Quick answer: A content creator brief is one page that tells a creator what to make and leaves them free to decide how. It covers the product in customer language, where the video will run, three key points at most, what must and must not be said, one or two tone references, specs and deadline, and one line handing the hook and wording to the creator. Copy the template below, fill in the brackets, and send it with the booking.
When a brand is unhappy with delivered UGC, the cause is usually the brief. Too vague and the creator guessed wrong. Too controlling and the video sounds like a press release read aloud. A good brief is one page that makes guessing unnecessary and scripting by committee impossible. Here is the template first, then the reasoning behind each line.
The brief template (copy and paste)
Brand and product: [Brand name], [product name]. [Link to product page]
Who it is for: [The customer in one sentence, e.g. "commuters who forget to drink water at work"]
The problem it solves best: [One sentence, in the customer's words]
Where this will run: [Organic on our accounts / paid ads / both]. Platforms: [TikTok, Instagram, Meta ads, YouTube Shorts]
Usage rights: [Organic only / paid ads for X days / other, as agreed in the order]
Key points (three at most):
1. [Point one]
2. [Point two]
3. [Point three]
Must include: [Exact claim wording where compliance matters, discount code, product shown in use]
Must not include: [Competitor names, claims we cannot back up, banned words]
Disclosure: [If posted on the creator's own account: label it as an ad the way the platform and local rules require]
Tone references: [One or two links to videos with the feel we want, from any brand]
What worked before: [Our best hook so far, if we have one]
Deliverables: [Number] videos, [length] seconds, [9:16 vertical], captions [on/off], raw footage [yes/no]
Deadline: [X] days from the day the product arrives
Revisions: [Number] rounds, for anything this brief asked for and the video missed
Yours to decide: The hook, the wording and the edit. Make it sound like you.
Every line maps to one of the seven parts explained below. If a line does not apply, delete it rather than leaving the brackets in.
A filled-in example
Here is the same template completed for a made-up product, so you can see the level of detail that works. It is short on purpose.
Brand and product: Example Bottle Co., a 750 ml insulated steel bottle. [link]
Who it is for: Office workers who mean to drink more water and forget.
The problem it solves best: Water stays cold all day, so you actually finish it.
Where this will run: Paid ads on Meta and TikTok, and organic on our Instagram.
Usage rights: Paid ads for 90 days, organic with no end date, as agreed in the order.
Key points:
1. Still cold after a full workday.
2. Fits a car cup holder.
3. Dishwasher safe lid.
Must include: The bottle on a real desk, the code FIELD15.
Must not include: Other bottle brands, health claims about hydration.
Disclosure: Not posted on your account, so none needed from you.
Tone references: [two links]
What worked before: "I tested this against my old bottle for a week" beat every other hook we ran.
Deliverables: 2 videos, 20 to 30 seconds, 9:16, captions on, raw footage yes.
Deadline: 7 days from the day the bottle arrives.
Revisions: 1 round, for anything this brief asked for and the video missed.
Yours to decide: The hook, the wording and the edit. Make it sound like you.
What each part does
1. The product, in customer language
What it is, who it is for, and the one problem it solves best. Attach the product page link. Skip the internal positioning deck: the creator needs the customer's view, not the boardroom's.
2. The destination
Organic post, paid ad, or both, and on which platforms. This single line changes how the creator films (hooks that work as ads, where captions sit, aspect ratio) and decides which usage rights you need to buy. A brief that leaves it out is setting up a surprise in the negotiation.
3. Three key points, maximum
The messages the video must land. Three, not eight. An overloaded brief produces a cluttered video. If you have eight points, you have three videos.
4. Required and forbidden
Required: exact claim wording where compliance matters, mandatory mentions, discount codes. Forbidden: competitor mentions, claims you cannot back up (especially health and finance), words your legal team has banned. Creators cannot respect rules they were never told.
If the creator posts on their own account, the brief should also say how the post is labelled as an ad. The rules differ by market: in the US, see the FTC rules for UGC creators; in the UK, the ASA's influencer guide; in the UAE, creators publishing advertising content, paid or not, need an advertiser permit.
5. Tone references
One or two links to videos with the feel you want, from any brand. "Casual like this, energy like that" says more than three paragraphs of adjectives.
6. Specs and logistics
Length, aspect ratio, captions on or off, raw files or edited only, deadline, and how the product reaches the creator. Start the deadline from the day the product arrives, not the order date, or a slow courier eats the creator's filming time.
7. What you are not prescribing
Say it in writing: "Hook and wording are yours. Make it sound like you." This is the sentence that separates direction from micromanagement, and it is where the performance lives: the creator's natural voice is what you are paying for.
The three briefing mistakes that cause reshoots
- The full script, written by marketing. If every word is prescribed, you have hired an actor for a commercial, and it will perform like one. Prescribe claims, not sentences.
- The vibe-only brief. "Just be authentic! Have fun with it!" contains no decisions and hands your strategy to a stranger.
- Feedback as a moving target. If round two adds requirements the brief never mentioned, that is a new order, and fair brands treat it as one. Revision rounds fix brief misses, not brief changes.
Brief once, reuse it
Save the template and every future campaign becomes a fill-in exercise. It also keeps multi-creator campaigns consistent: the same brief to five creators gives you five takes on one strategy, and your ad account picks the winner. The rest of that workflow, including rates and vetting, is in how to hire UGC creators, and current prices are in UGC rates for the US, UK and Gulf.
Send the brief with the booking. On InfluencerMetric the brief travels with the order and payment sits in escrow, so scope and money are settled before filming starts.
Find UGC creatorsFAQ
What is a content creator brief?
A one-page document a brand sends a creator before filming. It sets the product, audience, where the content will run, key points, rules, specs and deadline, and leaves the hook and wording to the creator.
How long should a UGC brief be?
One page. Attach links for depth instead of adding paragraphs.
Should I write a script for the creator?
No. Give key points and the exact wording only for claims that have to be exact. A creator reading your copy word for word makes the video look like an ad, which is the thing UGC is meant to avoid.
Should the creator see performance data from past ads?
Yes, if you have it. "Our best hook so far was X" is the most useful sentence a brief can contain.
Can I send the same brief to several creators?
Yes. That is the usual way to test: their different takes on the same brief are the experiment.
