MontikThis guide uses Montik, the editor we make, for its examples. The order carries over to any editor that can cut on a transcript. The numbers are Montik’s starting defaults rather than test results, so let your own ads overrule them.
1. Get the right files
Ask the creator for the raw takes, with no captions or music on them. Text burned into the picture can’t be taken back out, and music under the voice is hard to cut around. Ask for vertical footage if the ad will run on TikTok, Reels or Shorts.
Check that your agreement with the creator covers paid ads and editing before you start.
2. Read everything before you cut
Transcribe every take, and read the whole transcript before you touch the timeline. Give the transcription the product and people names, because it only spells them right if it knows them.
As you read, mark four things:
- The hook: the line most likely to stop someone scrolling. It’s often in the middle of a take.
- The body: the problem and what the product does about it.
- The proof: the result, the number or the moment you can show on screen.
- The call to action: what the viewer should do next.
Where a line was said twice, keep the better take, which is usually the last complete one.
3. Choose the length, then assemble
Pick a target length before you build, because it decides how much you can keep. TikTok’s spec for reservation in-feed ads allows 5 to 60 seconds and recommends 9 to 15. Check the spec for your own placement.
Put the hook first, even if the creator said it last. Then lay the body, proof and call to action behind it. On a transcript this is quick: keep the words you marked and delete the rest.
4. Clean up the speech
Cut in this order, since each pass shifts the timing of what’s left:
- Whole sections: warm-up chatter, false starts and abandoned sentences.
- Filler words: the ums and uhs. Read the transcript before removing “like” or “you know”, because they’re often real words.
- Pauses: for a punchy social ad, try cutting gaps longer than 0.4 s and leaving 0.1 s of air on each side.
Our guide to removing ums and pauses has more settings.
Then check the first word, because a cut near the start can clip it. Read any edited testimonial back as well. Removing words can change what someone said, and the ad shouldn’t claim something the creator didn’t.
5. Cover the jump cuts
Tight speech leaves jumps in the picture. Two tools hide them:
- Punch-ins: alternate between the normal frame and a zoom of about 1.25x, so each cut looks deliberate. Check that the face stays in frame.
- B-roll: lay a shot over the cut while the voice keeps playing. Show what’s being said at that moment. Try 1.5 to 3 seconds per shot, starting and ending on sentence boundaries.
As a rule of thumb, avoid going more than about 5 seconds without something moving: a punch-in, a new shot or a graphic.
Montik describes each upload when it comes in, so you can search for a shot by what happens in it. That helps when a creator sends a long take of the product.
6. Fix the sound
- Uneven takes: creators often film on different days, so even out the loudness between clips.
- Room noise: clean up hiss and phone-mic sound before adding music.
- Music: add it after the cuts, or lock its track first so cuts don’t chop it up. Keep it low under the voice, and end it with the picture.
7. Add text last
Text comes last because it depends on the final timing.
- Hook text: three to seven words on screen almost immediately, readable with the sound off.
- Captions: three or four words at a time, and under about four words a second. If you change the cut afterwards, generate them again.
- Graphics: use one per shot at most, and only when it adds something the voice and captions don’t, such as the number or the before and after.
- Placement: on 9:16, keep text out of roughly the top 14% and bottom 35% of the frame. TikTok’s safe zone also depends on the video’s dimensions, your ad caption’s length and any interactive add-ons, so preview it before launch.
8. Check it before it runs
Watch it on a phone, once with the sound off and once with it on, and check these:
- The first frame: it also works as a thumbnail, so show the face or the product.
- The first cut: it should land within two to three seconds.
- Names and claims: transcription still gets names wrong, and you’re responsible for what the ad says.
- Text: nothing should sit under the platform’s buttons.
- The ending: the call to action should be on screen for the last few seconds, with no sound running past the picture.
In Montik, the edit check flags a slow first shot, captions too fast to read and text under the buttons. To get sign-off, send a review link. Reviewers don’t need an account, and their notes are pinned to the frame.
Once it’s approved, make hook variants from that cut and test them.
How to edit a UGC ad with Claude
Connect Claude to Montik, upload the takes and brief it:
These are raw takes from a creator for Halo, a squalane serum. Read the transcripts and make a 30-second 9:16 ad. Open on the strongest hook, cut the retakes, ums and long pauses, lay the product shots over the jump cuts, add music under the voice and captions last. Then check it and tell me what you cut and what you weren’t sure about.
Each change lands on the timeline as Claude makes it, and each one is a single undo step. Read every line and watch the result yourself, because the judgement calls in this guide are still yours to check.
Common questions
Can I edit UGC ads in CapCut or another editor?
Yes. The order works in any editor, and transcript-based cutting is common now. Montik suits you if you want Claude to do the first cut on a timeline you can change, with review links and brand kits in one place. It stores your footage in the cloud and is built for short videos.
Should I hire a UGC editor instead?
Hire one if you need more ads than you have time to cut, or if you want someone else’s creative judgement. These steps still work as a brief and as a checklist for what comes back.
What does Montik cost for editing UGC ads?
You can start free. The Free plan gives a workspace 5 exports and 30 minutes of transcription a month, with exports up to 720p. Paid plans open soon, starting at $29 a month with exports up to 1080p.
