What if I told you that you could start making money creating content with your pet without having thousands of followers? No 10,000 follower requirement!
No waiting for your account to go viral. No spending months trying to convince the Instagram algorithm that your dog deserves to be famous. You can potentially start earning money by creating content for pet brands, even if you’re a brand new creator. And the reason is something called UGC.
Hi! I’m Ashley, a pet content creator coach who has been creating content for almost eight years. I’ve built a full time income through content creation, continue to run my own pet influencer channels, and have spent years helping other creators understand how to turn their pets into recognizable brands. I also regularly work on UGC collaborations myself, so this isn’t something I’ve only researched. It’s a part of my actual creator business.
One of the biggest misconceptions I see among beginners is that they believe they need a massive audience before they can make money. But there’s a very important difference between getting paid to promote a product to your followers and getting paid to create content a brand can use. Once you understand that difference, an entirely new opportunity opens up. Let’s talk about how pet UGC works, how much you can charge, which brands to approach, and how to start landing collaborations.
What Is Pet UGC?
UGC stands for user generated content. In the creator industry, UGC generally refers to content a creator is hired to produce for a brand to use in its own marketing. For example, imagine you have a dog. A pet company sells a new dog crate and needs videos demonstrating how it works. Instead of hiring a full production team, the company pays you to film your dog using the crate.
You create the video. You edit it. You send the finished content to the brand. And the brand uses it for its own marketing, according to the rights you’ve agreed upon. That might include its social media accounts, website, email campaigns, or advertisements. You aren’t necessarily posting anything on your own social media channels. You’re getting paid for the content you create, not the audience you have. That is what makes UGC so interesting for smaller creators.
UGC vs. Sponsored Posts: What’s the Difference?
Before you start pitching brands, you need to understand the two main types of collaborations we’re discussing.
Traditional Sponsored Posts
A traditional sponsored post is when a brand pays you to create content and publish it to your own social media audience. Let’s say your cat has 50,000 Instagram followers. A pet food company wants to introduce its product to those followers, so it hires you to create an Instagram Reel. In this situation, the company is paying for both your creative work and the exposure your account provides. Your follower count matters. Your engagement matters. Your average views matter. And generally speaking, the more engaged people you can reach, the more valuable that placement may become. This is how I earn a significant portion of my own active creator income. My cats have established audiences, so brands are interested in partnering with us to reach those audiences.
UGC Brand Collaborations
Now imagine you have only 300 Instagram followers. A pet company needs videos for its website or social media advertisements. The company doesn’t need you to reach 50,000 people. It needs you to create a good video. So it hires you to produce the content and deliver the finished files. Your follower count isn’t the primary factor because the brand is not buying access to your followers. This means you can pursue UGC opportunities with a very small audience, or even without an established pet influencer account. You could be a general content creator who happens to have a dog or cat and still create valuable pet UGC. That is a HUGE difference.
Do You Need Followers to Become a Pet UGC Creator?
No! And I want you to understand why. When a brand hires you for UGC, the most important question isn’t necessarily, “How many followers does this person have?”
It’s: “Can this person create content that we actually want to use?”
Think about the content brands need every single day. They need product demonstrations. They need lifestyle photos. They need short videos. They need engaging social media content. They need product-focused creative assets for advertising. And many smaller businesses simply don’t have the time, equipment, or staff to create all of that themselves. That’s where you come in.
If you can create high-quality photos and videos with your pet, you have a skill that can be valuable to those companies. Of course, this doesn’t mean every brand will hire you immediately. You still need to demonstrate that you’re capable of delivering good content. Which brings us to the most important part of getting started:
Content Quality Matters More Than Follower Count
I cannot emphasize this enough. Just because you don’t need followers doesn’t mean you don’t need skills.
UGC is not an opportunity to throw together poorly filmed videos and expect brands to pay hundreds of dollars. Your content needs to look good. It needs to be well lit. Your audio needs to be clear. Your editing needs to make sense. Your footage should be stable.
And the final result should look like something a brand would feel comfortable putting on its website or social media accounts. If you’re creating dark, grainy videos with shaky footage, confusing transitions, and poor audio, you’re going to have a much harder time convincing brands to pay for your work.
But here’s the good news. You don’t need cinematic production quality either! You do not need an expensive camera. You don’t need professional lighting equipment. You don’t need an elaborate studio. You need content that looks clean, intentional, engaging, and polished. There’s a big difference between professional-looking content and an expensive professional production.
