UGC Engine
setup report

01Engine, not project

The reason most brands fail at UGC is mindset, not tactics.

UGC ≠ influencer marketing

A creator with 500 followers can out-earn one with 500,000 — follower count is recorded in the tracker and ignored everywhere else.

02The only 2 roles

A team structure that runs the whole pipeline without the founder in the loop.

The automated sourcer (shipped 2026-08-14)

• scripts/auto_sourcer.py --brand dawnbands — TikTok creator search (tikwm API behind a Cloudflare solve) → downloads 2–3 recent videos per candidate → Gemini watches and scores them against the brand rubric (1–5, presence / avatar match / setting, strengths + concerns) → writes tracker rows + a shortlist
• Machine does the VA's "watch 3+ videos per profile" grind; Fish only watches the videos of creators that scored ≥3
• First live run: 62 creators found → 5 scored → 4 submitted, top scores 5.0 and 4.5 (both talking-head moms)
• Outreach is NOT automated — DMs stay human. Approve/reject + budgets stay with Fish
• VA job post + screening test remain on file if hiring is ever revisited

03The 7-step approval flow

"This is where most brands fail — get this RIGHT and everything else becomes easy." The order is the point: nothing ships, nobody gets DM'd, until a human watched the videos and set a budget.

• Steps 1–3 never involve contacting a creator
• Sourcer negotiates DOWN from the approved ceiling, never past it
• Batch negotiations 2×/week — instant replies read desperate
• Max 2 follow-ups, then ghosted status and move on
• A creator not in the tracker doesn't exist

04Targets & budget

Steady-state expectations once the cycle is running weekly.

Budget tiers

Daily sourcing targets (VA · 2–3 hrs/day)

Daily schedule: 60 min platform browsing · 45 min video watching (3+ per profile) · 30 min documentation · 15 min Twitter hiring-post check.

05Finding creators

Starting mix: 60–70% paid platforms while the system is unproven, then flip to 70% direct + 30% platforms once the sourcer + vetting flow runs.

Universal hashtags

Search terms

Platform tactics

• TikTok — primary. Creators pre-trained on hooks, pacing, authenticity. Feed Browse Method: search #ugccreator → like what you'd hire → FYP becomes the discovery machine in 1–2 days
• Instagram — second. Same hashtags + terms, lower volume, some IG-exclusive creators, skews aesthetic
• Twitter/X — post-to-attract. Specific posts win: niche + style + budget in the post. Anonymous team profile, never the brand account

Dedicated TikTok sourcing account (VA day 1)

• New account, sourcing only → search #ugccreator, watch 20–30 videos → like hire-worthy creators → follow 10–15 → FYP starts serving UGC
• Personal browsing, random entertainment likes, non-creator follows — every off-topic engagement pollutes the machine

06Paid platform comparison

Use platforms heavier now — pre-vetted talent removes the creator-quality variable while the direct pipeline spins up.

Insense preferred for us — product seeding + Spark Ads fit the Meta-heavy account. Backstage only if we ever need an authority figure (sleep coach / professional type); Senior call, not default.

07Brand sourcing specs

Who the sourcer hunts for. Avatar match is scored, not vibes.

08X hiring posts — ready to fire

Specific beats vague. Always: niche + style + budget + hashtags. Post from an anonymous team profile. Sourcer checks replies daily.

Looking for UGC creators for a sleep/wellness product

• Niche: parenting / wellness
• Creator: moms 33-50, comfortable on camera
• Style: talking head, storytime, day-in-the-life
• Budget: $75-150 per video + free product

DM portfolio + rates 📩

#ugccreator #ugcforhire

Hiring: mom UGC creators

We're a sleep-tech brand looking for:
- Moms of tweens/teens, 33-50
- Natural on camera, real home settings
- Can tell a story like you'd tell a friend

$75-150 per video + free product

Drop your portfolio below
#ugccreator #momugc

Looking for UGC creators for a skincare serum

• Niche: skincare / beauty
• Creator: women 38-55, real skin, natural delivery
• Style: GRWM, talking head, routine content
• Budget: $100-175 per video + free product

DM portfolio + rates 📩

#ugccreator #beautyugc

Quick-post variants + the Novira 40+ specific post live in templates/twitter-hiring-posts.md. Full VA job post: templates/sourcer-job-post.md.

09Tracker

Review surface: UGC Creator Pipeline — Google Sheet (tracker tab = creators, runs tab = one row per daily run). Pipeline appends new rows only — your in-sheet edits to status / budget / notes are never overwritten. Local creator-tracker.csv stays the dedup source of truth. Daily run: launchd 09:00.

Status lifecycle

shortlisted → submitted (Mon batch) → approved / rejected → contacted → negotiating → agreed → shipped → delivered → live → winner / retired
side exits: ghosted (after 2 follow-ups) · declined

Ownership rules

• max_budget is Senior-only, set at approval — the ceiling, not the target
• followers recorded for reference, never a scoring input
• 3 video links minimum, mandatory — no links, no submission
• Rejected rows keep the reason — that's the sourcer's training signal

10Next actions

In sequence. First two run in parallel this week.

1. Fish: review submitted creators in the pipeline sheet (first batch top: @marym_creativestudios 5.0 · @robynnantoncreates 4.5). Watch the linked videos, set status + max budget in the sheet
2. Fish: confirm budget defaults — $75–150/$200 cap DawnBands, $100–175/$250 cap Novira, starter tier $2–3k/mo
3. Fish: put a first 5-video DawnBands brief on Insense — platform lane runs in parallel with the pipeline
4. DONE — daily runs scheduled: launchd com.fish.ugc-sourcer at 09:00 → sourcer → Google Sheet push
5. Module 3 (Vetting & Scoring) upgrades the scoring rubric → two-layer vetting + priority matrix
6. Module 4 (Outreach) adds DM templates + follow-up cadence → templates/

Boundary: this engine ends at "signed creator, product shipped, content collected." Briefing creators — angles, scripts, hooks — stays with the DR-copywriter doctrine.