SideShift · B2B · UGC creator marketplace
Turn the TikToks that already did well into ads
CPMs well under $1; also lifts the account's later organic views
Workedpaid-socialugc-creators
What they did
Rank candidates by comment sentiment (e.g. 'what is that app?') first, then engagement rate, then average views. Spark when engagement is above ~7.5-10% or a video does 3-5x the account's average views. Let organic climb first: if still gaining (e.g. 100K/day) wait 1-2 days. Start with ~$20 (SideShift runs $50-100/day per video for a week); keep running while CPMs don't rise; CPMs usually rise when engagement falls from ~15% to ~5%, then kill it. Exclude sparked views from creator view bonuses. Can add an app-install anchor to track CPI. Spark can also be targeted by country/language/age.
What happened
CPMs well under $1 on Spark; sparking a breakout video also lifts the account's later organic performance.
In their words
The Superwall Podcast · Drew Levin - I Studied 1,000,000 UGC Ads, This Is What Will Grow Your App“anytime a video gets above a 10 engagement rate you should test putting a little bit of spark money behind it”
“our ranking when it comes to like spark is we prioritize content or comments sentiment like i was saying then engagement rate then average views”
“make sure you're not paying view bonuses when you spark a video because that happens sometimes”
“In general, when a video performs three to five times better than the average viewer shop on an account, you should spark it.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Suno: Lean into people hating your category to drive commentsCalled the easiest way to go viral; no numbers
- SideShift: Tie videos to job-market anger: 'I have a master's and can't find a job'Talking-head version got 9.6M views; 6-7 of ~15 early videos hit 150-300K
- Hand creators viral videos to copy; review every post for the first 3 daysCommon to every successful creator campaign he sees
- Hire one manager for every 10 creators to keep them postingEvery long-running successful program has many managers
- GoWish: Grow an app mainly by running creator TikToks as adsHit #1 on the App Store, secondhand; cheapest acquisition
- Run creator posts as Meta partnership ads with targetingConverts better than TikTok's boosted creator ads in general
- Clue: Have creators post to four platforms; pay for views only on the best oneSpreading among brands; adds reach while hedging pay; no numbers
- Pay creators $800/month for 60 videos, plus view bonuses capped by viewsCPMs fall from $5-8 in month 1 to ~$0.80-0.90 at $100K+/month
- Cap a viral creator's monthly payPaid ~$4K instead of ~$75K for 180M views; creator left
- Pay creators only a share of ad spend or sales, nothing up frontOne creator made 35 videos before earning; hurts loyalty
- Brex: Run creator videos as TikTok ads to win B2B customers'Really good results', secondhand; very cheap CPMs
- Post daily 10-minute story videos with the call to action at minute nine'Somehow this is working'; no conversion numbers
- SideShift: Train your own creators with a 6-hour course on making app videosCreators earn ~$10-15K after 1-2 months; early quality complaints
- SideShift: Pay creators yourself when a brand fails to pay themExtreme creator loyalty and referrals; costs up to ~six figures/month
- Suno: Have creator managers also coach the creators#1 in the App Store music category, secondhand