The DMs that get creators to say yes to a free box.
Cold ask, follow-up, the reply when they ask for a rate, and the usage-rights message. Copy, paste, send.
Enter your email and I'll send it to you.
Straight to your inbox, free. No sales call, no drip you can't leave.
Writing a good gifting DM from scratch, every time, doesn't scale.
Gifting works when you reach enough of the right creators, and that only happens if writing the message isn't the bottleneck. Here's what actually slows that down.
- The templates on Google are five years old and every creator has seen them.
- You write it fresh each time, which means you send four DMs instead of forty.
- They reply "what's the rate?" and you freeze, because you were offering a $20 product.
- They post, and you realize too late you never asked whether you could run it as an ad.
Six messages, for the six moments that matter
Not one generic template — the actual sequence of messages a gifting relationship goes through, each one written for the moment it's sent.
- The cold gifting ask. Three variants, written for nano, micro, and mid-size creators — the pitch changes with the audience.
- The day-seven follow-up. For creators who went quiet after saying yes. Reads as a nudge, not a chase.
- The rate-request reply. What to send when they ask "what's the budget?" — keeps the door open without you paying for a post.
- The usage-rights ask. How to ask for permission to run their content as an ad, without it feeling like a second negotiation.
- The re-gift message. For creators who already posted once — the message that turns a one-off into a repeat relationship.
- A note on adapting per niche. What to change in the product line depending on whether you're gifting apparel, consumables, or something else.
One from the pack — the cold ask
Hey [name] — been enjoying your kitchen posts. We make a stainless bottle that keeps drinks cold 24 hrs. Want one in [color], on us? I'll ship it this week, no post required — just wanted it in your hands.
The other five — follow-up, rate reply, rights ask, re-gift, and the niche note — are in the pack.
Enter your email and I'll send it to you.
Straight to your inbox, free. No sales call, no drip you can't leave.
How to run the pack
Five steps. The scripts do the writing — this is the sequence that gets them read.
- Pick your batch
15–20 creators for this round, not your whole list at once — you want to see what lands before you scale it.
- Match the variant to their size
Nano, micro, and mid-size creators get pitched differently in the pack. Send the one written for them, not a one-size version.
- Send the cold ask as written
Swap in your product line and nothing else. It's written short and specific on purpose — a longer version reads like a brand, not a person.
- Follow up on day seven
Anyone who didn't reply gets the follow-up script once. Not twice. If they wanted to answer, this one message is what does it.
- Log what closes and what doesn't
Note which script got a yes per creator size. By your second batch you'll know which variant is actually working for your niche.
Why this works
Creators get pitched constantly and ignore anything that reads like a brand. These are written short, specific, and product-first — you lead with the thing they're getting, not with who you are.
Product-first, not brand-first
Creators get pitched constantly, and most of it opens with a paragraph about the brand before it says what's actually on offer. These lead with the product — what it is, what they get, in the first line.
Short enough to actually send
A template that takes ten minutes to personalize doesn't get sent to forty people, it gets sent to four. These are short enough to send at volume and specific enough to not read like spam.
Built for the moment it's needed
The rate-request reply exists because that moment stalls more gifting campaigns than anything else. Having the answer ready, instead of improvising it mid-conversation, is most of the value here.
Enter your email and I'll send it to you.
Straight to your inbox, free. No sales call, no drip you can't leave.
What people get wrong
This is the part a scraped template can't fake — it comes from running the outreach, not from writing about it.
Writing a paragraph about the brand before the offer
Creators skim the first line and decide whether to keep reading. If that line is about who you are instead of what they're getting, most of them stop there.
Asking for a post in the first message
The first message is an offer, not a contract. Leading with deliverables turns a gift into a job application, and most creators would rather ignore a job application than negotiate one.
Going silent after they say yes
A yes isn't the end of the conversation, it's the start of logistics. Skip the shipping update and the confirmation, and the creator assumes the brand forgot about them before the box even ships.
Never asking for usage rights, then being unable to use the content
The best gifted content is the ad you didn't have to shoot — but only if you asked first. Most brands realize this after the post is already live, when it's too late to ask cleanly.
Questions before you download
Is this actually free?
Yes. You give an email, I send the file. There's no card, no call, and you can unsubscribe from the first email.
What happens to my email?
It goes on Seed's list. You'll get the file, and occasionally something else worth reading about creator gifting. One click to leave, and we don't sell or share it.
Do I need to customize these before sending?
Only the product line and the creator's name — the pack is written to be sent close to as-is. Over-customizing tends to make it read slower and more formal, which is the opposite of what gets a reply.
Will sending these at volume get flagged as spam?
These are written for one-to-one gifting outreach, sent by you from your own account — not for automated bulk sending. Personalize the name and product line on each one and send them the way you'd send any DM.
What platform are these written for?
Instagram DMs, since that's where most gifting outreach happens. The language works for email or TikTok with light edits — the structure (product-first, short, specific) is the part that matters.
I only have a small budget for gifting. Do these still work?
That's exactly the use case. The rate-request reply exists specifically for when your budget is the product and nothing else, and it's written to keep that conversation going instead of ending it.
Enter your email and I'll send it to you.
Straight to your inbox, free. No sales call, no drip you can't leave.