How to Run a Gifting Campaign

Feeling beneficiant?

Product gifting campaigns are a confirmed option to earn genuine posts from influencers.

The idea is easy sufficient: your model sends merchandise to influencers in trade for content material.

For manufacturers that persistently get merchandise into the arms of influencers, the advantages embrace:

• Worthwhile user-generated content material to advertise in paid adverts, product pages and past
• An introduction to new audiences and potential clients
• Larger visibility in social searches (aka social website positioning)
• Credibility by being featured in influencers’ content material

And the extra creators you could have posting in your behalf, the extra you may scale these outcomes.

That stated, getting influencers to publish about your product received’t occur by chance. If you happen to’re gifting merchandise in-house, the method can take wherever from a couple of weeks to some months.

Having despatched tens of 1000’s of merchandise to influencers, we all know the legwork firsthand. 😉

This publish digs into the way to run an influencer product gifting marketing campaign step-by-step.

6 Steps to a Profitable Influencer Gifting Marketing campaign

Right here’s the deal: influencer gifting (AKA product seeding) is about far more than sending freebies to creators.

If you wish to earn genuine content material that’s value selling, it’s worthwhile to method the method with care. The legwork concerned isn’t any joke, particularly if you would like greater than a handful of posts.

Beneath we spotlight the way to launch an influencer product gifting marketing campaign step-by-step.

1. Outline Your Objectives (What Can Influencer Gifting Do For Your Model?)

Easy sufficient: it’s worthwhile to determine why you wish to run a gifting marketing campaign within the first place.

Objectives matter for all advertising campaigns and gifting promotions are not any exception. With an finish recreation in thoughts, you may tie the influence of gifting to precise enterprise goals. This may embrace:

• Selling a product launch
• Constructing model consciousness
• Sourcing influencer-generated and user-generated content material
• Supporting your social media gross sales technique
• Enhancing your social search presence

Justifying the time dedication concerned with gifting begins by setting particular objectives. Doing so will make your job simpler and spotlight the worth of your campaigns to stakeholders.

Beneath we dive deeper into the pattern objectives for influencer gifting above.

Product Launches

Gifting influencers your newest launch is a first-rate option to introduce your merchandise to the general public.

Ideally, you need to ship out merchandise a couple of weeks previous to your official launch. Then, instruct influencers to not publish about them till the precise launch date. This requires some coordination.

This method provides your influencers sufficient time with the product to offer an trustworthy and significant overview. Further time usually interprets to extra considerate and inventive content material.

Belief us: your influencers will recognize the flexibleness.

Beneath is a publish from a Statusphere creator highlighting how sending influencers merchandise is tremendous efficient for supporting product launches.

Our platform matched Workman Publishing with parenting influencers on TikTok to assist the launch of Be the Dragon previous to the e-book’s official launch. By the point the e-book was stocked in shops, the model already had high-performing throughout TikTok. This one video earned 23,000+ views!

Supply: @sierra_zagarri

Model Consciousness

Keen to construct worth-or-mouth or faucet into a very new market? 

Gifting influencers could make each occur. Given the brand new Instagram algorithm, creator accounts virtually all the time have far more attain than model accounts. The identical goes for TikTok, too.

Beneath is an instance of how creators can earn higher social engagement than manufacturers for a similar piece of branded content material. Notice that the model right here has 25x (!!!) extra followers than the creator on the time of posting. In the meantime, the creator’s publish earned 20x as many feedback because the model. 

   
Supply: @shopcolorfulnatalie / Supply: @maeveecostello

How’s that for consciousness? This speaks to the worth of influencer gifting collaborations at scale. Think about taking the attain and outcomes from this publish and increasing it throughout tons of of influencers.

And whereas this might not be practical in-house, this kind of scale is feasible with the appropriate influencer platform.

Incomes Genuine, Reusable Content material

Expert influencers know the way to create real content material that reveals off your merchandise in one of the best ways potential. Influencer product gifting earns you that content material with out ready for it organically.

Past shout-outs, think about the continuing worth of influencer content material. For instance, you may repurpose influencer posts for:

• Advertising and marketing emails
• Product pages
• Touchdown pages
• Social media adverts
• Natural social media posts

Professional-tip: Be sure you work out a copyright settlement to keep away from any points when reusing influencer content material. Try our publish on repurposing user-generated content material in case you haven’t already! On that be aware, manufacturers that earn content material utilizing Statusphere have rights administration constructed immediately in.

Enhance Gross sales

Truth: 88% of customers belief suggestions from individuals over manufacturers.

