Launch an influencer campaign for houseplant logs
I scroll Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube under a fresh account if I’m marketing a houseplant log. I try to put myself in this person’s shoes: US English, 22-36, already bounced off a watering app that yelled and a paper tape on pots they cannot read, watches 'I killed another pothos' and overwater-shame videos on a Sunday. 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 silenced the app because it yelled, and then I overwatered because I felt guilty. They already tried a watering app that yelled, paper tape on pots, and a group chat that is just plant graves. Skip the 800k plant-influencer whose apartment is a greenhouse brand trip. Adjacent is killed pothos, overwater, not greenhouse flex. 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 holding a yellow pothos next to a reminder they silenced. Signal: the same yellow-pothos face two Sundays.
03
I prefer email. The contact is usually in a small apartment-plant bio. Just send a short note. Name a real video. Ask for the phone number. Don’t start the deal over email. Plant influencers quote nursery-haul rates. 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. Add one plant they can see from the window tonight. Add one plant, set a water, skip a week without a lecture, drop the code.
Why most first houseplant logs campaigns stall
01
Plant influencers quote nursery-haul rates. You needed a lot of other names so you could move on. Killed-pothos rants already have the audience; a reminder that does not shame a missed week is the product.
02
People tag #houseplants when they want brands to find them. A database tells you who exists. Your customer lives in a feed you never opened. A greenhouse tour with no log.
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 12-plant haul. Ask them to log one pothos and skip a scold.
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 one plant, one next water, 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.
Plant influencers quote nursery-haul rates. 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 tag is greenhouse-apartment talent and nursery affiliates. I read the session the person who would download this actually gets served. Product page for the general job: campaigns.