If you've saved a folder of UGC ads and still don't know what to make, we'd start with the question someone has about your product. If they need to see it work, make a demo. If they're worried about setup, walk them through it. And if you want a customer to recommend it, you need a real customer with something real to say.
That sounds obvious until you're staring at a blank script. It's tempting to borrow an opening like “I wish I'd found this sooner” and fill in your product name. But that line doesn't tell us what the viewer will learn, or whether the person delivering it actually had that experience.
So let's work through eight useful formats and choose the footage each one needs. We'll use a made-up travel mug for a complete example, with a software example along the way. These are illustrative scripts and our production recommendations, not ads we ran or measured winners.
Which format fits the question your buyer is asking?
Here's the short version. You can use the table to choose a direction before writing the script.
| If someone is wondering… | We'd start with… | What we'd want to show |
|---|---|---|
| “Does this solve my problem?” | Problem and solution | The problem and the specific feature that helps |
| “What does it actually do?” | Product demonstration | The actual product doing the job |
| “Will I know how to use it?” | Tutorial | The real steps, in order |
| “Has someone like me used it?” | Customer testimonial | A real customer's experience, with permission |
| “What will arrive?” | Unboxing or first use | The package, included items, and actual handling |
| “What's the catch?” | Objection handling | An answer supported by facts, including the tradeoff |
| “Can it produce this result?” | Before and after | Comparable, substantiated evidence of the change |
| “Where would this fit in my day?” | Use-case story | A familiar situation and an accurate product role |
People use “UGC” to mean a few different things: something a customer made, something a brand paid a creator to make, or an AI-generated video with that casual, creator-style delivery. We're covering those formats here, but we'd be clear about which kind we're making. Similar framing doesn't turn a scripted presenter into a customer.
1. Problem and solution: show why the product helps
This is a useful starting point when the viewer recognizes the problem but hasn't connected it to your product. We'd spend enough time on the problem for them to recognize it, then show the feature that changes what happens.
For our hypothetical mug, imagine someone struggling with a fiddly lid while getting ready to leave. If your actual lid is easier to operate, show the opening and closing action clearly. A line such as “Here's how this lid opens” gives the footage a specific job.
We wouldn't jump straight from a frustrating morning to “This mug changed my life.” That skips the explanation and gives the presenter an experience we may not be able to support. You can make the situation familiar without inventing a customer's story.
For software, the same approach might show a repetitive task followed by the actual feature that reduces the work. Record the feature doing it. Then let the narration explain what we're seeing.
2. Product demonstration: let us see the part we're unsure about
A demo helps when the product page leaves something hard to picture. How does the lid lock? How does the attachment fit? What does the app produce after you press that button?
We'd choose one action and give it a clear view. For the mug, that could mean an overhead shot of the lid being unlocked, opened, closed, and locked again. Keep the moment someone needs to inspect at normal speed; you can trim the pause before it.
And we'd use the actual product for that action. An AI-generated mug opening smoothly may look convincing, but it doesn't show how your mug works. If generation changes the hinge, label, or shape, replace that shot with accurate footage. Our product-photo video guide explains how we'd review generated product shots when you do use them.
3. Tutorial: make the first useful task feel understandable
A tutorial goes a little further than a demo. It shows someone how to get an outcome, so the order of the steps matters.
Let's say you're advertising a scheduling app. We'd record setting the available hours, creating a booking link, and opening the booking page. The script can be as ordinary as: “Choose the hours you want to offer, create your link, and send people to this page.”
That gives the viewer a way to understand the setup. You don't need to tour every setting or claim it takes thirty seconds when you haven't measured that. If a required step was cut out, put it back or explain it.
A real screen recording is the starting point we'd use. You can add a presenter, narration, captions, and close-ups around it. Recreating the interface with AI creates another thing to check before the ad can teach anyone the real workflow.
4. Customer testimonial: let the customer keep their own story
If a customer has a useful experience to share, we'd ask them to describe what they were trying to do, what happened, and anything they'd want another buyer to know. Their answer gives you material to edit. It shouldn't become a script you wish they'd said.
For example, a mug owner might talk about how easy the lid is to clean. Keep the explanation tied to their actual experience. Don't turn that into “Everyone finds it effortless,” or remove the part where they say they wash a component by hand.
Get permission for the intended use and edits, and make the commercial relationship clear where required. If you don't have a customer story, a founder explaining a feature or a straightforward demo is still useful material.
The FTC's reviews and testimonials guidance, checked October 22, 2026, distinguishes an AI avatar from the testimonial it delivers. There's no blanket ban on AI avatars, but a fake underlying experience or a deceptive portrayal can still violate the rules. So we'd use a synthetic presenter to explain verified facts, without scripting personal use that never happened.
5. Unboxing and first use: answer what actually arrives
We'd choose an unboxing when the contents, size, finish, or assembly are part of the buying decision. Lay out what comes with the order and show the details someone would otherwise have to guess from the product photos.
For the mug, that could be the mug, its lid, and the care card. If a carry sleeve is sold separately, keep that distinction visible. Showing a whole collection around the box can accidentally suggest it's all included.
A genuine first reaction needs someone who actually handled the product. You can also film a plain included-items walkthrough without claiming it's anyone's first time. We'd choose whichever helps the buyer, instead of forcing surprise into the script.
