The Ultimate Guide To Influencer Seeding Kits

Influencer seeding — sending influencers free products, with no strings attached — can hook the best influencers for your brand. 

It’s a great way to pique their interest in everything from your products to creative collaborations. (Just don’t confuse it with content seeding, which is a whole different strategy.)

Seeding kits may be a small investment, but they can open the door to new target audiences that convert into lifelong customers. 

Of course, if every CPG brand sends seed kits, your brand may not be as memorable or unique as you initially anticipated, so it’s important to make your kit stand out. Below, we look at how seed kits work, what makes them successful, and some inspirational real-world examples.

What’s an influencer seeding kit?

An influencer seeding kit or influencer box is a starter package sent to relevant influencers in a brand’s sector. 

Sometimes, brands make kits for special product launches, but kits can also just be fun unboxing experiences that hook influencers. For example, a new beauty company might select five makeup items and send them to 15 YouTube beauty influencers with over 10,000 followers. 

The difference between seeding and sending free products for a normal influencer campaign is that seed kits are unsolicited. The influencers don’t have any obligation to review or promote the products on their social media platforms. 

The goal is to “plant a seed” that leads to long-term influencer relationships and more brand awareness. If the influencer loves your products and voluntarily chooses to feature them on social media, that’s an added bonus.

What belongs in an influencer seed kit?

The best influencer seed kits and seeding strategies are consistent with the brand’s values. In other words, your entire package should highlight how you help the customer and why they should choose you. 

For example, if you’re an eco-conscious brand, you might put together a kit of your most environmentally friendly products, packaged with recycled, reusable, or sustainably produced materials. And don’t forget to include information on your low carbon footprint and ethical sourcing.

That said, these are the three key areas to focus on as you put together your seed kit:

• Packaging: Get creative and make a great first impression with your influencer kit packaging. Backpacks, purses, and collectible gift boxes are all great packaging options.

• Products: Free products must be relevant and exciting to the influencer. The more they connect with what’s inside, the more likely they are to post or reach out to talk about a partnership. 

• Messaging: From simple thank-you notes to detailed brand info, your messaging can inspire and motivate influencers to create organic, authentic content about your products and brand.

If you make a misstep on a product seeding kit, you can inadvertently alienate the very people you hoped to attract. For instance, keeping with the example from earlier, if you send your eco-friendly products in plastic, single-use packaging, you’ll turn off any truly environmentally conscious influencers.

Unboxing 3 influencer seed kits 

Need more inspiration? Here are three influencer seed kits that made a big splash. Each kit successfully leveraged the brand’s unique benefits and effectively conveyed the products’ value. 

1. Alibaba shows off its varied range of products with a multi-influencer seed campaign

In March 2024, retail giant Alibaba partnered with 24 influencers on TikTok and Instagram to create 30 unboxing videos for a global digital trade show. Influential business owners, global ecommerce resellers, and offline retail sellers all received a curated box of high-quality products. 

The campaign worked because the influencers genuinely connected to the products, which led to authentic, informative content. For example, influencer Justice Buys proclaimed that Alibaba had the largest product selection for business owners at the lowest prices. Influencer Haleigh was excited to receive a blender, having recently returned to a smoothie kick. 

To follow Alibaba’s example, you might pare down your product list to a few tantalizing items that tempt the influencer to connect their brand to yours. Focus on the products that mesh best with their needs to inspire an organic reaction. 

2. Adidas generates excitement with a mysterious carton

Adidas celebrated National Oreo Cookie Day in 2024 with a signature Ultra Boost sneaker in a cookies n’ cream pattern. 

The seed kit was a sleek milk carton with a black, white, and gray color scheme that mirrored the sneaker design. One side of the kit contained a sneaker, a branded Adidas glass, and a pair of socks. The other side contained the matching sneaker and a custom-branded sleeve of Annie’s Pies Oreo cookies. 

This product launch campaign had a strong premise: a fun, sophisticated spin on an old favorite. More than that, though, the kit’s exterior evoked strong feelings of curiosity and nostalgia. The kit design’s visual cues primed influencers to tear open the box. Jaque Slade’s unboxing video had more than 700,000 views alone!

To follow Adidas’s example, pair the kit packaging with the contents and tie in as many brand elements as possible. For example, if you’re promoting your all-natural sunscreen, you might include a branded beach towel and sunglasses and package it all up in a coordinating beach bag or drink cooler.

3. Hummingbirds drums up an appetite with cinnamon rolls 

To promote its delivery service and delicious rolls, Kansas City-based Tin Pan Cinnamon Rolls partnered with Hummingbirds to send freshly baked pans of cinnamon rolls to select local Kansas City influencers (our hummingbirds in the field!). 

The company delivered six full-sized treats straight to their doorsteps, immediately inspiring them to try the delectable baked goods. One mom showed off the branded, aesthetic packaging before zooming in on the roll’s ooey-gooey interior and sharing them with her adorable (and happy) children. 

This campaign worked partially because cinnamon rolls are practically irresistible for most people, but also because the fresh treats came via a convenient Kansas City delivery service. The influencers’ followers were quick to jump on the website or, at the very least, crave a cinnamon roll for the rest of the day. 

To follow Tin Pan Cinnamon Rolls’ example, start with a UGC platform like Hummingbirds that can connect you to local influencers. If your brand is regional or you’re expanding into select markets, you can choose the best personalities in your sector and engage audiences on a different level. 

Learn why local influencers are great seeding campaign partners 

Local influencers often build their social media communities one follower at a time. This slow, organic growth makes them extremely reliable and trustworthy to their audiences. When they open seed kits and promote the products to followers, it’s because they really believe in the brand. 

For example, when Lola’s Fine Hot Sauce sent Ciara L. Lee-Blackstone a gift card for hot sauce, she showed it off in her pantry before mixing up her own concoction and serving some truly photogenic chicken to her family and friends at Easter. 

Local partnerships can help your marketing claims come to life in real-world scenarios. Seed kits are the bridge to getting your products into the hands of the right influencers so they can express your brand’s value in their own words. 

If your brand could use a few more tips on recruiting the right influencers for your brand, check out our local marketing guide!