Hey — It’s Nico.

Merry Christmas! 🎄 I hope you’re having a wonderful holiday season with loved ones.

As always, welcome to Behind Tactics 🧠, the Failory newsletter where I share the strategies behind the best startups.

This issue takes 6 mins to read. If you only have one, here’s what you need to know:

• Calm uses YouTube as a marketing engine, repurposing app content into videos that provide immediate value to users.

• Their videos target high-intent keywords like “sleep sounds,” aligning perfectly with late-night user behavior.

• By focusing on evergreen topics, Calm’s videos drive traffic for years, requiring minimal maintenance once uploaded.

• Removing ads and focusing on utility builds trust, turning viewers into app users without aggressive selling.

Let’s get into it.

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The Strategy

Calm’s YouTube Strategy

A couple of months ago, I discussed how Calm went viral by building a simple timer. Today, I want to dive deeper into the core of Calm’s marketing strategy: their YouTube content.

I want to analyze why they chose to prioritize YouTube over traditional Google Search, why this works so well for them, and how this strategy effectively works on “autopilot,” bringing thousands of new users without much ongoing effort.

Let’s dive in.

Sleep Videos, Endless Users

Calm didn’t just decide to use YouTube randomly; they had a clear reason. They noticed that most of their users were active between 9 PM and 11 PM. Think about that: this isn’t when you’re planning your morning or grinding through tasks. It’s when people are trying to relax, unwind, or fall asleep. And where do you go if you need help falling asleep? YouTube. It’s packed with videos like “sleep sounds” and “meditation for relaxation.” Calm saw this and decided to dominate that space.

Their YouTube content is built around solving these exact needs. They post videos that provide immediate solutions: falling asleep, calming anxiety, or taking a quick mental break. Their most popular video, “Rainstorm Sounds for Relaxing, Focus or Deep Sleep,” has over 60 million views. It’s an 8-hour video of uninterrupted rain sounds. No ads. No gimmicks. Just pure utility. This is the essence of Calm’s strategy: offering immediate value.

Every video they create is purpose-built to address specific problems. They don’t try to sell you the app inside the video. There’s no person pitching Calm, no attempts to showcase app features, and—critically—no ads. YouTube isn’t a revenue stream for Calm; it’s a marketing tool. Removing ads enhances the user experience, which aligns perfectly with Calm’s mission.

This doesn’t mean they’re not promoting their brand. They’ve just mastered the art of subtlety. Calm’s logo sits quietly in the corner of every video as a gentle reminder of the source. Links in the description provide a straightforward path to the app without interrupting the experience. It’s a soft sell, designed to nudge rather than push.

What’s more, Calm carefully targets high-intent keywords. They’ve focused on big search terms like “sleep sounds” and “guided meditation”—phrases that get thousands of searches every month. By ranking their videos for these keywords, Calm ensures a steady stream of new viewers who are already looking for what they offer. This precision targeting is a big part of why their strategy works.

Their channel isn’t one-size-fits-all, either. Calm’s content is organized into categories like “Sleep Stories,” “10-Minute Meditations,” and “Calm Kids,” each catering to a specific audience. This thoughtful segmentation allows them to serve a wide range of users while staying true to their mission.

The Evergreen Engine

One of the smartest things Calm has done is focus on evergreen content. These aren’t trendy videos that lose relevance after a week. Instead, Calm’s videos address timeless needs. Sleep sounds, guided meditations, and calming stories will always be in demand. Once a video ranks well for a popular search term, it continues to drive traffic for years. For example, a 5-year-old video can still bring in hundreds of views every hour. That’s the beauty of this approach: it’s a system that keeps working without constant updates.

What makes this even more impressive is that much of the content on their YouTube channel isn’t entirely new. Instead, Calm repurposes material directly from their app. This means they’re not starting from scratch to create YouTube videos—they’re using content they’ve already developed. A bedtime story in the app becomes a "Sleep Stories" video; a meditation session becomes part of the "10-Minute Meditations" playlist. By leveraging existing assets, they’ve minimized the workload while maximizing impact.

This integration between their app and YouTube content makes the strategy even more powerful. They’re essentially running an automated marketing system. Users searching for help on YouTube stumble upon these valuable resources, which introduce them to Calm’s ecosystem. And because the content is evergreen, this cycle continues indefinitely. It’s a long-term growth engine that doesn’t require constant maintenance.

By investing in evergreen content and tying it seamlessly to their app, Calm has built a system that attracts viewers, provides real value, and converts them into loyal users. It’s a strategy that doesn’t just work—it works smart.

Should I?

Why This Works

• Instant Value, No Hard Sell: Calm’s videos aren’t advertisements—they’re tools. By offering immediate solutions like sleep sounds or guided meditations, they create a relationship based on trust and utility. This makes users more likely to explore their app without feeling pressured, as the value is clear from the start.

• Meeting Users Where They Are: By focusing on YouTube, Calm taps into the world’s second-largest search engine, where users already go to find relaxation and sleep aids. This strategy aligns perfectly with user behavior, capturing attention at the exact moment people are looking for solutions.

• Low-Cost Scalability: Repurposing app content into YouTube videos reduces production costs while creating high-value resources. Once uploaded, these videos require no further investment to maintain their impact.

• Evergreen Longevity: Evergreen topics like sleep, relaxation, and meditation ensure the content remains relevant for years. This longevity turns each video into a long-term asset, continually bringing in viewers and potential users.

• Maximized User Trust: Calm enhances trust by removing all pre-roll and mid-roll ads, offering uninterrupted value. This positions them as a service provider rather than a marketer.

How to Apply It

• Start with What You Already Have: Look at your existing content, whether it's guides, blog posts, app features, or even customer feedback. Repurpose these into video formats that align with user needs, saving time and resources while leveraging material you know resonates with your audience.

• Provide Standalone Value: Ensure each piece of content is useful on its own, even for viewers who never interact with your product. This builds trust and goodwill, making them more likely to explore your offerings later.

• Focus on Evergreen Content: Create videos on topics that won’t go out of style, like timeless problems your product solves. This ensures your content remains relevant and continues driving traffic for years without needing constant updates.

• Build Around Intent, Not Virality: Don’t chase viral trends unless they align with your core offering. Instead, focus on creating content that satisfies specific user intents, like “how to manage freelance projects efficiently” for a project management tool.

Yes, But

• Relies on a Visual or Audio Element: This strategy works best for startups that can create engaging audio-visual content. If your product doesn’t translate well into either format, such as a backend infrastructure tool, this approach becomes less viable..

• Content Saturation in Popular Niches: Keywords like “sleep sounds” and “guided meditation” work for Calm, but other industries may already be overcrowded on YouTube. Competing in saturated niches without a clear differentiator could leave your videos buried.

• Limited Brand Visibility Without Direct Promotion: Calm’s subtle branding ensures a seamless user experience, but it can also mean less explicit promotion of the app. If your product needs aggressive awareness-building, this soft-sell approach might not deliver the impact you want..

Keep Learning

Others Playing It

Calm's competitor, Headspace, employs a similar strategy, though perhaps less successfully. Like Calm, they offer sleep stories, music for sleep, and focus music.

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That’s all for this edition.

Cheers,

Nico