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I'm Iza, a UGC creator who’s had the opportunity to work with over 400 brands, and I’m also the Community Manager at Twirl. I’m excited to share what I’ve learned along the way to help other creators grow, improve their craft, and thrive in their own journey.
Black Friday and Christmas briefs are about to be EVERYWHERE, and brands are going to need a lot of festive UGC. But the UGC industry is maturing, and audiences are getting much better at recognising repeatable ad formats. That means pitching another video of you standing in front of fairy lights saying, “run, don’t walk, this is 30% off!” probably isn’t going to cut it anymore.
People are also increasingly using TikTok and Instagram to research products, compare options and decide whether something is actually worth buying. That shift is changing the kind of UGC concepts that feel useful, believable and worth pitching.
In this blog, we’re looking at five Black Friday and holiday UGC ideas that go beyond the usual festive formats, with the strategy behind why they work and how you could pitch them to brands.
And if you’re still getting ready for Q4, start with our Q4 UGC Creator Guide.
Black Friday gives people a reason to buy now, but your content still needs to answer why this product?
Instead of: “This is 30% off for Black Friday!”
Try: “I’ve had this in my basket for months, is it actually worth buying now it’s on sale?”
or: “If you’re thinking about buying this in the Black Friday sale, here’s what I’d want to know first.”
From there, show what you actually get, demo the product, answer an objection, compare options, or explain who it’s best for.
The discount answers why now?
The content answers why buy?
That’s much stronger than just repeating the offer.
“I noticed you’re running a Black Friday offer and had an idea for an ‘is it actually worth it?’ style video that answers the questions someone would have before buying, then naturally lands on the offer as the reason to act now.”
There’s nothing wrong with gift guides, they just work much better when they’re specific.
Instead of: “5 Christmas gifts 🎁”
Try:
“What I’d buy my mum who insists she doesn’t want anything.”
“Three Secret Santa gifts under £20 that don’t feel cheap.”
“What to buy your skincare-obsessed friend when you know nothing about skincare.”
Now you’re not just showing products, you’re solving a real shopping problem.
“Christmas shoppers” is too broad. A stronger concept starts with: Who is this for? What are they trying to buy? What’s making it difficult?
That specificity makes the content feel more useful, more searchable and more relevant.
You can narrow it by:
“Rather than a broad Christmas gift guide, I’d love to build the concept around a specific gifting problem, e.g. ‘what to buy the friend who already has everything’. It gives the product a much clearer role and makes the content feel more useful than a generic festive roundup.”
Another easy trap is taking a normal UGC concept and just making it look festive; fairy lights, Christmas mug, festive music, but leaving the idea itself the same.
Instead, start with a problem that only really exists because it’s November or December.
“POV: you’re hosting Christmas for the first time and you’ve just remembered people expect you to actually feed them.”
“It’s party season and my skin has apparently decided December isn’t for her.”
“Trying to pack for Christmas at my parents’ without bringing my entire flat.”
Now the product has a natural reason to appear.
A strong seasonal concept usually has a simple tension: They want X, BUT Y.
Then the product helps resolve it.
That gives you: DESIRE → BARRIER → PRODUCT → PAYOFF
Much stronger than simply placing a product in a festive-looking room.
“I’d love to build the product into a real seasonal situation rather than just making the visuals festive. One route could be [specific holiday problem], with the product becoming the solution naturally within the story.”
You’re pitching the idea behind the content, not just “festive UGC”.
If the product says:
Instead of writing the claim into the script and adding B-roll afterwards, make the proof itself the concept.
You’re moving from: CLAIM → REASON TO BELIEVE
“It’s really convenient” is easy to say, showing the whole process in three steps is much more convincing. The viewer shouldn’t have to take every benefit on trust.
Ask: What would make this believable on camera?
That could be:
“One of your key messages is [benefit], and rather than just saying it on camera, I’d love to build the concept around proving it — for example, [specific demonstration].”
That turns a product claim into an actual creative idea.
This might be the biggest creative opportunity on the list.
Instead of pitching: “I can make a Black Friday UGC video.”
Think about the whole buying journey: discover → consider → compare → buy → review
Then build content around different stages. For example:
Or for gifting: “What I’m considering buying Mum” → “What I chose and why” → “Her reaction.”
Different videos can do different jobs. While one creates discovery, the other one supports consideration, and the last one gives proof. That’s much stronger than trying to make one 20-second video do everything.
You can even bring the audience into the story: “Which one should I choose? I’ll test the winner in Part 2.” Now the engagement helps shape the next piece of content.
“I actually think this could work really well as a short three-part series rather than one isolated video — discovery first, then the buying decision, followed by a genuine post-purchase update. It gives you several creative angles while keeping the story connected.”
That’s very different from simply saying: “I can make three videos.”
Try not to begin with:
Those are formats, not ideas. Start with:
Then choose the format that best supports the idea. A testimonial, vlog, comparison, product test or gift guide might all work, but now you’re choosing them for a reason.
Creative UGC doesn’t need to mean reinventing the wheel. Usually, the strongest concepts just go one step deeper than the obvious seasonal angle. Think about what actually changes for the customer at this time of year:
And when a brand gives you a product message, don’t just repeat it. Think about how you could show it, prove it or build a story around it. The season gives people a reason to pay attention, but your content still needs to give them a reason to care about this product.
If you want more practical frameworks, templates and creator education, you can find them in the Twirl Creator Tools & Resource Hub. And if you’re looking for more opportunities to put those skills into practice, you can apply to become a UGC creator on Twirl.
Twirl is your go-to partner for UGC. Whether you're a brand, agency or a UGC creator, we bring together 8000+ talented creators to produce authentic, scroll-stopping content for ads, websites, emails, and social channels.
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