What to decide before you book anyone
Three decisions set everything else. Get them wrong and the schedule will not save you.
First, the total budget and the reserve. Hold back 20% to 25% of the budget for the two weeks after launch. You will want it, because that is when questions get asked and when the accounts that posted for you go quiet. Teams that spend 100% before listing have nothing to answer with.
Second, the one message. Every KOL will write in their own voice, which is what you are paying for, but they all need to repeat one factual claim. Not three claims. One, and it should be specific enough to check, such as the number of users on testnet or the name of the exchange listing you on day one.
Third, whether you are asking for contract addresses. Posting a contract address raises the rate by 30% to 100% and raises the legal exposure for both sides. Decide this before outreach, because it changes which accounts will even reply.
The tier mix
Spread the budget across tiers instead of buying one famous account. A single tier one post produces a spike in impressions and very few buyers. Fifteen mid-tier accounts posting across three days produces the thing you actually want, which is a token that keeps appearing in a trader's feed from different people.
| Tier | Audience size | How many to book | Share of budget | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 500,000 and above | 1 to 2 | 30% to 40% | Credibility and the screenshot everyone else quotes |
| Tier 2 | 100,000 to 500,000 | 4 to 6 | 25% to 30% | Reach into serious trading audiences |
| Tier 3 | 20,000 to 100,000 | 10 to 15 | 20% to 25% | Most of the real clicks and buys |
| Tier 4 | Under 20,000, niche | 15 to 30 | 10% to 15% | Volume of mentions, ecosystem and regional coverage |
Model your own numbers with the KOL budget planner, and price each tier using crypto KOL rates. If your budget is under $15,000, drop tier 1 entirely and put everything into tiers 2, 3 and 4. One tier one post you cannot afford to support is wasted money.
T-6 to T-5 weeks: build the list and vet it
Build a longlist of 60 to 120 accounts covering every language and region you care about. Vet all of them using the method in how to vet crypto KOLs and expect to cut about half. Start outreach to tier 1 and tier 2 first, because their calendars fill four to six weeks out and the good ones are often booked.
At the same time, set up measurement. Give every KOL a unique tracked link, and if you have a referral or points system, a unique code. Without this you will be reporting impressions in three weeks, which tells you nothing.
T-4 weeks: contracts and content
Sign contracts this week. Cover the deliverable, the exact date and time window, the disclosure wording, how long the post must stay up, revision rights, and the refund if they miss the slot. The details are in KOL contract terms. Pay half on signing and half on delivery.
Send the brief and the asset pack: logo files, three approved screenshots, the one message, the tracked link, the ticker if there is one, and a list of claims they must not make. Ask for drafts by T-2 weeks. YouTube needs the most time, so brief video creators first.
T-3 to T-2 weeks: warm-up content
This is where you buy credibility rather than attention. Book a handful of accounts to post about the problem your project solves, the testnet numbers, or the funding round, without a ticker and without a launch date. Two or three tier 2 posts and five or six tier 3 posts are enough.
The point is that when the launch posts arrive, your name is not brand new. A trader who has seen a project mentioned twice before is a completely different reader from one seeing it for the first time. Also review every draft this week and send corrections. Check facts and disclosure, do not rewrite their voice, because rewritten posts read as corporate and perform worse.
T-1 week: the staggered schedule
Build a spreadsheet with every post, the account, the exact hour, and the time zone. Then stagger it. Never let more than two or three posts land in the same hour. A wall of simultaneous posts is obvious, and X will suppress it.
| Day | What goes out |
|---|---|
| T-7 to T-5 | Tier 3 and tier 4 posts announcing the date, spread across Asia, Europe and US hours |
| T-4 to T-3 | First tier 2 threads with detail on the mechanism, one or two per day |
| T-2 | A hosted Space with the founder and three or four co-hosts, promoted by everyone booked |
| T-1 | Quiet day. One or two reminder posts only. Do not burn inventory the day before. |
Run the Space at T-2 rather than on launch day. On launch day nobody listens for 45 minutes, they are watching a chart. Details on format and hosting are in Twitter Spaces and AMAs.
Listing day
Order matters more than volume. Run it in three waves.
- At the listing, plus 0 to 60 minutes. Two or three tier 3 accounts confirm the token is live with the correct contract address. Small accounts first, on purpose, so that the address is already public and verifiable before the large posts arrive.
- Plus 1 to 4 hours. Tier 1 and the tier 2 threads go out, spaced 20 to 30 minutes apart. This is the peak.
- Plus 6 to 12 hours. The regional accounts post into Asian morning hours, so the token is still appearing in feeds while Europe and the US are asleep.
Keep someone watching for fake contract addresses all day. Every launch with real volume gets impersonated within minutes, and the KOLs who posted for you are the accounts scammers reply to. Have the correct address pinned everywhere and tell every booked KOL where to find it.
T+1 and T+2 weeks: the part everyone skips
This is what the 20% to 25% reserve is for. The price will come off its first-day high, and the same audience that saw the launch posts will now decide whether the project is real or was a two-day trade.
In week one after launch, book follow-up posts from accounts that already posted, covering something that has happened since: volume, holder count, an integration, a listing. Follow-ups are usually 50% to 70% of the original rate because the work is smaller.
In week two, run a second Space or an AMA with actual questions, including hostile ones, and book two or three accounts to post a review rather than an announcement. A post from someone who is still holding two weeks later is worth more than anything you bought on day one, and it is the cheapest thing on this whole schedule.
Common mistakes
- Spending the whole budget in one day. The chart shows a spike and nothing else, and you have no money to respond with.
- Booking one famous account and nothing else. High impressions, almost no buyers.
- Letting 20 posts land in the same hour. It looks coordinated because it is.
- Skipping vetting because the launch date is close. This is how you pay $8,000 to an account whose audience is bots.
- Rewriting every draft into marketing language. You paid for their voice, so let them use it.
- No tracked links, so the report is a list of impressions and you cannot tell which accounts were worth rebooking. Fix that with measuring KOL ROI.
If you want this run for you rather than in-house, that is what our KOL marketing service does.
Questions
When should KOL marketing start before a token launch?
Six weeks before the token generation event. Tier 1 and tier 2 accounts book four to six weeks out, and vetting a longlist of 60 to 120 accounts takes about two days of work on its own.
How much of the budget should be saved for after launch?
Between 20% and 25%. The two weeks after listing are when the price comes off its high and people decide whether the project is real, and follow-up posts cost only 50% to 70% of the original rate.
How many KOLs should a token launch book?
A normal launch books 1 to 2 tier one accounts, 4 to 6 in the 100,000 to 500,000 range, 10 to 15 mid accounts and 15 to 30 small niche accounts. Under a $15,000 budget, skip tier one completely.
Should posts all go out at the same time?
No. Keep it to two or three posts per hour and run listing day in three waves: small accounts confirming the contract address first, then tier one and the threads, then regional accounts into Asian morning hours.
When is the best time to run a Space around a launch?
Two days before listing, not on launch day. On launch day people are watching the chart rather than listening for 45 minutes. Run a second Space in the week after launch for questions.
What is the most common token launch KOL mistake?
Spending the entire budget in the 24 hours around listing. It produces one spike, no follow-through, and no money left to answer questions when the price falls.
