A usable UGC creator brief answers six questions before you pick up a camera: what the ad is for, who it should reach, what you must say and must never say, what evidence sits behind each claim, which technical specs each placement needs, and how approval and revisions will work. Most briefs leave at least one of those open. Below is an annotated example brief, an intake checklist to run against any brief you receive, a clarification email you can copy, and the questions to ask when a brief contains claims that need proof.
An example brief, annotated
Here is a typical short brief for a stainless steel lunch box, with each line followed by what it leaves out. The brand is fictional; the gaps are common.
| Brief section | What the brand wrote | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Objective | “Drive back-to-school sales.” | Is this a conversion ad to warm audiences, or awareness to new ones? The hook and call to action depend on it. |
| Audience | “Busy parents.” | Which countries and platforms? That decides the ad policies and disclosure rules that apply. |
| Deliverables | “One video plus a few alternate hooks.” | How many hooks exactly, which lengths, and do you want raw footage? |
| Mandatory claims | “Leak-proof. Plastic-free. Keeps food fresh until lunch.” | What evidence supports each, under what conditions, and is there approved wording? |
| Do-not-say list | “Don't mention competitors.” | Anything on prices, health, safety for children or environmental benefits? |
| Specs | “Vertical, captions on.” | Which placements, burned-in captions or a clean file as well, and any brand fonts or colours? |
| Usage | “Paid social.” | For how long, in which territories, and will ads run from your handle? |
| Approvals | “Brand to approve.” | Script first or final cut only, how many revision rounds, and how long is the feedback window? |
| Disclosure | Not mentioned | Will any version post on your account? If so, it needs an ad label and the platform's paid partnership setting. |
The “plastic-free” line is the one most likely to cause trouble. Lids and seals are often made of other materials, and an environmental claim that is not accurate for the whole product can mislead. Vague green claims are one of the things the ACCC singles out, as the next sections show.
Brief intake checklist
Run every brief against this list before you quote or schedule a shoot. Anything you cannot tick goes into the clarification email.
- Objective: awareness, consideration or conversion, and the single action the viewer should take.
- Audience: countries, platforms, and any age limits on who can see the ad.
- Product facts: what it is, how it is used, what it is not for, and whether a sample will arrive in time to use it properly.
- Mandatory claims: the exact wording, the evidence, and whether each claim is the brand's statement or meant to sound like your experience.
- Do-not-say list: competitors, prices, medical or financial language, safety claims and any words the brand's legal team has banned.
- Deliverables: number of videos, hooks, lengths, aspect ratios, photos, raw files and project files.
- Specs per placement: safe zones, caption style, text limits and file format for each platform.
- Approvals: who signs off, at which stage, the number of revision rounds and how long each feedback window lasts.
- Usage: channels, territories, term, edit rights and whether ads will run from your handle.
- Disclosure: which versions post on your own account and how they will be labelled.
- Logistics: product delivery date, returns, props and who pays for them.
- People: anyone else appearing on camera, and the release they will need to sign.
Specs worth confirming per placement
“Vertical” is not a spec. Meta's Ads Guide lists design specifications and technical requirements for each format and placement, including dimensions, file sizes and character limits, and its pages differ between feed, Stories and Reels. TikTok's in-feed ad specifications recommend vertical 9:16 video at 540*960px or more for non-Spark ads, note that ad captions there cannot include clickable links, @ mentions or hashtags, and say Spark Ads take their caption from the original post. Ask which placements the brand is buying, then check each against the platform's current page rather than a spec sheet from an old campaign.
Two specs change how you shoot, not just how you export. If on-screen text has to survive the interface, keep it inside the safe zone; our Reels safe zone guide shows where. And if the brand plans to run your organic post as a Spark Ad, the caption you write becomes the ad caption, so it needs the same care as the script.
