---
title: Running a UGC program — campaign managers, coaches and content approval
slug: ugc-program-management-and-coaching
summary: How the top UGC programs are staffed and run — 1 campaign manager per ~10 creators, managers vs content coaches, pre-post video reviews, a few "backbone" creators, when the founder can step back (consistent sub-$4–5 CPMs), and tooling for hundreds of creators.
domain: mobile-apps
tags: [organic-growth, ugc, operations, campaign-management, creators]
related: [ugc-creator-onboarding-course, ugc-pay-structures-and-free-views, creator-outreach-at-scale, measuring-organic-creator-attribution, short-form-hooks-and-formats-for-apps]
sources: [yt:qnDdabj8Fok, yt:22wFjjVyXUI, yt:VGJWRjz6nq8]
updated: 2026-10-24
---

# Running a UGC program — managers, coaches, approval

## TL;DR
- Successful long-run UGC programs share **lots of campaign managers and lots of content iteration**; many add **content coaches**.[^1]
- **1 manager : 10 creators** is the "winning ratio" (up to 15). Under 5 wastes a manager; over 15 and creators get lost.[^2]
- *Managers* handle logistics and quality gates (posting on time, viable hooks, good CTA), recruit and **fire bad creators fast**. *Coaches* improve delivery ("talk faster", "look at the camera at 3:00").[^1][^3]
- First days: **review every video before it's posted**. Dawson Gibbs's agency content-approves every video, permanently.[^4][^16]
- Build around **2–3 reliable "backbone" creators** plus a steady intake pipeline. Formats die, so you need a system that keeps finding new ones.[^6]
- Founder exit criterion: once CPMs are consistently **sub-$4–5**, hand off. Top-50 SideShift founders only do payouts and monthly check-ins, but step back in when CPMs rise.[^2][^6]

## Details
**Staffing ([[people/drew-levin]], SideShift, mid-2026).** Suno, #1 in the App Store music category on heavy UGC, had ~8 managers who doubled as coaches and recruiters.[^3] Low per-video pay means high creator churn, so constant hiring and firing is part of keeping CPMs down.[^3]

**First 30 days, as Drew would run it:**[^7]
1. Lock a consistent creator source (TikTok outreach, SideShift, etc.).
2. One identical onboarding path for everyone: message → 5-minute call → Notion with campaign brief and handle submission.
3. Hire ~10 creators. Review videos before posting for the first ~3 days, then hold a weekly call walking through their videos.
4. Feed creators videos already going viral in your niche, which is the fastest way to early wins.[^8]

**Buy-in.** Six months before the interview, the best programs were run by founders under 25 who texted top creators personally. Loyalty is low in this game; a creator who believes in the product works harder and won't jump to competitors.[^9][^10] A three-creator team that works is worthless if you can't scale it to 100, so make payouts easy and never cap someone mid-breakout.[^11]

**Tooling at hundreds of creators ([[people/jake-castillo]]).** With 50–70 Cal AI influencers posting on one day, Jake ran a Google Sheets system with automations, then built **ByRally**: contract sending, auto-tracking tagged posts and views, bonus/payment schedules, and a **renewal score** combining many metrics to decide who to renew.[^12][^13][^14]

**Approval rules ([[people/dawson-gibbs]]).** Strict on every video, e.g. hands must be doing something in the hook.[^16] The page-building strategy changes by product; the strictness doesn't.[^5]

## Disagreements / caveats
- Nicole Cheung ([[ugc-creator-onboarding-course]]) replaces much of the coaching with a recorded per-app course. Drew's model uses live managers/coaches; SideShift itself built a ~6-hour "Duolingo-style" creator course.[^15]
- Drew sells SideShift's manager marketplace; ratios are his observation, not a study.

## See also
- [[ugc-creator-onboarding-course]]
- [[ugc-pay-structures-and-free-views]]

[^1]: yt:qnDdabj8Fok @ 08:45 — Drew Levin
[^2]: yt:qnDdabj8Fok @ 11:17 — Drew Levin
[^3]: yt:qnDdabj8Fok @ 10:19 — Drew Levin
[^4]: yt:qnDdabj8Fok @ 14:02 — Drew Levin
[^5]: yt:VGJWRjz6nq8 @ 30:05 — Dawson Gibbs
[^6]: yt:qnDdabj8Fok @ 12:32 — Drew Levin
[^7]: yt:qnDdabj8Fok @ 14:02 — Drew Levin
[^8]: yt:qnDdabj8Fok @ 08:45 — Drew Levin
[^9]: yt:qnDdabj8Fok @ 20:58 — Drew Levin
[^10]: yt:qnDdabj8Fok @ 16:16 — Drew Levin
[^11]: yt:qnDdabj8Fok @ 23:13 — Drew Levin
[^12]: yt:22wFjjVyXUI @ 37:51 — Jake Castillo
[^13]: yt:22wFjjVyXUI @ 40:21 — Jake Castillo
[^14]: yt:22wFjjVyXUI @ 42:30 — Jake Castillo
[^15]: yt:qnDdabj8Fok @ 25:20 — Drew Levin
[^16]: yt:VGJWRjz6nq8 @ 28:33 — Dawson Gibbs