And so a optimistic overview from an influencer can translate to consciousness and gross sales.

Your hottest merchandise are a secure wager when it comes to what you need to ship creators. Some manufacturers additionally use influencer gifting as a option to get extra publicity to their hidden gems.

Granted the product is related to your viewers and represents a robust worth trade, each approaches are truthful recreation.

Oh, and be aware that product gifting may also assist your in-store retail efforts.

On this gifting marketing campaign, Andalou Naturals was trying to promote their retail partnership with Complete Meals. The model despatched product bundles to Instagram magnificence influencers who geo-tagged Complete Meals of their posts. Their captions served as a name to motion to buy merchandise in-store.

Supply: @kissmyash_

See how that works?

That stated, convincing a creator to undergo the method of selecting up a product is a large ask for a gifting marketing campaign. This highlights one of many limits of operating gifting campaigns completely in-house. 

If retail assist is your purpose, think about how Statusphere’s platform may help. Our software program programmatically matches manufacturers with creators from our group of vetted influencers. Consequently, our creators perceive and conform to the steps concerned with selling the merchandise they’re paired with. This consists of in-store promotions.

2. Choose the Excellent Merchandise to Ship to Your Influencers

Product selection will be make-or-break for gifting campaigns.

You need to ship merchandise to influencers that they’re going to legitimately love and wish to promote. 

This appears apparent, proper? However gifted merchandise particularly must make an influence on influencers since there’s technically no obligation for creators to publish.

Spoiler alert: irrelevant merchandise get ignored on a regular basis. Influencers have the appropriate to be choosy for the sake of their viewers and private model.

If you wish to delight your influencers, your gifted merchandise ought to tick the containers under.

Gifted Merchandise Ought to Symbolize an Equitable Worth Change

No surprises right here. In any case, the product you ship must be well worth the effort and time that goes into making a publish. Merchandise with larger worth factors are actually extra priceless to recipients, too. You possibly can’t count on five-star, high-effort content material with a price range providing.

Professional-tip: Product bundles are a wise transfer as they offer your influencers extra choices for his or her posts. For instance, eyeliner featured in your magnificence bundle is perhaps excellent for an influencer’s viewers whereas your nail polish isn’t.

Gifted Merchandise Ought to Be Simple to Ship

This can be a element of product gifting that many manufacturers sadly overlook.

Gifting a broken or busted product is clearly a foul search for your model. Rethink your product selection in case you’re delivery:

• Fragile objects
• Merchandise that should be stored at a selected temperature
• Objects which are too massive to slot in a small delivery field. 

Belief us: achievement is likely one of the most time-consuming and tedious steps concerned with sending merchandise to influencers with out a third social gathering (or platform!) to do the heavy lifting.

Gifted Merchandise Ought to Have a “Cool” Issue

Fashionable. Share-worthy. Excellent for piggybacking on social media developments.

That’s what we imply by having a “cool” issue.

Influencers wish to be on prime of the subsequent large factor in terms of developments and their newest purchases. Gifting merchandise with a cool issue makes creating content material seamless for them.

Let’s take a look at a cool gifted product in motion. Try how magnificence influencer @chloeandcos reveals off Lottie London’s new stamp-on eyeliner set she was gifted.

Supply: @chloeandcos

Drawing equivalent wings on each eyes is a problem however this product solves that downside by creating the proper wing in a single stamp. She reveals off all of the artistic methods to make use of the product after which asks her viewers which eyeliner they’d attempt.

Due to the product’s cool issue, this feels extra like an natural publish than sponsored content material. That’s the facility of influencer gifting executed proper!

Professional-tip: in case you reward a product like this to influencers, ask them to indicate themselves utilizing the product and provides a optimistic overview. This can assist illustrate to their followers why they should attempt it.

Listed below are a couple of last factors to contemplate when selecting merchandise for a gifting marketing campaign:

• Is your model identify or emblem clearly seen on the product you’ve picked?
• Will the influencer have sufficient of the product to totally take a look at the outcomes?
• How photogenic is the product?

Professional-tip: Take into consideration delivery a couple of small extras to encourage influencers to publish about your product. This may embrace pattern sizes of different merchandise you provide or customized packaging. For instance, sending a handwritten thank-you be aware may help you stand out from the group. These small extras present appreciation to your influencer past your marketing campaign.

3. Establish The Proper Viewers for Your Influencer Gifting Marketing campaign

Primarily based on what we’ve seen firsthand, a couple of quarter of influencers ghost manufacturers after receiving a product to advertise.

