Step 1. Building a UGC Campaign in Refunnel
Think of this campaign like an invitation (landing page) you send to a creator.
It's one page that tells them:
"Here's the product, here's what to make, here's what you agree to."
They say yes, and everything starts from there.
The creator signs up from this landing page, chooses the product they want to be seeded.
Once approved, Refunnel sends the product directly to the creator's address.
This landing page also explains everything a creator needs to know:
- How Much The Creator Can Make (Divided by Tiers)
- The Process to Apply & Start Creating Content
- Examples of Good Content ✅ vs Bad Content ❌
- Content Brief & Guidelines
- Choose the Product
Here's an example:
This is a creator campaign page for Fadwa Masala's spice blends: creators pick free products, post an Instagram Reel featuring them, and get paid based on views — from $100 at 10K+ views up to $1,000 at 1M+ views. The page also includes a content guide with good/bad examples, a campaign brief with the rules, and a checkbox confirming the creator has reviewed it — all in one link, matching the one-page campaign flow we outlined for the playbook.
When a creator uploads the content, you'll be able to see all of it inside of Refunnel:
Here's a video explaining how to build a UGC Product Seeding Campaign Step by Step:
Step 2. Sourcing Creators (Meta Business Suite)
The next step is finding the creators you're gonna do outreach to, for this we'll use Meta Creator Marketplace.
What is this?
This is Meta's free tool for finding creators. Instead of searching Instagram by hand, you type in some filters and Meta shows you a list of creators who might be a good fit for your brand.
- Open Creator Marketplace inside Meta Business Suite and search by keywords that fit the brand.
- Filter to your target: country, follower range, interests, age, gender, and language. For a local business, filter by state or city.
- Cap follower size to keep things simple and avoid heavy negotiation. A practical ceiling is around 100k followers.
- Use the quality signals: interaction rate, follower growth, and latest post. Aim for the middle: creators who are rising, whose videos are starting to perform, and who have posted in the last 30 days.
- Skip anyone who has not posted in about 90 days. They are harder to activate and tend to be more selective.
- Build the list and download it. The export includes creator emails, which feed straight into the next step.
Step 3. Set Up Cold Email in Instantly
Instantly is an email outreach tool. It lets you send thousands of emails a day by uploading a list of email addresses.
Instantly helps keep your emails out of spam — which is why we don't use your primary email for this. Sending high volume from your real inbox would kill its deliverability.
You'll use Instantly to send creators you've already sourced an email inviting them to your campaign.
Never send from the brand's primary domain. This rule is non-negotiable.
If creators mark it as spam, it can damage the brand's real business email for weeks.
Let's get into it.
Step #1: Create a New Instantly Account
Step #2: Inside of "Email Account", Click on "Add New"
Step #3: Click on "Done-for-you" Email Setup
The reason we go with "Done-for-You" is that you'll want email domains that match your brand — sending from something like
@refunnelcreators.com, @refunnelinfluencerprogram.com, or @refunnelaffiliates.com.
If you buy generic domains/addresses instead, the emails will look suspicious, and that lowers your chances of creators actually signing up.
Step #4: Create Email Domains That Match Your Brand
Step #5: Buy The Email Addresses. $35 gets you five inboxes on a domain, and each inbox can send about 30 emails a day.
- Set the forwarding domain to the brand's actual website, the real main domain, not the new sending domain.
- Turn on warmup and let it run before sending anything cold, so the inboxes look like real, active accounts.
Step #6: Create a "New Campaign"
Go into the "Campaigns" Section in the Left Hand Column and click on "Add New"
Step #7: Name Your Campaign
This is for internal use only. You can name this "Influencer Outreach | Fitness Creators | Product Seeding Campaign"
Step #8: Add Leads
Take the leads we got from Meta Creator Marketplace and Input them.
Step #9: Go to "Options"
- Select the email addresses you purchased to send from.
- Set the daily limit to 30.
Step #10: Creating the Email Sequence
- Go into the "Sequence" Option
- Write the Email Sequence
Step #11: Writing the Emails
Since Meta Creator Marketplace does not give you the first or last name of the creators, you won't be able to personalize it a lot.
We recommend doing a 3 email sequence:
Email #1:
Purpose: Personal opener, brand intro with a point of view, the offer, and a clear reply CTA.
Send: Day 0
Structure:
- Personal opener that names why this specific creator (1–2 sentences)
- Brand intro with a distinct positioning claim, not generic (2–3 sentences)
- Why this is a real opportunity for THEM, not just another collab (2–3 sentences). This is the trust-and-audience angle.
