Dris Elamri - Meet The 18y/o Who Solved UGC Marketing (100M Views in 2 Weeks)

Dris and Ben started by finding viral formats and sourcing creators. A 'Snapchat format' worked almost immediately and was sent to other creators to see what worked. Rather than sticking with one format, they killed it and expanded to other formats. Fewer than 20 creators posted consistently. Another team member later took over scaling.

Decart, an AI lab with 60 engineers and only 2 marketers, was pushing a new consumer AI photo/video app. Instinct pitched it UGC and ran the program: creator sourcing and formats. No other execution detail given.

Methods first launched as 'the UGC marketplace app' and few people joined: 'what is UGC?'. It was reframed as the new way to make money online. Every gig or side hustle (dropshipping, crypto, UGC) is presented as a 'method', and the pitch is that anyone can make money. It targets people who want side income, not existing creators.

After leaving Cluely, with no product, he went on sales calls with companies and promised outcomes: 'We're going to get you a lot of views, we're going to get you users, and we're going to make you money.' He avoided 'UGC program', 'influencer marketing' or 'run your socials', which sound lame and confuse less tapped-in buyers. Companies with traction are targeted ('we work with winners'). His Cluely track record helped.

The marketplace cold start was solved by signing companies first, then recruiting creators with a flat offer (initially '$30 to make a video'). Now every new creator goes through an onboarding that pays $40 for their first post, regardless of experience. The immediate reward removes the fear of the first flop ('It's this easy to make money?'), like casino apps front-loading rewards. The rest of the process is gamified.

Instead of recruiting experienced creators, Methods trains anyone with a phone. It gives exact scripts and example videos, a guide to warming up a new account and posting trial videos, and tips on lighting and filming good UGC. Each post gets personalised AI feedback: why it might or might not go viral, how to hold the phone, lighting, captions. Creators are encouraged to keep posting, because many quit if their second video gets ~100 views.

Methods runs its own UGC program on Methods. People see a Methods video on TikTok or Instagram, join, and make more Methods videos, then join other companies' programs. That supply of creators is sold to companies as sourcing for their UGC programs.

Keep a constant flow of Reels/TikToks from other companies (same or unrelated niches) and standalone creators that could suit a product. Adapt each by swapping in your product while keeping the proven format, then send it to creators. Iterate on what works rather than inventing new formats, and keep testing so the program never settles on one format.

Don't scale creator count first. Build a base of a few creators who consistently get views (Cluely had under 20), then add more. The top 1% or 0.1% of creators produce ~90% of views; the rest is experimentation. Improving a creator's output is easier than 10x-ing or 100x-ing the roster. Counter-example: a company with 2,000 creators got only 500K views in a month.

Picked products from AliExpress and listed them before owning stock. Tried 10+ products (Apple Watch bands, fidget toys) before knockoff AirPods Max worked. His own filmed content was bad, so he took others' unboxing and review videos of the real product, cut them up, paid a Fiverr voiceover ($5), added captions and posted on TikTok. Kept posting despite barely breaking even for 1.5 months; after the first hit he doubled down on that format.

Ran a series of videos replying to comments like 'Do you ship to this country?'. The offer: ships everywhere, $5 international and free domestic shipping, plus time-limited codes ('Enter this code, you get free shipping' for New Year's). Reason: people don't want to pay for shipping, only for the product.

Posted Minecraft YouTube Shorts for about 6 months with zero subscribers and views. When posts started blowing up, he worked out which format was working and doubled down on it. The principle he now applies to UGC: a format that goes viral once can go viral 100 or 1,000 more times, across creators, niches and companies.