Launch an influencer campaign for whiskey journal apps
I scroll Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube under a fresh account if I’m marketing a whiskey journal app. I try to put myself in this person’s shoes: US English, 28-48, already bounced off a paper journal they spilled on and a Reddit tasting note they cannot find, watches 'I cannot remember this bottle' and Friday-pour videos at a kitchen table, 21+. 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 this last year and I am guessing whether I liked the peat. They already tried a paper journal they spilled on, a Reddit note they cannot find, and a spreadsheet of bottles. Skip the 400k whiskey-influencer whose whole grid is allocated-bottle flex. Adjacent is Friday kitchen pours, forgotten bottles, not allocated 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 pouring a bottle they bought last year and guessing the tasting note. Signal: the same Friday-pour face two weeks.
03
I prefer email. The contact is usually in a small kitchen-pour bio, adult. Just send a short note. Name a real video. Ask for the phone number. Don’t start the deal over email. Whiskey influencers quote allocated-bottle 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. Log a pour at a kitchen table, no bar-crawl. Pour, write the note, drop the code. 21+ only.
Why most first whiskey journal apps campaigns stall
01
Whiskey influencers quote allocated-bottle rates. You needed a lot of other names so you could move on. Forgotten-bottle rants already have the audience; a note they can write during a Friday pour is the product. 21+ only.
02
People tag #whiskey when they want brands to find them. A database tells you who exists. Your customer lives in a feed you never opened. An allocated-bottle flex with no note.
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 bar crawl or a drunk video. Ask them to log one pour.
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 tasting note, not a shop.
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, 21+ audience.
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.
Whiskey influencers quote allocated-bottle 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 allocated-bottle flex and bar-crawl talent. I read the session the person who would download this actually gets served. Product page for the general job: campaigns.