9 Excellent Influencer Gifting Examples to Inspire Your Brand

Need inspiration for running a product gifting campaign?

Getting products into influencers' hands can build buzz and yield authentic content for your brand. 

Notice how unboxing videos on Instagram and TikTok are flooded with comments ranging from “OMG I need this now” to “Where do I sign up?”

That’s because influencer posts are impactful to everyday consumers. This also highlights why gifting campaigns can be valuable to brands when they're done rig ht.

But let’s say you’re not 100% sure what “good” product gifting looks like. We’ve got you covered!

In this post, we break down nine influencer gifting examples and lessons you can learn from them.

9 Brands Winning with Influencer Gifting

Good news: you don’t have to look hard to find brands sending products to enthusiastic influencers. 

Below are nine examples of brands that crush it when it comes to influencer gifting. No matter what you’re selling, these examples can help you fine-tune your own strategy.

1. Solawave

Let’s say you have a product that’s difficult to explain in a sentence or two. 

We see skincare and tech brands struggle with this all the time. From complicated ingredients to technical terms, influencers excel at explaining products to people.

Think about it. Who better to break down the benefits of your product than your own satisfied customers?

Check out how Solawave uses a gifted post to illustrate how their skincare wand works. Even if you’re unfamiliar with red light therapy, you can figure out what the wand does at a glance.

Source: @sassandbusinessclass

Solawave’s wand is the perfect type of product for influencer gifting. The wand itself is Instagram-worthy and lends itself to visual content. The red light literally catches your eye, right?

Beyond that, it’s a product that needs to be seen in use by real people to be understood. The key to effective product seeding is sending items they’d actually use in their everyday lives. 

And looking at the comments on this gifting post, it’s clear that Solawave’s product is a winner. 

Source: @luxbubs

Takeaways for Brands Gifting Products to Influencers

• If your product is “complicated,” let influencers explain it in their own words.
• Try to send influencers products with a “cool factor.” Ideally, send products that could easily be shown off in a TikTok video or Instagram Reel.
• Unfamiliar and unique products tend to drive higher engagement rates and more comments. 

2. Divoom

According to Google data, unboxing videos on YouTube earn 20+ billion views annually. That same excitement applies to unboxings on Instagram and TikTok, too. 

And that explains why unboxings are a staple of influencer gifting posts.

Brands like Divoom do a brilliant job of sourcing unboxing videos from influencers via Reels. In fact, many of these videos feel like organic content that the brand would post.

Creative editing, captions and music can really make an unboxing video “pop.”

Source: @victoria_engineering

Divoom gifts products to influencers that resemble their own audience no matter how “niche.” This includes gaming influencers, Twitch streamers and study motivation accounts.

This highlights how you can get granular with your audience when it comes to product gifting. The brand also illustrates how to use Reels to earn interactions and show off products.

Source: @studywithrifa

Takeaways for Brands Gifting Products to Influencers

• Unboxings are a simple yet effective post type for earning views and interactions.
• Formats like Reels can boost the Instagram engagement rate of your gifted posts.
• Put effort into packaging and presentation to make your unboxings "pop.”

3. Zitsticka

 Skincare brands are among the best at social promotions like product gifting.

For example, Zitsticka’s “tagged” Instagram feed is brimming with positive product reviews.

Many of these posts include people showing the before-and-after of their skincare journeys. These posts serve as social proof that goes above an ordinary product review. After all, the skincare space is super competitive. 

What’s notable about Zitsticka is how much detail their influencers go into. Check out the product gifting post below. Note how the creator dishes on how quickly the product worked. She’s also honest when it comes to the products’ effectiveness and price point.

Source: @missbeautydreams

Also, note how this creator earned impressive engagement on this post despite a smaller following.  Remember: follower count doesn’t reflect what an influencer’s content is worth.

There’s a reason why brands are partnering with micro-influencers like never before. Authentic and motivated creators will go above and beyond for the brands they support. 

Takeaways for Brands Gifting Products to Influencers

• Small creators go the extra mile for influencer campaigns on behalf of brands they love.
• Gifting posts can result in compelling product reviews and social proof via storytelling.
• Give influencers the creative freedom to be vulnerable and authentic in their gifting posts.

4. Vessi

We’ll say it again: influencer gifting campaigns should target creators that resemble your audience.

But what should you do if your audience is diverse? What if your “ideal” influencer is hard to define?

The short answer: embrace it! Vessi is another brand that nails their product gifting while reaching a variety of audiences. Their brand ambassadors include healthcare workers, outdoor enthusiasts and even dog accounts. 

Again, influencers can put the benefits of your products into their own words. In the case of Vessi, each of these audiences has a different reason as to why they love the brand’s waterproof shoes. 

Source: @jessies__journeys/ @with.love.mable

Don’t feel like you have to stick to a single type of creator for a product gifting campaign. As long as you’re targeting relevant influencers that love your product, you’re golden.

This highlights the value of an influencer platform like Statusphere that programmatically matches brands with creators based on 250+ unique, first-party data points. We ensure that our brands' products only get send to hyper-relevant creators regardless of niche or industry.

Takeaways for Brands Gifting Products to Influencers

• Your candidates for gifting campaigns should resemble your potential customers. Simple as.
• Influencer gifting can help grow and raise awareness for your brand ambassador program.
• Again, let creators explain the benefits of your products without being tied to a script.

5. I Dew Care

We’ve talked a lot about giving influencers creative freedom in gifting posts.

Thing is, there’s nothing wrong with suggesting and sharing specific talking points with creators. When brands do offer direction, influencers don’t have to start every promo post from scratch.

