Influencer product seeding kits have become a real game-changer for brands on the rise. By creating eye-catching, cleverly-designed collections of products to share with prominent creators, businesses have been able to capture the attention of more prospective consumers on social media. But of course, following the basics and getting your product seeding strategy down is key to ensuring a successful collaboration. In this article, we're diving into the basics of product seeding – what it's all about, why it matters, and how it can work wonders for your brand in today's competitive market. We’ll also take a look at some prominent examples to show you how this simple yet powerful approach can take your brand to new heights. Let's take a closer look.
What is product seeding?
Product seeding, or influencer gifting, refers to the act of creating a kit (i.e. a product seeding kit) in the form of a package or collection of products and sending it to influencers with the goal of promoting the brand’s products to their audience. It is a common practice used by companies and brands as part of their influencer marketing strategy to create buzz and generate additional awareness about their products.
The tactic here is to gift these kits to influencers that may already have a keen interest in your brand, or your product category, who would be excited to create content about the kit and share it with their audience naturally, creating an organic relationship between your brand and their followers.
What goes into a product seeding kit?
A product seeding kit typically includes a carefully curated selection of products and promotional materials designed to create a lasting impression on recipients – the more unique, the better! The contents of the kit may vary depending on the brand's offerings, the campaign's objectives, and the target audience.
The central element of the kit is, of course, the products themselves. Brands include their featured items, newly launched products, or a mix of their most popular offerings. The products should align with the brand's identity and campaign goals, showcasing what makes them stand out from the rest. Depending on the brand's budget and strategy, they may also include branded merchandise like t-shirts, custom mugs, or other items that complement the product offering.
A thoughtful and personalized note from the brand’s side adds a touch of warmth and helps create a more direct connection with influencers. This could be a simple thank-you message or a brief explanation of the campaign's purpose and how the products can be used. The brand might also include some extra information about them such as its history, mission, and values.
Aesthetics matter, and the packaging should be attractive and align with the brand's image. Well-designed packaging enhances the unboxing experience, making it a memorable moment for influencers. Using a prototyping tool can help brands visualize and refine their packaging design before final production, ensuring it resonates with their audience. Lastly, some brands may throw in some additional items such as snacks and keepsakes that don’t necessarily come from the brand themselves, but from other brands that they may be aligned with or otherwise.
The key to a successful product seeding kit is to ensure that the contents are synonymous with the brand's identity and the preferences of the targeted influencers. Thoughtful and personalized kits are more likely to create a lasting impact and help cement a good relationship between the brand and influencers or potential customers.
How to set up a product seeding campaign
There are a few key steps when it comes to establishing your product seeding strategy:
Identifying influencers: Finding influencers who align with your target audience and have a significant, or highly relevant, following and engagement rate on social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok is highly important. These influencers could be anything from celebrities to social media personalities and bloggers to content creators with a strong online presence.
Curating the product kit: Once you’ve selected your ideal array of influencers, it’s time to put together a package or kit containing your products. The contents of the kit may vary depending on your offerings and the purpose of the campaign. Following from the explanation above, it could include newly launched products, popular items, or a selection of products representing a specific theme or collection. Many brands like to capitalize on holidays or events to make these kits more relevant and ‘in tune’ with real-world happenings, which can be a great tactic to use when dealing with influencers.
Sending the kit: Now that the product seeding kit is ready, it should be sent off to the influencers you’ve chosen (usually accompanied by a personalized note or a marketing message). This could be to the influencer's location or PO box. It’s important to keep the contact details and shipping addresses of influencers updated on a regular basis (such as annually) to ensure they get to the right place.
Measuring results: After the product seeding campaign or promotion is over, and influencers have shared word of your wonderful kit with their audiences, it’s time to assess the effectiveness of the product seeding campaign. Metrics like reach, engagement, website traffic, and conversion rates should be analyzed to determine the return on investment (ROI) and the overall impact of the influencer marketing campaign. It’s a good idea to keep tabs on performance throughout to make this process easier, as well as take notice of audience sentiment on influencers’ posts to see how followers are responding to your kit.
