Hi friends!

After spending the last few weeks knee-deep in everything influencer gifting, I’m convinced that when Shakespeare’s Hamlet bemoaned, “To B, or not to B,” he wasn’t having an existential crisis but was rather concerned about his influencer strategy.

Should he barter or not barter?

You might find yourself asking the same question as you think about your influencer gifting strategy. “Should I do pure gifting (no-strings-attached) or barter deals?”

The TL;DR answer: Both work. But they support different needs. (Spoiler: You can do both at the same time.)

Understanding under what scenarios each approach works best is critical so you can make the best choice.

Before you pick an approach, make sure you clarify your needs. Do you need a consistent flow of new content for paid/organic social? Are you looking to find perfect-fit long-term partnerships? Just something to drive immediate sales?

Your needs will dictate the approach👇

Reasons to use no-strings gifting

To start relationships with influencers

No-strings gifting is the tried-and-tested way to get anyone’s attention, even larger profiles.

If you want to start relationships with influencers, focus on finding people who you think will love the product, even if they have 6-7-figure follower counts.

This can be a great way to get your brand or product into the hands of influencers and start authentic long-term relationships. (This is why it’s often referred to as seeding. You’re planting a tiny seed about your brand in their brain.) 

Plus, your acceptance rates will be higher because more people are open to accepting gifts when they don’t need to do anything in return. 

You want authentic content

You’re much more likely to get a yes for a gifting deal from influencers with relatively small audience sizes. I’m talking nano influencers, probably less than 10k followers.

Now, not everyone who receives a gift will post. But you can get outsized returns if 1 in 20 accepts and posts because they’re mostly likely doing it because they truly love your product.

When people authentically love your product, it’s more likely they’ll post off-the-cuff honest reactions. In other words, it’s going to sound and look authentic.

More long-term potential

When you offer a no-strings gift to influencers, you can’t set deadlines or urge them to post. As a result, the relationship will naturally move slower.

But there are long-term pros to gifting that we often forget to consider. Gifting can open opportunities for you to find great long-term partners.

By starting with a no-strings gift, you give yourself more opportunities to build a relationship with influencers.

For example,

• You can more confidently funnel influencers who posted about your brand after receiving a gift into paid collaboration. You’ll have some performance data to work with and can negotiate fair rates.

• You can follow up with influencers who didn’t post after receiving the gifts and ask to get their feedback. The lines of communciation are now open to build a relationship.

Gifting tip 🎁

One of the problems of larger-scale gifting is that influencers might not tell you they’ve posted or tagged you, making tracking a little harder.

One way to prevent this is to remind them to tag you if they do post. Also, depending on the influencer's location, they need to disclose that the product was a gift. 

Here’s an example of how Nars do it. Spotted by the eagle-eyed Alice Bull.

A Q FOR YOU

A majority of influencer marketers (54.8%) told us they use barter deals more often compared to 22.6% who use no-strings gifting. The remaining 22.6% said it depends.

Reasons to use barter deals

You need content to go out quickly

If you’re running a gifting program because you need posts yesterday, whether that’s because you have a sales goal or a promotion, barter deals are the way to go. 

The main difference between no-strings gifting and barter deals is that gifting has no requirements, and barter deals do. 

Requirements can give you more control over setting deadlines and getting the content you need when you need it.

More predictable

With barter deals, you can set deadlines, ask for specific deliverables, and be more confident that you’ll get what you need. 

With barter deals (rather than no-strings gifting), fewer people will accept the offer, which means lower COGS. But of the ones that do, almost all will post.

This means that it’s a more predictable approach, something you need to measure against your goals and situation. For example, if you need to prove to your leadership that influencer marketing is working, you might want to take this more predictable path.

You have tight budget restrictions

Nothing is actually free in influencer marketing.

Even if you’re gifting your product, you’ll still have a budget for the cost of goods, shipping, plus your labor or any other marketers you need to hire to run it.

In our survey, marketers indicated that more people accept invitations to receive a gifted product than they do barter deals. That means you’re going to send more products and have more shipping costs. Your budget inevitably needs to be higher. 

While fewer people will accept a barter deal, almost all will post. Since fewer people will accept a barter deal, it’s the better approach when your budget is tight.

HANDPICKED JOB OPENINGS

• Surfshark is looking for an Influencer Marketing Manager in Lithuania or Poland.

• Anthropologie is looking for a Performance Influencer Marketing Coordinator in Philadelphia, US.

• Michael Kors is looking for an Influencer Marketing & Community Manager in London,UK.  

• Saulderson Media is looking for an Influencer Campaigns Executive (Remote: UK)

See you in the next issue of ROI where I’ll share how to figure out which products to gift!
Eleni Zoe xx
Marketing @ Modash. Say hi on LinkedIn or visit Modash.

📌A NOTE ABOUT WHAT YOU JUST READ

The tips in this newsletter might not be right for your specific case. Use good judgment when deciding whether to take advice from the internet—even mine. My team and I survey & interview influencer marketers whose advice and observations come from their direct experience. ROI is meant for you to connect the dots and be inspired or challenged to think about your influencer marketing in a way you haven’t before.