This is especially common among makeup and skincare brands. For example, you might want to highlight why a specific ingredient in your product is so important. Did you know that searches related to skincare ingredients are up a staggering 229% over last year? 

Check out the influencer gifting example from I Dew Care below. Notice how the post is full of personality but also highlights specific ingredients of the product?

The creator finds a brilliant balance between the brand’s talking points and making the post her own. Meanwhile, the high social engagement on the post speaks for itself.

Source: @elishaliiang

Influencers should be able to put products into their own words. That said, skilled creators know how to balance their own praise with a brand’s key talking points.

Takeaways for Brands Gifting Products to Influencers

• Empower creators by explaining your brand's unique selling point.
• If you have specific points you want creators to make, include them in your influencer brief.
• Try to find creators with strong and distinct voices. These types of creators can seamlessly craft promotional posts without feeling “salesy” at all.

6. Caliray

The common thread between our influencer gifting examples? Creators can bring products to life!

Below is another before-and-after Reel, this time showing off Caliray’s collagen peptide primer prior to its launch. The creator seamlessly applies the primer while listing off benefits and providing proof that it works as intended. These types of videos should be staples of your influencer marketing strategy if you’re a beauty brand.

Source: @mycurrentfaves

This is a shining example of how to help potential customers imagine your products in their hands. Likewise, this video highlights how gifted posts don’t need a ton of production value to be effective.

Takeaways for Brands Gifting Products to Influencers

• Video formats (Reels or TikToks) are ideal for influencer content and products in action.
• If you want authentic and unpolished content, micro-influencers and smaller creators can help.
• Creators are great for building awareness for product launches and time-sensitive promotions.

7. Milk Bar

Food products are perfect for social media and Milk Bar’s confections are no exception.

The brand recently worked with creators to hype up the availability of their cookies on Amazon. Partnering with foodie accounts and mommy bloggers, the brand earned a ton of awesome, ad-friendly content in the process.

Check out the examples below. The first photo showcases Milk Bar’s variety of products clearly. Note how the brand and product labels are front-and-center. Meanwhile, the second gifting example is more “day-in-the-life.” Both types of content are effective and manage to show off the brand brilliantly.

Source: @foodjunkieaz / @oh_hello_dreamer

When gifting products, consider how they can show your brand in settings that reflect their everyday lives. This might include still shots and action shots in real-world settings. These gifting examples also highlight how you can run an influencer marketing campaign specifically to promote products on Amazon. 

Takeaways for Brands Gifting Products to Influencers

• If you want to feature multiple product views without video, consider Instagram Carousels.
• If you want to drive sales to a specific product or channel, say so in your instructions.
• Be direct about how creators highlight products in their content. Want them to show off the label or provide an up-close shot? Let ‘em know!

8. Commodity 

We’ll bite: some types of products are more challenging than others to show off via product gifting.

Take Commodity’s fragrances, for example. Since you can’t smell them through your smartphone screen (yet), the brand has to get creative in terms of how they highlight their scents.

This is yet another example of a product that’s perfect for unboxing videos. Commodity’s sleek packaging stands out and showcases the product with style. Oh, and we also spotted a hand-written gifting note in the Reel below. Personalized notes are one of the best ways to make a lasting impression on content creators.

Source: @sophiescribbles

For products that are tough to show off, captions can be make-or-break. In the example below, the creator manages to write a caption that brings the product to life. Thoughtful descriptions of the scents make the fragrances more real to potential customers.

Source: @natalieskin_

Takeaways for Brands Gifting Products to Influencers

• Don’t feel compelled to stick to a single format for your influencer content. Experiment! 
• Some brands prefer not to have creators feature products other than their own in gifted posts. That said, this approach can show how your product fits into your customers’ everyday routines. 
• Go the extra mile yourself by personalizing your product gifting campaigns! Handwritten notes are a low-hanging way to do exactly that.

9. Unicorn Superfoods

Unicorn Superfoods is a brand that doesn’t stick to a “one-size-fits-all” style of gifted content. 

This rings true in terms of audience and post types. Their influencer content ranges from recipes and foodie inspo to flavor recs from fitness creators.

In fact, the brand’s gifted posts caught our eye as side-by-side they feel like their own aesthetic Instagram feed. These product gifting examples highlight how brands can earn creator content that’s almost ad-ready as-is.

Source: @sky_knifey

Takeaways for Brands Gifting Products to Influencers

• Creator content doesn’t have to be totally unpolished or off-the-cuff. If you want more “traditional,” promotion-ready content, let your influencers know.
• Experiment with content types during gifting campaigns to see what earns the most engagement.
• Brainstorm ways to repurpose your influencer-generated and user-generated content. 

How Brands Can Get the Benefits of Influencer Gifting at Scale

If you want to showcase your products in a way that resonates with your audience, creator campaigns can do the trick.

And we hope these examples can inspire your own posts in the future!

The reality, though? The legwork involved in earning content like the posts above is so often underestimated by brands. Chances are you already know this all too well.

Reaching out to relevant influencers. Shipping them products. Coordinating content.

These steps don't even scratch the surface and the process can be a massive time-sink if you’re doing it all yourself. Putting resources into in-house gifting is super risky when content isn't guaranteed.

That’s where Statusphere can help.

Our platform is designed to match consumer brands with relevant creators who actually want to post about your products.

Since we only work with vetted creators from our network and match brands based on 250+ unique data points, we provide guaranteed content from influencers month-to-month. Our platform also streamlines fulfillment, content rights management and campaign analytics.

Want to learn more about how our software works? Chat with one of our campaign experts to see how we can help you scale your influencer marketing efforts in a fraction of the time.

This article was first published in June 2020. It was last updated June 10, 2023.