Brief Summary
This YouTube podcast features Joseph, the founder of Consumer Club, discussing strategies for consumer app growth and distribution. He shares his background in internet marketing, the essence of distribution, and insights from e-commerce and affiliate marketing. The conversation covers the evolution of TikTok, finding an edge in distribution, converting attention into downloads, and the role of authenticity in content creation. Joseph also touches on influencer marketing, building in public, and the accessibility of app development, providing actionable steps for aspiring app creators.
- Joseph's background in internet marketing and e-commerce led to the creation of Consumer Club.
- Distribution and understanding market needs are crucial for app success.
- TikTok is a valuable tool for market research and understanding consumer behavior.
- Authenticity and unique content strategies are essential for standing out.
- AI and new tech innovations offer opportunities for creating niche apps.
Introduction to Consumer Club and Joseph's Background
Joseph, the founder of Consumer Club, shares his background as an internet marketer with a focus on making money online. He started with drop shipping and e-commerce, learning about distribution, growth hacks, and underpriced channels. Consumer Club aims to combine scrappy growth hacking with scalable product-minded strategies, helping app founders learn from each other and find an edge in distribution, particularly through platforms like TikTok.
The Essence of Distribution in Business
The discussion centers on the importance of finding an edge and filling a gap in the market, regardless of whether the goal is to make millions or change the world. Understanding what consumers want and solving problems with a product are key. Instead of solely focusing on distribution, it's crucial to start with the market by observing content consumption on platforms like TikTok to identify pain points and trends.
Learning from E-commerce and Affiliate Marketing
Joseph references Tabs Chocolate, an e-commerce brand that achieved significant growth through organic TikTok content. The brand hired teenagers to create authentic content on new accounts, demonstrating that large audiences aren't always necessary for success. This strategy was then applied to a consumer SaaS company, StudyBuddy, highlighting how e-commerce tactics can be adapted for tech products with better exit multiples and margins. Affiliate marketers, who compete intensely due to commoditized products, often develop the most advanced consumer marketing tactics.
The Evolution of TikTok and Distribution Strategies
The conversation shifts to how TikTok's algorithm allowed for reaching large audiences without massive followings, leading to new distribution strategies. The focus is on finding underpriced distribution edges and understanding micro-trends within TikTok. Joseph shares his method of studying TikTok by saving videos, categorizing them, and analyzing why they resonate.
Finding the Edge in Distribution
Joseph explains that while talking head videos are still relevant, slideshows and carousels have become popular due to their ease of creation. He shares an example of a storytime slideshow that plugs a product at the end, demonstrating how simple content can generate millions of views. This approach allows app founders to learn from e-commerce and affiliate marketers who compete for attention.
Converting Attention into Downloads
The discussion focuses on converting attention into downloads, contrasting organic and paid strategies. Organic strategies involve hacking the algorithm by capturing and holding attention long enough to promote a product. Call to actions are becoming softer, with many users searching for apps directly in the app store after seeing them on TikTok.
The Role of Comments in Conversion
The conversation highlights the importance of comments in the conversion process. Apps like Calai and Focus Tree use quick screen flashes in videos to create intrigue, leading viewers to ask about the app in the comments. Creators then reply to these comments, driving engagement and downloads. Video replies can also be used to retarget viewers who engaged with the original video, creating a Facebook-like retargeting campaign.
Building a Viral Marketing Strategy
Joseph emphasizes that viral ideas often require reverse engineering, building features into a product that align with viral content formats on TikTok. He introduces a tool designed to find winning formats that promote products, using keywords to search for high-performing videos in specific niches. The tool helps identify videos with high engagement relative to the account's median, indicating algorithmic favor.
Creating a Tool for Predictable Marketing
Joseph shares his tool for finding winning content formats on TikTok. The tool helps make marketing more scientific and predictable by identifying videos that perform well and allowing creators to copy and modify them for their own products. This approach reduces the cost of influencer marketing by providing creators with well-defined briefs and focusing on their time rather than their creative input.
Navigating Influencer Marketing Challenges
The discussion addresses the challenges of influencer marketing, where videos can flop despite high costs. Joseph's tool helps create scalable blueprints for content, providing a more measurable approach. He emphasizes the importance of commercial intent in content, ensuring that videos have a clear call to action that aligns with the product being promoted.
