How We Generated 5M Views and Beat FaceApp's Engagement Targets by 50%
Educational how-to format that drove 950K views and 8,000 shares. This longer-form tutorial outperformed quick demos in certain instances, proving audiences wanted detailed "how-to" guidance over quick transformations.
How to FaceApp - Tutorial by @siham
950,000 views, 90k likes, 45k saves, 8,000 shares
3-minute long-form format
Educational walkthrough style
Key insight: This educational format outperformed quick demos and was scaled across additional creators, proving audiences wanted detailed "how-to" guidance over quick transformations.
We worked directly with FaceApp's influencer marketing team to design a content testing system optimised for their engagement-based success metrics (CPL, CTI%, CPM).
The Challenge
FaceApp needed to expand brand awareness in US/UK Gen Z markets while testing creative messaging at scale before investing heavily in paid acquisition. The goal: Identify high-performing creative concepts and build a library of reusable UGC assets through systematic creator partnerships.
We designed a high-volume content testing system focused on engagement quality and creative validation:
Diverse creator mix (10K-1M+ followers across all tiers
Multiple creative concepts tested simultaneously
Performance tracked via engagement metrics (CPL, CTI%, CPM)
Usage rights on all assets for future campaigns
The Execution
Creative Testing
Multiple creative concepts developed and tested across various formats: - Educational tutorials (how-to content) - Before/after transformations (visual impact) - Challenge-based formats (high shareability) - POV/storytelling approaches (emotional connection)
Creator Activation
- High-volume creator activation across TikTok, Instagram + YouTube - 100+ UGC assets delivered with usage rights - Mix of tutorials, transformations, POV content, trend remixes
Engagement Performance
- 5M+ organic views across creator channels - 200k+ likes (engagement quality indicator) - 12k+ comments (strong audience interaction) - Cost per like 50% better than target - 8,000 clicks - Click-through rate 56% above target"
Cost Efficiency
- CPM within target range, significantly lower than paid media equivalents - Significantly lower than paid media equivalents - Strong engagement metrics validated content quality
Strategic Value
- Identified 3 high-performing creative concepts for paid scaling - Generated 100+ reusable assets across paid and organic channels - Established creator relationships for ongoing partnerships - Delivered brand awareness in key growth markets
Key Insight
When attribution infrastructure is still being built, engagement metrics (CPL, CPM, CTI%) serve as leading indicators of creator content quality. Our significantly lower CPL demonstrated that creators were reaching highly engaged, relevant audiences, validating that these assets would perform well when scaled through paid channels.
Client Context
FaceApp explicitly prioritized CPL and CTI% metrics over direct install attribution, knowing that organic creator content is challenging to track precisely. Our engagement efficiency (50% better than target CPL) proved content quality and audience relevance.
What FaceApp got:
5M views of brand content in target markets
Multiple creative concepts tested and validated
100+ professional UGC assets (w/usage rights)
3 proven creative directions for paid scaling
50% better than target CPL
Strong engagement metrics across all content
All metrics significantly exceeded FaceApp's benchmarks, with engagement efficiency 50%+ better than targets and click-through rates 56% above baseline.
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