Launch an influencer campaign for match-3 puzzle games
I scroll Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube under a fresh account if I’m marketing a match-3 puzzle game. I try to put myself in this person’s shoes: US English, 25-45, already bounced off a match-3 that nickel-and-dimed lives and a board that took 3 minutes to load on the subway, watches 'I am out of lives at 8:12' and subway-puzzle videos on a commute. 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 had 12 minutes and the game wanted 30 for a life. They already tried a match-3 that gated lives, a board that loaded for 3 minutes, and a web puzzle they outgrew. Skip the family-app reviewer who only posts preschool games. Adjacent is subway commute, lives-gate rage, not kids' games. 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 staring at a lives timer on a 12-minute subway ride. Signal: the same lives-timer face two commutes.
03
I prefer email. The contact is usually in a small commute-puzzle bio. Just send a short note. Name a real video. Ask for the phone number. Don’t start the deal over email. Family reviewers quote kids-app rates you cannot use. 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 first board they can finish on a commute. Install, finish one board on a 12-minute ride, drop the code.
Why most first match-3 puzzle games campaigns stall
01
Family reviewers quote kids-app rates you cannot use. You needed a lot of other names so you could move on. Lives-gate rants already have the audience; a first board they can finish on a subway is the demo.
02
People tag #match3 when they want brands to find them. A database tells you who exists. Your customer lives in a feed you never opened. A cartoon trailer with no board.
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 downloads. Ask them to finish a board on a commute.
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 board, not a cartoon 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.
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.
Family reviewers quote kids-app rates you cannot use. 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 family-app reviewers and launch recappers. I read the session the person who would actually play the first session actually gets served. Product page for the general job: campaigns.