Unlayer

The people most likely to care about it were React developers—and they are difficult to reach through traditional advertising. Without additional distribution, the launch post would have reached Unlayer’s existing followers and few people beyond them.

The challenge

You only get one launch day

Open-source launches work within a narrow window. There is one day when the repository is new and the demo is fresh. After that, the post sinks and the moment is gone.

Unlayer knew Elements was a strong product. It solved a problem its customers encountered repeatedly: maintaining three separate setups for email, web, and PDF when the underlying content uses the same components.

What the team did not know was whether the right developers would ever hear about it.

“We had built the hard part. What worried me was whether anyone outside our own followers would find out it existed.”

Adeel Raza, CEO and co-founder, Unlayer

Advertising to developers is both difficult and expensive. Unlayer had an established following, but it was not large enough to create the launch moment the team wanted.

What tends to move developers is seeing other developers discuss a tool—and that kind of distribution cannot simply be purchased at the last minute.

Why they skipped the traditional route

Unlayer initially considered hiring an agency.

Agencies wanted between 15% and 30% of the campaign budget as a fee, alongside a monthly retainer and an undisclosed markup on creator rates. For a focused launch budget, those costs would have consumed much of the available spend.

Timing was an even greater constraint. Agencies commonly need four to six weeks to identify creators, create a shortlist, conduct outreach, negotiate rates, and brief everyone.

Elements was shipping in two days.

Handling the process internally was not a practical alternative. It would have required manually searching X, evaluating creator audiences, estimating whether engagement was genuine, and sending cold messages with a low expected response rate.

Neither approach worked with the launch date already fixed.

How Okara helped

Unlayer briefed Okara’s Influencer Agent on July 6 through one conversation.

The objective was straightforward: generate attention for the launch and drive the right audience toward the repository. The target audience consisted of React and full-stack developers on X, particularly creators discussing email tools, AI agents, and developer tooling.

The Influencer Agent:

• Identified creators whose audiences matched the campaign
• Conducted outreach
• Negotiated rates through chat
• Shared a consistent brief, demo video, and repository link
• Tracked creators as their posts went live
• Automatically processed payouts after delivery

The agent returned a matched creator list for Unlayer to review. Approving that list was the only step that required meaningful time from the team.

Thirty-nine creators entered the campaign, and twenty-six delivered posts.

“I never opened my DMs once. We approved the list and then the posts just started showing up.”

Adeel Raza, CEO and co-founder, Unlayer

What it added up to

The Unlayer Elements launch post went live at 6:34 PM on July 8 and passed 171,600 views within 24 hours.

Twenty-six creator posts supported the launch within the same campaign window. Having those posts land close together made the release feel like an event rather than an isolated announcement.

The complete campaign cost $2,000, equivalent to approximately $80 per delivered creator post.

An agency retainer alone would have cost more than the entire campaign—before accounting for management fees or creator-rate markups.

What Unlayer is doing next

“We are running the next one the same way and starting it earlier. Once you know distribution is handled, you plan the launch differently.”

Adeel Raza, CEO and co-founder, Unlayer

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