If you’ve ever wondered where influencer gifting fits within a marketing funnel, you’re not alone. Gifting is often seen as an awareness play. A way to get products into the hands of creators who can spread the word. However, in reality, it can influence every stage of the customer journey, from first impression to repeat purchase.
Before we dive in, let’s zoom out.
The Marketing Funnel in Simple Terms A marketing funnel is a framework that maps how someone moves from discovering your brand to becoming a loyal customer. While every funnel looks slightly different, it usually has three main stages:
Top of Funnel (TOFU) – Awareness and ReachMiddle of Funnel (MOFU) – Consideration and ConversionBottom of Funnel (BOFU) – Loyalty and AdvocacyEach stage needs different messages, content, and, importantly , different types of creators and gifting strategies .
1. Top of Funnel: Awareness & Reach This is your visibility zone. You’re introducing your brand to new audiences, building recognition, and sparking curiosity.
Gifting Strategy:
Creator Type:
Why it matters:
When done well, top-of-funnel gifting acts like modern word-of-mouth marketing at scale. It’s the quickest way to earn brand recognition without massive ad spend.
How It Works with #gifted: want to try your product (not just take a cheque), which makes the resulting content more authentic. You’re not dictating the brief. You’re providing a compass, not a map and you're letting creators express their genuine experience in their own voice.
2. Middle of Funnel: Consideration & Conversion Once awareness is established, it’s time to turn curiosity into trial. This is where audiences need reassurance and proof that your product really delivers. Social proof is incredibly important, and effective.
Gifting Strategy: deep trust with their communities. These partnerships are about connection over scale. You’re gifting selectively to those who align closely with your brand and are likely to genuinely love the product.
Creator Type:
Why it matters:
It’s also cost-effective testing. You can learn which creators, messages, or product formats resonate most before investing in bigger campaigns.
How It Works with #gifted:
3. Bottom of Funnel: Loyalty, Advocacy & Retention Once someone has purchased, your marketing doesn’t stop - it shifts to keeping them engaged and inspired to come back.
Gifting Strategy:
Creator Type:
Why it matters:
At this stage, gifting creates advocacy: happy customers who share their experience, generate UGC, and influence future buyers. When that content is reused in ads or social proof, it closes the loop and keeps your funnel continuously flowing.
How It Works with #gifted: is. If you are on a #gifted Pro or Pro+ subscription, you have full content licensing rights on all content captured in your Completed Content Gallery. If you are on a Grow subscription, you will need to negotiate independently with creators who's content you want to reprpose for paid ads.
The Big Picture Influencer gifting isn’t a one-size-fits-all tactic. When used intentionally, it becomes a powerful, full-funnel strategy driving reach, relevance, and retention in one integrated flow.
The trick is to align your gifting approach with your goals:
Need awareness ? Go wide. Want conversion ? Go targeted. Building loyalty ? Go personal. By choosing creators who fit the right stage of your funnel and giving them the freedom to tell your story their way, you’ll build a brand presence that feels both authentic and effective. Using #gifted in a smart and strategic way can help you build your marketing funnel and share social proof and advocacy in an affordable and impactful way.
If you’re not sure where gifting fits in your marketing funnel - or how to make it work harder for your brand - the #gifted team can help. We’ll work with you to map your goals, define your funnel focus, and design a gifting strategy that drives real results (and looks great doing it). Whether you’re after broad awareness, deep engagement, or stronger customer loyalty, we’ll help you plan your gifting campaigns to get the best result at every stage of the funnel.
👉 Book in with our team to start building your strategic gifting plan today.