Examples of good product seeding kit campaigns
While theoretical advice is helpful to begin your product seeding journey, it can be helpful to take some inspiration from other brands who have successfully run their own influencer gifting campaigns. Here are a few samples we’ve gathered and why they’re great.
Food and Beverage Industry product seeding kit
Red Bull
Image source: iMarc.com
The world’s most popular energy drink brand, Red Bull, is no stranger to great marketing and advertising efforts. In fact, the brand has gained much fanfare for its Summer and Winter editions of the iconic energy drink, introducing a new flavor for each annually that correlates with the season. In 2019, a PR box for their Beach Breeze flavor was sent out and it was eye-catching, to say the least.
The box featured bright, on-trend packaging and colors that invoked feelings of warmth and tropical paradise, linking up nicely with the flavor they were promoting. They also went the extra mile and included a hand fan, the perfect accessory for a hot summer’s day (coupled with a great pun, too). The lid of the box also contained a short message telling recipients exactly which account to tag, both encouraging them to post about it and ensuring that everyone looped Red Bull accounts in. This helps with further UGC efforts and to tie the campaign together well.
Beauty and Skincare Industry product seeding kit
PIXI Beauty
Image source: Daniellesbeautyblog.com
A well-loved brand in the makeup and skincare space, PIXI Beauty has long been known for its aesthetically-pleasing packaging and branding. Of course, this lends itself well to product seeding kits and PR boxes, as was the case when they launched their On-the-Glow Blush collection.
The box contained all three shades of their blush, making it easy for influencers of all skin tones to try out and enjoy the kit (thus, it was universally appealing). They also presented it in a beautiful box with designs that reflected the blush colors, tying the theme together. The package very clearly states how to use the product in bold print, ensuring that influencers would be able to try out the blush as desired. Lastly, they made sure to include all social media handles and hashtags to get all influencers on the same page when it came to their posts.
Lush Cosmetics
Image source: xSlayer Rose on YouTube
Lush Cosmetics is probably the brand most synonymous with the bath bomb, a relaxation delight enjoyed by many across the globe. The UK-based company regularly sends out promotional kits for new product launches and keeps things true to the company’s message of being quirky, environmentally responsible, and bold. This rang true with the Retro Box they sent out to a variety of influencers.
The box was emblazoned with bright stickers that clearly mirrored both the theme of the collection as well as the brand’s morals, highlighting their stance against animal testing and messages standing against the use of fur in fashion. This immediately gives recipients an idea of the brand’s message. The box contained a variety of bath and shower products for influencers to try, as well as some goodies that aren’t a part of their product line, but rather for content creators to hang on to. This includes a pair of brightly-colored socks with the Lush brand written all over them, albeit in a retro font, making it the perfect keepsake for this style of collection.
Gaming and Entertainment Industry product seeding kit
Naughty Dog
Image source: Glitched.online
Naughty Dog is a game developer with a reputation for creating superb gaming experiences for fans. Renowned the world over for their releases, the development studio is behind some of the most highly-anticipated and highly-rated games of all time – and The Last of Us Part II was certainly the greatest example of this.
The media PR box that was sent out to gaming influencers was nothing short of spectacular, containing much more than just the game itself. The box, stylized to reflect the gritty nature of the game, contained a variety of keepsakes and mementos that echoes the game’s themes. This includes a functional backpack modeled after that of the game’s protagonist, as well as a statue of her. Also included were headphones and a PlayStation 4 controller, which was a great tie-in to the platform the game is played on. Alongside a variety of smaller trinkets, the box contained a letter written by the game’s director, too. Only 200 of these press kits were sent out worldwide (with each box numbered to reflect this), making it a valuable and memorable kit for any influencer lucky enough to nab one.
Conclusion
Product seeding kits aren’t just another cut-and-dry way to promote your brand – they’re an avenue for creative potential and grant the ability to drive home your brand’s message with a unique twist every time. With the right approach to creating one of these kits, you can help build lasting relationships with influencers who have the ability to create content and generate buzz around your brand’s products – helping to wow audiences and bring in new potential customers along the way.
