DTC brands sending free products and "hoping" for a shoutout is old school.There’s the modern playbook I've found that works. And it only needs a few tweaks in the old process:
Step 1 — Picking the Right Influencers: I started focusing on influencers who genuinely resonate with my brand. This meant:- Hunting for influencers using the core hashtags of my brand.
- Going for those with less than 25K followers. They're more engaging and often more open to partnerships without upfront payments.
How can you find these folks? Here's what I’ve used for brands I’ve worked with:
- Going through my the customer list.
- Doing hashtag research.
- Setting up a brand ambassador program.
- Getting a VA to do the legwork.
- Exploring influencer marketplaces.
- And, a tool like SARAL. (Found it pretty neat, tbh) It lets you filter influencer based on their engagement rate. I go for above 3% to get sales plus user generated content.
Step 2— Ditching the "no commitment needed" emailI started approaching them as potential long-term partners. In the initial email I didn’t say the product is a gift and we don’t need anything in return. Neither did I say I need a few posts or shoutouts from you. All I mentioned was that I’m looking for long-term partners.
It set the right expectations and filtered out those not aligned with my brand's vision.
I have got an email template I use for it. Let me know in comments if you want to use it, I’ll share it.
Step 3— Managing influencer responseThings don’t always go as planned. Some decline, but I've learned to keep the conversation flowing. I offer the product anyway.
The ones who’re on board have some questions. I direct them to the page with more details about the brand’s influencer program.
I’ve got a template for these emails too, let me know if you want access to these.Has anyone else here tried tweaking their product seeding program? What worked and what totally bombed for you?
