Launch an influencer campaign for phone cases
I scroll Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube under a fresh account if I’m marketing a phone case. I try to put myself in this person’s shoes: US English, 18-32, already bounced off a case that yellowed and a cheap one that cracked on a drop, watches 'this case yellowed in a month' and drop-test videos on a sidewalk. 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 buy this SKU 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. It was clear in the listing and it is yellow in my pocket, and the buttons miss. They already tried a case that yellowed, a cheap one that cracked, and an official case they would not pay for. Skip the 1M case-haul who films 20 colors and never drops one. Adjacent is sidewalk drop, yellowing, not fashion-case hauls. 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 yellowed clear case next to a new phone. Signal: the same yellowed-clear face two sidewalk videos.
03
I prefer email. The contact is usually in a small everyday-phone bio. Just send a short note. Name a real video. Ask for the phone number. Don’t start the deal over email. Case-haul accounts quote fashion 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. The case on the current phone, a real drop onto a sidewalk they accept. Case on the current phone, MagSafe wallet test, pocket-height drop, drop the code.
Why most first phone cases campaigns stall
01
Case-haul accounts quote fashion rates. You needed a lot of other names so you could move on. Yellowing rants already have the audience; a live MagSafe case for the current model is the demo.
02
People tag #phonecase when they want brands to find them. A database tells you who exists. Your customer lives in a feed you never opened. A 20-color dump that never drops.
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 20 colors. Ask them to put it on the current phone and drop it from pocket height.
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 case for the current iPhone, MagSafe named, in stock.
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 Shop or site codes on a live model/color.
Questions
You can learn vocabulary that way. People tag what they want brands to find. I still scroll as the person who would buy this SKU 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.
Case-haul accounts quote fashion 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 20-color hauls. I read the session the person who would buy this SKU actually gets served. Product page for the general job: campaigns.