Launch an influencer campaign for screen time apps

How I launch a screen time app influencer campaign

I scroll Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube under a fresh account if I’m marketing a screen time app. I try to put myself in this person’s shoes: US English, 21-33, already bounced off Apple Screen Time passcodes they know by heart and a brick-phone weekend, watches 'I picked up my phone 180 times' and doomscroll-shame 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 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 screen time apps.

Creator marketplacesA catalog of people who signed up to get deals. The catalog mixes parental-control vendors with detox coaches; neither is your 28-year-old who knows their own passcode. Fine if you need a body. Not who is watching pickups recap, 'I know my own Screen Time passcode', brick-phone experiments, bedtime doomscroll this week.
Influencer databasesWho exists, with filters and emails. Useful later. It still does not tell you who TikTok is pushing to someone watching pickups recap, 'I know my own Screen Time passcode', brick-phone experiments, bedtime doomscroll 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 screen time app 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. If you scroll as a parent of a toddler, you will get family-control ads, not adult shame. 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 set the limit, I type the passcode I chose, and then it is 1am. They already tried Apple Screen Time they bypassed, a brick phone for one weekend, and grayscale that they switched back at lunch. Skip the digital-detox retreat seller whose own grid is six posts a day. Adjacent is sleep shame, attention residue, not parenting-control apps for toddlers. 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 entering their own Screen Time passcode in under two seconds. Signal: the same 180-pickups face two weeknights in a row.

Email, then call

I prefer email. The contact is usually in a bio next to a digital-detox PDF; say you are buying a blocker demo. Just send a short note. Name a real video. Ask for the phone number. Don’t start the deal over email. Detox coaches quote retreat prices for a talking head in a field. 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 blocker they can turn on tonight, not a waitlist for a physical brick. Turn the lock on, try to cheat, fail. That is the video.

Why most first screen time apps campaigns stall

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

You pick one expensive creator.

Detox coaches quote retreat prices for a talking head in a field. You needed a lot of other names so you could move on. The people who film the 180-pickups recap already have the audience; a blocker they cannot instantly undo is the next sentence.

The list came from a hashtag or a database.

People tag #screentime when they want brands to find them. A database tells you who exists. Your customer lives in a feed you never opened. A cinematic 'I quit my phone' vlog with a new iPhone in the next frame.

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 throw their phone in a river. Ask them to fail at bypassing your lock on camera.

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 a lock they cannot immediately undo.

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 #screentime?

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?

Detox coaches quote retreat prices for a talking head in a field. 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 screen time apps?

No. It is a different job. The catalog mixes parental-control vendors with detox coaches; neither is your 28-year-old who knows their own passcode. 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