Sending a free product hopes for content; a paid order gets specific videos with clear rights. Here is when to choose which.
Product seeding and paid orders, what the words cover
You ship a product to somebody, with no order, no binding brief and no payment, hoping they talk about it. The person stays free: they can publish, publish nothing, or publish something you would not have chosen. In return, the cost is that of the product and the shipping.
What a paid order is
You order specific videos, with a brief, a delivery date, a number of formats and written usage rights. You pay, and you receive usable files. The difference is not the price, it is the certainty and the ownership of the rights.
The comparison, item by item
Seven differences, in the order they count.
The certainty of getting something, nil on one side, contractual on the other.
The usage rights, absent by default when seeding.
The delivery date, non-existent in one case.
Control of the message, nil in one case.
The unit cost, lower when seeding.
The volume reachable, higher when seeding.
And the management time, often underestimated on both sides.
What seeding really costs
Seven items, rarely added up.
The cost price of the product.
Shipping costs, sometimes with customs.
The time spent selecting recipients.
The time spent writing and following up.
Tracking the shipments, often manual.
The products sent that produce nothing.
And the opportunity cost, if that budget could have paid for two videos.
How to choose who receives the product
Seven criteria, more useful than follower count.
Somebody who already uses the category.
A setting resembling that of your customers.
Regular posting, not a dormant account.
A genuine interest expressed before the shipment.
A confirmed address, to avoid returns.
A language variant suited to your market.
And no current partnership with a direct competitor.
What to measure in each case
Six indicators, different by approach.
For seeding, the actual publication rate.
The delay between shipment and publication.
The usable quality of the content obtained.
For the paid order, the cost per delivered video.
The share of videos usable with no correction.
And, in both cases, what it produced in sales.
How to acquire rights after the fact
Six steps, when a spontaneous piece performs.
Writing to the person within days.
Offering an amount for a licence, never a payment in kind.
Specifying the duration, the territory and the media.
Asking for the original file, not the published version.
Having a simple agreement signed, however short.
And paying before the first paid release.
When each option wins
Six situations where it works.
A low-cost product that is easy to ship.
A category where people publish spontaneously.
An awareness objective with no date.
A reception test before a paid production.
A loyalty operation with existing customers.
And a budget that does not yet allow paid orders.
When the paid order wins
Advertising
No video can run in advertising without written rights. It is the clearest case.
Product pages and emails
These media serve for years: they require a long licence and clean files.
Testing openings and angles
Testing means ordering several comparable versions, which seeding never produces.
Anything with a date
Dealt with above, and it is the rule that decides.
How to write the outreach message
Seven lines, not one more.
Saying why you are writing to this person in particular.
Describing the product in one sentence.
Saying clearly that there is no obligation to publish.
Stating what you will not be able to reuse without agreement.
Giving the procedure if they would like a paid order.
Providing a contact for questions.
And asking for confirmation of the address before shipping.
How to combine the two
Six ways of making them work together.
Sending the product to ten people, ordering from those whose content you like.
Using seeding to spot, ordering to produce.
Reserving seeding for periods with no date.
Buying a licence on a spontaneous piece that performed well.
Offering a small paid order to people who are already customers.
And never promising exposure in exchange for a free product.
When to stop a seeding programme
Six signals, to review every quarter.
Fewer than one publication for every ten shipments.
Content systematically unusable in advertising.
Payment requests after the product has been received.
A total cost higher than that of a paid order.
No attributable sales after two waves.
And management time over one day a month.
What to write in both cases
Six mentions, even for a simple shipment.
What you hope for, without imposing it.
What you cannot use without agreement.
The claims forbidden in your category.
How the person has to disclose the partnership.
The contact in case of questions.
And the procedure if they wish to grant you rights.
What each approach obtains
| Point | Product seeding | A paid order |
|---|---|---|
| Control of the message | None | Total, through the brief |
| Rights over the video | None by default | Those purchased |
| The deadline | Uncertain | Contractual |
| The unit cost | The product | The product plus the work |
What product seeding really allows
Discovering profiles and testing reception. It produces neither usable files nor rights, so it never replaces an order when the video is meant for advertising.
What creates the duty to disclose a partnership
A gifted product is enough. The disclosure is mandatory even with no payment, and omitting it exposes the brand as much as the person on screen, to be confirmed with a lawyer per country.
The most frequent mistakes
Six reflexes that cost time and trust.
Sending a free product while expecting a specific video.
Reusing in advertising content obtained with no rights.
Promising a paid order that never arrives.
Sending to fifty people and following up with none.
Treating seeding as a zero cost.
And comparing the two approaches on cost per video alone.
One last marker: seeding buys luck, ordering buys time and rights. Choose according to what you cannot afford to miss.