Claims-substantiation questions
The ACCC's guidance on false or misleading claims says claims about a product's value, benefits, qualities or performance must be accurate, truthful and based on reasonable grounds, that it makes no difference whether a business meant to mislead, and that premium claims such as non-toxic, cruelty-free or recyclable must be provable and specific. Use these questions whenever a brief contains a claim.
- What evidence supports this claim: a test report, a certification, a standard, or a regulator's approval?
- Under what conditions is it true? Leak-proof with which lid, filled how, carried how?
- Is the claim true of the whole product, or only part of it, such as the body but not the seal?
- Is any comparison fair, and against what exactly?
- Are prices, discounts and offer dates genuine, and are conditions on anything described as free shown clearly?
- Is the product a therapeutic good, such as a supplement, sunscreen or device? If so, the TGA's social media advertising guidance applies, and paid creators cannot give testimonials about how it worked for them.
- Is a claim about the future, such as results after a period of use? The ACCC says predictions need reasonable grounds at the time they are made.
- Is this line written as my personal experience? If so, will I have had that experience before the shoot?
- Who at the brand has approved the claim wording, and can I have that approval in writing?
Question eight matters more than it looks. In the US, the FTC's questions and answers on its reviews and testimonials rule say a business should not supply testimonial text without a reasonable basis to believe it is true of the person saying it, and in Australia the ACCC has warned brands that scripts should never require influencers to misrepresent their experience. Our guides to the FTC disclosure rules and Australian disclosure rules cover what that means for the finished post.
Clarification email template
Send one email with every question, numbered, so the brand can answer in one reply. Adapt the wording to the gaps your checklist found.
Subject: A few questions on the [brand] brief before I film
Hi [name], thanks for the brief for [product]. Before I start, could you confirm the points below so the first cut lands where you want it?
- Is this video for awareness, consideration or conversion, and where will it run: as a paid ad, on your organic channels, on my account, or a mix?
- For [claim A] and [claim B], could you send the supporting evidence or your approved wording? I will present them as your claims unless I have experienced them myself.
- Beyond competitors, is there anything else I should avoid, such as prices, health wording or safety claims?
- Which placements and aspect ratios do you need, and would you like a version without burned-in captions?
- Do you want to approve a script first, how many revision rounds are included, and how long is each feedback window?
- Which channels, territories and term does the usage cover, and will you need permission to run ads from my handle?
- If any version goes on my account, I will add an ad label and switch on the platform's paid partnership setting. Does that work for your team?
Once I have these I will confirm the delivery date. Thanks, [your name]
Keep the brand's reply with the brief. It becomes the record of what was agreed if a later revision request quietly changes the scope, and it is the first thing to forward if an approver who never saw the brief objects to a claim you were told to include. If the answers add deliverables, widen the usage or move the deadline, update your quote before you film rather than absorbing the extra work, and get the new figure accepted in writing.
Where the brief ends and the contract begins
A brief describes the work; it is not the deal. Payment terms, usage, ownership, exclusivity, cancellation and late fees belong in a written agreement, and if the brief and the contract disagree, you want to know before you film. Our UGC rates worksheet lists the contract checkpoints to tie back to your quote, and the content rights release checklist covers paperwork for anyone else who appears on camera.
Some answers should end the job. A brand that refuses to share evidence for a health or safety claim, insists on a testimonial you cannot honestly give, or asks you to hide that the content is paid is asking you to carry its legal risk. If the brief arrived through a marketplace, its terms may already decide rights and revisions; our guide to UGC creator jobs compares those defaults. When the brief checks out, the UGC hook bank helps you match openings to the objective you have just confirmed.
Limitations of this checklist
This checklist helps you find gaps; it cannot tell you whether a brand's evidence is good enough, and that judgement belongs to the brand and its advisers. The guidance cited is Australian and US, platform specifications change often, and other countries have their own advertising rules. Regulated products such as medicines, supplements, financial products, alcohol and anything for children carry rules beyond this page, so ask for the brand's compliance sign-off in writing and get legal advice before accepting claims you are unsure about.