The use of influencers to promote products and brands is now widely recognized as an important part of marketing. Influencers have built up a following of people interested in what they have to say.
Influencers help brands connect with their target audiences and build stronger relationships with potential customers. Seeding is one of many cost-effective and product-centric activations for implementing brand awareness and increasing sales.
Influencers not only provide a unique voice and an established audience, but they also assist you in developing a powerful online personality and voice. Furthermore, there are several ways to incorporate influencer marketing into your strategy, with product seeding being one of the most effective.
Product Seeding: How Is It Useful For Brands?
Product seeding is an influencer marketing strategy in which brands give away their products to relevant influencers/celebrities for free publicity. With the help of influencers, it is an excellent tool for marketers to reach a larger audience and target more groups of potential customers.
The goal of an influencer product seeding campaign is to capture the attention of an audience that is unfamiliar with your brand. This strategy aids in the development of a strong relationship with the Key Opinion Leader (KOL) and is a less expensive option than traditional advertising/influencer marketing.
Brands do not need to haggle over collaboration fees with influencers’ teams or set aside funds to promote influencers on social media platforms.
A Guide To Designing Influencer Product Seeding Campaign To Maximize Campaign Results
Product seeding is often the first step in the influencer marketing journey for many brands because it is cost-effective and highly effective. However, just like any other marketing strategy, meticulous planning is essential if you want to see significant results from your product-seeding campaigns.
Here are five things brand marketers should keep in mind when planning and designing an influencer product seeding campaign:
Choose The Right Influencers
The first step in planning an influencer product seeding campaign is carefully selecting the influencers to whom the free products will be sent. Before sending them products, brands must analyze and assess the influencer’s performance, content history, engagement rate, audience socio-demographics, and area of interest.
Make sure the influencer you’re contacting has followers interested in your product and will add value to your campaign. Once you’ve chosen the right influencers for your product seeding campaign, you’ve won half the battle.
Personalization And Packaging
As soon as the influencer receives your product, they will begin to form an opinion about your brand. As a result, brands must send out products in meticulously and aesthetically pleasing packaging that catches the eye of influencers and creates an exciting image for their social media channels.
In addition to packaging, marketers should send a personalized note to influencers to set themselves apart from the many other brands sending gifts to their target audience. Remember, if the first impression is good and the influencer likes your product, there’s a good chance it’ll show up on their social media feed.
Send Appropriate Products
A product seeding or influencer gifting campaign aims to send products to influencers who will try to write about them. As a result, brands should conduct extensive research into the types of products that the influencer enjoys and frequently discusses on their social media platforms.
The more information you have about your influencer, the more accurate your product seeding strategies are. If, for example, an influencer’s historical Instagram feed indicates that they only talk about sportswear, it would be unwise to send traditional fashion wear with them, as it is highly unlikely that they will discuss your product. As a result, the keyword here is research.
Engage With Influencer’s Social Media Posts
As a brand marketer, you should always check if the influencer has mentioned your product on social media. Make sure you engage with the content if you see your product on their social media posts. Even if there is a negative review or feedback, brands should not be afraid to respond to those posts.
You should express gratitude to the influencers for trying out the product and request detailed feedback via email. These small gestures will aid in the development of a long-term relationship with your customers.
Form a Partnership
After the influencer has mentioned your product on social media, brand marketers should begin working with that content creator more closely and figure out new ways to collaborate with them in the future. This is where product seeding can turn into a full-fledged influencer partnership, with benefits for both brands and influencers.
Conclusion
Product seeding is one of the most widely used compensation methods in influencer marketing, making it one of the most cost-effective and efficient ways to scale your campaign. Furthermore, the massive reach that it can provide for your brand is incredible.
