For a long time, a logic has been imposed on the influence market: send a product to a creator and wait 'almost always in a veiled way 'Who publishes something in return. No contract. No guarantee. No remuneration.
But in practice, what we saw was a model disguised as collaboration that eventually normalized the exploration of creative work.
It is the massive seeding, a sending of thousands of kits with the hope of gaining visibility without paying. It is a practice that has become routine in many brands, but in 2025, with the Creator Economy matured and data available, it is worth questioning whether this logic still makes any sense.
Spoiler: does not.
At BrandLovers, we did a simulation comparing the classic seeding model with structured, paid and campaigns carried out with validated creators. The scenario was as follows:
- Seeding: 100 thousand kits sent, with logistics cost and average product of R$ 80 per unit. Result? Just over 5% of influencers posted something. The average reach was 400 people per content, totaling about 2 million people impacted. The estimated CPV was R$ 2.66.
- Structured campaign with paid creators: same budget (R$ 7 million), but distributed among thousands of creators with segmented audiences and real delivery rates (a media campaign in fact. Paying on average R$ 400 per post, we will have about 4 thousand views guaranteed per delivery, the total views exceeds 40 million. In this scenario, the PPV is below R$ 0.18. That is, R$ 2.48 lower than the seeding campaign.
What do these numbers say? That insisting on the free model costs dearly. It costs in efficiency, reputation and real impact.
Content is work, and work needs to be paid.
It is not only a matter of media efficiency.It is about respect.It is also about coherence with the discourse of brands that call themselves “pro-creators”, but in practice still treat influencers as volunteers who work for the sake of spontaneous media generation.
Each content involves planning, execution, editing and exposure. The idea that “o product is already payment enough” ignores the complexity and value of what is being delivered.It is no wonder that, in the face of it, the market is reacting.
Creators are positioning themselves and denouncing the model as outdated. And the public, increasingly attentive, begins to realize who values who is behind the camera IO and who just wants cheap audience.
The risk is not only of low delivery. It is of wear with those who matter.
Seeding at scale is uncontrollable by the simple fact that there is no guaranteed narrative. In practice, there is no brand safety, let alone actual measurement.
In the simulation we did, the content generated via seeding was, most of the time, a static photo, without storytelling, with very low engagement and no message control. Already the structured campaigns delivered videos with narrative, social proof and brand context, validated by AI and audited safely.
Moreover, the climate among creators who participated in seeding can be, in many cases, negative. Public complaints about exploitation and lack of payment have become frequent. This undermines the symbolic capital of the brand and compromises future collaborations with qualified talents.
It is not about abandoning seeding, it is about abandoning the expectation of return without reciprocity.
Sending products can (and should) be part of the strategy, but it needs to be in the right place: as awareness, courtesy gesture or gateway.
So what should guide the actions going forward is simple:
- If the brand expects delivery, it needs to offer compensation.
- If the campaign depends on creators, they need to be at the heart of the strategy and budget.
Exploration is not scale.
Treating creators as serious media is not just a matter of fairness, it is a smart decision. Campaigns with contract, briefing, guaranteed result and clear remuneration deliver more, with less noise and much more impact.
Content made by the creator should be paid for. And if your brand has not yet understood this, it may be time to review not only the strategy, but the respect for those who make the influence happen.
