A new industry report finds that while 94% of brands engage in product seeding to influencers, nearly half struggle with fundamental execution issues that undermine effectiveness. The study, conducted by social marketing agency Socially Powerful, surveyed 150 senior marketers from global enterprises to evaluate current practices in influencer gifting strategies.
The research reveals a major gap between adoption and proficiency in influencer seeding, i.e., the practice of sending products to creators with the goal of generating authentic, unpaid content. Despite near-universal implementation, 43% of marketers identify finding the right creators as their biggest challenge.
According to the report, “Brands are shipping millions of gifted products into a void, hoping for a return they can’t secure because they skipped the most critical step: targeting with intent. This eats budget, rather than builds value.”
“Brands must face up to the uncomfortable truth that their investment in seeding products is vanishing before it’s generating any real value,” said James Hacking, CEO at Socially Powerful.
Creator Fatigue
The report identifies several symptoms of what it terms “flawed seeding strategies.” Among the most concerning findings:
35% of marketers blame declining effectiveness on creator fatigue.
38% admit creators feel spammed by brand outreach.
23.3% receive low-quality or irrelevant content from creators.
These statistics point to what researchers describe as a systemic problem: the industry’s “spray and pray” approach treats creators as “disposable commodities, not partners,” eroding the trust and authenticity that makes seeding valuable.
Most Brands Operating at Basic Maturity Levels
The study introduces a four-tier “Seeding Maturity Framework” to help brands assess their current capabilities:
Level 1 (Ad Hoc): Pushing products to a mailing list with no targeting or clear KPIs (15% of marketers).
Level 2 (Basic): Picking creators with simple filters like follower count and inconsistent measurement (21%).
Level 3 (Intentional): Using targeted, strategically timed drops with consistent metrics, but manual optimization (39%).
Only 18.7% of surveyed marketers operate at the highest level of sophistication, with the vast majority stuck in the lower stages of the framework. The largest group (39%) operates at Level 3, which the report characterizes as “good, but not great.”
Measurement Challenges Hinder Optimization
The research highlights that 37% of marketers rely solely on engagement rate to determine seeding success, indicating a broader problem with performance measurement. The report advocates shifting from tracking activity to measuring value through standardized, outcome-focused Key Production Indicators (KPIs) such as Cost Per Mille (CPM), Cost Per Engagement (CPE), and Earned Media Value (EMV).
Market Conditions Amplify Need for Better Targeting
The study places these findings in the context of challenging market conditions that make authentic advocacy increasingly valuable:
Rising living costs have curbed impulse buying, with consumers making fewer, more intentional purchases.
50% of Gen Z vet brands on social media before purchasing.
92% of consumers trust peer recommendations more than any other form of advertising.
Market saturation with constant product drops has conditioned consumers to seek novelty, eroding brand loyalty.
Tension Between Intent and Practice
The report highlights a particular disconnect where 45% of surveyed marketers claim they target creators based on brand alignment and product fit, yet simultaneously identify creator identification as their biggest roadblock. This indicates what researchers describe as “a clear parity between intent and execution.”
The study concludes that brands understand what they should be doing in theory, but struggle with implementation in practice. It suggests that this is not merely a strategic misstep, but rather “willful ignorance” driven by a fear of getting it wrong, leading brands to default to outdated volume-based approaches.
For creators, the findings suggest growing challenges as they face increasing outreach from brands. The data indicates many are feeling overwhelmed by irrelevant product offerings, with 38% of marketers acknowledging that creators feel spammed by brand communications.
The findings also reveal tensions in the creator economy business model, with 30.7% of marketers noting that creators are increasingly requesting payment rather than accepting gifted products alone.
The report emphasizes that 100 mailers sent to genuine brand fans who will meaningfully integrate products into their content delivers “exponentially more impact than one million mailers sent to random people.” This quality-over-quantity approach stands in stark contrast to current industry practices that prioritize volume and broad reach.
Recommendations for Future-Proofing Seeding Programs
The report outlines several recommendations for brands looking to improve their seeding effectiveness:
Precision Creator Targeting: Move beyond follower counts to align with creators based on attributes, audience demographics, authentic product fit, and potential for genuine advocacy.
Optimized Frequency and Cadence: Deploy seeding with an intentional rhythm, prioritizing key brand moments with concentrated campaigns supported by a lower-frequency “always-on” cadence.
Integration with Broader Advocacy Efforts: Embed seeding within holistic advocacy strategies, connecting it with ambassador programs and commission-based incentives.
Standardized Measurement: Implement consistent, outcome-focused KPIs to understand Return On Investment and drive continuous optimization.
