Launch an influencer campaign for lifting log apps
I scroll Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube under a fresh account if I’m marketing a lifting log app. I try to put myself in this person’s shoes: US English, 22-34, already bounced off Strong's subscription nag and a notes-app graveyard of PRs, watches 'I forgot what I hit last week' and commercial-gym-crowding 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. The rack opened up and I was still looking for last Thursday's set. They already tried Strong until the paywall, Hevy they opened for a week, and the iOS Notes graveyard. Skip the enhanced 5am gym influencer whose stack is a storefront. Adjacent is commercial gym at 6pm, plate math, not bodybuilding stage prep. 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 standing at the bar, scrolling Notes, and losing the rack. Signal: the same between-set Notes-scroll face two evenings in a row.
03
I prefer email. The contact is usually in a bio under a training-program Payhip; say this is an app demo, not a program collab. Just send a short note. Name a real video. Ask for the phone number. Don’t start the deal over email. Program-sellers quote coaching rates for a single talking-head. 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 log they can use on tonight's session without an account wall mid-set. Open last week's squat, add this set, lock the phone, lift.
Why most first lifting log apps campaigns stall
01
Program-sellers quote coaching rates for a single talking-head. You needed a lot of other names so you could move on. Between-set rants already have the audience; last-time's numbers on one screen is the thing they reach for when the rack is free.
02
People tag #gymapp when they want brands to find them. A database tells you who exists. Your customer lives in a feed you never opened. A cinematic PR with no log on screen.
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 transformation. Ask them to log a working set and show last week's number.
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 the last session, 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.
Program-sellers quote coaching rates for a single talking-head. 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 supplement affiliates and coaches selling programs, not a log. I read the session the person who would download this actually gets served. Product page for the general job: campaigns.