Content Marketing Playbooks
How founders use content to grow — the formats that drove signups, the distribution that gave each piece a second life, and the cadence that kept it sustainable for a tiny team.
193 tactics · page 5 of 7
“the story there was sort of this here's his application that can allow anyone to boat like a local wherever they go.”
Lead Your Press Pitch With the Community Story, Not the Technical Features
The technical differentiator for Wavve was its map rendering. But the press angle that got picked up was 'boat like a local' — the community knowledge-sharing aspect. Technical specs bore trade journalists; human narratives travel. When pitching niche press, translate your product's mechanics into the human outcome it enables.
“They wrote a very data-driven blog that the press and oftentimes the results would be controversial and they said we're just going to publish the results and the press would pick that up and write about it.”
OKCupid's Data-Driven Blog Playbook: Earn Press Coverage on Zero Marketing Budget
OKCupid had a freemium product and near-zero marketing budget, so they invented a different engine: mine their own data for counterintuitive findings and publish them as blog posts. Controversial-but-true data stories attracted press coverage on a repeatable cadence. Tinder adapted this playbook to stay in media globally, learning that one story often echoes across international outlets. For any app with aggregate user behavior data, this approach turns internal analytics into a content flywheel that rivals paid PR.
“I like to think of them as content buckets or pillars and you pick three and stick with those for a bit — try a few ideas in each bucket, see what's working what's not. Scrolling through the app is the best way to keep on top of things and then you have to be able to think really fast and post really fast because these trends come and go.”
Structure TikTok content into 3 pillars, test within each bucket before abandoning
Rather than posting randomly and hoping something lands, Maddie Kirby structures One Second Every Day's TikTok strategy around three defined content pillars — e.g. behind-the-scenes, app walkthroughs, trending formats. Testing inside each bucket isolates what's not working without abandoning the format entirely. Rapid iteration is key: TikTok trends have very short windows.
“I think the biggest thing is don't try to make anything that you don't understand already — like don't try to guess. Don't try to be Gen Z if you're not Gen Z. It's being yourself, knowing what you know and not trying to guess at it.”
Only make content you genuinely understand — guessing at trends reads as fake instantly
TikTok audiences have an immediate filter for inauthenticity. The classic brand mistake is trying to replicate a trend without understanding why it resonates — the result is cringe that poisons the brand. Maddie Kirby's rule: if you don't natively understand the format you're attempting, don't attempt it. Authentic content in your actual register outperforms performed trendiness.
“People even thought that we made the app because of her idea — they thought it was a new cool app. I feel like it's a great thing when people have no idea it's coming from a brand even when it's posted on a brand account.”
Best brand TikToks feel like a random user posted them — not a company
One Second Every Day's most successful TikTok duet generated confusion — users thought a random girl had invented the app on the spot. Maddie Kirby treats that as the gold standard: when brand content is indistinguishable from organic user content, it earns the same trust. Anything that looks like an ad is filtered out; anything that looks like a person sharing an experience gets watched.
“Text assets are the most crucial part of your Google ads campaigns, contrary to maybe other platforms where people aren't even reading it. Search only shows text assets. Even in the Play Store they pull in a bit of text you write in Google Ads. A lot of people overlook them or use Google's own recommendations — and I don't know why Google doesn't abide by regular punctuation and grammar in those.”
Text assets are the most critical UAC element — not videos — because search only shows text
On Meta or TikTok, the headline is a thumbnail overlay most users ignore. On Google Search and Play Store, the text is the entire creative. Black's concern: Google's auto-generated copy suggestions are poorly formatted. Operators should write text assets manually with deliberate copy, punctuation, and clear value propositions — one of the highest-leverage creative decisions in the whole UAC setup.
“Google overlays so much within your image asset — they pull in your app icon, an install button, and even your app store rating. If you have a fully designed image asset with text, a call-to-action, and your rating, it's really redundant. I usually tell people: use a stock image. They work just as well and they're free.”
Don't over-design UAC image assets — Google overlays your icon, rating, and install CTA automatically
The instinct to produce polished banner ads for Google UAC is largely wasted effort. Google renders its own overlay (icon, install button, star rating) on top of your image asset, so a heavy design adds clutter rather than conversion. Stock images with simple, clean composition let Google's rendering system do its job — saving creative budget for higher-leverage video formats.