Outcome-Led Governance: Define success metrics from the outset, understanding when to scale versus when to focus on precision.
“Brands need to approach influencer gifting and their seeding campaigns as the beginning of a relationship that needs nurturing. It should be strategic, targeted, measured, and continually optimized,” Hacking noted. “When seeding reaches its full potential, it unlocks the unstoppable power of peer-to-peer advocacy at scale. The earned media era is still young; get it right now, and brands win the future of attention.”
“The ‘spray and pray’ era is over,” the report concludes. “Future winners will seed with intent.”
Cecilia Carloni, Interview Manager at Influence Weekly and writer for NetInfluencer. Coming from beautiful Argentina, Ceci has spent years chatting with big names in the influencer world, making friends and learning insider info along the way. When she’s not deep in interviews or writing, she's enjoying life with her two daughters. Ceci’s stories give a peek behind the curtain of influencer life, sharing the real and interesting tales from her many conversations with movers and shakers in the space.
A new industry report finds that while 94% of brands engage in product seeding to influencers, nearly half struggle with fundamental execution issues that undermine effectiveness. The study, conducted by social marketing agency Socially Powerful, surveyed 150 senior marketers from global enterprises to evaluate current practices in influencer gifting strategies.
The research reveals a major gap between adoption and proficiency in influencer seeding, i.e., the practice of sending products to creators with the goal of generating authentic, unpaid content. Despite near-universal implementation, 43% of marketers identify finding the right creators as their biggest challenge.
According to the report, “Brands are shipping millions of gifted products into a void, hoping for a return they can’t secure because they skipped the most critical step: targeting with intent. This eats budget, rather than builds value.”
“Brands must face up to the uncomfortable truth that their investment in seeding products is vanishing before it’s generating any real value,” said James Hacking, CEO at Socially Powerful.
Creator Fatigue
The report identifies several symptoms of what it terms “flawed seeding strategies.” Among the most concerning findings:
These statistics point to what researchers describe as a systemic problem: the industry’s “spray and pray” approach treats creators as “disposable commodities, not partners,” eroding the trust and authenticity that makes seeding valuable.
Most Brands Operating at Basic Maturity Levels
The study introduces a four-tier “Seeding Maturity Framework” to help brands assess their current capabilities:
Only 18.7% of surveyed marketers operate at the highest level of sophistication, with the vast majority stuck in the lower stages of the framework. The largest group (39%) operates at Level 3, which the report characterizes as “good, but not great.”
Measurement Challenges Hinder Optimization
The research highlights that 37% of marketers rely solely on engagement rate to determine seeding success, indicating a broader problem with performance measurement. The report advocates shifting from tracking activity to measuring value through standardized, outcome-focused Key Production Indicators (KPIs) such as Cost Per Mille (CPM), Cost Per Engagement (CPE), and Earned Media Value (EMV).
Market Conditions Amplify Need for Better Targeting
The study places these findings in the context of challenging market conditions that make authentic advocacy increasingly valuable:
Tension Between Intent and Practice
The report highlights a particular disconnect where 45% of surveyed marketers claim they target creators based on brand alignment and product fit, yet simultaneously identify creator identification as their biggest roadblock. This indicates what researchers describe as “a clear parity between intent and execution.”
The study concludes that brands understand what they should be doing in theory, but struggle with implementation in practice. It suggests that this is not merely a strategic misstep, but rather “willful ignorance” driven by a fear of getting it wrong, leading brands to default to outdated volume-based approaches.
For creators, the findings suggest growing challenges as they face increasing outreach from brands. The data indicates many are feeling overwhelmed by irrelevant product offerings, with 38% of marketers acknowledging that creators feel spammed by brand communications.
The findings also reveal tensions in the creator economy business model, with 30.7% of marketers noting that creators are increasingly requesting payment rather than accepting gifted products alone.
The report emphasizes that 100 mailers sent to genuine brand fans who will meaningfully integrate products into their content delivers “exponentially more impact than one million mailers sent to random people.” This quality-over-quantity approach stands in stark contrast to current industry practices that prioritize volume and broad reach.
Recommendations for Future-Proofing Seeding Programs
The report outlines several recommendations for brands looking to improve their seeding effectiveness:
“Brands need to approach influencer gifting and their seeding campaigns as the beginning of a relationship that needs nurturing. It should be strategic, targeted, measured, and continually optimized,” Hacking noted. “When seeding reaches its full potential, it unlocks the unstoppable power of peer-to-peer advocacy at scale. The earned media era is still young; get it right now, and brands win the future of attention.”
“The ‘spray and pray’ era is over,” the report concludes. “Future winners will seed with intent.”
Image credit: Socially Powerful
Get the full report here
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