A modern report on the latest trends in online commerce states that 49% of consumers say they would be more likely to buy a product after seeing it promoted by an influencer. This highlights the significant power influencers hold, which brands can leverage through influencer marketing.
There are several ways brands can partner with influencers to promote their products, but one of the most increasingly popular strategies in recent years is product seeding. This offers brands the possibility to get authentic and genuine reviews, which typically lead to higher engagement and, ultimately, potential sales.
Overall, Product Gifting or Seeding helps increase awareness through social media exposure and can potentially drive conversions in a cost-effective way. It’s one of the easiest and most affordable digital marketing techniques, allowing brands to engage with influencers and their audiences while receiving authentic reviews of their products.
Product seeding, or gifting, involves sending free products to content creators, influencers, or affiliates in the hopes of receiving promotional content in return—such as an unboxing, review, or other type of post.
Some brands may clarify their expectations before sending a product, explaining that in exchange for the product, they would like to receive a social media post featuring it. Others, however, send the product with no posting guarantee, hoping that if the influencer genuinely likes it, they will naturally share content about it. Ultimately, this strategy is a decision for the brand to make, depending on whether they want to completely ensure a post in exchange for sending the product.
Product seeding tends to feel as a more authentic approach, making it more credible and relatable to their audience, which is key for success as 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
Brands can leverage product seeding in several ways. Let’s dive into the main benefits of this increasingly popular influencer marketing strategy!
Sending a gift to an influencer can serve as the first point of contact and open the door to a potentially long-term relationship. If influencers genuinely like the product, they are more likely to engage with your brand and create content on a more regular basis.
This ensures that the connection remains authentic, which brings added value to the brand. Working with influencers who truly love your brand will shine through in their content, leading to better results and higher engagement with their audience.
For example, a brand offering fitness clothing (such as bras and leggings) could identify a creator who regularly posts about their fitness routine, featuring different outfits in a genuine way and just tagging the brand. Sending them some clothes to try out could encourage them to post about their experience or feature them in any content if they genuinely like the products.
Gifting should be the first step in your influencer program, as it’s a low-cost entry point. The only expenses involved are the product and shipping, making it one of the most affordable strategies within influencer marketing.
By keeping your costs low, you can test the waters with an influencer and assess their alignment with your brand. After seeing an initial post, you can evaluate the type of content they create and the engagement they drive. Based on their performance, you can then consider making them a more substantial offer—such as a paid partnership, an affiliate structure, an invitation to your brand ambassador program, or additional products—ensuring the offer is fair for both parties.
Many brands also combine gifting campaigns with affiliate commissions, offering influencers a commission percentage on sales made through a custom affiliate link. This incentive encourages even more influencers to post about the brand. According to the Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report of 2024, 72% of influencers say they are more likely to post about a brand if there is a financial incentive, such as affiliate commissions.
Gifting is a great opportunity to keep influencers you've already worked with engaged and potentially secure more content from them. By sending them your latest product launch or new items, you increase the chances that they’ll feature them more frequently. Since they’ve already posted about your brand, this will appear more genuine to their audience, which is often valued more than sponsored posts.
Influencers also feel appreciated and more committed to the brand when they continue to receive gifts over the long term. This is why approximately 51% of marketers find product seeding particularly effective for building long-term brand loyalty.
In gifting campaigns, influencers may not be obliged to post about the product. In some cases, the brand simply chooses to send the product without a posting guarantee. If the influencer decides to share content, it will appear more authentic, and the audience will perceive it as a genuine recommendation.
Honest feedback can be valuable for brands, providing opportunities for improvement, while also generating organic reviews on social media at a very effective cost.
Product seeding is one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies to achieve a positive ROI. Your primary costs will be the product itself and shipping. Additionally, if you choose to offer influencers a commission based on the sales they generate, this can serve as a great incentive for them to post, which would add influencer payouts to your costs.
The overall effectiveness depends on the cost of your product. However, if your profit margin is high, achieving a positive ROI is quite feasible. For example, if your product’s retail price is $25, your profit is around $15, and shipping costs are $4, the total cost of a gifted product would be around $19. If the influencer posts and drives just two referrals, you'd already start earning back your investment.
Beyond potential sales, product seeding also helps with top-of-funnel objectives, such as brand awareness and brand reputation. Consistent visibility on social media is key to creating long-term retention and building trust with potential customers over time.
One downside of product seeding is that you can’t always guarantee that an influencer will post about the product. Some brands may see this as a waste of time and resources if an influencer receives the product but doesn't share it with their audience. Therefore, while product seeding can be effective, it doesn’t always guarantee a positive ROI directly.
