Report: State of UGC 2026

Performance-minded brands source, budget for, and measure the return on user-generated content creators, as shared by the Foxwell Founders community.

  • What teams actually spend on UGC per month, per concept, and as a share of ad spend

  • Where the best creators are sourced, and what usage rights teams ask for

  • The ROI blind spot most creator programs haven't solved yet

WHAT'S INSIDE

Seven sections. Zero fluff.

Built for creative strategists, paid media leads, and founders deciding how much to bet on creators next quarter.

  1. Budget & spend allocation: Monthly UGC budgets, share of ad spend, and what a single concept costs.

  2. Sourcing creators: The channels teams rely on, and the emerging platforms worth watching.

  3. Creator requirements & preferences: Usage rights, whitelisting, exclusivity, and the qualities that matter most.

  4. Where creative comes from: In-house vs. UGC vs. AI vs. influencer — and how many creators teams manage.

  5. Team & operations: Who owns creator sourcing, briefing, and communication.

  6. Measuring ROI: The biggest gap in the data, and what teams that measure are seeing.

  7. Key takeaways: Four moves to make with your creator program next.

About Foxwell Founders

We are a growing community of over 500 of the world’s best marketers, including agency and brand founders, CMOs, media buyers, creative strategists, and more. We are all about help, mentorship, and support for our community members, whether online or in one of our beloved in-person events. B.S., ego, and anything that violates the safety of our community is never tolerated.

We have a 99% retention rate and an NPS score of 88.5 from our members, who have access to: 

  • - a thriving Slack community

  • - a proprietary GPS with a giant archive of our multi-media training materials

  • - weekly workshops, calls, and strategy sessions with topics experts

  • - monthly ad account audits

  • - exclusive discounts from preferred martech partners like Motion and Northbeam

Learn more about our community or apply to join here.