One in four influencers want brands to ask before gifting

As the peak Christmas gifting season approaches, global influencer agency Billion Dollar Boy has surveyed 508 content creators in the UK and US to reveal how brands can improve their influencer gifting strategies.

Top priorities include brands ensuring the gift is relevant (37 per cent), and brands building or maintaining a strong relationship during the gifting partnership (33 per cent).

Almost one in four creators said brands should ask for permission before sending a gifted product (23 per cent).

Meanwhile, nearly one in three content creators (30 per cent) would like brands to be more creative when it comes to gifting.

Somewhat surprisingly, only 29 per cent of those surveyed wished for brands to set clearer expectations around content partnerships.

In regards to environmental concerns, roughly a quarter of influencers listed a focus on recyclable or sustainable gifts (27 per cent), reducing packaging (23 per cent) and reducing the volume of products gifted to minimise waste (22 per cent) as priorities.

“Creators are looking for more than free gifts to motivate them to share content with their audience,” said Billion Dollar Boy. “They want to shift away from excessive spending and materialism, and are looking for meaningful brand relationships.

“Applying this creator feedback to influencer gifting strategies can help brands to not only build stronger relationships with influencers, encouraging true brand advocacy from creators, but also leads to better performance and reduces mass, wasteful gifting.”