This week, 1 of my creator managers sent me a message that saved me money and a lot of clicking. The platform we pay creators through already tracks every view. So I cancelled the extra tracking tool and moved everything into 1 place.
Here's the short answer on how to manage UGC creators with AI: give every creator 1 home and 1 short guide, let AI answer the questions they ask over and over, track everything in 1 place, and keep the human parts human. (UGC means user generated content: real people making videos about your product.)
That's what running a creator program with AI looks like in real life. A clear system, a small team and AI handling the busywork, so the people can focus on the creators.
Yesterday, when I wrote about what to do when Apple rejects your app, I promised you the step by step. Here it is.
Why creator programs fall apart
Most creator programs don't fail because the creators are bad. They fail because the founder drowns in messages.
Every new creator asks the same 10 questions. Where do I start? Do I need an iPhone? When do I get paid? Which link do I send? Multiply that by 30 creators and you are answering texts all day instead of building your company.
Here's the part that surprised me. Asana, the work software company, surveyed over 10,000 knowledge workers for its Anatomy of Work Index and found that 60% of their time goes to "work about work": chasing updates, searching for information and repeating themselves. Only 40% goes to the skilled work they were hired to do.
A creator manager's version of "work about work" is answering the same question for the 20th time. That's exactly the part AI is great at.
How to manage UGC creators with AI: 6 steps
1. Split your creators into clear groups
Before any tool, decide who is who. I run 2 groups:
Influencers post about VIXA on their own social accounts.
UGC creators make a brand new account just for VIXA and warm it up for about 2 weeks before they post, so the account doesn't get flagged. Warming up means using the account like a real person: following, liking and watching dating and relationship content, because that's what VIXA is about.
Each group gets its own brief, its own channel and its own creator manager. Sending both groups the same instructions creates confusion, and confusion creates a flood of questions.
Ask AI to help you write each brief: "Here is my product and my 2 creator groups. Write a 1 page brief for each group in short, simple sentences."
2. Give every creator 1 home and 1 short guide
My creators live in 1 Discord server. (Discord is a free group chat app with separate channels for each topic.) Each group has a Start Here channel with a short, visual guide.
Short is the key word. Creators hate reading. If your guide is 6 pages, nobody finishes it. Mine is 2 pages, with the important things big.
A good guide answers 3 questions:
What do I do first? Join, download the app, take the short course, set up your account.
What does a great video look like? A clear hook, a real reaction, a clear next step.
How do I get paid? Through the platform they joined from, based on their views.
Ask AI to turn your long notes into a guide. Then ask it to cut the guide in half. Then cut it again.
3. Build an AI answer bank
This is the step that saves the most time.
Every time a creator asks a question, the answer goes into 1 running document. Over a few weeks, you build an answer bank: the 20 or so questions creators actually ask, with your exact answers.
Real examples from my own Discord:
"Do I need an iPhone?" Yes. VIXA is iPhone only for now.
"The test app is showing me a paywall. Will I be charged?" No. The test version through TestFlight (Apple's app for testing new apps before launch) never charges you. The screen itself says so.
"My course restarted at Module 1. What do I do?" Go through it again. Each video is only 2 to 3 minutes, and a second pass helps.
Then give the answer bank to AI with a prompt like this:
"You are my creator support assistant. Answer creator questions using only the answer bank below. Keep replies to 2 or 3 short sentences, warm and clear. If a question is not covered, say a creator manager will follow up, and flag it for me."
That last line matters. AI answers what you already decided. Anything new comes back to a human.
4. Track everything in 1 place
This is where my real moment from this week comes in. 2 tracking tools meant 2 places to check, 2 logins and numbers that never quite matched. Now views and payments live in 1 place: SideShift, the creator platform where we recruit and pay creators.
Tasks live in Monday.com on a single board. Every creator is 1 row with 1 status: joined, account set up, warming up, ready to post, posting.
