Influencer marketing tactics

When a creator says they can 'easily get a million views', agree and add a minimum view clause a couple hundred thousand below that (e.g. 800K, or 700K after checking their page), framed as 'just for our safety' and 'so it's not stressful for you'. Payment is tied to hitting the floor each month. Check their actual numbers first so the floor is realistic and hit every month.

Started with ~5 marketing assistants, grew to ~25, each pushed to contact 100 influencers a day (~2,000/day; real output 40-70 on bad days). Assistants hired through an outside staffing company. Outreach is by email, not DMs (DMs are rate-limited and work mainly with a big personal brand). Creators in the US, UK, France, Germany, Spain; not picky as long as the creator could fit the app into their video at a decent CPM. Assistants send a Calendly link for a manager call; managers close. Signing goals of 50+, later 100 creators a month. Funnel: ~10% reply, a few book a call, ~1 in 1,000 signs. Outreach tracked in an internal system.

Trial month: 1 feed video + 1 story per week (4 videos, 4 stories) plus tracked link in bio for the whole month, including TikTok stories. Price on average views/engagement, not followers: ~5,000 views/video -> ~$200 for the month; bigger creators up to $4,000/month. After the month, raise/keep/lower pay based on the creator's tracked signups; strong performers go straight to a 3-month deal.

Search Instagram/TikTok for niche terms (gym, self-improvement, day in the life), open each creator profile, paste the template DM, send, repeat. Each account hits a rate limit around 100 DMs/day, so run multiple sender accounts; buy 1,000+ followers for each and get it verified so it looks legitimate. Team sent 500+ DMs/day at peak; 5,000-10,000+ creators contacted in total.

Message opens with 'Paid promo?' so it stands out among hundreds of DMs, then: 'Hey, I'm the founder of Locked. We're looking to partner with a select group of day in the life or self-improvement creators. Would you be down to hop on a call and discuss a deal?' When creators suggest DMs, push for a call; almost never negotiate over DMs.

Pay e.g. $1,000 per post with a 500,000-view minimum; size the clause at a $1-2 CPM (an $800 deal -> 400K-800K views). If the first video falls short, the creator keeps posting until videos collectively reach the benchmark. Alternative offered: stop early and be paid pro rata (e.g. $400 for a 400K clause, 50K views -> $50). Anchoring on the full amount motivates creators.

Compute RPM (revenue per 1,000 views) from past videos: ~$3-4 for Locked (~10% download-to-sub, $30/yr or $7/wk). Offer CPM deals of $1-2 per 1,000 views, always with a payout cap (e.g. $500) set upfront, so paid CPM stays under RPM.

Because Instagram can't carry a trackable link, the founder (or a personal account) comments something like 'I need this. What's the app called?'; the creator replies with the app name and pins the comment so curious viewers see it at the top of the comments.

Measured revenue per 1,000 views of influencer content (RPM ~$2-3) and only closed creators at a lower CPM, typically $1-1.50. Example: Jeremiah Jones, whose motivational content about 'staying locked in' matched the app, was paid ~$800 with a 600,000-minimum-view clause; if views fall short he posts more videos until he hits it. The app appears within the first 15 seconds. If a deal converts, move the creator to a bigger deal. Influencers were the only growth channel; no paid ads.

Four deal types: (1) Flat rate, e.g. $500 for one reel or $1,200 for four; only for creators who consistently get enough views to hit your target CPM. (2) CPM deal: $1-2 per 1,000 views, always with a cap (e.g. $500 even if the video gets 10M views). (3) Minimum-view-clause deal: e.g. $500 for 500,000 views; creator posts more videos until reached. This is the one he almost always uses. (4) Bonus deal: $500 per video plus another $500 if it hits 1M views.

Casper's videos are short scripted skits ('Bro, is it true I can make $1,000 from your lawsuit?'), then a walkthrough: find the Temu lawsuit in the app, tap claim, see the deadline and proof needed, fill in a simple form, get paid when the settlement ends. They close with 'Just comment claim and I'll send you the app'. ManyChat automatically DMs the link to everyone who comments, alongside the link in bio. It works even though the app is named and shown in the video, because viewers want the exact link.

Starting out: DM 100 people a day; the first words of the DM are 'Paid promo?' or 'Paid promo for your company' so busy influencers don't skip it. When a creator replies, text your phone number and say 'let's hop on a call soon'; negotiate on the phone, not in DMs. If they try to hard-close over text ('I'm busy, what's your offer?'), say to call when free: you're the one paying. His playbook also says to boost a personal Instagram account with bought followers and paid verification for credibility at first, then switch to the business account after a few deals, and to hire an overseas VA for mass DMs at the start. Now that the brand is known in wrestling, he DMs from the business account himself: scrolls a wrestling-tuned For You page for 20 minutes a day, messages as many as possible, and calls them all the next day to close.