Notes
Field notes on creator marketing.
Short essays on UGC, paid social, and the craft of building brands with creators. Written by the team, published when we have something worth saying.
September 7, 2026
4 min read
Organic first, paid second
A simple way to find out what content works before spending ad budget to find out the hard way.
Read noteSeptember 2, 2026
3 min read
Getting more than one use out of every video
A single well-briefed video can run as an organic post, a paid ad, and email content. Planning for that starts before the shoot, not after.
Read noteAugust 28, 2026
4 min read
Content formats, and what each one is actually for
"UGC" gets requested as a single ask, but the format that actually works changes with the goal. A short field guide to the handful that come up most.
Read noteAugust 14, 2026
3 min read
Seven months in
A short note on what the first stretch of running Overstory has actually looked like.
Read noteAugust 5, 2026
6 min read
The five numbers we actually watch on a UGC campaign
Reach and impressions make a nice slide. They rarely tell you if the content is working. Here's what we track instead — and why.
Read noteJuly 22, 2026
4 min read
Paying creators fairly (and why it comes back to you)
Underpaying creators is a short-term win and a long-term cost. A look at how we think about rates, and why cheap content usually costs more.
Read noteJuly 9, 2026
5 min read
Creator briefs that actually work
A practical look at what makes a creator brief good — and why most briefs sabotage the content before a single video gets shot.
Read noteJune 30, 2026
7 min read
TikTok Spark Ads vs Meta Whitelisting: which UGC ad format actually performs?
A practical comparison of TikTok Spark Ads and Meta Partnership (whitelisted) Ads for brands running creator content as paid social. Setup, attribution, performance, and when to use each.
Read noteJune 28, 2026
3 min read
Why we started Overstory
A note on craft, small teams, and building a creator agency that behaves like a studio.
Read noteJune 19, 2026
4 min read
UGC is not a content type
The phrase has been flattened into a format. Treating it that way is why most brands' UGC underperforms.
Read noteJune 9, 2026
5 min read
The quiet math of creator marketing
Why a smaller network of well-chosen creators almost always outperforms a bigger one — and what to measure instead of reach.
Read note