Why We Added UGC Ads

Work For Treats Team
Jun 16
3 min read

(And What It Means for Your Brand)

Over the past year, we kept hearing the same thing from DTC pet brands.

"We need more content. Real content. The kind that converts to sales."

UGC meta or tiktok ad phone in hand for pet products with cat model.

Everyone was saying a version of the same thing. They had great product photography, brand assets, and a solid visual identity. But suddenly it wasn't enough. Social media marketing was changing, and it wasn't performing the same way it used to.

Sound familiar?

What Changed

The feed changed. Audiences changed. The algorithm changed big time, and is driving native looking content with real people, real reactions and real pets.

That's UGC; user-generated content, and it's not a trend. It's a shift in what pet parents trust.

commercial photography of puppy dachshund puppy model with pet chew treat in mouth. lifestyle.

Why We Built This

We're a pet content studio. We've spent years working with dog and cat models, learning what makes an audience stop scrolling, and helping brands tell better stories through visuals.

When our clients started asking for content that felt more raw, more real, more native to Meta and TikTok, we already had everything we needed to deliver it. The models. The instincts. The understanding of what pet owners actually respond to.

So we built a done-for-you UGC ad service.

Not influencer content. Not stock footage. Purpose-built UGC ads featuring real pet models, shot in a way that feels organic to the feed and engineered to perform.

Dog mom or parent holding a phone taking selfie with her Goldendoodle. Dog model and human model for a commercial pet photoshoot.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Here's what a typical UGC ad from Work For Treats actually involves:

Real pet models, not props. Our dog and cat models are trained, experienced on set, and genuinely reactive, which means the moments we capture look real because they are real.

Creator-style filming. We shoot in formats native to the platforms you're running on. Vertical. Handheld. Fast cuts. The aesthetic that performs on TikTok, Reels, and Meta ads.

Multiple hooks, one shoot. We build variation into every project. Different hooks, different openings, different emotional angles, so you can test and optimize without going back to square one every time.

Ready to run. Everything comes delivered, edited, and licensed for commercial use. You don't need to brief a separate editor or chase down licensing agreements. It's done.

Who This Is For

This service was built specifically for DTC pet brands: the kind running paid ads, trying to grow on social, or both.

If you're already investing in photography but your ads are lacking, UGC is the layer that's missing. It gives your audience something to react to, that feels like a recommendation from someone they trust, not just a brand talking at them.

If you're just starting to scale your content and you want to build a library that actually works across multiple channels, UGC is one of the most efficient ways to do it.

Studio pet photography of border collie dog model and cat model with pet products (preventative) for e-commerce site.

Still Doing Photography

We want to be clear about something: we didn't add UGC ads because photography stopped working. It didn't.

Product photography and video is still the backbone of a great brand presence. Your website, your Amazon listings, your hero assets all still needs quality, intentional imagery.

We still do that.

What we recognized is that a complete content strategy needs both. Photography & brand video builds the brand. UGC sells the product. They work better together than either does alone.