Paid usage for UGC videos means you have permission to run that creator video as an advertisement with media spend behind it, not just post it organically on your social feeds.
In practical terms, the moment you put dollars behind a UGC video, like a boosted post, dark ad, or a full campaign in Meta Ads Manager, TikTok Ads, or YouTube, you have moved into paid usage. That usually requires a separate, written license because you are using a real person’s likeness to sell, and in Florida that consent piece matters even more when you are advertising to customers in Orlando and Central Florida.
| Organic usage (not paid) | Paid usage (with ad spend) |
|---|---|
| Posting the video on your brand’s Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube Shorts, website, or email as regular content. | Running the video as an ad, boosting it, using it in retargeting, or placing it inside an ad funnel where you control spend and targeting. |
| No ad budget attached, so the post lives or dies by normal reach. | Budget is attached, so the video can be shown repeatedly to specific audiences, like homeowners within 10 miles of your Orlando office. |
| Often included in basic UGC delivery, but still should be stated in writing. | Commonly priced as an add-on because it increases the commercial value and the creator’s exposure. |
| Creator account access is not required. | May include whitelisting or allowlisting where ads run from the creator’s handle, which needs separate platform permissions. |
What to spell out before you run the video as an ad: duration (30, 60, 90, or 180 days), which platforms you can advertise on, whether you can edit the footage into cutdowns, where the ads can be shown (US-only vs broader), and whether whitelisting is included. If you plan to use the video in other paid placements like OTT, streaming, or digital billboards, call that out too because many UGC agreements only cover social ad platforms.
A common mistake we see is a brand thinking “we’re only boosting it a little” does not count. It does. If the agreement only grants organic usage, you should not boost, promote, or run that creative in Ads Manager until paid usage rights are in place.
If you want help packaging UGC so it is ready for paid campaigns, our team can handle creator coordination and delivery standards through our UGC content creation service.
If you want a plain-English breakdown of what a UGC license typically includes, read our FAQ on usage rights for UGC videos and use it as a checklist when you review your creator agreement.
