Liam Cass | UGC Creator

4+ years experience in UGC
DM’s open | contact@lcasscreative

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

TikTok Shop is converting at nearly 5% right now. The other social platforms are stuck around 2%.

So obviously, I’ve started TikTok Shop.

And the first decision I made had nothing to do with the product. It was the niche.

Most people pick a niche by what's selling. I think that's backwards. The better question is what you've already got that other people actually want.

Everyone has some kind of unfair advantage. A skill, a look, access, knowledge, a situation. Something you can show or prove that the next person can't easily copy.

Most people ignore theirs and chase whatever's working for someone else. So they end up as a slightly worse version of the person who already had the edge.

For me, the advantage was simple. I've got clear skin, so I went with skincare.

It's one of the few products you can actually prove on camera. You either see a difference or you don't. I don't have to talk anyone into it. They look, and they decide. That's the proof doing the work, not me.

And this is the bit people get wrong about TikTok Shop. Some of the biggest sellers on there have under 100k followers. It rewards the right content and the right fit, not the size of your account. Your advantage matters more than your reach.

The useful part is the skillset is the same as UGC. Everything I've built over the last few years carries straight over.

→ open on the problem, not the product
→ name the exact pain point the right person feels
→ show it working, don't just describe it
→ keep it native, so it never feels like an ad
→ earn the watch before you ask for the sale

TikTok Shop is basically UGC with a buy button. Same hooks, same retention, just pointed at a sale instead of a view.

I've started building around this, and I'll share what lands and what flops as I go.

So before you pick a lane: what have you actually got that other people want?

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

6 ways to fix a dead brand account this week:

1 - Stop posting "brand content"

A dead account usually has too much polished content and not enough useful content.

People don't follow brands because the grid looks nice.

They follow because the content gives them something.

→ a tip
→ a result
→ a reason to care
→ a problem they recognise

2 - Audit the first 3 seconds

Watch your last 10 videos and pause after 3 seconds.

Would a cold viewer know what the video is about?

Would they know who it's for?

Would they have a reason to keep watching?

If not, that's the first fix.

3 - Turn your product into problems

Don't start with the product.

Start with the problem it solves.

Instead of: "Here's our new eye cream."

Try: "If your under-eyes still look tired after concealer..."

Problem-first content gets attention faster.

4 - Remake what almost worked

Find the videos that had slightly better retention, saves, comments, or click-through.

Don't ignore them because they didn't go viral.

They're clues.

Same idea. Sharper hook. Faster edit. Clearer payoff.

5 - Add proof

Dead accounts often make claims without showing enough evidence.

Show the texture. Show the application. Show the before and after. Show the mistake. Show the comparison. Show the result in real life.

Proof makes content easier to trust.

6 - Build a repeatable series

One-off posts are hard to remember.

Series are easier to follow.

A few examples:

→ Fixing bad TikTok hooks
→ Products I'd never advertise like this
→ Why this video sold
→ 3-second content audits

A dead account doesn't need 30 random ideas.

It needs a few strong formats repeated properly.

Which of these is your account missing most: the hooks, the proof, or a series worth following?

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

Everyone's trying to write a better hook. Half the time, the first frame already decided it.

Brands pour effort into the opening line. And the words do matter. But a lot of the time, the scroll stops, or doesn't, before anyone has read a single one.

Because the first frame is the real first impression. Most people scroll with the sound off, mid-feed, half paying attention. In that moment, the visual is the only thing doing any work.

A strange, specific or satisfying first frame can do half the hook's job before the caption even loads.

The kind of opening visuals that earn the stop:

→ an everyday object somewhere you don't expect it
→ the result shown first, before any explanation
→ movement or texture the eye can't help following
→ a tiny mess or moment people recognise instantly
→ contrast: clean against messy, fast against slow, expected against not

A clever line sitting on a flat, generic frame still gets scrolled past. A strong frame buys you the half second it takes for the words to land.

This is the bit I think gets under-used. I see brands write five hook variations, then shoot all five on the same forgettable opening shot.

The line gets all the attention. The frame quietly does half the work.

Brands, when you brief a hook, do you ever brief the first frame with the same care?

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

"Call out your audience" is advice everyone gives. Nobody ever explains why it works.

So here's the actual mechanism.

Your brain processes information about itself deeper than anything else in the world. This is called self-referential encoding - the second something feels like it's about ME, I can't not look.

That's the entire reason "if you've got oily skin..." destroys "this product is amazing."

One is about a product. The other hijacks the single topic the brain is physically incapable of ignoring - yourself.

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

@jitzandcoffee 0.5x on iPhone, then mounted my phone to my chest for the hook

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

Ever wonder why watching someone's hands reach for a product makes YOU want it?

It’s crazy how the mind works 🧠

Your brain runs a quiet simulation of actions it watches - on some level you "feel" the reach, the grab, the bite. Watching is never fully passive.

