Practitioner pattern · Casper Opala (Payout, Casper's third app)
Check likes vs views to spot which sponsored videos really went viral
2K likes on 2M views means paid boost; 50K likes on 2M means organic
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What they did
Scan a creator's profile for sponsored posts (most tag '<company> partner' in hashtags/description). Brands often boost sponsored videos with paid spend, so views alone mislead: 2M views with 2,000 likes = boosted; 2M views with 50,000 likes = probably organic. Repeat bookings alone don't prove a format worked, since brands often buy 5-video packages to hedge. Use the organic winners as proven app ideas and formats.
In their words
The Superwall Podcast · Casper Opala - The Stupid Simple Content Strategy That's Making Apps Go Viral“So you got to find the ones with high like-to-view ratios. Those are probably organic views and organic likes.”
“If a video has 2 million views and 2,000 likes, it was boosted. But if it has 50,000 likes and 2 million views, that means it's probably organic.”
“most creators will at least put company name partner in the hashtags of their video.”
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More from this episode
- Payout: Build your own version of an app that offered you a lowball sponsorshipThe first idea tried took off; app reached ~$100K/month
- Payout: Reuse the hook of your best sponsored video to promote your own appRemake got ~500K views, ~20K comments and $5K+ in subscriptions
- Payout: Give a big creator half the app: you build it, they post the videosTook the app from zero to ~$100K/month, mostly from the creator's own videos
- Payout: Remake a winning video again and again, changing only the number and backgroundKept working until the format dried up; only two formats ever made real money
- Payout: Film a skit asking a sued company for your cut, then show the stepsFirst skit video made ~$10K+ in revenue; one of only two money-making formats
- Payout: Talk about the money viewers can claim, not why the company got suedLawsuit-story videos got views but few signups; payout-focused ones converted
- Payout: Ask viewers to comment 'claim' and auto-DM them the app linkAbout 50% of people who comment click the link; 6.7% of downloads pay
- Payout: Never say your app's name in the video; just say 'go to this app'Speaker says it keeps videos from reading as ads; no numbers
- Payout: On TikTok and Shorts, cut the call to action and name the app in a pinned comment'Link in bio' didn't work on YouTube; shorter videos without it hold viewers better
- Payout: Turn the creator's best organic videos into Meta adsOne video ran profitably for a few weeks
- Payout: Get five creators to post on the same day to climb the App Store charts$9,700 revenue that day; reached about #70-80 in Finance
- Payout: Get creator friends to post for free or ~70% off by trading favorsRates ~70% below list, but some posts still lost money, e.g. a $1,500 one
- Payout: Pick an app that fits your steadiest topic: side hustles over saving tipsSide-hustle videos always get 300K+ views; saving-money ones swing 100K to 10M
- Pay $1,000-1,500 per creator ad, expect 20-30% to work, scale the winnersWinning brand creatives boosted to 35-40M views, earning back ~10x the creator fee
- Coupon.ai: Sign creators for a year, exclusive, to film 'Hey Amazon' discount skitsOne creator video drove 300K+ downloads; Casper's version got ~12M views
- Give the developer 15% instead of 50% once your videos have proven they sell