- Kelly Rocklein has been a creative director and user-generated content creator for over nine years.
- I worked 10-15 hours a week and made over $100,000 in 2022 creating UGC for clients.
- She is also currently a UGC coach on TikTok, providing coaching, newsletters and other resources.
This so-called essay is based on a conversation with Kelly Locklineis a 28 year old user generated content creator from Bend, Oregon. An insider confirmed her earnings in her paperwork. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I’m a creative director and work part time as a user generated content (UGC) creator. UGC is a misnomer in digital marketing because it’s actually user-generated content combined with a creative strategy that works for the client. There are two types of UGC. Organic grows its followers by posting on the brand’s feed. Paid media is a concept launched as advertising that generates sales. I specialize in paid media.
I dropped out of college in 2015 to pursue UGC, video editing, and creative strategy. I am completely self-taught and over the past 9 years have worked with his 500+ brands in fashion, skincare, makeup, health, technology and consumer packaged goods.
I charge between $500 and $2,000 per concept because my concepts drive sales directly. My top 2 UGC ads for her one of my clients have made over $10 million. In 2022, he worked 15 hours a week, up from 10, and throughout the year he took more than 6 weeks off while earning over $100,000 on the side of UGC. I can only work a fraction of the time as I have built my business to the point where I no longer have to do cold outreach. All current clients are referrals.
I started UGC and video editing as a hobby in 2014
Rock Rain making content.
Miranda Kelton photo
At the time, I didn’t know the term UGC and simply called it content creation. I didn’t understand the term, but I went to the company and got used to the creative strategy I’ve been doing all along. In September 2015, I took a gap year because I wanted to turn my hobby into my career. I told myself that if I didn’t do well with the annual markers, I would go back to school.
Between then and May 2016, I worked part-time, lived at home, and built my UGC portfolio. I thought the only way I would get hired was if I had an attractive portfolio for the brands I wanted to work with. , created a sample concept.
In less than eight months, we secured our first client and could afford to move. In the summer of 2016, Creative moved to LA to build his professional marketing career.
In the fall of 2018, after working as a creative contractor until then, I started working full time as a senior direct response video editor for a digital marketing agency. In the summer of 2020, he started working at a new agency, and in the fall of 2021, he became the creative director of a direct-to-consumer brand, building a UGC business in parallel.
Make UGC ads feel natural
My UGC concept is published as an ad, but it makes me feel like your friend posted it. It revolves around the direct response formula, which is
Follow up by telling a problem your audience may have faced and explaining how this product is the solution. I’ll take the value proposition, or what I call the ‘unique selling point’, that sets the product apart from other competitors. For example, if there are already 1 million lotions on the market, what is the uniqueness of this lotion?
Sprinkle in some extra social proof too. For example, if your product has over 100,000 verified 5-star reviews, you might say, “It goes without saying, we’ve received over 100,000 verified 5-star reviews. How many of you can’t be wrong! will say.
I always end with a call to action, or CTA. It’s as simple as “get it now for only $x!” Or “click on link for special offer” works.
these elements read script Or incorporate TikTok’s native trends (like “Get Ready with Me” videos) and incorporate marketing best practices to increase your chances of more conversions. My other services include script writing at $100 per script (which takes about 15 minutes) and whitelisting where clients charge $500/month to run my ads. Facebook and Instagram.
When I started, there were few helpful resources
YouTube was really the only free resource. At the time, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack for the right tutorial.did the troubleshooting adobe premier pro For years it was arduous at first. The more I practiced, the better I got.
Before reaching out to brands, we researched their current ads, their competitors, and what they did better and worse than their competitors. Contractors intend to be the solution to internal problems that brands may be facing, so they see themselves as a solution to the problems revealed during the brand market analysis. Since the beginning of 2020, my efforts have begun to bear fruit. That year I cleared just under $20,000. In 2021, he doubled that, earning nearly $40,000, and in 2022, he broke through six figures.
Working full-time at a reputable digital marketing agency exposed me to many brands in a short period of time, speeding up the learning curve and making me a stronger marketer. Now, he’s a full-time creative director for just one brand and a freelance UGC creator that keeps me sharp.
I’ve been watching overt UGC hoaxes circulating on TikTok, so in June 2022, I created an account It helps reset expectations and share industry best practices. People kept asking questions, which quickly grew into people asking for additional resources. One-on-one coaching, newsletter writing, portfolio audits, and morelaunched in August 2022.
You don’t need a college degree to be successful
One thing I’ve learned is that it doesn’t matter where you went to college or whether you have a degree, it’s all about your portfolio and case studies. will hire someone who shows In marketing, brands want to see case studies that feature return on ad spend.
As a UGC creator, you should be aware of the latest social trends and marketing nuances. Once you start doing this, you become an entrepreneur and not for the underdog. Founder melancholy is real. Rejection hurts. Ads don’t always perform poorly. It’s business. Depending on what you choose to do after those gut punches, you can distinguish between a UGC creator who gave up after two weeks and one who’s making her four- to five-figure earnings a month.
