The client handbook.
What actually happens between "let's do it" and the final payout run — so you know what to expect at every stage. Clippers need none of this: For growers covers your whole path.
1. Scoping
Every engagement starts with three numbers and a date: the budget, the CPM or rate structure, the view target, and when the campaign window opens. We turn those into a field spec — payout model, eligibility rules, required hashtags, content requirements — and send it back for sign-off. Nothing is live until you approve the spec.
The start date matters more than anything else you approve. Payouts come from views earned after the field opens — the baseline reading is taken at or before the start date. Pick the date deliberately; it decides what counts.
2. The crew
- We recruit from our own network first — clippers we have paid before, whose formats we know convert.
- Your creators can be folded in. If you already work with clippers or creators, we invite them into the same field so everyone is measured by the same rules.
- Every clipper connects read-only. Personal invite links, platform-native consent screens, no passwords, nothing installed. The account that connects is verified against the handle we invited.
- Instagram accounts must be Business or Creator — personal accounts cannot connect. That is Meta's restriction, and it is the most common onboarding delay, so we flag it during recruiting.
3. The season
- Readings on a schedule. We refresh statistics on a cadence sized to the campaign — tighter around launch and settlement. Every reading is a dated, append-only snapshot; the day-by-day picture is built from them.
- The fence is watched daily. Spend against budget, burn per day, days of runway, and what the remaining budget buys. If clips are earning past the ceiling, you see the uncapped figure and decide whether a top-up is worth it — the engine never overspends on its own.
- Winning formats get repeated. The clip ledger ranks what is working mid-season, so the crew doubles down on formats that convert instead of finding out at the post-mortem.
- Rule breaches never reach the pool. Missing hashtags, duration violations and follower-gate failures are filtered automatically at every reading.
4. Reporting
You get a report at the cadence agreed in the spec — typically weekly plus a settlement report at close. Every report is built from the same ledger the payout engine uses: total yield, spend against fence, clipper leaderboard, top clips, and any overflow. The settlement report adds the payout run — who is owed what, from which clips, with the numbers behind every line.
5. Settlement
- Counts freeze before reconciliation. The field is paused so figures do not drift while the run is checked.
- The payout run is clip-level. Every line traces to specific posts and specific readings — if a clipper questions a figure, the season can be replayed day by day.
- Money moves on the agreed rail. The engine calculates; settlement happens on whatever payment channel was fixed at kickoff.
Common questions mid-engagement
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| A clip goes viral and would blow the budget | The fence holds. The clip earns up to the remaining pool; the uncapped "would-be" figure appears in your report so you can top up if you want the extra yield paid for. |
| A clipper posts without the campaign hashtag | The clip never qualifies. We chase re-posts where it is worth it; the engine does not pay for unmarked clips. |
| A clipper wants to leave mid-season | They revoke from their own platform settings, effective immediately. Qualifying clips up to that point stay in the ledger. |
| You want to raise the budget mid-season | The fence moves out immediately and previously unpaid overflow becomes payable. It is the single highest-leverage mid-season decision. |
| A platform figure looks wrong | Figures come from official APIs and can lag or be restated. We replay the season from snapshots and show the exact readings behind the number. |
Anything not covered here: Support.