Suss case study · Canvas UGC$950 in creator pay.$3,000 in week one.
Suss (getsuss.org) is a dating safety web app that checks someone's behavior, photos and public records before you meet them. For its launch, Jem Social ran Canvas UGC: creators opened new Instagram and TikTok accounts for Suss and posted 1 to 2 times a day. Suss got 1,150 waitlist sign-ups and $3,000 in sales in its first week, from $950 paid to two creators.
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Suss × Jem SocialCanvas UGC
Creators paid
2
Creator pay
$950
Posting
1–2 a day, IG + TikTok
Waitlist sign-ups
1,150
First-week sales
$3,000
Cost per sign-up
$0.83
First-week return
3.16x
$950 ÷ 1,150 = $0.83. $3,000 ÷ $950 = 3.16x.
Suss campaign results
$0.83cost per waitlist sign-up
1,150waitlist sign-ups
$3,000in sales in the first week of launch
3.16xfirst-week return on creator pay
Brand
Suss, a dating safety web app at getsuss.org
The goal
Build a waitlist and first sales for launch
What Jem Social did
Ran Canvas UGC: new Instagram and TikTok accounts posting 1 to 2 times a day
Result
1,150 sign-ups and $3,000 in week one, from $950 in creator pay
What is Canvas UGC
New accounts. Daily posts. Pay tied to views.
With Canvas UGC, a creator opens brand-new Instagram and TikTok accounts and posts about your product 1 to 2 times a day, depending on the agreement. The creator is paid a base rate, for example $300, plus a CPM bonus: extra pay for every thousand views the posts get.
That makes it different from a one-off UGC video or a single sponsored post. You get a steady stream of posts on accounts built around your product, and the creator earns more when the posts get seen.
Canvas UGC
New accounts, posting every day
The creator runs fresh Instagram and TikTok accounts for your brand, 1 to 2 posts a day. Paid as a base rate plus a CPM bonus.
Sponsored post
One post to an existing audience
A creator posts about you once on their own account. You pay per post, whatever it ends up reaching.
Standard UGC
Videos you run as ads
A creator films videos you post or run as paid ads. You pay per video, then pay again for the ad spend behind it.
Paid ads
Pay for every click or lead
You pay Meta or Google for each click or lead, and results stop the day the budget does.
The ROI
$950 in. $3,000 back in week one.
Suss paid two creators $950 in total. The posts drove 1,150 waitlist sign-ups, and Suss made $3,000 in sales in its first week of launch. Here's the math.
$0.83cost per waitlist sign-up$950 ÷ 1,150 sign-ups
3.16xfirst-week return on ad spend (ROAS)$3,000 ÷ $950
216%first-week ROI($3,000 − $950) ÷ $950
Return counts first-week sales only, against creator pay only. Other costs, such as payment fees, aren't included.
Vs paid ads
How it compares to Meta and Google ads.
Here's Suss's campaign next to the latest published benchmarks for paid ads. A waitlist sign-up is counted as a lead.
Cost per lead
Lower is better
SussCanvas UGC$0.83
Meta lead ads2026 average$27.39
Google Ads2026 average$66.69
A Suss sign-up cost about 33x less than the average Meta lead and about 80x less than the average Google Ads lead.
Return on ad spend
Higher is better
SussFirst week only3.16x
Meta adsMedian1.88x
Google AdsMedian3.27x
Suss's first week alone returned 68% more than the Meta median and landed within 4% of the Google Ads median.
Suss Canvas UGC results compared with paid-ad benchmarks
Measure
Suss, Canvas UGC
Meta ads
Google Ads
Cost per lead
$0.83
$27.39 (2026 average)
$66.69 (2026 average)
Return on ad spend
3.16x (first week)
1.88x (median)
3.27x (median)
Benchmarks: cost per lead from WordStream by LocaliQ's 2026 benchmarks (Meta leads campaigns; Google Ads search campaigns, April 2025 to March 2026). Return on ad spend from Triple Whale's medians for ecommerce brands, August 2025 to July 2026. Benchmarks cover whole campaigns, while Suss's return covers its first week only.
Why it worked
A real problem, posted every day.
Dating safety is something people already talk about online: catfishing, romance scams and dates who aren't who they said they were. Suss solves a problem viewers recognize the moment they see it.
Canvas UGC put that problem in front of people every day instead of once. Two creators posting 1 to 2 times a day on both Instagram and TikTok gave Suss a steady run of posts at launch, and the CPM bonus paid the creators more when those posts were seen.
One sponsored post is a single shot. Canvas UGC is a new one every day.
The playbook
How to launch an app with Canvas UGC.
This is for app founders and marketers who want launch traction before they commit to paid ads. Here's how to run it the way Suss did.
Give every post somewhere to go.
Suss collected 1,150 waitlist sign-ups. A waitlist turns views into people you can reach the day you launch.
Pay a base rate plus views.
A base rate, for example $300, plus a CPM bonus means creators earn more when their posts get watched. Their goals match yours.
Post every day on both apps.
Canvas UGC accounts post 1 to 2 times a day on Instagram and TikTok. Every post is another chance to reach someone new.
Start small, then scale what works.
Suss's campaign paid two creators $950 in total. Prove your cost per sign-up with a small test, then add creators.
Measure it like an ad campaign.
Divide spend by sign-ups to get cost per lead, and sales by spend to get return on ad spend. Then compare with your Meta and Google numbers. Jem Social's influencer marketing ROI calculator does the math.
FAQ
Questions about Canvas UGC and Suss.
What is Canvas UGC?
Canvas UGC is a creator format where a creator opens new Instagram and TikTok accounts for a brand and posts about it 1 to 2 times a day, depending on the agreement. The creator is paid a base rate plus a CPM bonus based on views.
How much does Canvas UGC cost?
It depends on the agreement. Creators are paid a base rate, for example $300, plus a CPM bonus based on views. Suss's campaign paid two creators $950 in total.
What results did Suss get from Canvas UGC?
Suss got 1,150 waitlist sign-ups and $3,000 in sales in its first week of launch, from $950 in creator pay. That's $0.83 per sign-up and a 3.16x first-week return.
Is Canvas UGC cheaper than paid ads?
It was for Suss. Each waitlist sign-up cost $0.83, against 2026 average costs per lead of $27.39 for Meta lead ads and $66.69 for Google Ads, according to WordStream by LocaliQ. Suss's 3.16x first-week return also beat the 1.88x median return on Meta ads reported by Triple Whale.
How do you calculate influencer marketing ROI?
ROI is revenue minus spend, divided by spend. For Suss's first week: ($3,000 − $950) ÷ $950 = 216%. Return on ad spend is revenue divided by spend: $3,000 ÷ $950 = 3.16x. Jem Social's ROI calculator works it out for you.
What is Suss?
Suss (getsuss.org) is a dating safety web app. You add a photo of someone you're talking to and answer five quick questions, and Suss checks behavior, photo and public profile signals before you meet. Premium starts at $4.99 a week.
Can I run Canvas UGC on Jem Social?
Yes. Post a brief on Jem Social and creators apply to you. Jem Social holds payment in escrow until the content ships and tracks results per creator. Influencer Finder is $69/mo (reg. $99) after a 7-day free trial.
Got an app to launch?
Find creators to run Canvas UGC accounts for your brand with Influencer Finder, pay them through escrow, and track every post and its results in one place on Jem Social.
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