6. Objection handling: explain the tradeoff without inventing a skeptic
Sometimes someone understands the product and still has a sensible reason to hesitate. Maybe it's more expensive, takes up space, needs setup, or doesn't fit their existing equipment.
Let's imagine a different product with a replaceable component. We could say: “This version costs more up front. Here's the part you can replace.” Then show the real part being removed and reinstalled, explain what's included, and point to the current replacement price.
We'd keep the limitation in the ad too: if you don't need that feature, the basic version may be enough. That's an honest comparison someone can use. It doesn't need a fictional customer saying “I thought it was overpriced, but I was wrong.”
7. Before and after: make sure the comparison proves what it seems to prove
This format asks the viewer to connect two states and believe the product caused the change. That's a lot for a pair of images to establish.
Before choosing it, we'd want the same subject, comparable conditions, an accurate time period, and evidence for the claimed result. Different lighting, a filter, or a convenient camera angle can change the impression even when the footage itself is real. Generated results add a more basic problem: the depicted outcome may never have happened.
The platform also matters. TikTok's misleading-content policy, checked October 22, 2026, restricts misleading product-effect comparisons and gives disappearing wrinkles after cream use as a prohibited example. We'd review the specific category and placement before building a campaign around this format.
If you can't support the result, show a feature or process you can verify. You still have a useful ad to make; you just need a different way to explain the product.
8. Use-case story: help someone picture where it fits
A use-case ad puts the product inside a recognizable task. For the mug, we might see it being filled, carried to a desk, and opened beside a laptop. The point is to show where it fits into the day, rather than teach every feature.
We'd still check what those images imply. Putting the mug inside a bag may suggest it won't leak. If that claim hasn't been established, a casual lifestyle shot can promise more than the script says. We'd keep it upright on the desk and choose footage that stays within what we know.
AI can help create surrounding scenes, but the product and its role need to stay accurate. A fictional scene should also stay clear of pretending to document a real customer's experience.
Let's turn the mug example into an ad we could actually brief
For this fictional product, assume the approved product page confirms a 350 mL capacity, a locking lid, and dishwasher-safe components. It doesn't make a leakproof claim or provide a heat-retention test. We've chosen a demo because we want to show how the lid operates.
Here's a proposed fifteen-second edit. The timings are a planning example, not measured production time or a recommendation that every UGC ad should be this length.
| Planned time | What we'd show | What we'd say or put on screen |
|---|---|---|
| 0–3 seconds | Close view of the real lid | “Here's how this travel mug's lid opens.” |
| 3–8 seconds | Unlock, open, close, and lock at normal speed | Let the action carry the explanation; use short labels if helpful |
| 8–12 seconds | Full view of the same mug | “350 mL. Locking lid. Dishwasher-safe components.” |
| 12–15 seconds | Mug beside the product-page offer | “See the mug, colors, and care instructions.” |
If the lid action needs more than five seconds to read clearly, we'd change the edit rather than speed through the one thing the viewer came to see. Record the action first, then decide how much introduction and ending it needs.
Here's the short brief we'd hand to a creator or editor:
Buyer question: How does this mug's lid open and lock?
Format: Product demonstration.
Required footage: The exact mug and lid, with the complete opening/closing action visible.
Approved facts: 350 mL; locking lid; dishwasher-safe components.
Claims we haven't established: Leakproof; hours of heat retention; a customer's personal result.
Optional AI help: Script alternatives, narration, captions, and surrounding scenes.
Review: Match the mug and care wording to the product page. Watch the full lid action.
Next step: View the mug, current colors, and care instructions.Now imagine the first version comes back with water rolling off a closed mug upside down. Even if it looks great, we'd remove that shot: it implies a leakproof result our brief doesn't support. If only the opening feels slow, we can shorten that opening and leave the useful demo intact. Those are different repairs, and a specific brief helps us tell them apart.
How we'd make the first version in Cospark
We build Cospark, so this is our own product workflow. You can also give the brief above to a creator or use it with another editor.
If you've written the script, Script to Video is a starting point. If you're beginning with a product page, use URL to Ad and check the imported facts against that page. Neither starting point removes the need for real proof when the ad depends on a demonstration or customer experience.
We'd make one version first and review the script and scene choices before asking for variations. Keep the required product footage available, and replace a generated demonstration if it doesn't show the real action accurately. Watch the exported file through, because the final crop, captions, and ending are part of what someone will see.
For a closer look at preparing facts from a page, use our product URL to video ad guide. Once the demo is clear, our AI ad creative guide explains how we'd try another opening without changing the whole idea.
Before you run it, watch what the ad promises
We'd watch once as a buyer, then again with the product page beside us. Does the product match? Does the price or included item match? Could the footage imply something stronger than the words? And can you read the important parts on a phone?
Keep permissions and disclosures in that review. TikTok's same edited-media and AIGC policy requires an AIGC label or clear disclosure for significantly edited or AI-generated media and says undisclosed AIGC can be rejected or restricted. A disclosure doesn't make an invented experience true, so check both the presentation and the underlying claim.
Then give the next version a reason to exist. You might open on the full mug instead of the lid, or try a tutorial if people still need help understanding the steps. Keep a note of what changed and compare campaign results with the audience, offer, placement, and landing page in mind. A few different results don't establish that the format alone caused them.
For your next brief, we'd pick the question you can answer most clearly with the material you already have. A useful demo with accurate footage is a good place to start. You can make it more polished, try another opening, or add a presenter once you know what the video needs to explain.