“You want a 6-second video because that's one ad format in YouTube. You want a 10 to 15 second video. Around 20 seconds is great for YouTube Shorts. 30 seconds or longer is probably going to serve in-stream as a skippable ad. You have to have a lot of variety in terms of lengths on Google — compared to Meta where you mostly see a 15- or 20-second Reel.”
Video assets need multiple lengths for YouTube: 6s, 10-15s, 20s for Shorts, 30s+ for in-stream
YouTube alone has at least four distinct ad inventory formats (bumper, non-skippable, Shorts, in-stream skippable) with very different optimal video lengths. Most UAC advertisers upload one or two video lengths and wonder why performance is inconsistent. A proper video asset library covering all four duration buckets gives the algorithm more surface area to match ad format to inventory type.
“On Instagram you are rewarded for building up a following and then over time you spend your time trying to extract value. TikTok is the exact opposite. Most videos that we learned are an entirely different audience every time. So you can assume it's a different auditorium of people every video.”
TikTok's For You Page means every video is a cold pitch — unlearn Instagram's build-an-audience logic
The mental model that makes Instagram coaches fail on TikTok: Instagram rewards building a loyal following that you then monetize; TikTok's For You Page distributes each video to a cold audience algorithmically selected by interest signals. Every TikTok is effectively an ad to strangers. This means no callbacks to previous content, no assumed context, and hooks must be self-contained. Ladder had to actively unlearn Instagram behaviors with each coach.
“It's not high production. It's not stuff that's working on Facebook and Instagram. It's raw and shot with an iPhone. Even editing in TikTok made the difference of it working or not versus using something that you created in Instagram.”
TikTok creative must be raw, shot on iPhone, and edited in TikTok — polished content fails
TikTok's algorithm deprioritizes content that looks like an ad — polished graphics, professional color grading, and branded formats all signal paid content and kill organic reach. Stewart found that even the editing tool mattered: video edited within TikTok's native editor outperformed identical content re-uploaded from Instagram. The platform rewards authenticity signals at every technical level, not just content style.
“Every time we've tested a video of the actual app interface against a polished live-action ad, the app screen recording wins. People want to see what they're buying. Show them the actual thing.”
Screen recordings of the app in paywall video outperform live-action commercials across every category
Moore's team at Superwall tested video formats across dozens of apps: polished brand videos (actors, outdoor locations, professional production) versus simple screen-capture walkthroughs of the app itself. The screen recording outperformed consistently. The interpretation: at the paywall, users are in evaluation mode, not inspiration mode — they want to see exactly what the product does before they pay, not feel inspired by a lifestyle.
“The short answer is that we spend nothing. We spend salaries. It's all organic. The core part producing content is less than 10 people. They are super nimble and very efficient at producing — and therefore the flywheel runs by itself.”
Subway Surfers spends nothing on paid ads — 10 people produce 5-10 assets a day and the flywheel runs itself
Subway Surfers' entire content marketing engine is fewer than 10 people. No paid amplification budget beyond small boosts of content that is already going viral. The team produces 5-10 assets a day, balancing in-game-relevant material with trend-jacking content that rides cultural moments. The result is near-daily viral posts and an evergreen top-3 chart position without spending millions on user acquisition.
“Creative agencies can't take risks with the brand. There's no incentive for them to do it. We had a new person joining the team — she did a dance with the mascot costume and one of her first videos had 75 million views.”
In-house content creation cannot be outsourced — agencies won't take brand risks and the best ideas come from people who live the brand
Subway Surfers has never used an external agency for content. The reason is structural: agencies are incentivised to avoid brand risk and therefore avoid the creative territory where viral moments live. Internal creators who love the brand try things an agency would never propose. The 75-million-view dance video from a new hire's first week is a concrete data point — no brief, no approval chain, just an employee with access and belief in the product.
“All designers have a pretty unique and personal theme — the things they like to lean into. If you keep using the same designer what you find is you get in this trap of incremental improvements where you're changing 5% or 10% of a thing. Sometimes it's actually better to bring in a new designer and say go wild with it.”
Rotate creative designers across products — the same designer produces incremental variations, not breakthroughs
Falzon identifies a structural problem in paid UA creative teams: designer style becomes a fixed constraint, and iterations within that style produce only marginal performance gains. Mosaic's solution was rotating designers across apps every two months, forcing wholesale creative exploration rather than incremental polish. For smaller teams without that option, the lesson is equivalent: periodically commission a completely fresh creative approach from someone with no history on the brand.
