With UGC you pay for a video you can use in your own ads. With influencer marketing you pay for the influencer’s audience. If you need ads that sell, UGC is usually the better buy, because follower count matters less than people think. Our UGC sits between the two: you get the video with paid-ads rights, plus a post on the creator’s TikTok and Instagram story, starting from $140 per video.
Key takeaways
- UGC = the video. You own the use of it in ads, generally for life.
- Influencer marketing = the audience. You pay for reach on their account, and the price rises with the following.
- Small creators can win on reach too. One of our videos reached about 10,000 views on a 60-follower page.
- Big influencers cost more and license for less: usually 1 year, with a small royalty.
Should you pay an influencer or order UGC? The honest answer depends on whether you need the video or the audience. Here is how the two compare, with the numbers we can share from our work, a worked example, and when each one earns its money. If you’ve decided on UGC, brief our creators.
Finding 1: A 60-follower page reached about 10,000 views
Reach doesn’t belong only to big accounts. A supplement video from our network, filmed in front of the red wall at one of our sister brands’ locations in Balloune, reached about 10,000 organic views on the creator’s own page, which had only 60 followers at the time. It also beat polished studio content for the same brand.
The platforms push videos to people who are likely to watch them, not only to followers. A strong hook from an unknown creator can travel further than a flat post from a famous one.
Practical translation: don’t pay for a following on the assumption that it guarantees views. Pay for it only when the audience itself is what you need.
Finding 2: What you are actually buying
| UGC | Influencer marketing | |
|---|---|---|
| You pay for | The video | Access to the influencer’s audience |
| Main use | Your own ads and channels | A post or story on their account |
| Creator’s following | Matters less than people think | The main thing you pay for |
| Price driver | The creator and how it’s filmed | The size and engagement of the audience |
| Usage in your ads (with us) | Generally for life | With large influencers, usually 1 year plus a small royalty |
| Best for | Ads, testing, steady content | Awareness, launches, credibility with a specific crowd |
Our UGC includes a bit of both. Each video is posted on the creator’s TikTok as a paid partnership with your brand tagged, and shared as an Instagram story. The reach is a bonus. The video is what you’re paying for.
Practical translation: if the brief says “we need ads”, you want UGC. If it says “we need their followers to hear about us”, you want an influencer.
Finding 3: Where the price jumps
UGC with us starts from $140 per video, depending on the creator. A creator with a large following costs a lot more, especially when the video is also posted to their own audience. At that point you are buying reach, and the deal looks like influencer marketing: usage in your ads is usually limited to 1 year, with a small royalty.
That changes the maths. Compare what the same budget buys: one post to a large audience, or several UGC videos you can test as ads and keep running.
Practical translation: price both routes against the same goal. “Cost per post” is the wrong comparison; “cost per video I can run for a year or more” is the right one.
Finding 4: When to pay for an influencer
Influencer marketing earns its price when:
- The audience is the point. A launch or an event where you need a specific community to hear about you this week.
- Credibility transfers. A known face in your niche vouching for you matters more than the video.
- You need awareness, not conversions. Reach is the goal and you’ll measure it as reach.
UGC earns its price when:
- You run paid ads and need fresh videos to test.
- You want steady content, every month, at a price agreed before filming.
- You don’t need the creator’s own audience. We match creators by audience, age and look, so the person on screen looks like your customer.
Practical translation: many brands do both. Influencers for a launch moment, UGC for the ads that run every week after it.
Finding 5: How we keep UGC honest
A few rules keep UGC from turning into a disguised advert:
- Paid partnership labels. The creator’s post is marked as a paid partnership, with your brand tagged.
- No competing brands on the same face. We usually don’t give the same creator to two competing brands.
- Real language. The creator works from your brand kit and guideline, and we help finalise the script so it sounds like them, not like a press release.
Practical translation: don’t try to hide that a video is paid. In our view, a natural video with a clear label beats a fake “organic” post that viewers see through.
A worked example: one budget, two routes
Say a Lebanese skincare brand wants to grow online sales and has a fixed budget for content this month.
Route A: UGC. Five videos, each starting from $140 depending on the creator, with a volume discount possible. Each one comes with paid-ads usage rights, generally for life, a captioned edit, and a post on the creator’s TikTok and Instagram story. The brand runs all five as ads, sees which creator and hook sell, and keeps the winners running for months.
Route B: one large influencer. The brand pays for one post to a big audience. Reach is higher on the day, but the price is much higher than UGC, and with large influencers usage in the brand’s own ads is usually limited to 1 year, with a small royalty.
Neither route is wrong. Route A fits a brand that sells through ads and needs to learn what works. Route B fits a launch where being seen by one community, this week, is the goal.
Practical translation: before you pay either, ask three questions. How many usable videos do I get? How long can I run them as ads? How will I know if it worked?
Three myths that waste budget
Myth 1: “More followers means more sales.” Followers are reach, not persuasion. Follower count matters less than people think; the right creator, the right hook and a product that doesn’t look like a boring ad matter more.
Myth 2: “UGC is just cheap influencer marketing.” It’s a different product. You’re buying a video to run where you choose, not a slot on someone’s page.
Myth 3: “AI influencers make both obsolete.” People want a human touch. A real person with your product is what makes either format believable.
What to do this week
- Write your goal in one line: ads that sell, or an audience that hears about you.
- If it’s ads, plan 3 to 5 UGC videos to test. Our guide to UGC TikTok ads covers formats and hooks.
- If it’s an audience, list the two or three accounts your customers actually follow.
- Compare cost per usable video, not cost per post.
- Send your UGC brief, or look at social media recording in our studio for content on your own channels.
UGC vs influencers: questions
What is the difference between UGC and influencer marketing?
UGC pays for the video; influencer marketing pays for the audience. With UGC you use the video in your own ads. With influencers you pay for a post on their account.
Is UGC cheaper than influencer marketing?
Usually, per usable video. UGC with us starts from $140 per video, depending on the creator. Creators with a large following cost a lot more, especially when they post on their own page.
Does your UGC include a post on the creator’s account?
Yes. Each video goes out on the creator’s TikTok as a paid partnership with your brand tagged, and as an Instagram story.
How long can I use the video?
Generally for life. With large influencers, usage is usually 1 year, with a small royalty.
Can a creator with few followers really get views?
Yes. One of our creators’ videos reached about 10,000 organic views on a page with only 60 followers.
Can I use both UGC and influencers?
Yes, and many brands do. Influencers for a launch moment, when you need a specific community to hear about you, and UGC for the ads that run every week after it.
Written by the StudioLebanon team: a photo, video and UGC studio in Zouk Mosbeh, Lebanon, working with 25 UGC creators and delivering over 80 UGC videos a month.