Brides with modest social followings increasingly request free wedding products and experiences from brands in exchange for TikTok and Instagram promotion. Guides, spreadsheets of brand contacts, and ChatGPT-crafted outreach scripts are circulating online, and some brides report emailing hundreds of companies. Clips show hauls ranging from phone grips for bachelorette photos to electrolyte packets for hangovers. Larger brands often accept in exchange for exposure, while many small businesses report being inundated and frustrated. Some business owners say gifting to everyday customers yields better ROI than sending to major influencers. Critics call the requests tacky, while others view content monetization as standard practice.
Guides on how to score freebies are popping up on wedding sites like the Knot, while spreadsheets of brand contacts and ChatGPT-generated scripts are spreading online. On TikTok, one woman admitted to emailing more than 200 companies. Others are showing off hauls of what they've managed to secure-everything from Octobuddy phone grips for bachelorette photos to LMNT packets for post-party hangovers.
Brides - please stop asking for free gifts from small businesses 🥺 Also - for those who keep saying it's a mistake to not send my products to influencers with tons of followers: I get more ROI sending gifts to average people who need my products!! AND I LOVE the idea of sending gifts to people who wouldn't normally get PR - especially products this meaningful 🥰 This business model has worked extremely well so far!!
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