- What they get, in bullets (3–5 bullets)
- Deliverables and dates in one line
- Scarcity or selectivity framing plus reply CTA
Template:
Subject: [A subject line that signals the topic and the opportunity, not the product name]
Hi [First Name],
I'm putting together [a small group / a cohort / a program] of creators to [do the specific thing your campaign is about] this [season], and after watching how you connect with your audience, you're exactly the kind of voice I had in mind.
Quick context. [Brand name] [makes / builds / does] [one-line positioning that says what makes you different, not what category you're in]. This program features [product or product routine] to [specific outcome or use case]. [One more sentence of proof: certifications, sourcing, science, whatever makes this credible.]
Here's why this is a real opportunity for you, not just another collab: [name the audience gap, the underserved topic, or the reason their content specifically will perform on this]. The creators who do this well tend to see [specific benefit, e.g. outsized engagement, strong sales, ambassador track].
We're building [a small / an intentional] cohort to do exactly that, and putting the brand's weight behind the people who do it well:
- [Perk 1: performance mechanic, e.g. real ad spend behind top content]
- [Perk 2: earning potential with specific numbers]
- [Perk 3: free product and why it's credible]
- [Perk 4: long-term or founding cohort status if applicable]
[X deliverables]. Sign up by [DATE], first post by [DATE].
We're keeping the group small on purpose. We want creators who actually want to [have this conversation / talk about this topic / try this product], not just claim a freebie. If that's you, reply and I'll send everything over.
[Sender first name]
[Brand]
Email #2:
Purpose: Short bump, restate the value, offer to make it easy.
Send: 2–3 days after Email #1
Structure:
- One-line personal opener that acknowledges the bump without apologizing
- Short version of the offer (2–3 sentences max)
- Perks recap in one condensed line
- Reply CTA that offers help getting started ("angles that are landing right now," "content prompts," "a gut-check on your idea")
Template:
Subject: [Short, casual, e.g. "Bumping this up," "Bumping this back up"]
Hi [First Name],
Didn't want this to slip. The cohort's filling and I'd genuinely like you in it.
Short version: [one-sentence description of the program and what makes it interesting for their audience]. [One-sentence description of the performance or reach mechanic that makes this different.]
[Perk recap in one condensed line: free product, top-line earning potential, view bonuses, deliverables.]
If you've been on the fence, just reply. Happy to walk you through [the angles that are landing right now / a few content ideas / anything else] so you're not starting from a blank page.
[Sender first name]
Email #3:
Purpose: Shift from offer to conviction. Tell the story behind the product, the category problem, and why the content matters. This is the email that pulls in creators who care about substance.
Send: 4–5 days after Email #2
Structure:
- Opener that frames this email as the "why" behind the product
- Name the category problem specifically. What's wrong with most competitors.
- Position the brand as the counter-answer, with specific proof points
- Connect that back to why this makes the CONTENT easy to make. "You're not selling, you're telling the truth."
- Trust angle: their reputation is on the line and this is safe to put their name on
- Reply CTA
Template:
Subject: [Why we built X / Why this matters / The problem with most Y]
Hi [First Name],
Wanted to share why this product matters, because it's the same reason the content lands.
Most [category] products fall into two camps: [describe camp 1, e.g. kitchen-sink formulas], or [describe camp 2, e.g. watered-down versions with pretty packaging]. That's why the whole category has a [trust / credibility / quality] problem.
[Product] is the opposite. [Specific claim about how it's built differently, with concrete proof points, e.g. dosing, sourcing, certifications, ingredient count]. [Second product or mechanic if applicable]. The point is that you actually feel the difference, which means when you talk about it, you're not selling, you're telling the truth.
That matters for you specifically. Your reputation is your most valuable asset, and the fastest way to damage it is promoting something that doesn't work. This is a [product / routine / brand] you can put your name on without flinching.
The creators doing best in this program aren't reading scripts. They're talking honestly about [what the specific pain point looks like in real life]. And because [the topic / the category] is so underserved, that honesty travels.
If that's a conversation you've already been having with your audience, reply and I'll send the details.
[Sender first name]
Bonus Email: The Breakup Email
Not counted in the four, but worth including. Send 5–7 days after your last email (either #3 or #4 depending on which one you finished on).
Template:
Subject: Closing the loop / Closing your spot
Hi [First Name],
Last note from me.
Signup closes [DATE], and if the timing or topic isn't right, completely understandable. I'll close the loop on my end.
But if you've been meaning to reply, this is the moment. One reply and I'll send everything over (including the free [product]).
Either way, genuinely a fan of your work. Hope our paths cross.
