How gifting works
The mechanics are simple. You pick creators whose audience fits the product, send them the item with a short note, and hope for a story, post, or video. Many brands run this at volume, often called product seeding, and treat it as a numbers game where a fraction of recipients post.
Two models exist. No-obligation gifting sends product with no strings, which keeps it honest and reads well in outreach. Required-post gifting asks for a deliverable in exchange for the product, which is really a paid deal where the fee is the product's value. Be explicit about which one you are running.
Gifting vs paid UGC
Gifting buys a chance at organic mentions. Paid UGC buys a specific asset with usage rights you can run as ads. The outputs are not interchangeable: you generally cannot take a gifted creator's post and put ad spend behind it without a separate rights agreement.
Costs differ too. Gifting is product cost plus shipping and outreach time, with no guaranteed output. Hiring UGC creators costs a fee per video but produces on schedule. Many teams gift first to find creators who like the product, then offer paid work to the ones who posted well.
Running a gifting campaign well
Sourcing decides the result. Filter for creators who already post about your category and whose recent content looks like something you would want to reshare. A sample outreach line: "We'd love to send you our new sleep mask, no strings attached. If it earns a spot in your routine, we'd be glad to see it."
Disclosure still applies. In most markets a gifted product is a material connection, so creators should tag the post as gifted or sponsored. Ask for that in the note, and check the FTC or your local regulator's current guidance. Track who posted, what they said, and which posts you'd like rights to; those become your first paid UGC candidates.
How it's used
"Influencer gifting round two goes out Monday: 60 units to skincare creators with under 50k followers, no post required."
"Three of the gifted creators posted unprompted, so let's move them into the paid UGC batch."