What does UGC mean?
Last updated: October 2026
UGC stands for user-generated content: any photo, video, review or post about a brand that was made by a customer or a creator instead of the brand's own marketing team. A Shopee review with photos, a TikTok unboxing and a customer's Instagram story are all UGC.
In marketing briefs the word now covers two different things, and it helps to say which one you mean.
- Organic UGC: content customers post on their own, unpaid. The brand may ask permission to reshare it.
- Commissioned UGC: short videos or photos a brand pays a creator to make, usually to run as ads. The creator often never posts it to their own followers.
How is UGC different from an influencer or a KOC?
The difference is what the brand is buying: an influencer or KOL sells access to their audience, while a UGC creator sells the content itself.
A KOC sits in between, a real customer whose small following trusts their review.
| UGC creator | Influencer / KOL | KOC | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the brand buys | Content to use in its own ads and channels | A post to the creator's audience | An honest-sounding review from a real user |
| Whose account it runs on | Usually the brand's | The creator's | The KOC's own |
| Does audience size matter? | Little; the video has to work as an ad | Yes, plus audience fit | Small, but trusted |
| Measured by | Ad results: cost per order or lead | Sales, codes or bookings from the post | Review volume, codes and sales |
For the full KOL and KOC definitions, see our guide to KOL, KOC and UGC meaning. See our micro influencers guide.
How do Malaysian brands use UGC in ads?
Most brands run commissioned UGC as paid social ads, because a phone-shot video by a real person looks native on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. A brand usually tests several videos and opening hooks, then puts budget behind the ones with the lowest cost per order or lead.
There are two ways to run it: the brand can upload the video and run it from its own page, or run it from the creator's handle.
TikTok Spark Ads (opens in a new tab) let advertisers promote organic TikTok posts, including other creators' posts with their authorisation, and Meta partnership ads (opens in a new tab) let advertisers run Facebook and Instagram ads from a creator's or partner's handle.
- Paid social ads on TikTok, Meta and Xiaohongshu
- Product pages and marketplace listings (Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop)
- Landing pages and email, as proof that real people use the product
- Organic social posts on the brand's own accounts
How are UGC creators paid?
UGC creators are usually paid a fee per video or per bundle of videos, and the price rises with the rights the brand asks for. Because no official or published benchmark for Malaysian UGC fees exists in our data, this page lists what moves the fee rather than quoting a number.
| Cost driver | Why it changes the fee |
|---|---|
| Number of videos and hooks | More versions mean more filming and editing |
| Paid usage rights | Running the video as an ad is worth more than an organic repost |
| Usage period and territory | Longer windows and more markets cost more |
| Running from the creator's handle | Spark Ads or partnership ads lend the creator's name to the ad |
| Raw footage and edits | Raw files and extra revision rounds add work |
| Exclusivity | Asking a creator to avoid competitors costs them other deals |
To sense-check a quote, try the KOL rate calculator. shakalakaa does not publish its own prices.
Who owns UGC, and how long can a brand use it?
Who may use a piece of UGC, where and for how long is set by the agreement between the brand and the creator, so put it in writing before filming starts. Organic UGC a customer posted is still theirs; ask before you reshare it, and do not run it as an ad without their written agreement.
- Where the content can run: organic, paid ads, website, marketplace, offline
- How long the brand may use it, and in which markets
- Whether the brand may edit, cut or add text and music
- Whether the ad can run from the creator's handle, and for how long that authorisation lasts
- Exclusivity, removal and what happens when the agreement ends
This is a practical checklist, not legal advice. For regulated products such as health products, the content still has to meet the advertising rules for that category.
Where can a brand get UGC made in Malaysia?
A brand can brief UGC creators directly, use a creator marketplace, or work with an agency that sources creators, writes briefs, handles rights and runs the ads. shakalakaa does this as part of its creator programmes: see UGC within our KOL marketing service.
To compare agencies that make UGC, see our list of the best UGC and KOC agencies in Malaysia.