Alfie Dickens - Meet The Marketing Genius Behind Cal AI

When a creator says they can 'easily get a million views', agree and add a minimum view clause a couple hundred thousand below that (e.g. 800K, or 700K after checking their page), framed as 'just for our safety' and 'so it's not stressful for you'. Payment is tied to hitting the floor each month. Check their actual numbers first so the floor is realistic and hit every month.

Started with ~5 marketing assistants, grew to ~25, each pushed to contact 100 influencers a day (~2,000/day; real output 40-70 on bad days). Assistants hired through an outside staffing company. Outreach is by email, not DMs (DMs are rate-limited and work mainly with a big personal brand). Creators in the US, UK, France, Germany, Spain; not picky as long as the creator could fit the app into their video at a decent CPM. Assistants send a Calendly link for a manager call; managers close. Signing goals of 50+, later 100 creators a month. Funnel: ~10% reply, a few book a call, ~1 in 1,000 signs. Outreach tracked in an internal system.

Built an internal system where, after an assistant sends the first outreach email, AI handles the replies and initial negotiation/persuasion, then hands the creator off to a manager for a call.

When a creator replies 'what's your budget?', don't lead with price. Explain the deal first: seamless videos, long-term partnership, no script, 'keep doing what you're doing and sneak our app in'. Once they seem interested, ask to jump on a call to finalize; discuss rates only on the call. Manager runs the same script on every call, starting by getting to know the creator. Deals are declined if the creator won't come down to a profitable price.

Pick creators who can fit the app's 'golden moment' (snap a photo of food to log calories) into their normal video. No script and no heavy ad read; creators often just show themselves scanning a meal without naming the app. The app must appear within the first 15 seconds.

Sign large creators who post day-in-the-life vlogs. They show their day and quickly scan a meal with the app, often without saying its name. Aim for four videos per month per creator so followers see it repeatedly. Track with promo codes. Example: Jessi from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.

With Jessi (The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives), timed a couple of posts just before season 3 was released and a couple just after, when everyone was visiting her page. Deal landed through a team member's relationship with her influencer manager.

At launch the app was unknown, so aim for the lowest CPM to reach as many people as possible, assuming the first exposures won't convert ('seen seven times' rule). As more creators promote it and viewers recognise it, raise what you pay per deal. Goal: sign as many influencers as possible and saturate the fitness space.

Split fitness into sub-niches: bodybuilders, gym bros, women's fitness, weight loss. Then tested mom influencers (expensive because they know they convert), and comedy/viral creators (e.g. the 'no door, no problem' drive-thru guy, signed to scan fries at McDonald's). Some niches only needed one video or one creator.

Worked with recipe, normal cooking and mukbang creators on the assumption that food viewers think about calories. Cut them early; healthy-meal creators were kept but converted only moderately.

Did a couple of day-in-the-life videos with UK Love Island's Harry Cooksley. Tried to also sign his partner Shakira through him, but it never happened.

Message signed creators monthly: 'Do any of your friends want brand deals?' Pay ~$100-200 to the creator if a referred friend signs. Referred creators send a personal phone number, so you call the influencer directly, sometimes bypassing their management.

Monthly competitions: prize (cash or voucher) for the assistant who contacts the most influencers, and for the one whose referrals (tracked by 'referred by' on signed deals) sign the most.

Team member built a relationship with an influencer manager for the Mormon Wives cast, which led to deals with Jessi. When working through agents, push to have the influencer added to the shared group chat so you build a direct relationship, even though agents often refuse. Keep in touch with creators long-term.

After one creator paid $20K for a month drove $120K of signups (~$100K profit), signed another creator in the same niche.

Early on, a creator (Dawson) with his own personal brand made UGC and posted on the Cal AI page. Stopped once influencer deals gave better CPMs. Now restarting UGC because agents have pushed influencer prices up. Guest would run UGC and influencers side by side for a new app: UGC gives cheaper views but likely lower conversion.