Creator video ads in Saudi Arabia: why UGC beats polished ads

Most brands in Saudi Arabia already spend on Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram ads. Fewer of them have enough good videos to put behind that spend. The same product photo or studio video runs for weeks, results slide, and the answer is usually to raise the budget. Often the better answer is a new creative, made by a person, not a studio.

This guide explains why creator videos tend to do well as ads, how many you need, and the different ways you can work with creators on Trendly, whether you want influencer posts, videos for your own account, or ads.

Why creator videos work as ads

People on TikTok and Snapchat scroll past anything that looks like an ad. A creator holding your product, talking to the camera in Saudi dialect, looks like the content they came to watch.

The platforms say this themselves. TikTok’s creative best practices for advertisers recommend:

• featuring people, such as creators, employees or customers, to capture attention,
• a DIY, not overly polished style that fits in with user content,
• a hook in the first seconds and a clear call to action at the end.

Snapchat’s advice to advertisers points the same way: content that looks native to the app, made by real people.

We do not publish ROAS figures of our own, because we do not see your ad accounts. The only way to know what works for your product is to test creator videos against your current ads.

Why one video is not enough

Ads wear out. The same people see the same video, and results drop. TikTok calls this creative fatigue, and its advice is to keep a supply of new creatives and refresh an ad group when results keep falling.

TikTok also suggests testing 3 to 5 different creatives per ad group, and making them genuinely different, not five cuts of the same video. For a brand, that means a steady flow of videos, from several creators, with different hooks.

This is where most brands get stuck. Booking a studio every month is slow and expensive. Asking the marketing team to film everything burns them out. Working with creators one by one on WhatsApp means chasing files, prices and invoices.

Four ways to work with creators on Trendly

You do not need to choose between influencer marketing and ads. On Trendly, you post a campaign, creators in Saudi Arabia apply with their own price, and you hire the ones you want. What you ask for depends on your goal.

Way	Where it is posted	What you pay for	Best for
Influencer post	The creator’s account	Their audience and voice	Launches, openings, awareness
UGC video	Your account	The video	Keeping your accounts active
Regular creator	Your account, every week	A series of videos	A familiar face for your brand
Ad creative	Your ads, or a Spark Ad	The video and its ad use	Paid campaigns that need fresh creatives

1. Influencer posts on the creator’s account

The creator posts about your product to their own followers. You are paying for their audience and their voice. This suits launches, openings and awareness. Prices depend mostly on audience size; see our guide to influencer ad prices in Saudi Arabia.

2. UGC videos for your own account

The creator films the video and sends it to you. Nothing goes on their account. You post it on your TikTok, Snapchat or Instagram. This is the fastest way to keep your own accounts active with real people, not stock content.

3. A creator who posts for your brand regularly

Some brands want the same face every week. You can hire a creator for a series of videos for your account, so your audience gets used to them. Agree on the number of videos, the dates and the price in the offer, as you would for any job.

4. Creatives for paid ads

The creator films videos made to run as ads: a strong hook, the product in use, and a clear call to action. You agree in the offer, before filming, where and for how long you can use the video in ads. For TikTok, you can also run the creator’s own post as a Spark Ad with their authorization, so the ad shows their name and the engagement stays on their post.

For ads, the creator’s follower count matters much less. Your budget brings the reach; you are paying for a video that stops the scroll. On Trendly, the median first asking price for a UGC video is SAR 500, and every creator quotes their own price.

How it works on Trendly

On Trendly

Ask for ad creatives when you post the campaign

Pick the goal, then where the videos will run. Partnership ads let a post that takes off be boosted under the creator’s name.

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1. Post a campaign for free and choose New creatives for your ads.
2. Creators apply with their price. Watch their videos and pick the style that fits.
3. Agree the number of videos, dates and ad use. The 10% service fee applies only when you hire.
4. Your payment is held until the content is live, then the creator is paid.

A simple plan for your next ad month

One month of creator ads

1. Hire three to five creators, not oneDifferent faces and hooks to test against each other.
2. Write one short briefThe product, the one message that matters, and what not to say.
3. Ask for two or three hooks per videoThe first seconds decide whether anyone watches.
4. Agree ad use up frontPlatforms and duration, in the offer, before filming.
5. Run them side by side and keep the winnersBook the next round before the current ads wear out.

Our campaign brief guide has a template for step two. To see the sales the creators you keep bring from their own posts too, give each of them a discount code; our affiliate guide explains how.

Common questions from brands

Is UGC the same as influencer marketing? Not quite. Influencer marketing buys a creator’s audience. UGC buys the video. Many brands do both: a few influencer posts for reach, plus UGC videos to run as ads.

Will a video that worked organically work as an ad? Often, but not always. Test it. A video that did well on a creator’s account is a strong candidate for a Spark Ad.

Can I use the video forever? Only if the creator agrees. Usage rights are part of the offer, so agree on them before filming.

If your ads are running on the same few creatives, start small: post a campaign for UGC videos, hire three creators, and compare. You can also read more about UGC on Trendly.