I Studied 1,000,000 UGC Ads, This Is What Will Grow Your App
Drew Levan, co-founder of Sideshift, shares insights from observing millions of UGC ads across top consumer apps, explaining how viral campaigns are engineered through strategic creator management, payment structures, and Spark ad amplification. He walks through how apps like Suno achieved 500M+ views and hit #1 on the App Store using systematic UGC programs. The conversation covers everything from finding creators and building campaign infrastructure to optimizing CPMs and leveraging Spark ads for cheap growth.
Summary
Drew Levan, co-founder of Sideshift (a UGC creator marketplace), joins the Superwall podcast to discuss what he's learned from observing millions of UGC ad campaigns run by top consumer apps. He opens by noting that the most successful apps are building features inherently designed to go viral — such as apps where users can earn money (e.g., Snag) or controversy-driven products like AI music tool Suno, which leverages the public's hatred of AI to drive engagement and comments.
Drew emphasizes that successful UGC programs share two traits: dedicated campaign managers and constant content iteration. He recommends a 1:10 manager-to-creator ratio and distinguishes between campaign managers (who handle logistics, creator recruitment, and quality control) and content coaches (who give performance feedback to improve video quality). He notes that founders should be heavily involved in the early stages of building a UGC program, but that the best programs eventually run on autopilot with founders only checking in monthly.
A core theme is that UGC works best when you find a viral format organically, then systematically replicate it across many creators. Drew uses the example of Sideshift's own campaign, which started with a co-founder posting a video about the job market, which evolved into a talking-head format that generated 9.6 million views and a 16% engagement rate. He explains that engagement rate (likes + comments + saves + shares divided by views) above 7.5-8% signals a strong video, and above 12% indicates viral potential.
The conversation dives deep into Spark ads — TikTok's version of boosted UGC — as a major growth lever. Drew argues that any video hitting above 7.5-8% engagement should have $20-$100/day put behind it via Spark. He notes that sparking high-performing organic videos can also improve future organic reach by signaling account legitimacy to TikTok's algorithm. He also covers Meta's Partnership Ads as the Instagram equivalent of Spark, noting that Meta tends to favor audience targeting more heavily than TikTok.
On payment structures, Drew explains the evolution from simple CPM bonuses to more sophisticated models. Currently, top programs pay around $800/month for 60 videos (cross-posted to 4 platforms), with non-stacked view bonuses. He warns about the risks of capping creator earnings too aggressively, citing a case where a creator generated 180 million views but was capped at $4K, nearly causing a major fallout. The best programs on Sideshift are driving sub-$0.90 CPMs overall, though new programs should expect $5-$8 CPMs in month one, dropping to sub-$1 by month three or four.
Finally, Drew describes Sideshift's unique approach to supply-side quality: they built a six-hour Duolingo-style training course that transforms everyday people into UGC creators, and they guarantee creator payouts even when brands fail to pay, building strong platform loyalty. Sideshift has 850,000 creators with 150,000 monthly active, and has recently added a vetted marketplace of 100 campaign managers who have all gone viral before.
Key Insights
- Drew argues that AI products should lean into public hatred of AI as a viral growth strategy — Suno's TikTok comment sections are full of people saying 'I hate AI music,' and this controversy drives the engagement and watch time TikTok's algorithm rewards.
- Drew claims that sparking a video that performs 3-5x above an account's average viewership not only drives paid ROI but also improves future organic performance on that account, effectively helping creators escape shadowbans by signaling legitimacy to TikTok.
- Drew states that the top 50 programs on Sideshift have founders who are barely involved day-to-day — they only do payouts and monthly check-ins — but that this hands-off state only becomes possible after significant early founder involvement to build the system.
- Drew reveals that top UGC programs spending over $100K/month on Sideshift are achieving sub-$0.80-$0.90 CPMs overall, and that new programs should expect $5-$8 CPMs in month one but can reach sub-$1 CPMs by month three if the product has viral potential.
- Drew describes a creator who grew a single account to 10,000 followers posting 10-minute 'yapping' videos for multiple brands sequentially, dropping the CTA at the 9-minute mark with a 16% average watch time — arguing this completely new long-form format is outperforming traditional short-form UGC hooks.
Topics
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