For UGC, brands often want content that feels natural and relatable. A well-filmed video on your smartphone can accomplish that beautifully.
How to Improve Your Pet UGC Content Quality
If you’re brand new to creating content, I recommend spending time studying other creators before pitching brands. Look at successful pet UGC videos. Notice the lighting. Notice how products are positioned. Pay attention to how quickly the video moves. Watch how the creator introduces the product. Notice whether the content feels natural or overly scripted. Study the editing.
Then practice creating similar types of content with your own pet. For example, if you have a cat, you might practice filming a product demonstration with a toy you already own. Create a short video showing the toy, your cat interacting with it, and the experience of using it. You could also practice creating staged product photos.
The goal isn’t to copy another creator’s work. The goal is to understand what makes content appealing to a brand and develop those skills yourself. The more you practice, the more confident you’ll become. And that confidence will show in your portfolio.
How to Build a Pet UGC Portfolio
One of the first things I recommend creating is a simple portfolio or media kit. And please don’t overcomplicate this. You do not need a 20-page presentation. You do not need a professional website. You don’t even need previous paid brand collaborations. A simple one to three-page portfolio can be enough to get started.
Your portfolio should show potential clients what you’re capable of creating. Include a short introduction about yourself and your pet. Explain the types of content you create. Then show examples.
Maybe you have three strong product photos. Maybe you have two short videos. Maybe you’ve created a product demonstration. Maybe you’ve filmed a lifestyle video featuring your dog. That’s a great starting point. Remember, the purpose of this portfolio is not to impress brands with your follower count. It’s to show them your creative ability.
What If You’ve Never Worked With a Brand?
That’s okay! Create sample content. Use products you already own. Stage a few photos. Film a few videos. Practice your editing. You can share some of those examples on your own account, use Instagram trial Reels where available, or simply include them in your portfolio. Just make it clear that these are sample projects rather than paid collaborations. You don’t need previous clients to demonstrate that you can create good content. You need examples of your work.
Which Pet Brands Should You Pitch for UGC?
Now this is where I want beginners to be strategic. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is immediately trying to pitch the largest companies in the world. You know the ones: Amazon, Walmart, PetSmart, major international pet food companies. I’m not saying those companies never work with UGC creators. They absolutely can.
But if you’re brand new and sending a random email to a massive company’s general inbox, there’s a good chance you’re not even reaching the person responsible for influencer marketing or content partnerships. Many larger brands have entire marketing departments or work with outside agencies. They may already have established processes and creator networks. That can make it much harder for a beginner to get noticed. Instead, I recommend targeting small to medium-sized pet brands. These businesses may have a much more immediate need for content.
Why Smaller Pet Brands Can Be Great UGC Clients
Imagine a small pet accessory company. Maybe the owner has created a fantastic product. They have an online store. They have an Instagram account. They’re trying to grow. But the company only has a few employees. Maybe one person handles marketing. Maybe the owner is doing the marketing themselves. They need to post regularly, but they don’t have time to constantly create new photos and videos. That’s a problem you can help solve. You can approach them with an offer to create product demonstrations, lifestyle photos, and short videos they can use in their marketing.
You’re not asking them to pay you because your pet is cute. You’re offering to solve a content creation problem for their business. That shift in perspective is incredibly important. And you can find potential clients by researching smaller pet product companies, exploring social media, and even using AI tools to brainstorm relevant brands. The key is finding companies that could realistically benefit from the type of content you create.
Should You Wait for Brands to Contact You?
Not if you’re brand new to UGC. This is another place where UGC differs from traditional influencer marketing. As your social media account grows, brands may begin reaching out to you because they’ve discovered your content and want access to your audience. That happens to me regularly with my established pet influencer channels. But if you’re a brand new UGC creator with almost no following, brands may not even know you exist.
You have to introduce yourself. That means pitching. You find a company that could benefit from your content. You introduce yourself. You share your portfolio. And you ask whether they have opportunities for UGC collaborations. You don’t have to wait for permission to start that conversation.
How to Pitch Pet Brands for UGC Collaborations
There are two main ways I recommend contacting potential UGC clients: Direct messages and email.
Personally, I like starting with a direct message when I’m reaching out to a smaller brand. Why? Because many smaller businesses have only a handful of people managing their social media accounts. That means your message may actually be seen by someone involved in the business. Keep your initial message short and friendly. Introduce yourself as a content creator. Explain that you create pet product photos and videos. Mention that you’d love to explore potential UGC opportunities. And offer to share your portfolio.