However, there are strategies to minimize the risk of influencers not posting. One method that Influencer Hero excels at is combining product gifting with affiliate structures. Based on our experience, offering influencers a gifted product plus an affiliate commission (such as 10% to 20%) on sales generated through their content, potentially combined with a discount code for their followers, increases the likelihood of them posting.
Even though we don’t use formal contracts for these campaigns, we ensure influencers understand that the expectation is for them to post (even though it’s just a story!) in exchange for the gifted product. Before sending anything, we clearly communicate this expectation. We also use proven negotiation techniques and A/B tested templates to increase our success rate. In fact, we manage to convert around 30% of influencers who initially reject gifting into accepting the collaboration.
One strategy we use is explaining that we are looking for long-term relationships and that this initial post is a trial to assess alignment with the brand. We explain that based on the results of this first collaboration, we are open to discussing further compensation packages.
One challenge with product seeding is the potential negative perception around its ethicality. Some influencers or consumers may view it, especially when combined with affiliate commissions, as inauthentic or manipulative. If influencers are posting content simply for free products or commissions, rather than because they genuinely love the product, their followers might find this less trustworthy.
Additionally, some larger influencers feel it’s unethical when brands say they are not expecting a post in exchange for the product- which they don’t truly believe-, yet they feel pressured to post anyway. These influencers argue that brands can leverage the psychological effect to manipulate them into providing free content. On the other hand, some influencers enjoy this type of campaign and believe it’s up to them to decide whether or not to accept the terms.
To counter this, it's important to be transparent about the collaboration. Influencers should be clear with their audience about the nature of the partnership, whether it's a gifted product, an affiliate arrangement, or both. Additionally, working with influencers who genuinely believe in your brand can help mitigate ethical concerns, as their authenticity will shine through in their content.
The smaller the influencer’s account, the more likely you’ll be able to onboard them for a gifting or affiliate campaign. Influencers with fewer followers, such as nano-influencers (1k-10k) and micro-influencers (10k-100k), are generally more open to gifting campaigns. These influencers tend to have more loyal and engaged audiences, which makes them more likely to see better results from affiliate partnerships and earn more commissions. That’s why they’re often more receptive to this type of collaboration.
On the other hand, macro-influencers with over 100k followers are more likely to demand fixed payments and may not accept gifted products or affiliate structures. However, there are always exceptions.
At Influencer Hero, we’ve managed over 20,000 influencer relationships and successfully onboarded thousands of macro-influencers for these types of campaigns.
For example, @proverbsthirtyonegirl (343K followers) is a home decor-focused influencer who also shares content related to family lifestyle and home finds. She frequently posts affiliate deals with brands in these categories.
If you find an influencer with a large following who aligns well with your brand, don’t hesitate to reach out—there’s nothing to lose. However, when doing large-scale outreach, we suggest focusing on influencers with 1K-500K followers to avoid wasting time with mega-influencers who are likely to reject the offer.
Additionally, don't forget about your loyal customers! If you have customers with a good number of followers—say, over 3K or 5K—they could also serve as influencers for your brand. They’re already engaged with your brand and are more likely to promote it authentically. Offering to send them free products can be a great way to receive high-quality user-generated content (UGC) that you can reuse on your own social media.
The long-term objective of product seeding campaigns should always be to identify high-performing influencers with whom you can build long-term relationships and work on seasonal campaigns such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or Mother’s Day. We all know that not all influencers perform equally—some may drive sales or create high-quality content, while others may not.
This is why product seeding is a great strategy to test influencers through an initial post in a cost-effective way. By gifting products, you can test multiple influencers over time to identify the ones you want to continue working with. To maximize the potential of product seeding, your strategy should be divided into two phases:
This phase involves recurring gifting and affiliate campaigns. It’s important to keep this running consistently to identify new high-performing influencers. Send influencers a product in exchange for a post, allowing you to assess how well they perform and if their content aligns with your expectations.
If you need assistance for this, feel free to explore our Ultimate Influencer Gifting Guide, along with Free Templates for each stage of the collaboration process.
Once you’ve identified high performers, invite them to participate in seasonal campaigns or brand ambassador programs. This fosters long-term relationships, allowing these influencers to continue creating content for your brand, which will ultimately increase your ROI.
For example, a brand selling wellness supplements to support overall health collaborated for six months with over 200 creators through a gifting and affiliate campaign. During the first couple of months, they identified a high-performing influencer who generated over 10 referrals with just one story post, resulting in $800 in sales. Based on her strong performance, they invited her to participate in seasonal campaigns every three months and eventually onboarded her into a brand ambassador program with a 6-month contract.
