For brands
A UGC brief template for apps
Updated · 5 min read · By Yap Factory
The short answer
A good UGC brief fits on one page. It tells the creator who the app is for, the one problem it solves, three openings to try, the two or three things they must say, what not to say, and exactly what to deliver: length, format, deadline and ad rights.
Leave the words to the creator. A brief that scripts every line gets you a video that looks like an ad, which is the thing UGC is meant to avoid.
What a brief is for
A creator is good at one thing you aren’t: talking to a phone camera the way people talk to friends. A brief gives them the few facts they can’t guess (who the app is for, what it does, what must be said and what mustn’t) and leaves the delivery to them.
Everything else in the brief is there to prevent a surprise: the wrong length, a claim you can’t make, a video you can’t legally run as an ad. Each surprise costs you a revision round and a few days.
The template
Copy these twelve lines into a doc and fill them in. The example is a made-up habit tracker called Pebble.
| Line | What to write | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The app | What to writeOne sentence: what it does, for whom. | ExamplePebble is a habit tracker for people who quit every habit app after a week. |
| 2. The viewer | What to writeWho is watching, and what they already feel. | ExampleStudents and young professionals who feel guilty about their screen time. |
| 3. The problem | What to writeThe moment it hurts, in their words. | Example“I download a habit app, tick things off for five days, then forget it exists.” |
| 4. Openings | What to writeThree first lines to try (the hook). The creator films each one. | Example“I’ve deleted every habit app except this one.” · “POV: day 14 and the streak is still alive.” · “This app guilt-trips me in the best way.” |
| 5. What to say | What to writeTwo or three must-say points. No more. | ExampleIt’s one tap a day. Streaks are shared with one friend. It’s free to start. |
| 6. What to show | What to writeThe screen or moment that proves it. | ExampleScreen-record ticking a habit and the friend’s streak updating. |
| 7. Don’ts | What to writeClaims, words and things to keep out. | ExampleNo “#1 habit app”. No health promises. Don’t name other apps. |
| 8. Call to action | What to writeThe last line, word for word if it matters. | Example“It’s free on iPhone. Link’s in the caption.” |
| 9. Deliverables | What to writeVideos, length, format, openings, captions. | Example2 videos, 20–40 seconds, vertical 9:16, 3 openings each, no burned-in captions. |
| 10. Ad rights and deadline | What to writeWhere you’ll use it, for how long, and when it’s due. | ExampleOur TikTok and Instagram, plus paid ads for 3 months. Due Friday 10 October, 17:00 BST. |
| 11. Example video | What to writeOne video whose tone you like. | ExampleA link to one creator’s app review you liked. |
| 12. App access | What to writeHow the creator gets in. | ExampleA free-premium code, sent the day the deal starts. |
Lines 1 to 8 are the creative half: they tell the creator what to make. Lines 9 to 12 are the deal: they tell the creator what they’re agreeing to. Keep them apart, and agree the deal before anyone films.
Writing openings
The opening is the first line of the video, the part that decides whether anyone watches the rest. Good openings for apps tend to do one of four things:
- Say the surprising result: “This app got me reading 20 minutes a day.”
- Name the viewer: “If you’ve quit every budgeting app, watch this.”
- Start mid-story: “Day 14 and I still haven’t broken the streak.”
- Admit a flaw: “I’m terrible at habits. This is the only app that stuck.”
Ask for three openings on the same body. It costs the creator a few extra takes, and it gives you three versions to test as ads. The first seconds carry most of the weight: Meta found up to 47% of a video campaign’s value is delivered in the first three.
Mistakes that cost a revision round
- A script, word for word. It reads as an ad. Give the points, not the lines.
- Ten must-says. A 30-second video holds two or three. Pick them.
- No app access. A creator who can’t use the app can’t show it. Send access the day the deal starts.
- A vague format. “Short” means 15 seconds to one person and 60 to another. Give a range.
- New asks at review. A note that wasn’t in the brief is a new brief. Put everything in before filming.
- Forgetting ad rights. Running a video as a paid ad usually costs extra. Agree it up front, not after the video does well.
Briefs on Yap Factory
On Yap Factory the brief is one page in two halves, the same as the template. The deal half (videos, openings, rate band, ad rights and deadline) becomes a fixed offer the creator accepts as written. The creative half (opening lines, what to say, do’s and don’ts, call to action) is what they film from.
Creators read the brief before they say yes, so there are no surprises after filming. You review a watermarked draft, and 3 revision rounds are included, one note each. A round can be a full re-record.
Questions
How long should a UGC brief be?
Should I give the creator a script?
How many openings should I ask for?
What should the creator deliver?
Do I need to label the video as an ad?
Your first app video from about £15 ($18), all in.
Yap Factory finds the creators, holds your payment until you approve the draft, and handles the contract. No subscription.
Sources
Checked 27 September 2026. Prices change; follow the links for the latest.