This is the actual reason POV content and slow 0.5x hand movements work. You're not showing the viewer a product. You're putting their body in the scene.

I lean on this constantly in the UGC I make - this Surreal piece I did recently is basically built on it. Looks like someone filmed their breakfast. It's actually aimed at your motor cortex 🤓

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

This looks like a fun little granola video. That's the whole point.

I made it for Surreal, for a new flavour of their high protein granola. POV, shot mostly in 0.5x, fast hand movements, exaggerated motion. Colourful, quick, a bit silly. The kind of thing you'd scroll past assuming someone just filmed their breakfast.

But almost nothing in it is accidental.

Here's what's going on under a video that looks this casual:

→ The 0.5x slow-mo exaggerates every movement, so the hands and the product keep pulling your eye back
→ The fast pacing and colour stop the scroll before a single word has to do any work
→ The POV framing makes it feel personal - like you're the one reaching for it, not being sold to
→ It's aimed clearly at people who want a higher-protein swap for normal granola, without ever listing benefits like an ad
→ The energy does the selling, not the script
That's the bit people miss about this style. It looks effortless on purpose.

Making something considered feel casual is harder than making something polished feel premium.

And it works because of that, not in spite of it. I've made this kind of content for Surreal consistently for two years now - same style, again and again, because it keeps doing its job.

A video that looks like a minute of fun is usually a stack of small, deliberate decisions wearing a casual outfit.

That's the part of UGC I'd back myself on every time. Not pointing a camera at a product. Knowing exactly why each choice is on screen.

If you make content - which is harder: making something look polished, or making something considered look effortless?

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

The “yap to camera” style has been working for a while, and I don’t think it’s going anywhere.

But the best versions are not just people talking.

They are simple videos with a lot of thinking behind them.

A person, a phone, a thought delivered straight to camera. Nothing flashy.

And brands see that and think I could make that - which is true.

The filming is easy.

What’s not simple is the thinking that happens before record is ever pressed.

A video that looks effortless is usually hiding a stack of deliberate decisions.

These are the ones I’m checking for, every time:

→ Fast context

The viewer has to know what they’re watching and why it’s for them inside the first second or two.

Not a slow build - orientation.

Confuse someone and they’re gone before you’ve earned the chance to be interesting.

→ A clear visual idea

One thing the eye locks onto.

If I can’t describe what’s happening on screen in a single sentence, it’s too busy.

Cluttered visuals split attention, and split attention doesn’t convert.

→ Emotional relevance

The video has to make the right person feel seen. Recognised, mildly called out, understood.

Not “this is a good product” but “this is about me.”

That flicker of recognition is what stops the thumb.

→ Curiosity

Something open.

A question raised, a gap not yet closed, a “wait, why?”

The brain treats an open loop like an unfinished task. It nags, and that nagging is what buys you the next ten seconds.

→ Pacing

Every line has to earn the next.

I edit for the moment attention dips, not the moment I run out of things to say.

Most videos don’t die at the hook.

They die in the sag around second eight, where nothing new arrives.

→ Comments

I think about the comment section while I’m scripting.

A mild disagreement, a gap people feel compelled to fill, a “this is so me”.

Comments are a ranking signal and a second piece of content stacked on the first.

You can design for them on purpose.

→ Shareability

The real multiplier.

People share things that say something they want said. That make them look smart, seen, or right.

Before posting I ask one question:

Who sends this to someone else, and what does sending it say about them?

None of that depends on a better camera or nicer lighting.

It’s all decided in the thinking - the part that doesn’t show up on screen, which is exactly why it works.

That’s the gap between content that looks good and content that performs.

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

If your TikTok views have dropped this year and you can’t work out why, it might not be your content getting worse.

In 2026, TikTok changed.

The platform has leaned harder into one signal than ever: watch time.

Here's what that actually means for you.

1 - Completion is the whole game now

The thing the algorithm cares about most isn't likes, follows, or even views. It's whether people finish your video.

The number creators keep throwing around is roughly 70% completion to get pushed wide - up from about half that a couple of years back. I can't tell you that exact figure is official. But the direction is obvious in the data: a 15-second video watched fully beats a 60-second video watched halfway, every single time. Completion is the currency.

2 - A "view" got stricter

A view barely counts anymore until someone watches past the first few seconds - around 5. So a weak hook doesn't just lose the viewer. It loses the view entirely. You're being judged on retention before most people even used to decide whether to stay.

3 - Search became a real front door

People are increasingly finding videos by typing - "high protein breakfast", "best cleaning spray" - not just scrolling the For You page. TikTok behaves more like a search engine every month.

That means the words you say, the caption you write, and the text you put on screen all matter more than people think. They're how someone finds this video three weeks from now.

So here's what I'd actually change:

→ Make the hook earn past 5 seconds, not 3. Front-load the single most interesting thing - the result, the problem, the visual.
→ Build for completion, not length. Don't pad. As long as it needs to be, then stop.
→ Cut the dead air in the middle. That's where most videos quietly leak viewers.
→ Say your keywords out loud and put them on screen. Feed the search engine.