Ouch! That’s why it is important to choose the appropriate influencers in your model. Very like selecting merchandise, you need to put severe thought into your outreach candidates.

It is advisable to discover individuals who will truly care about your product as soon as it is of their arms. Which means reaching out to influencers with an viewers that displays your individual.

Give it some thought. Asking a yoga way of life blogger who doesn’t have youngsters to publish about fabric diapers doesn’t make a lot sense, proper?

The higher the match, the higher your marketing campaign’s efficiency and UGC.

This illustrates the influence of Statusphere’s distinctive matchmaking algorithm. We pair manufacturers and creators primarily based on 250+ distinctive, first-party information factors. Granular particulars make for stronger matches and yield higher content material in consequence.

Try this instance from Curlsmith’s creator marketing campaign via Statusphere. The model targeted on magnificence micro-influencers on Instagram with content material centered round curly and wavy hair.

Supply: @being_frugal

The micro-influencer marketing campaign above generated 40,000+ likes,  4,400+ feedback total and 1,500+ items of distinctive content material.

The takeaway? Related creator matchmaking goes hand in hand with robust outcomes!

Easy methods to Discover Outreach Candidates for an Influencer Product Gifting Marketing campaign

With out matchmaking, discovering influencers to ship merchandise to is a full-time job by itself. That is very true if you wish to get merchandise into the arms of greater than only a few creators.

That stated, listed below are some concerns for a small-scale gifting marketing campaign:

• Take into consideration the audience of your model. Who do they observe on social media? Who’re their favourite influencers? Once more, you need the creators you select to resemble your audience and converse their language.
  
  
• your individual followers is a strong start line for locating related influencers. When you’ve got present clients who steadily have interaction together with your account or publish product pictures, attain out and ask for a collab.
  
  
• Flip to Google! Seek for product overview blogs and YouTube channels for creators in your {industry}. Chances are high they’ll put their contact information entrance and middle and allow you to know in the event that they’re interested by collaborations.
  
  
• Search industry-specific hashtags (#BeautyTok or #FoundationHacks) to search out influencers who overview merchandise much like yours. The extra particular the hashtag is to your {industry}, the higher. Tags like #Advert, #Gifted or #Sponsored may also enable you to discover established influencers
  
  
• If you happen to’re a brick-and-mortar retailer trying to discover native influencers to construct model consciousness in your group, seek for geo-specific Instagram hashtags. Examples of this is perhaps #OrlandoFoodie or #ChicagoHairStylist.
  
  
• When doubtful, attempt looking out Instagram or TikTok for gifting-related hashtags. 

4. Contact and Pitch Influencers to Promote Your Gifted Merchandise

First impressions matter when working with influencers.

Our recommendation? Be pleasant, skilled and particular about what you need.

By the point the influencer finishes studying your first DM or e-mail, they need to have a transparent understanding of what’s being requested of them.

Be mindful influencers get pitched on a regular basis. To make your model stand out, it’s necessary to spotlight your product’s distinctive promoting proposition. Thoughts what you say in your messages when sending merchandise to influencers.

Pitching by way of e-mail is good if you wish to present a extra in-depth clarification of your model or merchandise. Emails provide area to spotlight your worth and what’s in it for them.

DM pitches needs to be brief and candy. Say precisely what it’s worthwhile to say in a few sentences. In the event that they’re , they’ll let you already know!

Right here’s what you need to embrace in your pitch when sending merchandise to influencers:

• An introduction to your model and what you’re all about
• What you particularly like concerning the influencer’s content material
• Why they’re a fantastic match in your model (and the product you’re gifting)
• Specify the kind of content material you need them to publish (pictures, movies, Reels, Tales)
• A timeframe in your marketing campaign

Professional-tip: Outreach templates are a possible time-saver for influencer gifting campaigns. For samples of the way to craft an efficient pitch, take a look at our very personal influencer outreach templates.

5. Ship Your Merchandise to Influencers (Get Your Model in Their Fingers!)

With the preliminary planning phases of your gifting marketing campaign full, it’s time to begin sending merchandise to influencers.

Needless to say delivery is likely one of the most time-consuming duties concerned with product gifting.