“We started publishing reports and working with reporters to help them report on the issue — here's how many spam calls Americans are getting every month, here's how it's growing. When you accumulate multiple Wall Street Journal articles that reference you and Financial Times articles — that starts building a brand and organic halo.”
Proprietary data plus press relationships beat direct ads — Robokiller built organic brand through spam-call reports
Falzon describes RoboKiller's content and PR strategy: the app had the largest dataset on US spam calls and texts, and Mosaic created a recurring monthly spam-call report that journalists and regulators (FCC, FTC) found genuinely valuable. The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times cited these reports repeatedly; cable news segments featured the data. No single press mention drove meaningful downloads — but the accumulated brand signal reduced CAC across all other channels and built credibility that converted skeptical users.
“We found this person who was mentioning Opal in a video on TikTok and thought she was great. We hired her and she's part of the team. The channels are called Olivia Unplugged — she's building educational media for us. We went from zero to 700,000 followers across platforms and millions of views in a few months.”
Hire creators who are already users — they produce authentic content paid agencies cannot replicate
Schlenker describes Opal's creator-first organic growth strategy: rather than running brand accounts, Opal hired a TikTok creator who was already an organic Opal user. She now produces educational content about screen time, focus, sleep, and social skills under her own name with Opal mentioned naturally. The authenticity of creator-led content dramatically outperformed traditional brand social. Opal also licensed an organic video about smartphones that the creator made independently, which reached tens of millions of people and ran as a paid ad.
“content created by creators is what has been winning in the last one or two years that's why the younger generation wants to see and it's not the only way to do ads but if you're not doing any of it you're missing out on something huge.”
Creators produce winning ads because they understand platform context your designer does not
Petit argues that UGC/creator content consistently outperforms agency-produced ads because creators intuitively understand native context — the format, pace, and style that makes content feel organic on TikTok or Reels. Designers optimizing for brand guidelines produce ads that feel like ads. Creators produce content that gets watched. For apps targeting younger demographics, creator content is no longer optional.
“The hook is like kind of the first second or three seconds of your ad it is extremely important because if people don't stop in the scrolling you're dead already you need them to stop on your ads this is fundamental and very often if you talk about what you're doing there's no way people are going to stop.”
Hooks matter more than value props — the first 3 seconds determine if anyone watches the rest
On TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Facebook, user attention is won or lost in the opening three seconds. An ad that opens with the value proposition will be skipped; one that opens with something surprising earns a pause. Petit's framework: optimize the hook as the primary creative variable, separate from the transition to the actual product message.
“I don't sit down every day thinking like what is my content today I try to drive content based on things I'm actually doing or feeling or seeing or believing and I think that has made people view me as a Human Instead of like some Twitter account and people wanted to see me win”
Drive content from real life, not from a content calendar
Rather than scheduling or batching posts, Aaron tweets reactively from real moments — a new launch, a layoff, a frustration. This eliminates the 'content treadmill' problem and produces material that reads as human, which is what converts lurkers into champions.
“trying to think of the story as a narrative or like the story as a movie thinking what should happen next what would happen next is the triumphant return right you get laid off you're down a little bit of Heroes Journey you come back and you conquer the world and so it was like this fits pretty great this is the most entertaining outcome let's do it”
Frame the public story like a screenwriter would
Aaron uses a narrative lens to pick which moves to make publicly — asking 'what would a screenwriter want next?' After the layoff, that framing pushed a fast turnaround launch video for the new studio while attention was still hot, capturing momentum before the news cycle moved on.
“I used to write a bunch of articles about my squel and performance database performance and then I got a DM that was like do you want to work at Planet scale like yeah that's freaking awesome but like how do you how do you force someone to DM you to offer you a job I have no idea”
Publishing in a niche produces inbound that no funnel can engineer
Aaron's consistent writing on MySQL performance produced a cold DM that became a job at PlanetScale — an outcome no funnel could engineer. Publishing in a tight niche generates unpredictable, asymmetric opportunities that direct outreach can never replicate.
