Outpaced for recipe and meal-planning appsLive for apps

Be the app behind tonight's dinner.

People save food slideshows to cook from later. Outpaced writes yours for the recipe hoarders, budget shoppers and Sunday meal-preppers your app is for, then posts them.

Start your trial See the examples

how many of your saved recipes have you actually cooked?

"i don't mind, you pick" (they will mind)

deinfluencing you from buying another cookbook so you'll "finally start cooking"

  • The recipe hoarder
  • The 6pm decider
  • The budget shopper
  • The high-protein meal-prepper

Who it’s for.

The people your food posts are written for, one persona at a time.

  • The recipe hoarder

    Hundreds of recipes saved from TikTok and Instagram. Has cooked maybe four of them.

  • The 6pm decider

    Time-poor, early career, tired of answering "what's for dinner?" every single night.

  • The budget shopper

    Holds a weekly grocery budget. Saves hauls and "five dinners from one shop" posts.

  • The high-protein meal-prepper

    Batch-cooks on Sunday into containers. Screenshots every protein meal-prep list.

  • The new couple cooking together

    First flat, two people, one fridge, and a nightly debate about who picks.

How it works here.

Strategy, content, distribution and routines, set up for food.

  1. 01

    Strategy

    Finds who's stuck at 6pm

    Audience research reads Reddit threads, app reviews, competitor pages and viral comments to find people like the recipe hoarder and the budget shopper, each with dated evidence and a quote it read.

  2. 02

    Content

    Lists people cook from

    Each carousel targets one persona and one stage: countdowns, Notes-app grocery lists, dinner debates by text. Photos come from your own kitchen shots first, then stock. Only your product truths get stated.

  3. 03

    Distribution

    Posted where food gets saved

    Posts go straight to your TikTok and Instagram at each account's next free slot, all on one calendar. Results show saves and shares per post, so you see which dinners people keep.

  4. 04

    Routines

    A Sunday routine, if you like

    Schedule a routine per account, say Sundays and Wednesdays at 5pm, with a prompt like "budget dinners for two". It writes and queues carousels, and you swipe to approve each one.

What do budget shoppers struggle with when planning a week of meals?

Reddit research

Audience language · Reddit

r/MealPrepSunday · r/EatCheapAndHealthy

Budget cooks want a week planned from one shop, not more recipes to save.

  1. 2.6Kr/EatCheapAndHealthyfeeding two on $60 a week, what are your staples
  2. 1.2Kr/MealPrepSundaymy $25 week of lunches, all from one shop
  • "groceries went up and my recipes didn't adjust"u/example_1 on r/EatCheapAndHealthy · 427 points · 10 Oct
  • "one shop, five dinners, nothing thrown out"u/example_2 on r/MealPrepSunday · 213 points · 18 Oct
ThemeThreadsQuotes
Grocery bill creep2217
Food going to waste1310
Deciding what to cook108

IllustrativeExample data for an example niche. Not real accounts.

Content for every stage.

Every carousel has one job. Each format names the hook template it follows from our viral-hooks playbook.

Meet hungry people who've never heard of your app, mid-scroll, before dinner.

  • Countdown to #1L1 · Top of funnel

    the worst dinner deciders in every house, ranked >>

    Deciding is the niche's first motivation. Ranking the people, with "i don't mind" at #1, gets friends tagged.

    Playbook · Worst … ranked countdown

  • Unfinished sentenceL1 · Top of funnel

    the reason i stopped ordering takeout on weeknights wasn't the money. it was…

    Swaps the obvious answer for a feeling. Decision fatigue is the payoff, so no category needs naming.

    Playbook · Unfinished sentence note reveal

  • Photo dumpL1 · Top of funnel

    my flat just started doing the cutest thing on sunday nights

    The doc's couch, counter and dinner-table settings in one dump. The thing (planning together) is revealed on slide 2.

    Playbook · My friends just started a thing

Be the account people save lists from, so the app feels familiar.

  • Apple Notes listL2 · Middle of funnel

    5 dinners from one supermarket chicken. screenshot this >>>

    Saves are this niche's signal: meal-prep slideshows get saved in huge numbers. Useful without the app.

    Playbook · Camera-roll reference (implied save)

  • Paper notesL2 · Middle of funnel

    not a cooking problem. a 6pm deciding problem.

    Reframes "i can't cook" as the decision it really is. Handwriting reads as a person, not a recipe brand.

    Playbook · Not X, it's Y reframe

  • iMessage conversationL2 · Middle of funnel

    "how do you always know what to cook??"

    The doc's own iMessage idea: a friend asks, the thread answers. Literal questions do well (finding 3).

    Playbook · Question cover, answer on the swipe

Make your app the answer the post was building to.

  • Note revealL3 · Bottom of funnel

    all those recipes saved in my likes and i only just found this

    "Stop losing your recipes" is the saver apps' pitch. "this" stays hidden until the reveal.

    Playbook · Withheld discovery

  • Reasons whyL3 · Bottom of funnel

    4 things that got me cooking on weeknights (from a professional takeout orderer)

    The aside disarms "i'm not a cook". The app earns its slide as the last, best item.

    Playbook · List with a self-aware parenthetical

  • POV storytimeL3 · Bottom of funnel

    pov: the fridge is nearly empty, but sunday-you already planned tonight

    Deficit then rescue, the turn POV needs. The rescue is a plan, which is what a planner sells.

    Playbook · POV with a contrast

What we’d post.

Example carousels, written as if leading apps in this niche made them.

Playbook

Hook template

Story

Stage

Niche photo

how many of your saved recipes have you actually cooked?

Example ReciMeGet found

"i don't mind, you pick" (they will mind)

Example MobBuild trust

deinfluencing you from buying another cookbook so you'll "finally start cooking"

Example ReciMeMake the sale

ReciMe and Mob are shown as examples only, to illustrate the content Outpaced would create for this industry. They aren't Outpaced customers and aren't affiliated with or endorsed by Outpaced.

FAQ

No. Photos come from your own library first, then stock, and stock is strong on plates, produce and kitchens. It's thin on meal-prep container grids and receipts, so a few of your own help there.

Store-name hooks are common in this niche. Whether yours use them is your call: carousels only state your product truths, your never-words are enforced, and nothing posts until you approve it.

Yes. Audience research builds personas for your app. A saver gets the recipe hoarder; a planner gets the 6pm decider. Each carousel is written for one persona and one funnel stage.

You do. Swipe to approve or decline, and a reason like "wrong format" or "bad image" is read by the next run. Results then rank which formats, hooks and personas are working against your own median.

Can’t find an answer to your question? Get in touch

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