All About Fair Gifting Exchange as a Brand

Influencer gifting collaborations are one of the most common ways brands and creators work together. Instead of a traditional paid partnership, the creator receives a product in exchange for sharing content with their audience.

For these collaborations to work well for both sides, the exchange needs to feel fair. A fair gifting exchange recognises the value creators provide through their content, audience and influence.

Influencers are normally given products plus payment to promote brands. But just because something is doesn’t mean it should be (someone put that on a bumper sticker). So, how can you make sure your gifting exchange is fair?

It’s simple.

What makes a gifting collaboration fair?

A fair gifting collaboration recognises that creators are providing real value to brands.

When creators share a product with their audience, they are contributing more than just a single post. Their content introduces the brand to new audiences, builds trust through authentic storytelling and often produces assets the brand can reuse across its own marketing channels.

Because of this, the value exchange in gifting collaborations usually considers several factors including the product value, the creator’s audience size, engagement rate and the type of content being produced.

The goal is not to assign a strict price to every collaboration, but to ensure that both the brand and the creator feel the partnership is worthwhile.

Why many gifting campaigns use a minimum product value

Many gifting platforms and creator collaborations use a minimum product value to help ensure the exchange feels fair for creators.

For example, on #gifted, brands typically offer products with a minimum value of $150 when running gifting campaigns. This helps ensure that creators are receiving meaningful value in exchange for their time, creativity and audience access.

Setting a minimum value also helps maintain quality across the platform by encouraging brands to treat gifting collaborations as genuine partnerships rather than simply sending free products without clear expectations.

Make sure you’re valuing an influencer’s time, audience, and expertise with the product/service you’re offering. When you offer fair compensation in the form of a gift, you’re more likely to receive awesome content, reviews, testimonials, and social buzz. But let’s not get bogged down in hypotheticals here. So, what is a fair exchange?

Through the #gifted app, we have a minimum product value of $150. This helps us value the creators in our marketplace, and gives you access to high-quality influencers ready to share your product with a highly engaged audience.

In short, it’s a win-win for everyone involved.

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Why creator creativity matters in gifting collaborations

Unlike traditional advertising briefs, gifting collaborations often give creators more creative freedom. Brands may provide light direction around messaging or product features, but creators are usually encouraged to present the product in a way that feels natural to their audience.

This creative freedom is one of the reasons gifting collaborations often produce highly engaging content. Audiences respond better when a product is shown in an authentic context rather than a scripted advertisement.

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What if my product isn’t worth $150?

If an individual product in your range isn’t worth $150 (for example, the eye cream you want to promote may only be worth $69) then you can bundle a selection of items together to make the $150 minimum value.

This could mean a bundle including:

• A cleanser worth $49
• Eye cream worth $69
• Moisturiser worth $89

The sum of your gift exceeds $150 for a compelling gifting experience.

Choose gifts based on the strength of your brand and your goals

The goal of your gifting campaign and the strength of your brand should impact your gifting strategy.

What does that mean?

Well, if you’re a new brand without much social proof, you’ll need to account for this when choosing influencers to collaborate with. For example, if your social channels have a low number of followers or you haven't received much press/PR yet, you may need to adjust the value of the gift you’re offering to influencers.

As an example, if you’re a new fashion designer without much traction, you may need to gift a higher value item (or items) and set a lower number of minimum followers for your target influencers. Your gifting campaign could include four items worth a total of $500 for one in-feed Instagram post from an influencer with 5k+ followers. In contrast, if you’re a well-known fashion brand like Triangl Swim, Shona Joy, or Lee Jeans, you’ll be able to factor the strength of your brand into your gifting campaign.

Once you’ve built up your reputation (and that's where #gifted can help) you’ll receive more interest for your gifts and can change your gifting strategy.

Looking to get the most bang for your buck? Click here to learn how to make your gift enticing to the most influential influencers

You’re in control of an influencer’s content type

The #gifted platform allows creators to turn your products and services into marketable messages for their followers to embrace - but that doesn’t mean you’re left out of the picture.

Contra gifting is much more than asking for an Instagram in-feed post! Instead of asking for a post on Instagram (which many top-tier influencers will charge a fee for), you could ask for Instagram stories or a TikTok video. You can also ask for feedback, testimonials, and written reviews which can help you better market your product.

The influencer is in control of the content, but you can request a content format that suits your goals as a brand.

Wondering if an influencer is right for your brand? Click here to learn why you should (or shouldn’t) be using influencers

#gifted tip: Instagram is a powerful tool in the influencer’s arsenal, but don’t forget that opportunities live outside the feed. IG stories are a great way to work with influencers as they can use swipe-up links to drive traffic to your website.

Don’t underestimate the power of #gifted

It’s important to remember the time, energy, and creativity an influencer puts into creating content, leaving you a review, writing a blog, or creating a video. Your influencers are the talent, while also shooting, editing, retouching, and engaging with their followers by replying to comments and DM’s.

Many influencers have worked for years to build up their follower base and the trust their audience places in them. A fair gifting exchange will value those qualities and help you land on a fair gifting collaboration.

When an influencer applies for a gifting campaign, they’re telling you they’re happy to try your product and review it in their unique tone of voice. This means their content will reflect their creative style, tone of voice, and content preference (e.g. this might mean a flat lay, on the body, or a ‘how to’ video).

Don’t look at this lack of creative control as a bug, but a feature of #gifted. When you let an influencer share your brand within their unique voice or style, their audience is more likely to respond positively, feel the authenticity of the partnership, and check out your brand too.

#gifted tip: Struggling to decide on a fair gifting exchange? Ask yourself, “If someone gave me this gift, would I want to post about it, tell my friends about it, or write a review?”. if the answer is no, it’s best to rethink your offer.

Congratulations! You know exactly what a fair gifting exchange looks like and you’re ready to create your next exciting campaign.

Click here to create a gifting campaign now