Creating Content with Intent
Joseph stresses that content should have a clear goal to drive conversions, not just views. He suggests looking for content that already converts well and iterating on it. Showcasing the app upfront can be effective, and tools can help identify successful videos for replication.
Insights from Consumer Club Events
Joseph discusses the events hosted by Consumer Club, sharing insights from a recent dinner in New York City. One attendee revealed a strategy of posting 15 videos per day by using multiple accounts per phone, avoiding shadow banning. Another founder flew to the Philippines to train creators on warming up accounts and posting schedules.
Understanding Distribution Strategies
The conversation continues with insights from a consumer event in LA, where founders from NGL shared their hacky mindset and distribution strategies. NGL seeded high schools with influencer accounts, leveraging the psychology of alumni networks to gain followers and engagement.
The Evolution of App Marketing Trends
Joseph addresses the issue of copycats and saturation in app marketing, noting that innovation is happening rapidly, especially with AI. He suggests attacking different audiences or being a first mover with new tech innovations. He also points out that starting with distribution in mind can be more effective than traditional product building.
Starting with Content and Distribution
Joseph emphasizes the importance of starting with content and distribution, studying the channel where the target customer is. This approach helps de-risk the process, as it ensures that there is content that will resonate with the audience. He shares anecdotes of VC-backed founders who are envious of the success of smaller, more agile businesses that focus on viral TikTok content.
The Future of Content Creation and Authenticity
Joseph discusses the saturation of content formats and the need for new approaches. He mentions the use of AI-generated actors in slides and faceless storytelling with AI voices as emerging trends. He also highlights the importance of authenticity and the potential for voices to become more trusted than faces in the future.
Authenticity in Content Creation
Joseph emphasizes that while following trends is important, paving your own path and embracing authenticity can also be successful. He uses the example of bodybuilder Sam Sulk, who gained popularity on YouTube with long, unedited videos that contrast with the typical Mr. Beast-style content.
The Future of Consumer Apps
Joseph shares his perspective on the future of consumer apps, noting that VC-backed founders with experience and capital can leverage current distribution channels to win. He also discusses the trend of influencers with large audiences seeking to build apps as a revenue channel.
Leveraging Influencer Audiences
Joseph shares examples of influencers, such as poker influencer Slick Rick and Morning Brew founder Alex Lieberman, who are looking to build apps to monetize their audiences. He emphasizes that apps offer higher margins and recurring revenue compared to physical goods or one-time sales.
Content as Apps: A New Paradigm
Joseph discusses the concept of content as apps, using Oasis Health App as an example. He explains how building an audience through content can lead to the creation of a community and a product that meets their needs. He also shares his own experience with Consumer Club, which started as a group chat and evolved into a community and platform.
The Role of Media in Business
Joseph asserts that media is a requirement for consumer businesses, whether it's organic content, paid ads, or influencer marketing. He argues that owning the media is better than renting it, as it provides more insights into the audience and is easier to do now than ever before.
Building in Public: Risks and Rewards
Joseph discusses the trend of building in public, weighing the benefits of gaining initial traction against the risk of being copied. He suggests that the more commoditized the product, the less it makes sense to build in public. However, building one-on-one connections and sharing ideas with trusted individuals can still be valuable.
Understanding Underpriced Distribution Channels
Joseph emphasizes that when there's a new underpriced distribution channel, it's underpriced because there aren't many marketers who've mastered it. He advises that founders need to understand the channel themselves before hiring someone to take over.
The Accessibility of App Development
Joseph shares his belief that anyone can build an app and generate a living for themselves, thanks to advancements in AI and no-code tools. He acknowledges that there's still a hurdle of figuring out how to prompt AI effectively, but the knowledge and tools are readily available.
Actionable Steps for Aspiring App Creators
Joseph advises aspiring app creators to start with the first app idea that comes to mind, do research on content formats that could do well on TikTok or other channels, and dive into distribution. He suggests trying a few hypotheses for distribution and iterating based on the results. He recommends aiming for 5,000 views as a benchmark for success.
