01 Find the tension
The strongest UGC usually starts with something the customer already feels.
A benefit describes the product. A tension describes the person.
A product benefit tells people what the app does. A tension describes the situation that makes someone want the app in the first place.
Instead of: “Stay productive.”
Look for something more like: “I want to stay consistent, but every productivity app becomes another task.”
That gives you much more to work with. There's a person, a problem, and a contradiction you can actually dramatize.
Look where customers already talk naturally
You do not need a giant research project. Start with places where people describe the problem in their own words:
- App Store / Play Store reviews
- Competitor reviews
- TikTok / Instagram comments
- Support conversations
- Cancellation reasons
- User interviews
- Sales or onboarding calls
- Search queries
- Comments on your existing ads/content
What are you looking for?
Pay special attention to sentences containing things like:
Those often contain the tension almost verbatim.
Example
Imagine a workout app.
Generic benefit: “Personalized workouts.”
Possible customer tension: “I finally get myself to the gym, then spend 20 minutes figuring out what to do.”
That second sentence is already halfway to a UGC concept.
02 Turn the tension into an angle
Give the problem a moment, a promise, and proof.
A tension becomes testable once it has all four parts.
Use this simple structure:
What is frustrating them?
When does that frustration actually happen?
What changes with your product?
What can the creator show instead of merely claiming?
Example
“I never know what exercises to do.”
Standing in the gym scrolling through saved workouts.
Tell the app your goal and available equipment; it builds the workout.
Show the app generating today's workout, then show the actual exercises.
That gives you an angle:
Now you have something several creators can interpret in their own voice.
Build 3–5 angles before you make 10 videos.
Do not produce ten random UGC videos and hope one works. Start with a small set of meaningfully different ideas.
“I get to the gym and still don't know what to do.”
“I can follow a workout plan for three days. Then life happens.”
“I hate looking like I have no idea what I'm doing.”
“I don't need more exercises. I need someone to tell me which ones to do today.”
Those are actual hypotheses. “Creator A / Creator B / Creator C” is not.
Quick angle builder
Structure the idea. This isn't an AI writer — just a way to shape what you already know.
What does the customer say?
When does this happen?
What can the creator show?
Your angle
03 Check if it's testable
A good angle survives more than one creator.
Before you commit budget, ask three questions.
1. Is this one clear idea?
Good: “I get to the gym and don't know what to do.”
Too broad: “Fitness is hard and our app makes everything easier.”
2. Could three creators express it differently?
You want the idea to stay consistent while the delivery changes. One creator might act out the frustration. Another might tell a personal story. Another might screen-record the product.
That lets you learn whether the angle works — not just whether one creator is charismatic.
3. Can you tell if it worked?
If you run the angle, you should eventually be able to answer:
Did this idea bring more clicks, installs, trials, subscribers, or revenue?
If you cannot identify the angle later, you cannot learn from the test.
Name the angle before you publish it.
Keep the naming simple. For example:
Keep the creator and the video as separate labels instead of one long name:
Later, each label becomes its own column. That lets you compare angles across creators, or creators inside one angle. You do not need a perfect taxonomy. You just need future-you to understand what was being tested.
Give every angle a name before the first creative goes live.
How to see this in Airbridge
- Open Reports → Actuals.
- Add Start Trial and Subscribe.
- Group by Ad Group. That’s where your angle name lives (Lesson 04 shows how to set it).
You'll see:
each angle as one row, with trials and paid subscribers added up across every creator who used it.
04 Turn the angle into a creator-ready brief
Give creators the truth to work with — not the lines to recite.
Protect the idea without making every creator sound identical.
Once the angle is clear, the brief should protect the idea without making every creator sound identical.
Do not send: “Say: I used to struggle with working out but then I discovered…”
That is how UGC starts sounding like an ad. Instead, give the creator five things.
Who is this for?
What is the tension?
What can the app genuinely do?
What should they actually show?
What should the viewer do?
That is enough structure to keep the message consistent without writing the creator's personality out of the content.
Build your brief
Turn your angle into a creator brief. Fill in what you know — the brief updates as you go.
Your creator brief
Use your own words. Do not read this like a script.
How to see this in Airbridge
- Open Reports → Actuals.
- Add Start Trial and Subscribe.
- Group by Ad Group (your angle), then add Campaign (your creator). Same angle, one row per creator.
You'll see:
whether the angle holds up across creators, or only worked when one person delivered it.