UGC ads
Run UGC ads with real creators, paid on results
UGC ads are paid ads made from videos real creators film. Hire the creator on Socialync, run the video from your handle or theirs on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, and pay a commission on what it drives. The ad budget stays in your own Meta or TikTok ad account.
What are UGC ads?
A UGC ad is a paid ad built from a video a real creator films in their own voice: a review to camera, an unboxing, a demo. It runs through Meta or TikTok ads like any other creative, and it reads like a post from a person. Brands run them from their own handle, as a partnership ad from the creator's handle, or as a Spark Ad on TikTok.
Example: Ads deal
The review, from your handle
A skincare brand pays a creator to film a 30 second morning routine with its serum. The creator delivers the file. The brand runs it as a Reels and TikTok ad from its own account.
Example: Whitelisting deal
The unboxing, as a partnership ad
A meal kit company runs a creator's unboxing post as a Meta partnership ad. The ad shows the creator's name beside the brand's, and the creator earns a share of the sales it drives.
Example: Whitelisting deal on TikTok
The demo, as a Spark Ad
A cleaning product brand puts ad spend behind a creator's before and after video on TikTok. The ad runs from the creator's handle.
The three brands above are illustrations of each format. For 14 more formats, read UGC examples that worked in 2026.
Three ways to run a UGC ad on Socialync
Your handle, their video
The creator films the video and never posts it. You run it from your own handle and ad account and pay a commission on the results, for as long as the licence runs.
How to run UGC ads, step by step
Partnership ads on Instagram and Facebook
Meta partnership ads run from the creator's own handle, with their permission granted first. You launch the ad into your own Meta ad account from Socialync.
How whitelisting works
Spark Ads on TikTok
Spark Ads put ad spend behind the creator's published TikTok post. You launch it from Socialync, which applies the creator's Spark Ads code to your TikTok ad account. If TikTok does not accept it that way, you paste it once in TikTok Ads Manager.
How Spark Ads work
The permission step and the licence both live on Socialync. For how the three formats differ, read whitelisting vs Spark Ads vs partnership ads.
One clock runs the whole deal
Whitelisting and Ads deals run on a single clock: the licence.
Licence granted
Rights to run the video as an ad for a set number of months, 12 by default, or with no end date if you choose it. Written into the listing before anyone applies.
Licence active
The ad runs on it and the commission runs with it. The brand can end the licence any time, for any reason.
Licence ends
The commission stops, and Socialync pauses the ad it launched into your ad account. You have nothing to switch off by hand.
Every ads campaign needs your ad platform's pixel, Meta's or TikTok's, on the connected ad account, so sales and leads attribute back to the ad that drove them.
Performance-based UGC
Performance-based UGC pays the creator on what the ad does. On Socialync that is the commission on every Whitelisting and Ads deal, set in the listing before anyone applies. There is no base payment at delivery. Pick one goal per campaign:
Sell
A share of attributed sales, from 1% to 50%, or a set amount per sale.
Get leads
An amount per lead. Meta ads only.
Send clicks
An amount per link click. Meta ads only.
Get seen
An amount per 1,000 views.
Commission is uncapped on new deals. It runs for as long as you run ads under the licence, and statements go out weekly, every two weeks or monthly. Results come from your ad platform's own attribution, Meta's or TikTok's. To keep a creator whose ads sell, offer them a monthly retainer.
What UGC ads cost on Socialync
No subscription, and nothing taken from creator pay. Socialync's fee on an ads deal is 1.5% of attributed sales when the commission pays on sales, or 1.25% of ad spend when it pays on leads, clicks or views. One rate per campaign, never both, billed to you monthly. Your ad spend stays in your own ad account.
Paid on sales
10% of sales, and the ads attribute $8,000 in sales in a month. The creator's commission is $800. Socialync's fee is $120.
Paid per lead
$5 per lead on Meta, with $2,000 of ad spend in the month. Socialync's fee is $25.