You do not need to send an enormous sales pitch. You just want to start a conversation. If the brand doesn’t respond through direct messages, you can try reaching out by email instead.
When Should You Move the Conversation to Email?
Once a brand responds and begins expressing interest, I recommend moving the conversation to email. This is something I do because it makes the business side of collaborations much easier to manage. Email creates a more organized conversation history. You can track what was discussed. You can send your portfolio. You can communicate your rates. You can clarify deliverables. You can discuss deadlines. You can keep written records of important decisions.
And as collaborations become more complicated, that documentation becomes extremely valuable. Start the conversation wherever you’re most likely to get a response, then move the business details into email. That is a simple process that can make your collaborations much easier to manage.
How Much Can You Charge for Pet UGC?
Okay, now for the question everyone wants answered. How much money can you actually make? The answer depends heavily on your content quality and what the brand is asking you to create. If you’re brand new and your content still looks fairly amateur, you may encounter opportunities offering only $25 to $50 per video.
But as your quality improves, your rates can improve too. Based on the types of UGC opportunities I’ve personally encountered, roughly $200 to $700 for a good-quality UGC video is a range I’ve seen in the pet creator space. That’s a wide range!
And there’s a reason for that. Not every video requires the same amount of work. Some are incredibly simple. Others require more planning, filming, editing, and coordination. The brand’s intended use of the content can also influence pricing. I’ve personally received UGC opportunities at several different price points.
For example, I recently received a pitch offering approximately $300 for one video. I’ve also worked on a UGC package involving three videos and nine photos for a little over $1,500. And I’ve encountered opportunities approaching $800 for a single video when a brand specifically wanted my recognizable cat involved. Those are examples from my own business, not universal rates that every creator should expect. But they show how much variation exists.
What Actually Determines Your UGC Rate?
When deciding what to charge, you need to consider what you’re delivering. A simple video featuring your dog beside a product is different from a carefully planned demonstration with multiple scenes, voiceovers, editing, and revisions. A brand requesting one finished video is different from a brand requesting three videos and nine photos. And a company using content for its regular social media posts may have different usage needs from a company planning to run the video as a paid advertisement.
Before agreeing to a price, understand the project. Think about the amount of work involved. Think about the number of deliverables. Think about the content quality you can provide. And make sure you understand how the brand intends to use your work. Don’t price every UGC project as though it’s exactly the same. The more experienced you become, the easier it gets to recognize which opportunities are worth your time.
Why I Personally Enjoy UGC Collaborations
Even though I have established pet influencer channels and earn a significant portion of my income through traditional brand sponsorships, I still regularly take on UGC projects. Why? Because I enjoy them! In my personal experience, UGC collaborations can sometimes feel simpler than traditional sponsored campaigns.
Brands may have fewer requirements surrounding my own posting schedule. There isn’t always the same pressure around publishing content to my personal audience. And I’ve found that some UGC clients can be quicker and easier when it comes to reviewing and approving content.
Of course, every brand is different. Some UGC projects will have complicated requirements. Some will require revisions. Some will have detailed creative briefs. But overall, I genuinely enjoy having UGC as another part of my creator business. It’s another way to earn money using the content creation skills you’ve already developed. And for a beginner, it can be a fantastic opportunity to gain experience before building a larger audience.
Can You Make UGC a Side Hustle Without Becoming a Pet Influencer?
Absolutely. This is something I think more pet owners should realize. You don’t necessarily need to have a long-term goal of making your dog or cat famous. Maybe you enjoy photography. Maybe you love filming videos. Maybe you already know how to edit. Maybe you work in marketing. Maybe you simply enjoy creating beautiful content with your pet.
UGC can be a way to turn those skills into freelance opportunities. You can create content for pet brands without building your entire life around becoming a social media personality. And if you DO want to become a pet influencer eventually, UGC can help you develop skills that will also make your own account stronger.
You learn filming. You learn editing. You learn product storytelling. You learn brand communication. You learn how to pitch. You learn how to deliver work professionally. All of those skills can benefit your larger creator journey.
Common Mistakes New Pet UGC Creators Make
One of the biggest mistakes is assuming brands will pay simply because you have an adorable pet. Your pet might be the cutest thing on the planet. But brands are looking for content that helps their business. Another mistake is creating a portfolio full of random photos without demonstrating how you can feature a product.
UGC is often product-focused, so your portfolio should show that you’re capable of making products look appealing and useful. Some beginners also pitch massive companies before they have any experience. Instead, start by building a portfolio and approaching smaller businesses where your work could make an immediate difference. And finally, don’t wait around for brands to discover you.
