Finding & accepting creators covers the mechanics of your roster. This page covers the judgment: which applicants to say yes to, whether to get on a call first, what content to ask for, and how to keep a creator pool performing month over month.

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Vetting an applicant: four checks, in order

Run these in order, and stop at the first fail — each one predicts the next stage of the collaboration.
1

Portfolio authenticity

Their content should look like a person sharing, not an ad. Overly polished, commercial-style portfolios are a red flag for organic UGC: viewers (and the algorithm) treat that content as advertising and scroll past it.
2

Engagement consistency

A steady view baseline across recent posts signals skill. One viral outlier in a sea of dead posts signals luck. Judge the median, not the peak — the creator’s profile tabs and application stats show median views for exactly this reason.
3

Communication quality

Response speed and clarity before approval predict behavior during the campaign, when it matters more. Message an applicant before deciding — slow, vague replies now mean slower replies when a revision is due.
4

Product understanding

Can they say what your product does in one sentence? If they can’t, their content won’t either. This is also the easiest thing to test on a call.
Follower count is mostly irrelevant for campaigns running on new dedicated accounts — every account starts at zero, and the biggest videos in this space routinely come from small accounts. Follower counts matter mainly for influencer-style campaigns on a creator’s existing account.

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Should you get on a call before approving?

A call always helps match quality. You see communication style and vibe fit live, you understand the creator deeper, and you confirm they actually get your product before the collaboration starts. The platform handles the logistics either way — contract signing, onboarding materials, warm-up guides, and your payout is fixed on the campaign — so the call is purely about the match, and the only cost is your time. The flow on NewWave:
  1. Message the applicants you’re interested in from their profile or the row menu, with your booking link in the first message.
  2. Bookmark them while you schedule, so they stay easy to find. Bookmarks are private to you.
  3. Run the call, then approve the ones that fit.
If running a call per creator is more than your bandwidth allows, a group kickoff call after approving is a lighter alternative.

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A message that books the call in one send

Keep it to one message that closes everything — a personal line, the ask, and the booking link — so there’s no back-and-forth:
hey [name]! saw your application for [campaign] and your [specific video] stood out. before we kick things off we’d love to hop on a quick 15 min call to walk you through the campaign and make sure it’s a great fit both ways. grab any time that works for you here: [booking link]

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A 20-minute structure that works

  1. Introduction (3-5 min): ask about them; watch for red flags in energy and reliability.
  2. Product overview (3-5 min): explain your product, then have them explain it back.
  3. Campaign terms (5 min): cadence, content types, timeline.
  4. Accounts & warm-up (3 min): which account they’ll use and why warm-up exists.
  5. Compensation (5-7 min): present the campaign’s payout as set on the platform — it’s not a negotiation.
  6. Next steps (2 min): onboarding materials, first draft due date.

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What content should you ask for?

Formats map to jobs: The right mix depends on what your campaign is optimizing for:
  • Conversion-led (your product is live and people can act today): weight heavily toward talking-head and conversion formats — something like 60-70% of your videos — with the rest testing entertainment and trend formats.
  • Awareness-led (pre-launch, just launched, or a harder convert like B2B): flip it — lead with reach formats to build mindshare, and keep a smaller conversion slice ready to scale once people can act.
Either way, don’t guess for long: each week, look at your top and bottom videos and shift the mix toward what’s winning.
For the first seconds of any video: the first half-second decides most of a video’s performance. On-screen text, movement, a direct question, or a surprising number stop the scroll; greeting intros, slow pans, and logo openers kill it.

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Warm-up posts: what they’re for

Warm-up posts are a diagnostic for a brand-new account, not a content exercise. Before any branded content goes up, they answer three questions: is the account shadow-banned, do posts reach the feed normally, and is the traffic coming from the audience you’re targeting? Because the post itself is disposable, how strictly you review warm-up posts is your choice. Some brands set niche-specific standards (even scripted, just never branded) so the account’s early content matches the campaign’s lane; others let creators post anything, since the post only needs to prove the account is healthy. Both are valid.
If a creator can’t register a new account (TikTok caps new registrations per phone number), the standard fix is reusing an old account: archive the old videos and restart it with the campaign persona. If that account is already active with the right audience, warm-up posts can be skipped — the thing they test is already proven.

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When a creator’s views are low

Low views have several causes, so diagnose before concluding anything. The key instrument is comparison across creators on the same script:
  • Others are fine on the script, this creator is flat → creator-format mismatch. Try them on a completely different format before touching the account; some creators can’t carry talking-head but win on other formats, and vice versa.
  • Everyone on the script is low → the script or format is the problem, not the account. Rework it or chase a newer trend.
  • The account is new and has only posted branded content → the algorithm may be reading it as an ad account. Mixing in a few non-branded posts helps normalize it.
  • A previously healthy account suddenly stuck under ~1k views, with likes coming mostly from mutuals → that’s the shadow-ban signature. Recovery: archive the stuck posts after 4-5 days, pause posting 1-2 days while the creator re-engages with their niche feed, keep approving drafts in the meantime so the pipeline doesn’t stall, then resume.

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Managing the pool month over month

Review your creator pool monthly and sort it into rough tiers: And keep two rhythms:
  • Daily: watch what was posted in the last 24 hours, and review pending drafts within hours — slow review stalls every creator’s posting cadence and is the most common brand-side campaign killer.
  • Weekly: pull your top 5 and bottom 5 videos, name the pattern in the winners and the failure in the losers, and adjust next week’s formats and briefs. This weekly loop is where campaigns compound.

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Is the campaign performing?

Talk in cost per 1,000 views (CPM): your total spend divided by total views, times 1,000. For organic UGC, under about 1per1,000viewsisanexcellentprogram,lowsingledigitsishealthy,andifyou′repersistentlyabove1 per 1,000 views is an excellent program, low single digits is healthy, and if you're persistently above 4-5 the fix is iterating formats and creators, not adding volume. On engagement, above ~5% on TikTok and ~3% on Reels is strong. For the full analytics picture — per-creator CPM, views over time, and settlement — see Tracking & paying creators.

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FAQ

No — it’s your call, and it scales with how much each match matters. The platform covers contracts, onboarding, and payouts either way. But if you want the highest-quality matches, a 15-20 minute call before approving is the strongest signal you can get.
Rarely. On new dedicated accounts everyone starts from zero, and consistent median views on a creator’s portfolio predict success far better than their follower count.
Decide based on what you want warm-up to do. Strict review (niche standards, unbranded) shapes the account’s lane early; letting creators post anything still proves account health, which is warm-up’s real job. Both work.
Often, yes — especially if their audience already matches your target or they’ve hit platform limits on new accounts. An already-active account with the right audience can skip warm-up posts entirely.
It depends on the product. A software product’s first organic campaign fits the tiered base-plus-milestones default. Physical products often fit flat per-video pay with ad-usage rights. See Creating a campaign for the payout models.

Finding & accepting creators

The mechanics: the roster, applicant review, approving and rejecting.

Reviewing submissions

The review queue, and the five-point check for judging a draft.

Creating a campaign

The brief, platforms, and payout structure creators apply to.

Tracking & paying creators

Views, per-creator CPM, and settlement.