Trybe UGC lists the same two rates for ads work: 1.5% of attributed sales and 1.25% of ad spend (jointrybe.com, checked October 23, 2026). On flat-fee work Trybe charges 1.5% of creator earnings and Socialync charges 5% on organic jobs: $15 against $50 on $1,000 of creator pay. The differences are in how the work runs. On Socialync you can also run organic jobs, where creators post from their own accounts on eight platforms. Applicants must clear the floor you set on follower counts and average views read from the platform API. You pay the creator directly. Full comparison: Trybe UGC alternatives.
UGC ad platform, agency or in-house
There are three ways to get UGC ads made. A UGC ad platform or marketplace connects you with creators and leaves the ads to you. An agency runs the whole thing. In-house means your team finds, briefs and pays every creator.
| Question | UGC ad platform or marketplace | UGC agency | In-house |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who finds the creator | Creators apply to your job, or you browse profiles, depending on the platform | The agency | Your team, through outreach |
| What you pay | Creator pay plus a subscription, a fee, or both | A package or monthly retainer, often with creator pay included | Creator rates or salaries, plus your team’s time |
| Example price | SideShift UGC: $299 a month, creator pay on top. JoinBrands free plan: 15% added to each creator payment | Insense managed UGC: from $3,500 for 8 video ads from 2 creators, creator cost included | The creator’s rate and no platform fee. Outreach, contracts and payment chasing land on your team |
| Who runs the ads | You, in your own ad account | Often the agency | You |
| Usage rights | Set in the listing or the platform contract | Set in the agency contract | Your own contract with each creator |
| Good fit when | You want to test many creators on a budget you control | You want finished ads and no hiring work | You already work with a few creators |
Prices come from each vendor's own page, checked October 23, 2026: sideshift.app, joinbrands.com and insense.pro.
Socialync sits in the first column as a job board. Creators apply to your campaign, and creators who opted in are also in a directory you can browse and invite from. There is no subscription. Ads deals carry a fee of 1.5% of attributed sales or 1.25% of ad spend, and you pay the creator directly. More named prices are in the where to hire table, and side by side pages are on UGC platform alternatives.
Questions brands ask about UGC ads
What are UGC ads?
Paid ads made from videos real creators film, such as a review to camera, an unboxing or a demo. They run through Meta or TikTok ads from the brand's handle or the creator's.
Is a UGC ad the same as an AI-generated UGC-style ad?
No. Every video on Socialync's job board is filmed by a real creator, and partnership ads and Spark Ads run from that creator's real account.
What is performance-based UGC?
UGC paid on results: a share of attributed sales, or an amount per lead, click or 1,000 views. On Socialync it is the commission on every Whitelisting and Ads deal.
Which platforms can UGC ads run on?
Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
What is whitelisting?
Running a paid ad from the creator's own account, with the creator's permission granted first.
What are Spark Ads?
TikTok's format for running a creator's published post as an ad from their handle. On Socialync you launch it into your own TikTok ad account, and Socialync applies the creator's Spark Ads code for you. If TikTok does not accept it that way, you paste the code once in TikTok Ads Manager.
Who sets the ad budget?
The brand, inside its own Meta or TikTok ads account. Socialync tracks the post and the licence. Your ad spend stays in your own ads account.
Is the commission capped?
No. Commission on new Whitelisting and Ads deals is uncapped. It runs for as long as you run ads under the licence, and you can end the licence any time. When it ends, Socialync pauses the ad it launched for you.
Does Socialync take a cut of the commission?
No. Socialync takes nothing from creator pay. The brand pays Socialync's fee: 1.5% of attributed sales or 1.25% of ad spend.
Do I need a pixel?
Yes. Every ads campaign needs your ad platform's pixel, Meta's or TikTok's, on the connected ad account, so results attribute back to the ad.
Can the ad use a trending sound?
A TikTok or Instagram library sound blocks a paid launch, because those sounds are licensed for personal posts. The creator states the audio source on each draft, and owned or licensed music needs your one-time confirmation before launch.
Creators apply. You run the ads.
You post the campaign, review who applies, and choose. The brand pays the creator directly, and Socialync takes nothing from it.