[Sender first name]
Step #12: Build The Reply Agent Before Launching The Email Sequence. (More on this below)
Structural rules that make this work
A few things worth calling out for anyone using this template:
Every email opens with a personal opener, not a subject-line restatement. Never "Following up on my last email about..." Always something that acknowledges the person or the moment.
No em dashes anywhere. They read as AI-generated and creators notice.
Sign off with just a first name. No formal signature block in the outreach. It reads like a person, not a brand blast.
The signup link only appears once the creator has replied. All four cold emails end with "reply and I'll send everything over," not the link itself. This forces engagement, filters serious creators, and gives you a moment to personalize the welcome.
Each email does one job. #1 introduces, #2 bumps, #3 builds conviction, #4 summarizes. Don't try to do all four in every email.
Trust and reputation angle in Email #3 is doing heavy lifting. For creators making a living on their audience's trust, "this won't damage your reputation" is often more persuasive than any dollar amount. Keep that beat in even if you cut other things.
Selectivity beats scale in Email #1. "We're keeping the cohort small on purpose" outperforms "we'd love to work with you" every time, because it flatters the creator and creates real scarcity.
Step 4: Build the reply agent
Before launching your Instantly Campaign, you'll need to set up a reply agent (a bot) that automatically responds whenever a creator replies to your outreach email, so you can keep the conversation moving without manually managing every reply. This agent lives inside Instantly itself.
Let's build it.
PS: You might think you can skip the agent and just drop the signup link directly into your emails instead. Don't. Emails containing links tend to get flagged more often, which lowers your deliverability rate.
Step #1: Go into "AI Agents" and Click on "Add New"
Step #2: Select "AI Reply Agent"
Step #3: Name Your Agent
Step #4: Select "Autopilot"
Step #5: Select "On" in the following settings.
Step #6: Pick Your Campaign
Step #7: Go Into Claude
Now it's time to build the actual agent that will help up in the next step.
Paste the following prompt & complete with your details:
Step #8: Get Response by Claude
Step #9: Click on AI Agent Configuration.
Step #10: Set the Tone of Voice & Response Lenght
Step #11: Take the Output That Claude Gave You Into The Following Sections
Step #12 (Optional): Connect a Slack Channel To Give Real-Time Notifications When Someone Replies
Step #5: Launch Your Campaign
Step #1: Go Back To Your Sequence in Refunnel & Click on "Activate" or "Resume"
Congratulations, you have now successfully launched your influencer outreach campaign.
Please keep in mind:
- Connect a dedicated team Slack chat channel to Instantly. Once it is connected, you never have to log into Instantly except to upload new emails.
- Work replies from that channel. The agent posts a ready-to-send reply for each creator; you review and send in one click. You can also manage everything from Instantly's unified inbox, filtered by campaign.
- Let the agent handle the volume: answering questions, sending the campaign link, and negotiating where you have allowed it.
- Spot-check daily at first. Once it is dialed in, let it run hands-off and only step in for edge cases.
Step #6: Managing Creators & Content Inside of Refunnel
Let's go back into your Refunnel Dashboard & Specifically to The Campaign You Created.
Step #1: Approve Creators
After you've ran with this sequence for a couple of days, you'll most likely have a list of creators ready to start posting for you.
Go into your Campaign and click on "Applicants", you should see something like this:
Click the three dots to the right of each creator's name to bring up this menu.
From here, you can approve or deny each creator based on your own criteria.
If you approve them, the product is automatically sent to them.
If you deny them, they won't receive any notification about
Creators will now start posting content.
Step 7 — Report results
Reporting is built into Refunnel so you never have to log in and so you only ever count content the campaign actually caused.
- In Refunnel, build a collection of the campaign's content. Because sign-ups come through the tracked campaign link, the content is auto-associated, so you are not taking credit for posts the creator would have made anyway.
- Publish the collection as a public-facing landing page. The brand can filter by date range and see posts, creators, impressions, and engagement, and the page can be exported.
- Use this page as your proof-of-performance asset. It is also the natural lead-in to the whitelisting upsell: here is what organic drove, now let us put the winners into paid.
Case Studies:
Brand 1: SaaS Company
650 creators Reached → 74 Positive Replies
966 Pieces of Content Generated
41 Total Creators
7.2 Million Impressions
Offer: Post 30 Videos, Get $500
Brand 2: CPG
962 creators Reached → 209 Positive Replies.
23.1K Engagements
833K Impressions Generated
$43K EMV
Brand 3 GLP-1 Brand
501 creators Reached, 38 Positive Replies.
Playbook: How To Completely Automate Your Influencer and Creator Outreach Program. [Step by Step]