Gifting Jake Shane

We all know that influencer marketing has changed a lot in the past few years. Contracts are bigger, campaigns are more polished, and everyone’s fighting for attention.

But sometimes the simplest approach still wins: putting the right product in the right hands at the right time.

And nothing proves that better than what happened when comedian and podcast host Jake Shane posted twice about our client UnHide…without ever being paid to do it.

If you’ve scrolled TikTok recently, chances are Jake Shane has made you laugh. He’s built a massive following by keeping things real and relatable.

That’s why it was such a huge win for us when he posted about our client UnHide – organically, without us even asking.

Not once. TWICE.

Influencer marketing can look like a lot of big contracts, revisions, and carefully planned campaigns, but it can also be as simple as knowing who is going to love your product and have a reason to include it in their content.

In our case, it was a viral comedian and podcast host, Jake Shane, posting about UnHide’s Human Dog Bed…..for free.

Here's how we did it:

We started by building the relationship.

Before Jake ever posted, we were already communicating with his team. We took the time to connect with his manager, build trust, and show that we just wanted to get our product into Jake’s hands because it’s something we truly believe he would enjoy.

We acted on timing.

Jake’s content moves fast, and his audience does too. It can be easy for PR packages to arrive and be overlooked pretty quickly when creators get sent a lot of product.

We sent this to Jake’s house as a ‘welcome back from tour’ present, which was the perfect opportunity to share a soft, fluffy human dog bed. And there’s nothing you want to do more than lie in a human dog bed for several hours after being on a tour bus for weeks.

We knew the audience.

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Jake’s followers aren’t just numbers; they’re a community. We understood why our product would resonate and made sure the fit was authentic to him and the people who follow him.

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The result? Jake Shane shared our product organically with millions of his fans. Zero dollars spent and a lot of credibility gained for the brand.

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Where we go from here…

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A one-and-done post isn’t the goal. We’ll continue to nurture the relationship with Jake and his team so the door stays open for future partnerships.

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The takeaway:

Yes, influencer marketing can be unpredictable. But with the right mix of relationships, timing, audience insight, and willingness to take risks, it pays off.