Cal AI · B2C · photo calorie tracking app
Pay creators $100-200 when a friend they refer signs a deal
Really helped; got direct numbers and deals around talent agents
What they did
What happened
In their words
Alfie Dickens - Meet The Marketing Genius Behind Cal AI
JosephDid you ever think about like using your existing influencers to do the outreach, like logging into their account, or stuff like that?
Alfie DickensWe didn't log into their account. You'd have to have like an extremely good relationship with them for that. But we we did have a referral system, yeah. So we we'd send messages like each month saying like, "Hey, do any of your friends or any of your friends looking for brand deals?" And we would actually pay the influencer if we ended up signing one of their friends or one of their referrals. We would pay them um a like $100 or something uh if we signed one of their friends. And for some of the smaller creators, you know, an extra $100 or $200 if they just send their friend's number over was great.
Alfie DickensUm, so that really did help us, actually. And again, it also kind of helped us get around the agencies, cuz they would just send us their personal number, and we would call the influencer directly. And even if they had management, sometimes we would be able to go around the management and just get a deal with the influencer direct.
JosephAnd the the agency markup is what, like 20 to 50% maybe?
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More from this episode
- Agree with a creator's view boast, then guarantee 700-800K views when they claim 1MGuaranteed a profitable CPM on every deal; creators couldn't back down
- Have 25 hired assistants each email 100 creators a day~220K creators contacted, 2-3K signed; roughly 1 signed per 1,000 emailed
- Let AI answer creators' email replies and hand warm ones to a managerAssistants' job ends at the first email; no results reported
- Pitch 'keep making your normal videos, just sneak us in', then ask for a callCalls ~10x the chance of signing; the pitch often lowered creators' prices
- Have creators show the photo-scan naturally in the first 15 seconds, with no scriptCalled one of the biggest rules; no numbers
- Pay big lifestyle creators to scan their breakfast in day-in-the-life vlogs, 4 times a monthMost profitable content; one video drove hundreds to thousands of promo code uses
- Schedule a reality-TV star's posts just before and after her new season airsVery low CPM for a famous creator; no exact figure
- Buy only very cheap views at first, then pay more per deal once people know youDeals got more profitable over time, not less
- Test creators beyond fitness: moms, comedy, and fitness sub-nichesMixed: some moms profitable at $10 CPM; comedy got views but low intent
- Pay recipe, cooking and mukbang creators to promote a calorie trackerDidn't convert; cut early. Healthy-meal videos only okay
- Pay a Love Island contestant for day-in-the-life videosStarted well but underperformed; viewers mostly came for his partner
- Give outreach assistants monthly prizes for most creators contacted or signedKept assistants motivated; no numbers
- Befriend creators' managers, then ask to add the creator to the group chatLanded deals with a TV star; guest calls relationships the key
- Sign a second creator in the same niche as your best oneDidn't work at all; the first creator made $100K profit in a month
- Have a UGC creator post on the brand's own page, and restart as influencers get pricierPaused while influencer CPMs were cheap; now restarting for cheaper views
Tags: creator-referrals, bypass-agents, creator-comp