Ask a Brazilian brand what kind of UGC it wants and the answer is almost always the same: a depoimento. The testimonial is the format that sells hardest in Brazil, because it does the one thing an ad cannot do, it lets a real person say the product worked. If you create user generated content, this is the format worth mastering first: it is the most requested, the most reusable, and the easiest to sell in packages.
Why the testimonial converts so well here
Brazilian buyers are used to being sold to, and they discount advertising claims instantly. What they do not discount is another customer's experience. A depoimento borrows the credibility of a conversation between two people: someone who had a problem, tried something, and is now telling you what happened.
It also works commercially. The same testimonial can run as a paid ad, sit on a product page, feed a WhatsApp sales conversation, and appear in an email. Brands know this, which is why they pay more for a good testimonial than for a pretty product shot.
The structure that works
A good testimonial is not improvised, and it is not a script read aloud either. It follows a shape, and the creator fills that shape with their own words.
- Hook, first three seconds: state the problem or the result, not your name. "I stopped buying three different products for this" beats "hi guys, today I'm going to talk about".
- The before: the specific frustration, with detail. Dry skin by midday, a delivery app that kept failing, a course you never finished.
- The trigger: how the product entered the story. A recommendation, an ad you were sceptical about, a friend who insisted.
- The experience: what using it was actually like. Texture, smell, ease, speed, what surprised you, what took getting used to.
- The result: what changed, in concrete terms and a real timeframe. Two weeks, three uses, one month.
- The recommendation: who it is for, and honestly who it is not for. That last part is what makes people believe the rest.
Keep it between thirty and sixty seconds. Deliver two or three versions with different hooks so the brand can test.
What kills believability
Most weak testimonials fail for the same handful of reasons, and every one of them is avoidable.
Reading from a teleprompter is the first. The eyes give it away, and the rhythm goes flat. Learn the beats, not the sentences. Second, superlatives: "the best product in the world" reads as paid, while "it solved the one thing that annoyed me" reads as true. Third, perfection. A testimonial with zero criticism is not a testimonial, it is an ad. Naming one small limitation makes the positive part credible. Fourth, borrowed vocabulary: if the brief hands you brand language like "innovative technology", translate it into how you actually speak. Fifth, a setting that looks like a studio. Kitchen, bathroom, car, sofa, all of these read as real life.
Filming a depoimento that looks natural
Technically this is one of the simplest formats, which is why craft makes the difference. Film vertically at eye level, phone propped so it does not float. Sit or stand near a window, with the light on your face and never behind you. Get close enough that the phone microphone picks up your voice cleanly, or use a cheap lapel mic, because bad audio destroys more testimonials than bad image ever will.
Speak slightly faster than feels comfortable and cut every pause in the edit, since a testimonial that drags loses viewers in the first five seconds. Film the whole thing in one take a few times rather than in fragments, because the natural flow of a single take is exactly what makes it feel unrehearsed. Then capture ten to twenty seconds of B roll of the product being used, so the editor can cover any cut. Add subtitles, since most people watch without sound.
The rules you cannot ignore
A testimonial states facts about a product, which puts you in regulated territory. Never invent a result you did not get. Never promise cures, weight loss, or health outcomes, especially for supplements, cosmetics and clinics, where Brazilian advertising and consumer rules are strict and the brand can be penalised along with you. If the brand asks for a claim you did not experience, refuse and offer to say something true instead, which is also better content.
Paid partnerships must be identified. Follow whatever disclosure the brand specifies in the brief, and keep the written agreement about usage rights, since a testimonial that runs as a paid ad for a year is worth more than one used once on Instagram. Price it accordingly.
Turning it into paid work
Sell testimonials in packages rather than one at a time: three videos with different hooks, or one long testimonial plus two short cuts. Brands buy variations because they test them against each other. Charge separately for paid media rights and for exclusivity, and keep the raw footage until the licence is agreed.
If you want the wider picture, from building a portfolio to setting prices and finding your first clients, our guide on how to become a UGC creator puts the testimonial in the context of a working creator business.
