Launch an influencer campaign for vinyl collection apps
I scroll Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube under a fresh account if I’m marketing a vinyl collection app. I try to put myself in this person’s shoes: US English, 24-40, already bounced off Discogs they find hostile on a phone and a spreadsheet of pressings, watches 'Discogs on a phone is a fight' and crate-dig videos in a shop aisle. 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 bought a duplicate because the app I have is a desktop website in my hand. They already tried Discogs on a phone they hate, a spreadsheet of pressings, and photos of spines they cannot search. Skip the 500k vinyl-influencer whose grid is a $200 grail flex. Adjacent is shop aisles, duplicate buys, not grail flex. 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 buying a duplicate because Discogs would not load in the aisle. Signal: the same aisle-duplicate face two shop days.
03
I prefer email. The contact is usually in a small crate-dig bio. Just send a short note. Name a real video. Ask for the phone number. Don’t start the deal over email. Vinyl influencers quote grail 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. Add one record they can scan in an aisle. Open the shelf in an aisle, avoid a duplicate, drop the code.
Why most first vinyl collection apps campaigns stall
01
Vinyl influencers quote grail rates. You needed a lot of other names so you could move on. Discogs-on-phone rants already have the audience; a shelf log they can open in an aisle is the product.
02
People tag #vinyl when they want brands to find them. A database tells you who exists. Your customer lives in a feed you never opened. A grail flex with no shelf log.
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 a grail unboxing. Ask them to check a shelf in an aisle.
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 whose first screenshot is a shelf, not a marketplace.
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.
Vinyl influencers quote grail 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 grail-flex talent and shop affiliates. I read the session the person who would download this actually gets served. Product page for the general job: campaigns.