3 ms·

Is it really "just a free product" when that stuff starts around a few hundred bucks and can easily run into the thousands?

• whstl 3y ago
  Well, it is by definition, but yeah: with expensive products they obviously only send units to a small number of influencers, and often I know some stories of people only having it for a few days for making a video and having to return, almost as a favour. The more professional influencers obviously get paid a rate, and might or might not get a free unit.
• giantrobot 3y ago
  Most of that stuff has embarrassing margins. Sending a couple samples to an "influencer" (paid advertiser) is the same as sending a retail shop floor samples/demo units. It's a tiny fraction of an advertising budget to get it in the influencer's hands then in front of potential customers. An influencer campaign is probably a fraction of the cost of TV commercials with an order of magnitude better attach rate.
  • TylerE 3y ago
    I think y'all are missing the further implications. A lot of these influencers talk up the gear they're sent for free and then sell it.
    • giantrobot 3y ago
      A lot of gear sent to influencers is on a trial basis unless it's a "we want you to be seen using it". They usually have to return stuff after they make their ad. There's a subset that are directly selling stuff either as drop shippers or affiliate marketing. They're video versions of SEO blogs. I'd put those in a different class than the ones just running ads on their existing content channels. While they might be called "influencers" they're just running ads for their sales hustle.
    • whstl 3y ago
      This is not big enough to put a dent in sales. If the product is sold by an influencer, it will be sold as "Used", long after the "hype period" is over. This initial period of booming sales is very important for products announced trough influencers. Paying for the influences to do the work is more expensive than the products themselves, in pretty much every case I know of. And even for expensive products: if you send something to an influencer with the expectation to get back, it will come back used and has to be sold as B-Stock for a loss anyway. For stuff up to $200, $300 it ends up being much cheaper to just give away.
• jcranmer 3y ago
  Independent of the actual unit cost, if delivering one unit free of charge to an influencer results in just two extra sales, the manufacturer has made a profit on the free sample.
  • chihuahua 3y ago
    That is true only if the profit margin is > 50%. It is independent of unit cost, but not independent of profit margin.