Been producing UGC video ads for e-commerce brands, and the pattern is always the same: brands write scripts like commercials, not like content.

Here's the fix that's moved the needle every time — the 3-second rule. Your hook has to work with the sound OFF and before the viewer's thumb moves. That means:

• No logo intros. No brand name in the first line. Nobody cares yet.

• Open on the problem, not the product. "I used to hate my morning skincare routine until..." beats "Introducing our new serum."

• Text overlay the hook in the first frame — most people are scrolling with sound off.

• Cut every clip under 2 seconds. If a shot lingers, you've lost them.

The accounts that treat their ad creative like content (native, imperfect, fast) consistently out-convert the ones that treat it like a commercial. Polish kills performance here — it's a feature, not a bug, that it looks a little rough.

If you're running paid social and your CTR is under 1%, it's almost never targeting. It's the first 3 seconds. Fix that before you touch the budget.