They decided to send her new products every month in exchange for a post, at a reduced rate of $200 per month. Given her high performance, offering a commission-based model would have been less beneficial for the brand. Over the course of eight months, she generated $22,500 in sales and 300 referrals.
Product seeding may seem simple, but it still requires a lot of work and planning. There are platforms that help streamline this process and scale your campaign by automating outreach, such as Influencer Hero. Whether you are using influencer marketing software or managing the process manually, there are several steps and tips you should follow to successfully implement these campaigns.
Finding influencers that are well-suited to your brand or products is the first and most important step in any influencer marketing collaboration.There are several ways to manually identify influencers aligned with your brand, but influencer marketing platforms with influencer discovery features can make this process much easier. These platforms allow you to search for influencers within specific categories using advanced filters, such as location, audience demographics, engagement rates, keywords, and more.
The key is ensuring that the influencer’s audience aligns with your target audience. It’s vital to check metrics like audience demographics, engagement rates, and credibility. Tools like Influencer Hero’s Free Google Chrome extension make it easy to access these metrics. Additionally, reviewing the influencer's content to ensure it aligns with your brand’s values and messaging is crucial. You can do this by simply scrolling through their feed.Once you’ve identified the influencers you want to approach, crafting an effective outreach message is essential to increase the chances of a positive response.
As we all know, small details make a big first-impression, especially when it comes to influencer product seeding. If possible, include a personalized, hand-written card from the brand or owner in the package. A brief message welcoming them to collaborate and thanking them in advance can go a long way. This personal touch strengthens the relationship from the start, creating a positive impression and increasing the chances that the influencer will post or even put more effort into their content.Additionally, if the packaging is well-designed and the overall presentation is impressive, influencers will likely want to showcase it to their audience. An unboxing experience can generate excitement and engagement, so it’s important to pay attention to packaging. This first impression matters not only to the influencer but also to their followers.
Making the gifting offer as attractive as possible will make the onboarding process smoother, leading to a higher success rate. Try to select one of your best-selling products (rather than the ones which are not selling well!) with a high retail value, ideally above $80 or $100. If influencers are not receiving fixed payments, they will consider the product’s value as part of their compensation.A great approach is to not only offer the product but also provide an affiliate commission along with a discount code for their followers. This combination adds extra value for both the influencer and their audience, potentially increasing sales.For brands offering services, such as a spa clinic providing skincare or beauty treatments, consider offering a high-value treatment or service like facials in exchange for a post about their experience, along with a discount code for their followers to use when booking appointments. This approach can result in high-quality content and drive conversions.
Onboarding influencers for product seeding or affiliate campaigns, especially those with a large following, is not always easy. Their initial response may often be that they require a fixed payment or that they only work on paid collaborations—this is the case with over 60% of the influencers you reach out to. However, don’t give up too easily.Thanks to our negotiation techniques and templates, we’ve successfully onboarded around 30% of influencers who initially request gifting. The key is to explain that this is a first-time collaboration, but if it goes well, you're open to discussing a long-term partnership with additional compensation packages.
Influencers receive countless emails and offers from brands every day, so it’s essential to follow up with them whenever they don’t respond. The ideal time to follow up is 4 to 6 days after your initial email.From our experience, some influencers will respond after the third or fourth follow-up. That’s why we always recommend sending at least four emails to make your initial offer. You can also use follow-ups for negotiation if they respond initially but then stop replying later in the process.Follow-ups are crucial at every stage of the collaboration, not just during outreach. If you’ve sent the product and are waiting for their post, follow up to prompt them. To avoid coming across as too pushy, instead of directly asking when they will be posting, ask if they’ve successfully received the product, approach it by asking if they liked it or if they have any questions you can assist with.Consistent follow-ups can increase response rates by up to 40%.
Tracking the results of your influencer seeding efforts is just as important as any other digital marketing strategy. It’s essential to assess the posting rate and measure key metrics of their posts, such as impressions, engagements, and potential conversions—especially if they’ve included custom links and discount codes.Some influencer management software can automatically track these results, providing insights into performance. These platforms also allow you to collect posts in a content library, enabling you to download high-quality content for reuse on your brand's social media channels.An affiliate system is another great option for tracking results. It enables you to attribute conversions to influencers through unique, trackable links and discount codes.Analyzing results is also crucial for identifying top performers you’d want to continue working with. If an influencer performs well, you can invite them to future campaigns and potentially adjust their compensation based on their previous success.
One of the key objectives of influencer product seeding is to collect high-quality user-generated content (UGC) that you can repurpose for your own marketing efforts, including on your website, paid ads, or organic social media. Be sure to ask the influencer for usage rights or permission to repost their content on your own channels.This type of content tends to perform better on your brand’s social media, as it feels more genuine and relatable. In fact, 70% of consumers say they trust user-generated content more than brand-created content (Stackla Report on User-Generated Content).
