Free email course · 7 days
Your First Influencer Campaign on a $500 Budget
A 7-day plan to find, vet, brief, and pay micro-influencers who actually drive customers
What you'll learn
- Day 1: Why $500 spent on 5 micro-influencers beats $5,000 spent on one big one
- Day 2: Finding 30 local micro-influencers in 60 minutes
- Day 3: Vetting: the 6-point score that filters fakes
- Day 4: The DM script that gets 60% response from micro-influencers
- Day 5: The one-page brief that gets you on-brand content
- Day 6: Tracking ROI: discount codes, UTMs, and the metrics that matter
- Day 7: After campaign 1: scaling, iterating, and what to do with $1,500
Who this is for
small business owners who want to run a complete influencer campaign with 5-8 local micro-influencers on a $500 budget, generating 50k+ impressions and 20-50 trackable in-store visits or online orders.
The capstone
Have 5-8 influencer collaborations agreed to, briefed, and scheduled to publish within the next 30 days, with tracking links live and a measurement dashboard in place.
Day-by-day schedule
- Day 1
Why $500 spent on 5 micro-influencers beats $5,000 spent on one big one
Action: Define your target customer in one sentence. Pick the social platform where they spend the most time.
- Day 2
Finding 30 local micro-influencers in 60 minutes
Action: Build your prospect list. 30 creators, sorted by audience fit. Use the spreadsheet template below.
- Day 3
Vetting: the 6-point score that filters fakes
Action: Score each of your 15-20 prospects on the 6-point rubric. Pick your top 8 and prepare to DM tomorrow.
- Day 4
The DM script that gets 60% response from micro-influencers
Action: Send 8 DMs today using the script below. Track which respond, which don't, and which counter.
- Day 5
The one-page brief that gets you on-brand content
Action: Adapt the brief template below to your business. Send it to every creator who agreed yesterday.
- Day 6
Tracking ROI: discount codes, UTMs, and the metrics that matter
Action: Set up unique discount codes for each creator. Configure UTM tracking. Build your dashboard.
- Day 7
After campaign 1: scaling, iterating, and what to do with $1,500
Action: Run your post-mortem. Identify your top 2 creators. Plan campaign 2 for 60 days from now with a $1,500 budget.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the Your First Influencer Campaign on a $500 Budget course really free?
- Yes. The full course — every lesson, every template, every script — is delivered free to your inbox. There is no payment step, ever. We hope you eventually try Social Perks, but the course is the course either way.
- How long does each lesson take to read?
- Each of the 7 lessons is a 5-8 minute read. You get one lesson per day, so the whole course takes about 30-50 minutes spread across 7 days.
- What if I miss a day?
- Nothing bad happens. The lessons live in your inbox and are also published on this site under each course page. You can catch up in your own time.
- Will you spam me with marketing emails afterward?
- No. After the course ends, you get one optional email from us inviting you to try Social Perks. After that, you only hear from us if you opt into our weekly newsletter. One-click unsubscribe is in every email.
- Who is this course for?
- This course is written for small business owners. If you operate a different type of business, the principles still apply, but the examples may not be a perfect match.
Not into emails? Skip the course.
You can read every lesson on this site — no email required. Or skip ahead and try Social Perks free for 14 days. It runs the playbook in this course on autopilot.