A zoo job rejection with 700,000 likes teaches new app accounts to act human
The video barely sells anything, and that is the point: views first convince the algorithm the account is human.
The Superwall Podcast · Nick Lawton - #1 UGC EXPERT Reveals How To Market Consumer AppsThe woman stared into the camera and complained about the job market. Nick Lawton of Sideshift recalled that "she had a dual master's degree or something like that" and had been denied an entry-level job at a zoo.
Lawton kept her complaint at the center of a talking video and added a mention of Sideshift about a minute in. The video drew 700,000 likes.
The zoo video converts poorly yet is still used a year later as a warm-up. Lawton said it warms up new accounts well and gets the intended audience engaged, which is why his team kept the format.
A warm-up video carries no sales pitch and is not judged on whether viewers install anything. Lawton said the goal is to gather views and persuade the recommendation system that the account is operated by an actual human posting legitimate material, which helps later videos reach the right viewers.
Divisive subjects work well for that job, he said, because they tend to spread fast. He said it is hard to plug a proper call to action "into those videos without it feeling off" or inauthentic.
Joseph Choi, who was going through examples with Lawton, pointed to a different job-market video he was looking at, not the zoo rant. In that separate clip, the creator says the job market is so bad and she is applying to everything, then shows her iPad screen with little on it beyond something like LinkedIn.
Lawton said "making the call to action feel extremely natural" and subtle enough that a viewer wants to act is one of the biggest hurdles in creator advertising. So the zoo complaint is used to attract an audience and establish the new account before any serious selling begins.
Questions people ask
What is UGC in this context?
UGC stands for user generated content, but here it means ads made to look like ordinary posts from everyday creators. Apps hire creators to talk, complain, joke, or demonstrate on TikTok and Instagram, then add a subtle plug for the app. The goal is to blend into the feed rather than look like a polished commercial.
Why does a new account need to be warmed up?
New accounts start with no history, so recommendation systems have little signal about who might like their videos. A few broadly appealing, high view videos give the system early data on viewers and watch time. That can help later, more sales focused videos reach people more likely to watch them.
Do controversial videos always perform better?
Often they get more comments and shares, which can expand reach, but not always. Strong emotion can lift views while also attracting negative comments or the wrong audience. Marketers usually separate attention getters from videos meant to drive installs or purchases.