And what I'd test this week:

1 - Same video, 3 different hooks. Post them, compare retention on the first 5 seconds, keep the winner's style.

2 - One clear topic per video, not five. Mixed messages confuse the system and cap your reach.

3 - A "save this" payoff. Saves and rewatches are weighted heavily now - give people a reason to come back to it.

None of this is magic. It's just the platform telling you what it wants, louder than before.

I'm still figuring it out myself. Testing, seeing what works, seeing what doesn't, then trying to work out why.

But if your views dropped this year, it's almost never that your content got worse. It's that the rules quietly changed underneath you. Catch up to them and the views come back.

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

This looks like a fun little granola video. That's the whole point.

I made it for Surreal, for a new flavour of their high protein granola. POV, shot mostly in 0.5x, fast hand movements, exaggerated motion. Colourful, quick, a bit silly. The kind of thing you'd scroll past assuming someone just filmed their breakfast.

But almost nothing in it is accidental.

Here's what's going on under a video that looks this casual:

→ The 0.5x slow-mo exaggerates every movement, so the hands and the product keep pulling your eye back
→ The fast pacing and colour stop the scroll before a single word has to do any work
→ The POV framing makes it feel personal - like you're the one reaching for it, not being sold to
→ It's aimed clearly at people who want a higher-protein swap for normal granola, without ever listing benefits like an ad
→ The energy does the selling, not the script
That's the bit people miss about this style. It looks effortless on purpose.

Making something considered feel casual is harder than making something polished feel premium.

And it works because of that, not in spite of it. I've made this kind of content for Surreal consistently for two years now - same style, again and again, because it keeps doing its job.

A video that looks like a minute of fun is usually a stack of small, deliberate decisions wearing a casual outfit.

That's the part of UGC I'd back myself on every time. Not pointing a camera at a product. Knowing exactly why each choice is on screen.

If you make content - which is harder: making something look polished, or making something considered look effortless?

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

@Marcmarcelinn Interested!

https://t.co/b8FAbIpeOe

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

@joedevsjs Interested!

https://t.co/b8FAbIpeOe

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

@Connor_Seen UK creator here!

https://t.co/b8FAbIpeOe

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

I'm SO back.

I haven't posted properly on here in years, but I think it's time for a comeback.

Still making content, just let myself get complacent with my own personal brand, icl.

Anyway, here's my portfolio for anyone who wants to take a look:

https://t.co/b8FAbIpeOe

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

@MrpseanZocial 🤣🤣 a classic, let’s work again together soon 🤝

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

@maverickecom Guide

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

I’ve been creating content for 3+ years - and these are 5 techniques I will always come back to.

Not because they’re trendy.

But because they work. Every single time.

I didn’t learn them from a course or a guru.

I learned them by trial. Error. And watching hundreds of videos bomb or take off - trying to figure out why.

Here are 5 things that actually make content more engaging:

1 - ASMR

Subtle, repetitive sounds (like tapping, sizzling, or brushing) are incredibly satisfying.

They hold attention and increase replay value - especially in silent scroll feeds.

2 - Visual shifts

Frequent jump cuts, camera angle changes, and movement keep the eye engaged.

Pacing matters. Visual variation stops the scroll and sustains focus.

3 - Visual storytelling

If your video can be understood without sound or subtitles, it instantly becomes more universal.

The best content isn’t language-dependent - it’s visually intuitive.

4 - Promised payoff

Create a setup that signals a reward is coming - then deliver it at the end.

Retention is built on tension, curiosity, and resolution.

5 - Progressive structure (“levels”)

When each moment feels like it’s building to something better, people keep watching.

Small reveals. Escalating tension. Step-by-step storytelling.

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

Most videos lose viewers because they stop earning their attention.

Here’s how to hold it - 3 seconds at a time:

→ Angle changes - a new frame = a new hook. Keep the screen moving to keep the brain alert.
→ Storytelling flow - every line should lead to a new question or moment of tension. Curiosity is currency.
→ Pattern breaks - sudden zooms, pauses, or silence snap the viewer out of autopilot. That jolt keeps them locked in.

Think of your video like a staircase -
If the first step hooked them…
Every 3 seconds after has to re-hook them.

Or they scroll.

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

@jordanhill11 😎

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

Note to self: Just post the content.

This was just me reeling off to the camera.

Wanna start doing more of this.

LFG.

[Liam Cass | UGC Creator @liamcass__]

Good lighting doesn’t need to cost £500.
But bad lighting? That could cost you attention.

I got my setup for under £50 - here’s how I do it:

→ Face a light (window or ring light). Bright subject = clean, pro look
→ Add a light off to the side. Shadows = depth
→ Use a backlight (lamp, phone screen, anything) to separate you from the background

You don’t need fancy gear.
Just smart placement.