. "neocell collagen protein powder" drew 287,071 searches with no matching videos. "collagen peptide powder before vs after" drew 117,735, also with none.
People searched "neocell collagen protein powder" 287,071 times on TikTok last week, and no video matches that phrase. I can film the one that does.
Who searches "Best collagen"
Shares of TikTok's panel of searchers for "Best collagen", last 30 days, TikTok Creator Search Insights.
How many people search TikTok for [brand name] and [product type]? Show 7-day searches and video counts, flag searches with no videos, and show who searches.
Get pitch numbersThe questions a UGC video can answer
Comments are a script. We read the 50 top comments on the 1.5 million view review that tagged Ancient Nutrition. Buyers asked things a product page rarely answers.
The most-liked comment, at 4,737 likes, thanked the creator for saying Nestle owns Vital Proteins. Four were about taste or texture, including "How does it taste?". Three asked about pregnancy, such as "Can you have this while pregnant?". One asked "is this genuine or a paid partnership?"
So a sample video for a collagen brand should show the first sip, say what it tastes like, and disclose the partnership plainly. Health questions such as pregnancy belong with a doctor, and your video can say so.
Themes in 50 top comments
- 7Other brands, bone broth and alternatives
- 5Who owns the brand
- 4Taste and texture
- 3Pregnancy and prenatal use
- 2Heavy metals and side effects
- 2What the drink in the video is
- 1Is this a paid partnership
Top 50 comments by TikTok's ranking, pulled 8 October 2026. Some comments fit no theme.
Pull the top comments on [video link] and list the questions buyers ask about the product, grouped by theme with counts.
Mine the commentsCheck what the brand posts before you pitch
A brand's own account tells you what it is missing. Vital Proteins has 66,922 followers. Its last 19 posts, from 11 June to 30 September 2026, had a median of 1,582 views and 6 saves. The best reached 62,000.
Those posts are recipes, Prime Day deals and a tennis sponsorship. Creator videos that name the brand sit far higher: 540,700 views on a testimonial, and 207,200 on a sourcing review from an account with 7,670 followers. That review was critical, and it still reached about 131 times the brand's median.
That gap is your pitch. Show the brand its own median next to what creator videos about its product reach.
Show the last 20 TikTok posts from [brand handle] with views and saves, then the top creator videos that name the brand.
Audit a brandViews: Vital Proteins vs creators
- 1,582Brand's median post
- 62,000Brand's best post
- 207,200Creator review
- 540,700Creator testimonial
Set up your kit: where TokConnect fits
| Job | Where it lives |
|---|---|
| Brands getting creator videos, hooks, saves, searches, comments | TokConnect, as a chat or inside the AI assistant you already use |
| Portfolio site and sample reels | Your own site or a portfolio tool |
| Rates and contracts | Your rate card; see TikTok influencer rates for 2026 benchmarks |
| Brand contacts, budgets and private ad results | Not in TokConnect: it reads public TikTok only |
Building the rest of the pitch? How to get brand deals on TikTok covers media kits. Selling as a TikTok Shop affiliate instead of filming for a fee? See TikTok for affiliates.
Questions new UGC creators ask
What should a UGC portfolio include?
Three to five sample videos in the formats brands buy, for one product category, with views and saves where you have them. In our collagen powder pull, a hindsight testimonial was saved by 4.39% of viewers and a 42-second sourcing review reached 207,200 views from an account with 7,670 followers. Add one line per sample on the buyer question it answers.
How do I pitch a brand as a UGC creator?
Lead with a number the brand has not seen. TokConnect returns TikTok's 7-day search counts for a brand and its product phrases in one table, with video counts. "neocell collagen protein powder" drew 287,071 searches in a week with no matching videos, which turns a pitch into a specific video idea.
Which product category should a new UGC creator start with?
One where brands are paying creators right now. Look at the past month's top videos in the category for TikTok's ad label and linked Shop products. For collagen, 4 of the 12 top videos posted in the month to 8 October 2026 had both.
How can I tell if a brand works with UGC creators?
Check its own posts for partner hashtags such as #VitalPartner, then search creator videos that tag it with an ad label. Some brands have small accounts of their own: the two Cevitol accounts had 576 and 64 followers, while one creator's ad-labelled post for a Marine Collagen product reached 215,200 views in September 2026.
How we got these numbers
We pulled public TikTok data through TokConnect on 8 October 2026:
search_topicsfor "ugc creator", "collagen" and "collagen powder" (20 records each);search_videosfor "collagen powder" (top 20) and "collagen" (past month, 20 videos);video_transcriptfor two videos, from TikTok's own subtitles;user_profilefor Vital Proteins and two Cevitol accounts, andcreator_postsfor Vital Proteins' last 19 posts;video_comments(50 top comments) on the 1.5 million view review;audience_demographicsfor "Best collagen" andsearch_popularityfor "how to be ugc creator" (30 days).
Search counts are TikTok's global 7-day search popularity from Creator Search Insights. Every phrase quoted is under 1 million searches and treated as a typed search; TikTok's grouped labels, such as "UGC portfolio and creator websites", and Roblox item topics that share the word "ugc" are left out. Brands are named; individual creators are described, not named. Open the data.