Launch an influencer campaign for silk pillowcases
I scroll Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube under a fresh account if I’m marketing a silk pillowcase. I try to put myself in this person’s shoes: US English, 22-36, already bounced off a 'silk' polyester case and a cotton case that wrecked a blowout, watches 'this is polyester' and morning-frizz videos in a rumpled bed, no medical claims. 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. The listing said silk and my blowout still died, and the fabric pills. They already tried a polyester 'silk', cotton that wrecked a blowout, and a cheap Amazon pair. Skip the 1M hair-guru whose pillowcase is a 12-product morning stack. Adjacent is morning frizz, fake-silk, not derm claims. 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 rubbing a 'silk' case that pills like polyester. Signal: the same morning-frizz face two wakeups.
03
I prefer email. The contact is usually in a small morning-hair bio, not a 12-product storefront. Just send a short note. Name a real video. Ask for the phone number. Don’t start the deal over email. Hair gurus quote stack 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 a slept-in pillow. Sleep on it, show the fiber, drop the code. No outcomes.
Why most first silk pillowcases campaigns stall
01
Hair gurus quote stack rates. You needed a lot of other names so you could move on. Fake-silk rants already have the audience; a live mulberry case in standard is the demo. No hair-growth claims.
02
People tag #silkpillowcase when they want brands to find them. A database tells you who exists. Your customer lives in a feed you never opened. A styled unslept bed.
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 claim it grew hair or cured skin. Ask them to sleep on it and show the fabric.
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 mulberry case in stock, fiber named on the page.
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 size/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.
Hair gurus quote stack 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 hair-guru stacks. I read the session the person who would buy this SKU actually gets served. Product page for the general job: campaigns.