Practitioner pattern · Dris Elamri (Founder of Instinct/Methods, which sells UGC programs and a creator app/self-serve UGC platform (hq.methods.app) that he recommends)
Start with a few creators who reliably get views before adding more
Under 20 creators did 100M views; a 2,000-creator program got only 500K a month
Workedcreator-opsugc-creators
What they did
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.
What happened
Cluely: under 20 consistent creators, 100M views in the first weeks. A 2,000-creator program: 500K views in a month.
In their words
The Superwall Podcast · Dris Elamri - Meet The 18y/o Who Solved UGC Marketing (100M Views in 2 Weeks)“It is always best to to have a solid foundation, start with a a few creators that are able to consistently, um, get you views, and after that, you can, I don't know, scale to to many more creators.”
“And it is much easier to make someone a a better creator or have better output versus, uh, like 10Xing or 100Xing your your number of creators.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Cluely: Hand one winning video format to under 20 creators, then move on to new formats0 to 100M views in the first few weeks at under $1 CPM
- Decart: Have an outside team run a UGC program to launch an AI photo app100M views in two weeks under $0.30 CPM; top 30 in the App Store
- Methods: Pitch your creator app as a way to make money online, not 'UGC'Signups took off after the switch; users now doubling every two weeks
- Instinct: Sell companies on 'views, users and money' before you have a product$1.2M in yearly contracts signed in the first week
- Methods: Pay new creators $40 for their very first video, whatever their experience50K+ creators joined and $500K+ paid out; first-timers make more videos
- Methods: Turn complete beginners into creators with scripts, example videos and feedback on every postFounder says long-time creators are now the top earners; early quitting is still a problem
- Methods: Have your own creators post videos about your app, which recruits more creatorsFounder calls it an 'infinite user' loop; no separate numbers
- Instinct: Copy viral video formats from other niches and adapt them to your productSource of many of their best formats, per the founder; no numbers
- Cut up other people's unboxing videos, add a $5 voiceover and post on TikTokBroke even for 1.5 months, then 200K views overnight and up to $2K/day
- Answer 'do you ship to my country?' comments with videos and offer free shipping codesPart of the run to 25K followers and 18M views; no separate numbers
- Keep posting Shorts through months of zero views, then repeat what finally works200K subscribers and 180M views in 9 months after 6 flat months