What should a UGC portfolio include?

Which sample videos should go in a UGC portfolio?

Put in three to five sample videos, each in a different format, so whoever opens it can see your range in one sitting.

A format is the shape of a video, not its subject, so five videos about five products in the same shape still show only one skill. Pick shapes that ask different things of you: talking straight to camera, showing a product working, acting a scene, telling a short story. If the idea of a format is new to you, what a UGC video format is explains how to spot one in a video you like.

Film each sample with a product you bought or already own. Label it as a sample in the title or caption, so nobody reads it as paid work for that brand, and keep the brand's name and logo out of the frame where you can.

Why should a UGC portfolio show more than one hook?

Show one video with three different openings, because it proves you can hand over options from a single shoot.

The hook is the first line and first shot, and it is the part a brand is most likely to want to swap and test. Film the body of one sample once, then record three different first lines in front of it. Put the versions next to each other on the page and label them hook one, hook two and hook three, so the viewer compares them in seconds instead of rewatching the whole thing.

• Open one version with a question the viewer has asked themselves, so it shows you can write curiosity.
• Open another on a situation you are in right now, so it shows you can make an ordinary moment feel familiar.
• Open the third on something the viewer can see before you speak, so it shows you can hook with the picture alone.

Make the three openings different in kind, not three wordings of the same line. How to write a UGC hook that stops the scroll has more shapes to borrow from.

What should the intro and contact details say?

Write two or three sentences that say who you are, what you film and how to reach you, and put them above the videos.

The intro is there to help someone decide quickly whether you suit a brief they are holding. Name the kinds of products you film, the formats you are strongest in, and what you can deliver. Skip your life story; the videos already show your personality. You can adapt this:

• Hi, I'm [NAME]. I make short videos for brands, mostly home, kitchen and everyday products.
• I film talking head reviews, demos and storytime videos, and I can send raw clips as well as the edit.
• To work together, email me at [LINK] with your product and the date you need the videos by.

Give one contact route and make it the same everywhere you share the portfolio, so no message lands in an inbox you never check. Leave your follower count out unless someone asks for it; do you need followers to be a UGC creator covers how to pitch when your own account is small.

Where should you host a UGC portfolio?

Host it somewhere that opens from one link and plays the videos without a sign-in, a download or an app.

A simple one-page website, a shared cloud folder or a link-in-bio page can all work. What matters is that a stranger can press play within a click or two. A folder is quick to set up, but it shows file names and thumbnails rather than a page you designed, so name each file by its format and product type, such as demo kitchen scale, instead of leaving the camera's default name. A single page takes longer to build but lets you put the intro, the hook comparison and the contact line in the order you want them read.

Before you send the link to anyone, open it in a private browser window and on your phone. If it asks you to log in, or a video only plays after downloading, fix that first, because each extra step is a chance for someone to give up. Upload the videos vertical, the way they would appear on TikTok or Instagram, so they look like the finished thing.

What should you leave out of a UGC portfolio?

Leave out anything you are not free to share, anything rough, and anything that repeats a skill another sample already shows.

• Paid work you have no permission to show. Ask the brand in writing whether you can include it before you add it.
• Videos where music or heavy captions cover your voice, because your voice is part of what someone is choosing.
• Two samples in the same format. Keep the stronger one and use the space for a shape you have not shown yet.
• Personal posts about your own life that were never made with a product in mind. They show a different job.
• Anything that copies another creator's video line for line. How to remake a viral video without copying it shows how to keep the shape and change the rest.
• Rough cuts, test footage and clips with bad sound. A short portfolio of finished work reads better than a long one with weak spots.

When you film something better than an existing sample, swap it in and take the weaker one out, rather than letting the page grow. A portfolio that stays short stays easy to watch, and it keeps every video earning its place.