Launch an influencer campaign for climbing log apps
I scroll Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube under a fresh account if I’m marketing a climbing log app. I try to put myself in this person’s shoes: US English, 23-35, already bounced off a Google Sheet of sends and a paper guidebook with eraser holes, watches 'I projected this for six months' and gym-beta videos between sets. Linger, save, like, and comment as if I were them. Once the algorithm is trained I take whoever keeps showing up. Ideally over 50k average views. Below that they quote $700 a post for 1k views. That’s a money sink.
You really need to do this for hundreds of creators a day, because the market is not efficient. Some dumb startup is paying thousands for hundreds of views. I scroll as the person who would download this on real phones. Scout is $1,500/month. We find creators. Outreach is $2,500 if I should send the emails. Dealmaker is $5,000 if I should negotiate and paper the deal. Creator fees extra. No demo. No download guarantee. I wrote the long version at How I find influencers.
Where people actually look
How I actually launch
01
Not a demographic. I sent it and by the time I got to the car I could not remember the crux foot. They already tried a Google Sheet of sends, Mountain Project notes they never reopen, and a paper guidebook with eraser holes. Skip the 90k outdoor-lifestyle creator who only posts sunrise ridgelines and never a gym. Adjacent is finger-injury caution, gym etiquette, not generic fitness transformation. Steal the brief if you want.
02
Fresh account. Real phones. Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Linger, save, like, comment as if I were them. Once the algorithm is trained I take whoever keeps showing up. Ideally over 50k average. Example: someone filming a failed redpoint then flipping to a notes app that lost the beta. Signal: the same projecting face in the same gym lighting three sessions in a row.
03
I prefer email. The contact is usually in the bio next to a training plan Gumroad, or a gym's staff page. Just send a short note. Name a real video. Ask for the phone number. Don’t start the deal over email. Brand-trip climbers quote outdoor-apparel rates for a utility post. If they won’t give a number, move on.
04
Pay $X for N posts with a floor of Y views. An example that is easy to hold: $2000 / 4 posts / 1M views. Then send the contract while it’s still fresh. TestFlight they can open at the gym that night. Open the log, add the route, mark the tries. If they cannot do that between sets, the app is not ready.
Why most first climbing log apps campaigns stall
01
Brand-trip climbers quote outdoor-apparel rates for a utility post. You needed a lot of other names so you could move on. Send videos already have the audience; the log is the thing they reach for in the parking lot when the pump dies.
02
People tag #climbing when they want brands to find them. A database tells you who exists. Your customer lives in a feed you never opened. A send clip with 400k views and no mention of logging.
03
Many times I have read something unprofitable like “$700 a post” from a creator that gets 50k views. On a call I can explain a Minimum View Guarantee. Over email you just get the first number. Do not ask for a V10 montage if the app is a log. Ask them to log a session on camera.
What you actually buy
Every plan includes the scrolling. Pay more and I do more of the emailing and the paperwork. Creator pay is extra. No demo. No download guarantee. A live listing whose first screenshot is a route, a grade, and tries, not a social feed.
Scout
$1,500/month
We find creators.
Most people start here
Outreach
$2,500/month
We find relevant creators, and do outreach.
Dealmaker
$5,000/month
Outreach, then negotiation and contracts.
Billed monthly, cancel anytime. Creator compensation is not included. You approve every creator and every rate. Measurement is App Store installs with a unique custom code.
Questions
You can learn vocabulary that way. People tag what they want brands to find. I still scroll as the person who would download this on a fresh account and take whoever keeps showing up. The method essay is How we find creators by scrolling a real TikTok avatar.
No. Anyone who does is lying or running paid. I do the scrolling and, on Outreach and Dealmaker, the contacting. You still approve every creator and every rate. Talent is extra. No demo. No download guarantee.
Brand-trip climbers quote outdoor-apparel rates for a utility post. I want roughly 50k average views or the economics usually break. Below that, $700 a post for 1k views is a money sink. On a call I can explain a Minimum View Guarantee. Example: $2000 / 4 posts / 1M views. Over email you just get the first number. If they will not give a number, move on. If you do this right, ie at scale, you will have many other creators to choose from.
No. It is a different job. The climbing tag on a marketplace is outdoor apparel and chalk bags, not a utility. I read the session the person who would download this actually gets served. Product page for the general job: campaigns.