Launch an influencer campaign for password managers

How I launch a password manager influencer campaign

I scroll Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube under a fresh account if I’m marketing a password manager. I try to put myself in this person’s shoes: US English, 28-45, already bounced off LastPass news and a Notes app of passwords they screenshot, watches 'LastPass scared me' and 'I reset this account for the third time' videos after a lockout. 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.

Start at $1,500/mo Write a free brief

No demo
Real phones
You approve every creator and every rate

Where people actually look

I still start on a fresh account for password managers.

Creator marketplacesA catalog of people who signed up to get deals. The catalog is VPN affiliates and IT consultants; they will not demo a family vault. Fine if you need a body. Not who is watching LastPass scare, lockout recaps, 'I emailed myself a password', family-sharing fights this week.
Influencer databasesWho exists, with filters and emails. Useful later. It still does not tell you who TikTok is pushing to someone watching LastPass scare, lockout recaps, 'I emailed myself a password', family-sharing fights this week.
A UA or influencer agencyA retainer, a deck, a timeline. Makes sense if you have budget for a team. Overkill if you already have a password manager live and you need a first campaign this month.
Doing it yourselfThis is how I used to do it. Fresh account, then email, then a call. It works. Like a homelab rack video and you will leave the lockout-shame people. Doing it by hand is kind of soul-crushing, which is why I automated the scrolling. If you do this right, ie at scale, you will have many other creators to choose from.

How I actually launch

Write who it is for. Then scroll. Then email. Then call.

Write who it is for

Not a demographic. I got locked out and the backup was a screenshot in an album called 'receipts'. They already tried LastPass they no longer trust, iCloud Keychain they do not understand, and a Notes screenshot of logins. Skip the cybersecurity YouTuber whose whole grid is VPN deals. Adjacent is lockout shame, family sharing, not homelab flex. Steal the brief if you want.

Scroll as them

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 locked out of email, scrolling a Notes screenshot that is a year old. Signal: the same lockout recap face after two different site outages.

Email, then call

I prefer email. The contact is usually in a bio full of VPN links; write that this is a password-manager post only. Just send a short note. Name a real video. Ask for the phone number. Don’t start the deal over email. VPN creators quote bundle rates because that is the affiliate. If they won’t give a number, move on.

Minimum View Guarantee

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 vault they can put one login into tonight. Save one login, autofill it, show the family share. Stop.

Why most first password managers campaigns stall

The market is not efficient. Some dumb startup is paying thousands for hundreds of views.

You pick one expensive creator.

VPN creators quote bundle rates because that is the affiliate. You needed a lot of other names so you could move on. Lockout recaps already have the audience; a vault they can actually share with a partner is the next beat.

The list came from a hashtag or a database.

People tag #passwordmanager when they want brands to find them. A database tells you who exists. Your customer lives in a feed you never opened. A 10-minute homelab tour with your name in the description and no install.

You talk money over email.

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 claim they are now 'secure.' Ask them to save one login and autofill it.

What you actually buy

Scout, Outreach, or Dealmaker. Same campaign, more of it done for you.

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 save-a-login, not an enterprise admin console.

Scout

$1,500/month

We find creators.

One avatar
We scroll on real phones
Trending creators in that feed

Start with Scout

Most people start here

Outreach

$2,500/month

We find relevant creators, and do outreach.

Everything in Scout
We do the outreach
Follow-up until they reply

Start outreach

Dealmaker

$5,000/month

Outreach, then negotiation and contracts.

Everything in Outreach
Negotiation and contracts
You approve before anything goes out

Start Dealmaker

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

The things I get asked first.

Can I just search #passwordmanager?

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.

Do you guarantee views or App Store installs with a unique custom code?

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.

What if they quote $700 a post?

VPN creators quote bundle rates because that is the affiliate. 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.

Is a marketplace wrong for password managers?

No. It is a different job. The catalog is VPN affiliates and IT consultants; they will not demo a family vault. I read the session the person who would download this actually gets served. Product page for the general job: campaigns.

Describe the customer. I can start today.

Start at $1,500/mo Or copy the brief I actually use