“assuming it's Evergreen you don't have to keep producing it if it's generating customers maybe you need to update it like every six months to a year depending on Google's rules and search if you've created the system the acquisition system to acquire an audience you probably don't need to put as much effort into it to keep it going”
Evergreen content becomes a maintenance job after it works
Once an evergreen content system is reliably generating customers, it stops being a content job and becomes a maintenance job — refresh every 6-12 months to stay aligned with Google updates. That's what frees a solo founder to start building a second acquisition system for the next vertical, without dropping the first.
“the reason why AI it was in my experience is it never produces really good content is because like you haven't done the hard work to actually think through what you want to say and the writing becomes easy and once you do that”
AI writes badly because the underlying thinking is missing
Great writing is calcified thinking. AI looks like it produces bad content, but the real failure is upstream — the operator skipped the hard thinking work. Do the thinking first and the writing, AI-assisted or not, becomes easy. Use AI for outlines, gaps, and editing, not for the creative core.
“Lou I've seen your some of your tweets about real estate would you like to teach a class I never thought about teaching a class on real estate and then after I did the classes I thought wait maybe I could like take the transcript from these classes put it into a book and make a few dollars outside the community”
Teach an internal class first, then ship the transcript as a book
Louie's real-estate book was pulled out of him: a community peer saw his tweets and asked him to run a guest class, the transcript became a book, and the book sold outside the community. One input compounds into multiple assets — live audience validates the material, transcripts become the product, the product seeds the next thing.
“whenever you do get a question from a customer and you haven't answered it before rather than just answering that one customer and like sending them an email or sending them a chat it's just write the quick article and then send them a link to the article and then anybody else who has that can find that article”
Write the article first, then send the link — every time
Instead of answering the same question twice, write the article the first time and link to it. The doc deflects future tickets, gets indexed by Google as top-of-funnel, and shows prospects the depth a marketing page can't. A founder who dislikes support actually ships better docs — the avoidance instinct becomes a flywheel.
“now I'm writing the stuff where I'm like I'm going out and finding something new about the world and then I'm becoming the training data for the next version of chat VT uh you know think you want yeah if if you can if you can be in the training data um more than you're using the training data then I think that's a good balance”
Be in the training data, not just a user of it
Generic AI-generated content is boilerplate the next model will produce for free. The durable founder edge is primary research — running experiments, collecting fresh data, finding the holes in what ChatGPT confidently asserts, and writing up what only direct observation could uncover. That output becomes the corpus future models lean on, a much stronger position than competing with them on their home turf.
“I've posted maybe two or three times how much money I lose in real estate I think people are like yeah thank you for sharing that story we'll frequent people more we'll support people more we like people more we'll spend more if we know their story”
Post your losses, not just your highlight reel
Kagan deliberately posts losses (real estate flops, getting fired from Facebook) and finds audiences reward it. Negatives make a founder relatable, which drives more engagement, frequency, and spend than wins alone. Pair every success thread with a sibling 'what didn't work' thread on the same channel.
“I just started posting all the winning screenshots of what he was doing and you know all the trades that we were making and everything well within a few months we had 300 people paying us $30 a month and that was like within 90 to 100”
Post proof in the niche's native format, not opinions
Pre-pandemic, Twitter was for journalists and TikTok didn't exist, so Spencer picked Instagram because that's where retail traders lived. Posting daily winning-trade screenshots — raw proof, not commentary — converted 300 paying subscribers at $30/month inside ~100 days. Pick the one channel the niche already lives on; let the proof artifacts do the selling.
“you just have to start with a messy setup uh doing messy content um crappy crappy video and just ship them and be okay with the shame of of shipping them and use that shame use that shame to actually do better the next time but never miss a day or never miss a week”
Ship messy content and use the shame as fuel
Quantity beats polish at launch. Looking for the perfect setup means 90% of people never start. The shame of shipping bad first attempts is fuel for the next iteration — and the public trail of improvement (first podcast episode vs latest, first tweets vs latest) becomes proof of growth that builds credibility on its own.
“the kind of venture model of building companies has just come to overd dominate the conversation where every business seems to think they need to build some sort of venture scale business this whole mindset is really actually like a niche subset of the ways to do entrepreneurship”
Counter-program the dominant narrative instead of fighting it
Tyler frames calm companies not as anti-VC rage but as 'unwinding' a specific niche subset of entrepreneurship that came to dominate the conversation. He describes calm businesses by what they're NOT and lets the contrast do the work. Position by reframing the default, not by attacking it — 'X is actually a niche, here's the bigger frame' converts better than 'X is bad.'