How do I find UGC creators who already post about my category?

Why start from what they post?

A UGC creator is paid to make content that looks like a customer's. The ones who convert are the ones whose audience already believes them on the subject. A fitness creator asked to review a protein powder sounds like a fitness creator; a lifestyle creator asked to do the same sounds like an ad.

Marketplaces list creators who applied. Content search finds creators who are already doing the work. Start there.

How do I search TikTok and Instagram for them?

Search the topic the way a customer would say it, not your product's name:

• "protein powder review", "daily greens", "creatine" for supplements
• "skincare routine", "acne", "SPF" for skincare
• "meal prep", "high protein dinner" for meal kits

On TikTok, use the search bar and the Users tab as well as Videos. On Instagram, search Reels. Write down every creator who appears twice with views in the thousands, not the hundreds. Two hits mean they post on the topic, not that they posted once.

Then open each profile and read the bio: "UGC creator", a portfolio link, "DM for collabs", a business email. Those are people who want the work.

What numbers should I check?

From their last 30 posts, not from the follower count:

• Median views. What a typical post reaches. One viral hit does not count.
• Engagement rate, view based. Likes plus comments plus shares plus saves, divided by views. Above 5% is strong for product content. Follower-based rates flatter accounts with bought followers.
• Views per follower. Median views divided by followers. Over 1.0 means the algorithm carries them beyond their followers, which is ideal for UGC because your ad will not run to their followers anyway. Under 1% is a red flag.
• Consistency. Share of posts within half to double their median. A steady creator delivers steady work.
• Paid posts. Instagram flags paid partnerships; TikTok marks ads and TikTok Shop content. A creator with a few paid posts in 30 knows the job. One with 25 paid posts in 30 is a billboard.
• Cadence. Three posts a week means they can turn a brief around.

What are the red flags?

• Views per follower under 1% with engagement under 0.5%: followers were bought.
• Every post at the same round number of likes.
• Comments that are all emojis or all from the same accounts.
• A "rate card" that starts above what a category's mid-tier charges before you have seen a single number. Ask for the last 30 posts' views instead.
• No topic consistency: 30 posts across 12 subjects.

Which signal do the platforms not show?

Whether a brand in your category has already paid this creator and kept the ad running. Meta's Ad Library shows the ad and how long it has run; a creator visible in three winning supplement ads has been tested with real money by people who measured the result.

Dovey reads the creator's handle off the creative when it is visible and joins it to the ad's run time, so "creators already in supplement ads" is a question you can ask. It is the one signal no marketplace has.

How do I run this without doing it by hand?

Type the topic into Dovey's creator search. It searches TikTok and Instagram for the videos, reads each creator's profile and last 30 posts, computes the numbers above, checks the ad index for the creators brands already use, and ranks by fit, engagement quality and readiness. Contact details and the full list are on a plan. It never messages anyone; you do.

What do I say to them?

Short. What you sell, why their content fits (name the post), what you want (one 30-second video, a brief attached), the deliverable and the deadline, and the rate or "what do you charge for one video". Creators answer the messages that show you watched.

FAQ