Top Tips to Improve Your CGC Portfolio ☝️
Portfolio
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Portfolio •
Building a killer Creator-Generated Content (CGC) portfolio is your ticket to impressing brands and landing gigs, including your (all-important) first one with Vidsy ✨
The Vidsy team has worked with thousands of creators and reviews hundreds of new portfolios every month. So, we've put together a handy guide to help you craft the perfect site to showcase your portfolio.
The foundations 🧴
The beauty of CGC (pun very much intended) is that it emphasises creative excellence over follower count, likes, or other vanity metrics. Your ability to create killer content shines through, and a strong portfolio allows your quality to shine.
Like anything, a clear structure is the foundation of a great portfolio. Including a few key elements makes it much easier for brands, clients, and platforms like Vidsy to stand out among the competition of other creators.
Here are some essential sections you should consider including in your portfolio:
Examples of WORK
This section should be treated as the main course of your CGC portfolio 🍽. The key is selecting past work that prioritises quality over quantity and showcases your creative excellence at its core. Ensure these videos excel in CGC editing, content variety, and always include at least one video showcasing your voice.
It’s also beneficial to showcase a diverse range of projects and brands you’ve collaborated with to highlight your experience, versatility, and expertise in different niches. We recommend organising them by niche, such as lifestyle, fitness, pets, beauty, skits, etc., to make navigation easy and demonstrate a broad range of skills to potential clients. This technique of labelling everything will also aid your chances of discovery through organic search.
Tip: Remember to turn off autoplay! Otherwise, all your videos will play at once, creating a sensory overload when the client clicks onto your portfolio. This helps maintain a professional presentation and allows the client to navigate and view content at their own pace.
If you’re new to your CGC journey, consider creating some 'fake briefs' using your favourite products or brands.
IMPORTANT: It’s vital that you obtain permission from your client before sharing work publicly on your portfolio. You don’t want to steal a brand’s thunder by sharing content before they’ve gone live with a campaign. Check out Vidsy’s usage rights here: https://community.vidsy.co/articles/what-happens-to-my-submission-cgc
CLIENT LOGOS/Experiences
As is true for any business, the power of good testimonials is tenfold. Glowing client reviews add extra validation to your portfolio.
Including a section that features a variety of brand logos can help solidify your experience, reputation, and suitability for a brand. This is a section you can regularly and easily keep up-to-date to impress and encourage potential clients to work with you.
ABOUT ME (YOU)
If a client likes your work, the way you present yourself here could seal the deal. It’s your chance to showcase your personality. Think of it as a less formal application cover letter—an opportunity to emphasise your talent and experience. Introduce yourself and include anything that sets you apart from other creators. For example, if you create a lot of pet content, share information about your dog. If you have 8 years of experience in social media management, highlight that.
It’s always a good idea to use this section to share some demographic insights. Include where you’re based, your age, and your favorite type of content to create (e.g., travel, tech, beauty, etc.).
Packages and rates
It’s always a good idea to establish a rough price and expectations for your rates for prospective clients. This saves time and avoids back-and-forth negotiations if your content doesn’t align with a brand’s budget.
You don’t need to go into too much detail here! But providing an indication of pricing for a standard video can set expectations early on and save both parties time.
CONTACT & Socials
Email address. Email address. Email address.
Set up a form to capture potential client information too, if you’d like, but always display your email address. Too many creators opt for a single form in order to protect their email, and this can act as a barrier for some clients.
Additionally, it’s always a great idea to include links to relevant social platforms, if available. Whether it’s TikTok, Instagram, or others, showcasing your presence on these platforms helps brands understand your style and social media expertise upfront, demonstrating your understanding of the social world.
What are we looking for from a CGC creator?
Looking to secure your first CGC brief with Vidsy? Here are the key fundamentals that we look for in our CGC creators:
Storytelling. You’re a natural born story teller.
Versatility. You demonstrate the ability to adapt and create content across various formats, platforms, and themes.
Creative Excellence. You’re experienced in shooting and editing for social.
Authenticity. You are confident and genuine in front of camera.
Brand Alignment. You are comfortable conceptualising killer creative ideas that align with the relevant brand's values, tone, and target audience.
Social expertise. You stay up-to-date with the latest content trends and tools.
Psst! Be sure to incorporate these skillsets within your portfolio/link that you include upon your Vidsy application.
Where to start?
Luckily, creating a top-notch CGC portfolio isn’t nearly as difficult as you might think. There are plenty of free and helpful tools available to help you along the way! Here are some of our favourites:
Canva. The most popular and easy-to-use portfolio builder of them all. Canva offers a fantastic free plan that can quickly amplify and showcase your CGC portfolio. Highly recommended!
Google Drive. Short on time and prefer something more private? Organise your best CGC content neatly in Google Drive. Just make sure it’s open and accessible!
Wix. Wix is an easy website builder that gives a professional finish. Although it has free plans it’s paid ones are more affordable than others starting at just $17 per month.
Squarespace. Easy-to-use, beautiful templates enable you to create a professional and dynamic portfolio in just a few clicks. However, Squarespace is not free. Although it offers a free trial, you will eventually need to select a paid plan. Costs can accumulate over time, particularly if you require advanced features or e-commerce functionality.
Adobe Express. If you already have an Adobe Creative Cloud package, Adobe Spark's Free Online Portfolio Maker is an excellent tool to build your own digital portfolio.
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