Trial Reels: Hook A/B Testing

Chris Cunningham, founding member of ClickUp, reveals the social media strategy that drives a staggering 150M monthly impressions. This is *the* exact strategy that's also attracted major clients like VaynerMedia (yes, GaryVee literally found them through social media).

Grab your notes. 📝 Chris shares his contrarian take on hooks and pattern interrupts, explains why hiring LA actors is a no-brainer for your social content, and walks us through his secret Trial Reels technique that consistently multiplies video performance.

In this episode:

(00:00) The Power of Humor in B2B Marketing

(00:57) Measuring ROI in Social Media Strategies

(05:10) How Much Does It Cost to Create This Type of Content?

(07:32) Finding and Hiring Talent for Content Creation

(12:57) Integrating Humor with Project Management Software

(17:25) The Creative Process: From Ideas to Execution

(18:40) Using Trial Reels to Test Impact(21:08) Brainstorming Creative Ideas(24:02) Balancing Fun and Product Promotion

(29:17) Breaking Marketing Norms

(33:30) The ABCD Framework for Content Creation

(38:33) Pattern Interrupt Techniques in Content

(43:18) Psychological Hacks for Converting Followers

(46:24) Building a Personal Brand Vs a Company Brand

(50:39) Types of Content for Brand Accounts

(53:44) Defining the ClickUp Brand

(57:10) The $15K ClickUp Album

(01:02:01) Influencer Marketing Strategies

(01:04:50) The Super Bowl Ad Experience

(01:07:35) AI in Marketing: A Critical Perspective

(01:11:54) Outro

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend).

⸻

Where to find Chris:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisclickup/

X: @ChrisClickUp

Website: https://clickup.com/

Where to find Tim:

LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/)

X: @timsoulo

Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/

⸻

Referenced in this episode:

👤 People

Gary Vaynerchuk (GaryVee): https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyvaynerchuk/

Kyle Coleman (ClickUp CMO): https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylecoleman/

Adam Robinson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamsrobinson/

Gaurav Agarwal (ClickUp COO): https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaurav-agarwal-8278271/

Zeb Evans (ClickUp Founder/CEO): https://www.linkedin.com/in/zeb-evans/

Seth Godin: https://www.sethgodin.com/

Mr. Beast:  ⁨@MrBeast⁩ 

Clever (Artist): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clever_(rapper)

⸻

🏢 Companies & Brands

VaynerMedia: https://vaynerx.com/

Adweek (Adworld): https://www.adweek.com/

Groundlings: https://www.groundlings.com/

Copy AI: https://www.copy.ai/

Clari: https://www.clari.com/

BuzzFeed: https://www.buzzfeed.com/

Halligan Cinema: https://halligancinema.com/

HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/

Asana: https://asana.com/

Jira: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira

Wendy’s: https://www.wendys.com/

Apple: https://www.apple.com/

Windows (Microsoft): https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows

Morning Brew: https://www.morningbrew.com/

⸻

🛠️ Tools / Platforms

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/

Spotify: https://www.spotify.com/

Apple Music: https://www.apple.com/apple-music/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/

Claude (Anthropic AI): https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-3-family

ChatGPT (OpenAI): https://chat.openai.com/

Clay (Lead gen / enrichment): https://www.clay.com/