Niche
How to find running apps Instagram creators
I still start with the same avatar. Instagram is a different room than TikTok. Reels, the grid, and the bio email are different. The person is not.
The person: US English, 25-38, already bounced off Strava kudos anxiety and a Garmin they cannot afford to replace, watches ‘I hate Strava now’ and easy-run-is-still-a-run videos after a dark 5pm loop. They watch Strava kudos anxiety, easy-run defense, ‘my watch died at mile 2’, couch-to-5k restarts. They already tried Strava they muted, Nike Run Club they opened twice, and a Garmin whose charger is in another bag. Skip the sub-3 marathoner whose grid is race photos and who will not talk to a 12-minute mile.
Instagram running is race grids and shoe tags; TikTok after 5pm is the easy-run rant. Email the rant.
What I actually do on Instagram
Fresh account. Real phones. I try to put myself in the shoes of the person who would download this. Linger, save, like, comment as if I were them. Once the algorithm is trained I take whoever keeps showing up in Reels and in the feed.
Ideally over 50k average. Below that they quote $700 a post for 1k views. That’s a money sink.
Example I want to see: someone turning off Strava flybys because a neighbor commented on an easy run. Signal: the same easy-run defense face two weeknights in a row.
I prefer email. The contact is usually in a bio next to a training-plan PDF or a shoe storefront; say this is an app post. Just send a short note. Name a real Reel. Ask for the phone number. Don’t start the deal over email. If they won’t, move on.
Reels vs FYP
TikTok’s For You is a night session for Strava kudos anxiety, easy-run defense, ‘my watch died at mile 2’, couch-to-5k restarts. Instagram still has a grid, a bio, and a Shop sticker. Instagram running is race grids and shoe tags; TikTok after 5pm is the easy-run rant. Email the rant.
Do not copy the TikTok outreach into a DM that looks like a bot. The call is still the job. Minimum View Guarantee. Example: $2000 / 4 posts / 1M views. Talent extra.
Like one Boston-qualifier video and the phone will leave the 12-minute-mile people. Doing it by hand is kind of soul-crushing. Scout is $1,500/month.
The TikTok-side essay is How we find creators by scrolling a real TikTok avatar. First person: How I find influencers. Money: jumptrend.co/for/running-apps.
Related: - How I find influencers - How we find creators by scrolling a real TikTok avatar - Campaigns - Brief - Money page for running apps