What to include in a UGC portfolio (and what to leave out)
Short answer: Six sections. A short bio with clear positioning, 5-8 work samples each with one line of context, the formats you offer, your rates or packages, real testimonials or results if you have them, and a working contact button. If you pitch agencies as well as brands, add the seven fields agency buyers screen for: languages, location, whitelisting rates, service level, hooks, niche grouping and download links. Leave out follower counts (unless they're genuinely a selling point), long life stories, and every piece that isn't among your best.
The six sections, in order
Bio & positioning
Two or three sentences: who you are, the niches you create for, your languages, and your location down to the city, since some briefs need content shot in a specific place. "UGC creator for pet and home brands, London-based, filming in English and French" beats a paragraph of biography.
Work samples: 5-8, strongest first
The heart of the portfolio. Vertical 9:16 video that plays inline on a phone. A brand should hit your best piece within one scroll.
Context on each piece
One line per clip: format, brief, and any honest outcome. Context turns "nice video" into "this person can execute my brief".
Formats & services
What you actually offer: organic-style ads, testimonials, unboxings, voiceovers, photos, hooks-only packages, usage rights options.
Rates or packages
At minimum a starting-from figure. It saves both sides time and signals professionalism.
Contact
An email button or booking link that works on mobile. The portfolio's job is to start a conversation; don't make the last step the hard one.
The agency-buyer checklist: seven fields that get you shortlisted
A single brand reads your portfolio once. An agency buyer sourcing creators for high-volume campaigns reads hundreds, fast, and filters on fields before they judge craft. What follows is buyer-side advice: the things agency buyers say make a portfolio easy to say yes to, and easy to pass over when they're missing.
A languages section of its own
Multilingual creators are in demand. Give languages a dedicated section, ideally with a clip of you speaking each language on camera; at minimum, list your languages at the top of the page, not buried mid-bio.
Your location, stated plainly
City, region and country in the About section. Some clients need content shot in specific cities, and a buyer who can't find your location moves to the next portfolio rather than emailing to ask.
Whitelisting, in writing
If you offer whitelisting, say so explicitly, ideally with 30, 60 and 90-day rates. Buyers running paid campaigns budget for it up front; making them ask adds a negotiation round before the brief can move.
Your service level, named
Strategist (you handle concept, scripting and research, and it commands a higher rate), executor (you shoot briefs the client hands you), or hybrid. Naming it saves everyone the back-and-forth of finding out.
Hooks in the first seconds
Buyers say they give a clip roughly its first three seconds before deciding whether to keep watching. Lead every sample with its strongest stop-scrolling moment, not a slow build.
Work grouped by niche
SaaS examples win SaaS briefs; skincare examples win skincare briefs. Segment your samples by niche so a buyer scanning for a fit finds theirs without watching everything.
A download link under each clip
Agencies assemble their own client-approval decks from your material. A Google Drive (or similar) link under each video lets a buyer lift the file in seconds; walled formats that block downloads, as some Canva setups do, cost them time.
To see how these fields show up in practice, read what a strong UGC portfolio looks like; to fold them in as you build, follow the step-by-step guide.
Include only if real: testimonials and results
A genuine quote from a brand, or a real performance number you're allowed to share, is the strongest section a portfolio can have. A fabricated one is the fastest way to lose a client who checks. If you're early and have neither, skip the section entirely; its absence is normal for a newer creator; a fake version is not. The same rule applies to spec content: label it as spec, and let the craft speak.
What to leave out
The archive
Everything below your top 5-8. Brands rate you by your weakest visible piece.
Follower counts
UGC is bought for content, not reach. Include audience numbers only when they're genuinely a differentiator.
Multi-page navigation
One page, one scroll. Every extra click on mobile loses readers.
Forced downloads
Nothing should require a download, a login, or a "request access" just to watch; that's how Drive-folder portfolios die. An optional download link under each clip is the opposite: buyers welcome it.
The mobile test
Before sending your portfolio anywhere, open it on your own phone from a DM: does it load fast, does the first video play instantly, can you reach the contact button with a thumb? That 30-second test is the same one every brand runs, whether they realise it or not. Full walkthrough: how to make a UGC portfolio, step by step, and here's what a strong one looks like when it all comes together.
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