Cal AI · B2C · photo calorie tracking app
Pay recipe, cooking and mukbang creators to promote a calorie tracker
Didn't convert; cut early. Healthy-meal videos only okay
Failedinfluencerpositioning-niche
What they did
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.
What happened
Food videos really didn't do well; guest's theory is viewers watch food content to relax, not to think about calories.
- Stage
- early
Related topics
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More from Cal AI
All 51 Cal AI tactics- Move the app mention earlier in videos until views start to dropSweet spot 20-30 seconds in; a friend's app peaks at 60 seconds
- Open 20 brand accounts so each outreach person can DM hundreds of creators dailyHundreds of creators contacted per account per day
- Show a spin wheel that lands on 80% off instead of just showing the discountDouble-digit conversion lift vs a plain discount screen in an A/B test
- Match download spikes to each creator post while volume is still lowEarly on every video showed a clear spike; gets murky at scale
- Pay fitness creators with no brand deals to scan their food on cameraTook off beyond expectations; grew to 300+ influencers
- Let creators make their normal videos; only set timing and a caption tagCreators called it their easiest brand deal; keeps views predictable
More from this episode
- Cal AI: 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
- Cal AI: Have 25 hired assistants each email 100 creators a day~220K creators contacted, 2-3K signed; roughly 1 signed per 1,000 emailed
- Cal AI: Let AI answer creators' email replies and hand warm ones to a managerAssistants' job ends at the first email; no results reported
- Cal AI: 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
- Cal AI: Have creators show the photo-scan naturally in the first 15 seconds, with no scriptCalled one of the biggest rules; no numbers
- Cal AI: 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
- Cal AI: Schedule a reality-TV star's posts just before and after her new season airsVery low CPM for a famous creator; no exact figure
- Cal AI: Buy only very cheap views at first, then pay more per deal once people know youDeals got more profitable over time, not less
- Cal AI: Test creators beyond fitness: moms, comedy, and fitness sub-nichesMixed: some moms profitable at $10 CPM; comedy got views but low intent
- Cal AI: Pay a Love Island contestant for day-in-the-life videosStarted well but underperformed; viewers mostly came for his partner
- Cal AI: Pay creators $100-200 when a friend they refer signs a dealReally helped; got direct numbers and deals around talent agents
- Cal AI: Give outreach assistants monthly prizes for most creators contacted or signedKept assistants motivated; no numbers
- Cal AI: Befriend creators' managers, then ask to add the creator to the group chatLanded deals with a TV star; guest calls relationships the key
- Cal AI: 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
- Cal AI: 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