Then ask AI to turn that board into a daily summary in plain words:
"Look at my creator board. Tell me in 5 bullet points: who is new, who is stuck, who has gone quiet for 3 days, who is ready to post, and what I need to decide today."
Instead of scrolling through 30 profiles, you get the whole picture in 5 lines.
5. Use AI to help write hooks
A hook is the first 1 to 3 seconds of a video, the line that makes someone stop scrolling. In my program, every video needs a new hook. No reposting the same video. The creator manager hands out the hooks and helps creators keep making fresh ones.
Here's how my managers find great hooks:
Study what already works. The Meta Ad Library is free and shows ads currently running on Facebook and Instagram. Find videos in your space that keep running (brands don't keep paying for ads that flop) and study their first line.
Ask AI for variations. Paste in 3 hooks that worked and ask: "Write 10 new hooks in this style for my product. Each under 12 words. Talk like a real woman, not a brand."
Let a human pick. AI writes the options. Your manager picks the ones that sound real, because she knows the creators and the audience.
6. Run a weekly check-in rhythm
Once a week, let AI draft the update every creator gets: what's new, what to work on this week, and 1 shout out to a creator doing great work. Your manager reads it, adds her personal touch and sends it.
AI also helps me notice who leaves. When a creator leaves the Discord, we message her and ask why. Those answers are gold. They tell you if your instructions are confusing, your pay isn't clear or your onboarding is too long.
Who does what: AI, my managers and me
I don't run my creator group alone, and I don't run it with a big team either. Here's how the work splits:
| Task | Who handles it | | --- | --- | | Answering repeat questions | AI, from the answer bank | | Daily creator summary | AI, from the tracking board | | First drafts of hooks, guides and updates | AI | | Welcoming each new creator | Creator manager | | Picking hooks and reviewing videos | Creator manager | | Spotting the standout creators | Creator manager | | Pay, special deals and big decisions | Me |
Notice the pattern. AI brings the speed. My managers bring the warmth. I keep the decisions.
What AI should never do in your creator program
AI is a tool, not a manager. Keep these human:
The welcome. I welcome every new creator with a short personal video recorded on Loom, not a typed message. People remember how you made them feel on day 1.
The final word on money. AI can draft the reply, but pay and special deals are always my call.
Spotting talent. A huge part of my managers' job is noticing which creators are truly good. That takes a human eye.
Anything sensitive. If a creator is upset, confused about pay or going through something, a person answers.
Tools I use to manage my creators
Disclosure: some links below may be affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only share tools I actually use.
- Claude writes my briefs, answers repeat questions from the answer bank, drafts hooks and turns my board into a daily summary.
- Monday.com holds every creator as 1 row with 1 status, so nothing slips.
- Slack is where my team and I talk through fixes fast.
- Loom is how I record the personal welcome video for each new creator.
Want prompts like the ones in this post, written by humans who know how to get real results? That's exactly why I built LUMAPROMPT.AI.
If you're just starting, read how I built my UGC creator program before launch first, then how to create an AI agent with Claude to automate the daily summary.
Frequently asked questions
Can AI fully manage UGC creators on its own? No. AI handles the repeat work: answers, summaries, drafts and reminders. People still need a human for the welcome, feedback on videos, pay and anything sensitive.
How many creators can 1 creator manager handle with AI? It depends on how much you automate. I plan to grow to at least 50 creators, so I split them between 2 managers with separate groups, so neither one manages everyone in 1 crowded chat.
What should a UGC creator brief include? What to do first, what a great video looks like, the hook rules, how pay works and who to message with questions. Keep it to 1 or 2 pages with lots of visuals.
Your next step
Start with step 3 this week. Open a blank document and write down every question your creators asked you in the last 7 days, with your answer. That's your answer bank. Next week, hand it to AI.
And if dating ever has you decoding mixed signals, VIXA is coming soon to help you read the texts, the timing and the effort with clarity. Get on the early access list at www.vixaapp.ai.
Tell me in the comments: what's the 1 question your team or your creators ask you over and over?
Lisa Haven
"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."
~ Helen Keller