Put together to obtain and ship shipments, pack particular person containers after which mail them out. If you happen to plan on doing this your self, listed below are some firsthand tips about the way to ship influencers merchandise:

• Use a trackable supply methodology to make sure all shipments are delivered on time. We suggest utilizing a monitoring spreadsheet to maintain tabs on influencers. This helps you manage addresses, merchandise and supply dates all through your marketing campaign.
• Ask every influencer for his or her tackle so you may ship the merchandise immediately.
• When you’ve got particular sizes, shades or variations of your product, make sure to ask your influencer for his or her desire!
• Pack your containers and personalize your packaging. Bear in mind to incorporate a thanks be aware to indicate your influencers you care. Bonus factors if it’s handwritten.
• Communicate together with your influencers all through the delivery course of to make sure they obtain their merchandise.
• Let your influencers know while you’ve delivered their reward to allow them to look out for it.

 

Supply: @taytenlanae

Notice: Manufacturers streamline achievement through the use of an influencer advertising platform like Statusphere. We offer a creator-first achievement expertise with lovely packaging, personalized creator directions and well timed updates on the standing of the merchandise our creators obtain. 

6. Observe Up and Interact with Your Influencers’ Posts

Assuming that your merchandise are within the influencers’ arms, it’s worthwhile to ensure all the work you are executed above ends in precise content material.

In any case, that’s the entire level of a product gifting marketing campaign.

Supply: @allthings_giselle

If you happen to don’t hear out of your influencers instantly, you may get nervous. That is comprehensible. Do not be stunned if it’s worthwhile to observe up greater than as soon as.

Listed below are some suggestions for following up with out being too clingy or aggressive:

• Wait to achieve out by way of e-mail or DM two to 3 days after they obtain their product. Body your follow-up as optimistic by saying you’re excited to see their posts.
  
  
• Don’t overlook to “like” and touch upon their publish once they go dwell. This reveals you recognize their work and that you just’re engaged with their group (see under).
  
  
• When you ship the presents and influencers publish about them, don’t let that be the top of your relationship. Communicate and present them that they’re valued. If their preliminary publish carried out properly, they might wish to proceed past a one-off marketing campaign.

However let’s say your influencer has gone silent even after following up a number of instances.

The truth? It occurs. Lots.

With no contract or authorized obligations, there actually are not any ensures that influencers will publish. That is an apparent draw back of operating an influencer gifting marketing campaign your self. That stated, in case you’re targeted extra on scale versys assured content material, gifting can work in your favor.

Pattern Timeline of an Influencer Gifting Marketing campaign

Earlier than you get knee-deep right into a gifting marketing campaign, let’s rapidly speak about time.

By now you’ve in all probability gathered that the time required to do product gifting isn’t any joke.

We’ve despatched numerous merchandise to influencers ourselves even previous to constructing Statusphere’s platform. Additionally, we have spoken with 100s of manufacturers who’ve executed it the DIY manner with poor outcomes.

Right here’s a breakdown of the common time required to run an influencer gifting marketing campaign:

• Figuring out and researching your audience (1 to 2 hours)
• Creating a listing of influencers to achieve out to (5 to 10 hours)
• Creating affords and pitching influencers (5 to 10 hours)
• Managing influencer communication and negotiation (15 to twenty hours)
• Sending merchandise to influencers (8 to fifteen hours)
• Sending reminders and follow-ups to finish posts (8 to twenty hours)

And so that you’re taking a look at 70+ hours out of your schedule (and that’s being beneficiant) for a handful of posts that are not even assured. Even when your purpose is pure consciousness and you are not involved about hitting a selected content material threshold, that is nonetheless a massively inefficient.

Easy methods to Get Posts from A whole lot of Influencers With out Working a Gifting Marketing campaign

With these steps in thoughts, you already know precisely what to anticipate to run an influencer gifting marketing campaign.

The trouble and a focus to element concerned represents lots of time, to not point out threat on condition that content material by way of gifting campaigns is not assured.

That stated, some manufacturers are understandably wanting to earn as a lot genuine branded content material as potential.

If you happen to’re searching for a time-efficient option to earn genuine posts from influencers at scale, Statusphere’s platform may help.

Our platform was constructed particularly to remove and streamline essentially the most intensive steps of getting merchandise into influencers’ arms. This consists of matchmaking, achievement, analytics and content material rights administration. 

Not like pure influencer gifting campaigns, we truly assure content material since we solely work with creators from our vetted group. We have already generated 75,000+ items of genuine content material for 400+ manufacturers.

But when your model is interested by product seeding with out assured content material, we may help there as properly!

Need to study extra about how the platform works? Get in contact with one among our consultants to see how we are able to maximize your influencer advertising ROI with assured content material at scale.

This text was first revealed in February 2019. It was final up to date January 15, 2024.