Introduction
There is nothing that is looked down on more for a new content creator and sometimes even an experienced content creator than an offer for a gifted collaboration. Gifted Collaborations are collaborations between a content creator and a brand. The brand sends the creator a free product in exchange for social media content either sent to the brand or on the creator’s social media platform. Brands may offer gifted collaborations for many reasons:
- They do not yet have the budget for social media content creators.
- They want to test and see how content creators affect their social media ROI.
- To be able to test out creators before having to pay high prices for content.
Content creators may not see a positive return from gifted collaborations because they do not receive payment upfront. Here are five reasons to accept gifted collaborations, with personal experiences that corroborate these reasons.
Reason 1: Build Your Media Kit
Whether a content creator is just starting or has been a creator for years, your media kit is your showcase to brands on who you have worked with and what your content looks like. Everyone should constantly update their media kit and show recent content. There are brands that, when doing a paid collaboration, do not want your content shared externally, but with a gifted partnership, it is a term that can help your profile and career.
Personal Experience
“When I first started social media 7 years ago, I accepted every gifted collaboration I had offered and was able to add those collaborations to my media kit. By the end of month 3 I had 80 collaborations in my kit which led to paid collaborations sooner than my fellow creators that would not accept gifted collaborations”
Reason 2: Brand References and Reviews
Reviews and references are the best way to gain the attention of a brand that a creator wants to work with. If a creator has 50 positive reviews and can share references to other potential brands, acquiring future brand deals becomes much more accessible.
Personal Experience
“I worked with a creator who had been creating for a year with no collaborations, they had never accepted gifted collaborations because the goal was to earn money. I convinced them to accept two gifted collaborations per month and helped them set up a post collaboration survey that was able to automatically calculate the results and post them to their media kit and pitching proposals. After 2 months they were able to land five paid collaborations with the help of their gifted collaboration reviews. ”
Reason 3: Gain Experience
Creators will always learn something new about their creative style and niche and how to create the best content possible by creating more content. Every collaboration is more experience for a creator, giving the creator more knowledge on collaborating with brands. Creating content is not only about the content but also communication, delivery, and tracking success.
Personal Experience
“When I was just starting as a creator, I had determined my niche in beauty but needed experience with providing creative content. I was approached by a brand who had a product I had never seen before related to personal hygiene and all of the content they currently had were unboxings or face-to-face reviews. I decided to simulate a product how-to skit and it ended up being the brand’s most viewed video because of the humor, story, creativity and overall fun of the video. This video led to numerous collaborations and gave me so much experience in working with unusual products.”
Reason 4: Improve Your Reputation
The more brands that have worked with a creator, the more often a creator’s name will appear when business owners discuss what creators to use. Small business owners utilize support groups on Facebook and ask questions on Quora, Twitter, and Threads about other business owners’ favorite creators—the goal is to be every brand’s favorite to work with.
Personal Experience
“I worked with a non-profit organization to promote a local fundraising event. I donated roughly 30 hours to the event. In exchange I was able to utilize their services for my child. The event was successful and they gained a large following of their target audience and boosted their socials. At the event they named me and I was approached by so many other businesses that I ended up having to refer some out to other companies to meet their timelines. I made the amount for my time donated times 10.”
Reason 5: Help a Small Business and Learn About New Products
Small business owners just starting out do not always have as much knowledge on social media as content creators and can only offer a gifted collaboration. Being a creator willing to help a small business grow and even share some knowledge that can aide in the success of a small business owner is ultimately just a good deed that content creators should all be willing to do. Helping a small business will also help the creator later down the line, which goes with improving your reputation. Creators also have the opportunity to learn about new products and how to showcase them best.
Personal Experience
“I worked with a brand new company selling nail stickers. They wanted posts to Instagram. I made the Instagram post and also because of my social media knowledge made 3 Pins and posted them to Pinterest. I was able to sell out the company’s product on Pinterest showing the brand the time saved by utilizing Pinterest for their specific needs and presenting the data from the posts. The owner was in tears and was so happy from the results. They were able to save time on social media and ended up becoming my retainer client that I manage their Pinterest for monthly.”
Conclusion
Ultimately it is the choice of a content creator whether or not gifted collaborations are right for them. From personal experience as a content creator of 7 years, I strive to accept 2-3 gifted collaborations per month for the reasons above.