You can check in this article more details on how to maximize your influencer gifting strategy with tips and tools for success.
As we’ve discussed, influencer seeding can be challenging to manage. It involves a lot of work—finding the right influencers, crafting an effective outreach strategy, and following up throughout the collaboration to ensure influencers actually post.
Since influencer gifting campaigns typically don’t involve contracts like paid collaborations, non-posting rates can range from 10% to 40%.
However, influencer gifting platforms like Influencer Hero can help streamline the entire process, making it easier to manage through automation, tracking features, influencer discovery tools, integrated affiliate systems, post tracking, and more—all in one place!
These platforms allow you to set up automated email flows, scale your influencer outreach, and save templates and chat prompts, saving you significant time when responding to influencers. They also integrate natively with e-commerce platforms, like Shopify, enabling you to send products directly from your store to influencers and track their performance through custom links and discount codes.
Product seeding offers a powerful, cost-effective strategy for brands looking to increase awareness, build authentic relationships with influencers, and generate high-quality content. While it comes with its challenges—such as the risk of non-posting—careful planning, transparent communication, and effective negotiation can help mitigate these issues and maximize success.
By identifying the right influencers, providing attractive gifting offers, and following up consistently, brands can turn product seeding into a valuable marketing tool. The key is to focus on building long-term relationships with influencers who align with your brand values and audience, and to track performance to ensure you're getting the most out of your efforts.
Ultimately, product seeding is not just about gifting products: it's about creating meaningful partnerships that drive results. Whether you're just getting started or looking to streamline your campaigns, using the right tools and strategies can help you scale and refine your approach, ensuring that every product sent out has the potential to turn into a lasting relationship and a successful campaign.
So, take the time to craft a thoughtful product seeding strategy, and don't hesitate to explore the platforms and tools available to streamline the process. With the right approach, product seeding can be a game-changer for your brand's marketing efforts, and the first step to build a strong and lasting influencer program.
Choosing the right influencers for product seeding involves identifying individuals whose audience aligns with your brand’s target demographic. Start by looking for influencers whose values match your brand's mission and who produce authentic content that resonates with their followers. Use tools like Influencer Hero or other influencer discovery platforms to filter by engagement rates, audience demographics, and content relevance. Nano and micro-influencers (1k to 100k followers) are often more open to gifting campaigns and have highly engaged audiences, making them great initial candidates.
Product seeding and paid influencer marketing each have their strengths, and the best approach depends on your marketing objectives. Product seeding tends to be more cost-effective because it only requires sending out free products, reducing upfront costs. However, the results may not be guaranteed, as there's no obligation for influencers to post. On the other hand, paid influencer marketing offers more control, as you can negotiate content creation and post frequency upfront, ensuring guaranteed results.
For brands just starting out or looking to build authentic relationships with influencers, product seeding can be a great testing ground. If successful, it can lead to paid collaborations in the future.
One of the key risks of product seeding is that influencers may not post about your product, even after receiving it for free. While some influencers will genuinely share their experiences, others might not feel compelled to post unless there's a financial incentive or clearer expectations. To mitigate this, brands can use affiliate commissions or discount codes as added incentives to increase the likelihood of a post. Additionally, it's important to be transparent and communicate expectations clearly upfront to ensure both parties understand the terms.
If non-posting rates are high, influencer marketing platforms can help track and streamline the process to ensure better results, reducing the chances of wasted efforts.
Tracking the effectiveness of product seeding campaigns is crucial for assessing ROI and refining future campaigns. Brands can use affiliate tracking links or discount codes to measure conversions and sales generated by influencer posts. Influencer management platforms like Influencer Hero offer analytics tools to track engagement metrics (such as likes, comments, shares), impressions, and traffic driven to your website. Additionally, tools that collect user-generated content (UGC) help assess the quality and impact of the content influencers create, enabling brands to identify top performers for future collaborations.
One ethical concern surrounding influencer product seeding is the potential perception of inauthenticity. If influencers promote products they don’t genuinely like or use, it may damage their credibility and trust with their audience. To avoid this, brands should prioritize sending products to influencers who align with their values and audience. Transparency is key: influencers should disclose when products are gifted, and if affiliate commissions are involved, they should make it clear to their followers.
Additionally, there’s an ethical concern regarding influencers feeling pressured to post content after receiving free products. Brands should set clear expectations and avoid manipulating influencers into posting without genuine interest in the product. Ethical product seeding focuses on creating long-term, mutually beneficial relationships built on trust and transparency.
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