How to find UGC creators and match them to a brief

Start with the buyer, not the creator

The usual mistake is to open with a follower number, which says nothing about whether a creator's viewers would ever buy from you. Start one step earlier. Write two or three sentences about the buyer: who they are, what problem they have and what they already watch.

A brand selling ergonomic chairs might write: 'Remote workers who sit all day, care about back pain and like a tidy home office.' Now you can look for creators whose content already lives near that problem.

Where to look

Most brands combine a few sources. Whichever you use, keep one running list with each creator's handle, niche and where you found them, so a good find is not lost in a browser tab.

• Your own customers. The most credible voices you have, though there are rarely enough of them.
• Platform search. Searching a category term on TikTok or Instagram surfaces active creators. It costs hours, not money.
• Creator marketplaces. Pools you can filter instead of scroll, including the platforms' own. Our resource directory describes two.
• Referrals. Creators you already trust usually know others in the same niche.

Match on size, industry and niche

Three filters turn a long list into a short one. Use all three together.

• Size. A choice between reach and closeness. If you will run the video from your own ad account, on-camera skill matters more than audience size.
• Industry. Keeps you in the right lane. A kitchen-gadget reviewer has viewers who expect kitchen content.
• Niche. The sharpest filter and the one most often skipped. 'Home bakers who make sourdough' is a niche. 'Food' is not.

Vet before you brief

Watch several recent videos from each creator, not only the most viewed one. Then brief a small group clearly instead of a large group vaguely. Variety is the point, so one creator is rarely enough.

• Do they speak naturally on camera, or read?
• Do their openings earn attention?
• Are light, sound and framing clean, and is the video vertical?
• Do the people in the comments look like your buyer?
• Have they labeled past brand work properly?

Where Link AI fits

All of this can be done by hand, at the cost of hours before a single brief goes out. Link AI by Linkme is our pick for shortening that part. Per Linkme, you say who you want to reach in plain words, and Link searches the creators on Linkme, picks them by size, industry and niche, then sends your brief.

On that description, your time moves from finding creators to judging them. We still recommend running the vetting checklist on whoever it matches. Book a demo to try Link AI and compare its picks with your own shortlist.

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