For most brands, UGC usage rights should last 90 days, with 30 days used for short promos and 180 days saved for evergreen creatives you expect to keep running.
Here’s why we default to 90: it gives you time to edit, launch, test, learn, and scale without the license expiring right when you find a winner. Thirty days often feels cheaper up front, but it can backfire if approvals, reshoots, compliance review, or ad learning cycles eat up half the term. One hundred eighty days is great when your product, offer, or message stays steady for months and you want fewer renewals to manage.
How 30 vs 90 vs 180 days usually plays out
| Term | Best fit | What you gain | What can go wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | Flash sales, seasonal promos, event pushes, short tests with a clear end date | Lowest licensing cost, faster approvals when everyone knows the campaign ends | You may lose a top performer right as results improve; tight timelines can limit iteration |
| 90 days | Most paid social campaigns, new creative testing, ongoing lead gen, product launches | Enough runway to test multiple hooks and variations, then scale what works | If your buying cycle is long (high-ticket services), you might want more runway |
| 180 days | Evergreen offers, long buying cycles, multi-channel use (ads, website, email, Amazon) | Fewer renewals, easier continuity for campaigns that stay stable | Higher licensing cost; if you pivot messaging, you may pay for time you do not use |
What we recommend most often
We typically write UGC usage terms as “90 days, renewable,” because it’s the cleanest balance of cost and flexibility for small and mid-size businesses. If you want to keep things simple, start with 90 days and add a renewal option that lets you extend in 30- or 90-day blocks without renegotiating.
One detail that changes everything: when the clock starts. We like the term to begin on first use (your first post or the first day an ad goes live), not on delivery day, so you do not burn weeks while your team is reviewing edits or setting up campaigns. If you want a quick plain-English breakdown of what licensing usually covers, our UGC usage rights guide explains scope without legalese.
If you’re using UGC as paid ads, 90 days is even more practical because creative testing and ad learning take time, and you may want multiple rounds of cutdowns, hooks, and captions from the same base footage. For the paid side specifically, our paid ad usage rights notes can help you set terms that match how platforms actually run campaigns.
In Orlando and Central Florida, seasonality is real. A 30-day term can work for a tight window like a “back-to-school” dental promo or a holiday retail push, but services like HVAC, pest control, and home improvement often benefit from 90 days because performance can vary with weather swings and demand spikes. If your offer is evergreen (for example, a core subscription, a signature service, or a year-round product), 180 days can be a smooth fit.
Quick checklist before you pick a term
- Is this a limited-time offer? If yes, 30 days can be fine.
- Are you running paid ads or testing multiple angles? Default to 90 days.
- Does your buying cycle run longer than a month? Strong case for 90 or 180 days.
- Will you reuse the asset on multiple channels? Consider 180 days to reduce renewals.
- Do you want flexibility? Choose 90 days with a clear renewal option.
If you want us to put this into a simple licensing clause and match it to your campaign plan, our UGC service packages are built around clear terms that let you scale winners without surprise renewals, and our PPC management work ties usage windows to actual testing and spend plans so you’re not paying for time you cannot use.