If you want UGC opportunities, you need to be willing to pitch yourself. You may not receive a response from every brand. That’s normal. The goal is to keep improving your work, refining your approach, and building relationships.
How to Start Making Money With Pet UGC
If you’re completely new, I would approach this in stages. First, spend time learning what good UGC looks like. Study creators who work with pet brands. Look at product demonstrations, lifestyle videos, and promotional photos. Next, practice creating content using products you already own. Try filming in natural light. Experiment with different angles. Practice making your editing clean and engaging. Then choose your strongest examples and create a simple portfolio.
Once you have a few pieces of work you’re proud of, begin researching smaller pet brands that could benefit from your content. Reach out through direct messages. Follow up through email when appropriate. Share your portfolio. And start learning how to discuss pricing, deliverables, and collaboration expectations. You don’t need to do everything perfectly before you start. But you do need to show brands that you’re capable of creating something valuable. That is how you begin building momentum.
Need More Help? We’re Here to Help!
If you’re brand new to the pet content creation world, Petfluencer Foundations is a great place to start. We cover the foundations of building a pet creator brand, content strategy, storytelling, audience growth, monetization, and the skills that help you create content people actually want to watch.
If you’re ready to go deeper into making money through brand collaborations, 6-Figure Pet Influencer covers the business side of content creation, including pitching, negotiating, pricing, working with brands, and developing multiple income streams.
I also have a brand deals ebook that walks through the process of understanding and pursuing brand partnerships, which can be especially helpful if you’re still trying to figure out how all of this works.
And if you want to expand your content creation skills into YouTube, YouTube Strategy can help you develop stronger titles, thumbnails, storytelling, retention, and long-form content. There are also free training resources available if you’re just getting started and want to learn the basics before investing in a program. You do not need to have everything figured out today. Start learning, practice creating, and build from there!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is UGC for pet influencers?
UGC stands for user-generated content. In the pet creator industry, it generally refers to photos or videos that you create for a pet brand to use in its own marketing rather than content you are paid to publish to your personal audience.
Can you make money with pet UGC if you have no followers?
Yes. Because brands are primarily paying for the content you create, you can pursue UGC work without a large social media audience. You still need to demonstrate good content quality and the ability to deliver what a brand needs.
How much do pet UGC creators make?
Rates vary significantly. Based on my personal experience, some beginner opportunities may offer $25 to $50 per video, while stronger-quality UGC projects may fall around $200 to $700 per video. These are examples, not guaranteed rates.
Do I need professional equipment to create pet UGC?
No. You can create appealing UGC using a good smartphone. Focus on clear footage, good lighting, understandable audio, and clean editing before investing in expensive equipment.
Do I need a media kit to pitch UGC brands?
I recommend creating a simple portfolio or media kit. Even one to three pages showcasing a few strong photos and videos can help brands understand what you’re capable of producing.
Can I create a UGC portfolio without previous brand deals?
Yes! You can create sample videos and photos featuring products you already own. Just present them as portfolio samples rather than claiming they were paid partnerships.
Which brands should beginner pet UGC creators pitch?
I recommend beginning with small to medium-sized pet brands. These companies may have a greater need for outside content creation support and may be more accessible than major companies with large marketing departments.
Should I pitch UGC brands through Instagram or email?
Both can work. I often recommend beginning with a direct message when approaching a smaller brand, then moving the conversation to email once there’s interest so you can keep an organized record of the collaboration.
Is UGC different from being a pet influencer?
Yes. Traditional influencer sponsorships typically involve promoting a brand to your own audience. UGC focuses on creating content that the brand can use, so the size of your personal following is less important.
Can pet UGC become a full-time business?
It is possible to build a business around UGC, but income depends on your skills, pricing, ability to find clients, repeat business, and workload. As with other freelance work, there is no guaranteed amount you will earn.
Final Thoughts
If you’re interested in making money with your pet but don’t have thousands of followers, I want you to stop thinking that your follower count is holding you back. You don’t need a huge audience to start creating value for brands. You need to learn how to make good content. Build a small portfolio. Find businesses that need that content. And be willing to introduce yourself.
Traditional sponsored posts can become more valuable as your audience grows, but UGC gives you another way to monetize your skills much earlier. And the best part? Those skills will continue helping you whether you decide to stay a UGC creator, build a pet influencer account, or eventually do both. Your pet doesn’t need to be famous for your content to be valuable. Sometimes, you just need to show a brand what you can create.
