Launch an influencer campaign for sober-curious apps
I scroll Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube under a fresh account if I’m marketing a sober-curious app. I try to put myself in this person’s shoes: US English, 26-38, already bounced off I Am Sober streaks and a Dry January badge they hid, watches 'I am not an alcoholic I just hate Sunday' and mocktails-that-still-feel-sad videos after a wedding RSVP. 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.
Where people actually look
How I actually launch
01
Not a demographic. I missed one Saturday and the app treated me like I fell off a cliff. They already tried I Am Sober they felt watched by, Dry January they broke on the 12th, and a group chat that still sends bar photos. Skip the recovery-coach selling a $2k container whose content is medical-adjacent lectures. Adjacent is Sunday dread, wedding RSVPs, not clinic ads and not drinking-game content. 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 declining a drink, opening a streak app that scolded them for last Saturday, and closing it. Signal: the same Sunday-dread face two weekends in a row.
03
I prefer email. The contact is usually in a bio under a Sobriety workbook; say this is an app counter post, not a course. Just send a short note. Name a real video. Ask for the phone number. Don’t start the deal over email. Container coaches quote program prices; NA brands want product seeding, not an app. 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 working counter they can start without a community feed of strangers. Open the counter, plan Saturday, no lecture if they skip.
Why most first sober-curious apps campaigns stall
01
Container coaches quote program prices; NA brands want product seeding, not an app. You needed a lot of other names so you could move on. Sunday-dread videos already have the audience; a counter that does not lecture a slip is the tone they will actually keep open.
02
People tag #sobercurious when they want brands to find them. A database tells you who exists. Your customer lives in a feed you never opened. A pretty mocktail with no day counter.
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 diagnose anyone or say the app cured them. Ask them to log a Saturday plan.
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 that is a day counter or a plan, not a treatment center.
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 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.
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.
Container coaches quote program prices; NA brands want product seeding, not an app. 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 mixes NA brands wanting gifting with coaches selling containers. I read the session the person who would download this actually gets served. Product page for the general job: campaigns.