We started formalizing our UGC process about 18 months ago, and one of the biggest challenges was figuring out: how do you standardize messaging while localizing creative when you’re targeting completely different markets simultaneously?
Early on, we tried the “one brief, two languages” approach. Basically, we’d write the core creative brief in English, translate it to Spanish, send it out to UGC creators in both the USA and LATAM, and pray they’d understand what we wanted. Spoiler: it didn’t work consistently.
The problem was that a UGC creator in Miami and a creator in Mexico City operate in completely different contexts. They see different trends, consume different content, work with different platforms. A brief that makes sense to one makes the other go “uh, what?”
So we rebuilt our approach from scratch. Here’s what actually works now:
Step 1: Core message layer (language-agnostic)
We start with the single most important thing we want to communicate. Not the tagline, not the copy—the actual insight or problem we’re solving. “This product saves time on morning routines” or “This solves the pain of managing multiple audiences.” That stays the same.
Step 2: Market-specific creative guidelines
Then we write completely separate briefs for each region. We ask different questions: What formats are successful in this market? What comedic style resonates? What platforms are actually driving engagement? In the US, we lean into self-deprecating humor and trend-based formats. In LATAM, we’ve found that storytelling and relatability work better. These aren’t just translations—they’re reimagined briefs.
Step 3: Creator selection by market
This is huge. We don’t just pick “any” creator who fits the follower range. We pick creators whose actual content style matches what we’ve already seen work in that market. A TikTok creator who does trending dances in the US might not be the right fit, but a creator in Mexico who does trending dances with a storytelling angle might convert better.
Step 4: Shared learnings document
After each UGC batch, we document what worked and what didn’t—separately for each market. We’ve built something like a living playbook where we track: “In the US market, product demos with humor outperformed testimonials by 2.3x. In LATAM, testimonials with emotional storytelling outperformed product demos by 1.8x.” This is the stuff you can’t just guess about.
Step 5: Cross-market best practice sharing
Here’s the counterintuitive part: sometimes a creative idea from one market works in the other. A UGC trend from Mexico catches on in the US market six weeks later. We actively monitor for these and share them across our creator network.
The biggest win from this? Our UGC conversion rates improved by roughly 40% across both markets within the first year. Not because we got smarter—because we stopped trying to force one approach to work everywhere.
The hardest part was convincing the brand teams that “consistent” doesn’t mean “identical.” The core message stays the same, but how you deliver it has to shift.
How are you guys handling UGC briefs across multiple markets? Are you using a one-size-fits-all approach, or have you also found that you need market-specific guidelines?