Launch an influencer campaign for idle tycoon games
I scroll Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube under a fresh account if I’m marketing an idle tycoon game. I try to put myself in this person’s shoes: US English, 16-28, already bounced off an idle that paywalled the loop and a tycoon that was ads every 20 seconds, watches 'this idle is just ads' and late-night-one-more-tap videos in bed. 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 actually play the first session 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 wanted one more building and I got an ad, and then the loop was behind a paywall. They already tried an idle that paywalled the loop, a tycoon that was ads, and a web idle they outgrew. Skip the 1M mobile-gaming recapper whose last 20 videos are paid launches. Adjacent is bed taps, ad-rage, not PC-strategy lectures. 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 tapping a factory and getting a 30-second ad before the next building. Signal: the same bed-tap face two nights.
03
I prefer email. The contact is usually in a small mobile-gaming bio, not a recap network. Just send a short note. Name a real video. Ask for the phone number. Don’t start the deal over email. Launch recappers quote UA-agency 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. A working first session they can finish in bed. Install, play the first loop, show an ad is not the loop. Drop the code.
Why most first idle tycoon games campaigns stall
01
Launch recappers quote UA-agency rates. You needed a lot of other names so you could move on. Ad-rage already has the audience; a live first-session loop they can play in bed is the demo. No fake CPI.
02
People tag #idlegame when they want brands to find them. A database tells you who exists. Your customer lives in a feed you never opened. A cinematic trailer with no first-session footage.
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 them to quote a CPI or a ROAS. Ask them to play the first session.
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 App Store listing whose first screenshot is the loop, not a cinematic trailer.
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, not a CPI screenshot.
Questions
You can learn vocabulary that way. People tag what they want brands to find. I still scroll as the person who would actually play the first session 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.
Launch recappers quote UA-agency 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 catalog is launch recappers who want a CPI story you do not have. I read the session the person who would actually play the first session actually gets served. Product page for the general job: campaigns.