Clip That

If you’ve been on TikTok lately, chances are you’ve come across clips of Cluely, Andrew Tate, or Logan Paul. This strategy first gained attention when Andrew Tate admitted to paying hundreds of people to clip and distribute his content across TikTok, fueling much of his success and popularity. Now we’re seeing the same playbook being used elsewhere, most recently by Cluely, which is reportedly paying hundreds of creators to post clips of its CEO and marketing videos, flooding feeds and driving brand awareness.

This isn't a new strategy, as paid clipping has been around for years, but it has mostly been limited to the deeper corners of the internet. For example, multiple clip farms exist on Discord and are used by everyone from music labels to creators and now tech companies. In this newsletter, I’m going to talk about how clipping is one of the most useful strategies right now to own attention.

The actual product that Cluely built has become secondary to their marketing strategy and the content they’ve been putting out. After raising $15M in their Series A, they’re spending a large portion of it on content creation, clipping, and distribution. Part of the reason clipping has worked so well is that the CEO, Roy Lee, has an online presence and understands how important the short-form algorithm is to Cluely’s marketing strategy. They’ve been open that the company only intends to hire two types of people: engineers working on the product and creators willing to make tons of content that will be clipped and distributed across short-form social channels.

I think the answer to that question depends somewhat on the product category and the team’s willingness to create content that stands out from everything else. I believe clipping should be used to amplify existing content from a brand or creator that is already starting to perform. Think of it like throwing gasoline on a small fire.

The above is a good example of a brand working with creators (Kai and Rakai) who are having a moment that starts to perform on social and is then amplified through clipping.

This has been happening for years, but it’s only now starting to get mainstream attention as tech companies get involved in clipping. I don't think this is a strategy every brand should chase, but I do think there are plenty of cases where clipping can serve as an extra layer of amplification and distribution. Especially if your company makes great content. Duolingo should already have a 1,000-person clip farm set up and running.

Each week, I’m going to give an individual the open mic to talk about whatever they want. This week, I talked to Uncle Jhonn, a fast-growing DIY creator from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, known for helping his "Neighbors" with home projects like paving a walkway or building a picnic table. He’s already built a huge community across YouTube (2.3M subscribers) and short-form platforms (2M on TikTok). Uncle Jhonn wanted to talk about brand collaborations, and his feelings about his most recent partnership with Angi.com.

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