Companies have multiple reasons for giving away free stuff. In general, the cost of giving away the free stuff is comparatively smaller than the potential benefits of securing new customers. For many brands, gaining customer loyalty is incredibly hard and it takes giving away something completely free to entice people to even try something new. Humans are very much creatures of habit and we like what we know. If any of these free giveaways gets people to change their choice of supplier of coffee, socks, haircuts or soap; they might have a regular customer for the next decade, potentially worth thousands of pounds.

We’ve worked with brands who give stuff away for free to celebrities to endorse by using and sharing their experience (and maybe become customers in their own right) – this is exactly what they want members of the public to do; it just tends to be on a smaller scale. The average member of the public has a far smaller sphere of influence than a celebrity so an endorsement by any given member of the public is of less value, hence you only get given 3 free biscuits or a mini can of Pepsi.

Celebrities beware: the dos and don’ts of getting free stuff

A lot of brands use seeding to get their products out there, and giving them to celebrities or people with a high level of influence is often a great way to do this. BUT we’ve received a lot of feedback from brands who aren’t happy with the way this is done, and it just means they are much less likely to send that person any more stuff. Lucky enough to get free gifts in return for social media posts? Here’s a guide to what to do and what not to do!

Here’s an example of a perfect endorsement from the wonderful Mel Nicholls!

Roller training in the sunshine + top tunes thro my gorge new @vibeaudio #SlickZipEarphones #MatchyMatchy #TechChic pic.twitter.com/9RPnjAup6G

— Mel Nicholls (@Dolly2racer) April 11, 2014

DO

1. Tweet or post pictures of you wearing the items or using them in your day to day life

2. Take the freebie out the packet!

3. Tweet or post more than once

4. Write as if you had genuinely bought the item

DON’T

1. Don’t say ‘thanks’

2. Don’t acknowledge that the stuff was free

3. Don’t take a picture of it all together

4. Don’t start the tweet with @theirusername (because then it only appears on the timelines of people who already follow you AND them)

Companies want to give you free stuff in return for your followers and fans seeing how amazing their products are! But, when it is really obvious that you’ve got free stuff in return for a plug, it just cheapens their brand and makes it look like they just hand stuff out.

The better you are at getting this right the more free stuff you will get – trust us on this one!