The holiday season is one of the most challenging times for digital marketing teams. As marketing activity, product offers and creative campaigns reach fever pitch, it can be difficult to work out how to cut through the noise.
With more and more brands making influencer marketing a staple of their advertising approach, simply working with influencers is no longer enough.
This is your guide to some of the best festive influencer campaigns we’ve seen recently, to inspire you to cut through the noise and make a lasting impression on those invaluable Christmas shoppers.
Why brands are increasing their influencer budgets during the holidays
It’s no secret that Christmas is one of the biggest times of year for almost every brand in existence, with retail activity going through the roof from Black Friday right through to New Year. Last year, shoppers spent more than $105bn in November alone.
Competition between brands is growing faster than ever, with each fighting sales in their vertical this holiday season. With the prevalence of viral gift trends growing in the TikTok and Instagram age, making waves on social media is more important than ever.
· 60% of Gen Z shoppers and 56% of Millennials use social media for gift ideas and making purchases
· Social media advertising generated five times more traffic than conventional marketing methods in the 2023 holiday season.
· Christmas season ad spend in the UK went up 5% in 2023 compared to the previous year, with a record-breaking £9.5bn being spent on festive advertising
Influencers are well and truly an embedded part of successful Christmas marketing, with 85% of 18-34 year olds preferring influencer marketing over traditional methods, like radio or digital. Interestingly, only 27% of respondents to the survey were convinced by an influencer’s reputation or celebrity status – making a strong case for creative micro-influencers with engaged and active audiences.
As research indicates that more than half of Gen Z consumers like to see festive marketing as early as November, landing an effective influencer campaign early is fast becoming a necessity for any brand with holiday ambitions.
10 Festive Influencer Campaigns You Can Learn From
Travelodge
Travelodge teamed up with a range of energetic and fun-loving Instagram influencers for their Christmas campaign.
@matthewandryan (446K followers) serve up a comedic tale of a surprise holiday trip gone wrong, calling for a last-minute Travelodge to save the day. It’s the perfect narrative to unveil Ryan’s own surprise after Matt’s failed country retreat – matching sets of limited-edition Travelodge Christmas pajamas!
They also engaged micro-influencer @aspoonfulofalice (9.9K followers), who highlighted their own story of Travelodge becoming a real lifeline in the holiday season. As someone with ADHD, Alice loves having Travelodge as a quiet, private space after a full-on day of socializing with family.
By viewing the product through different narrative lenses, whether fictional or factual, Travelodge have hit upon a range of diverse new ways to highlight the key selling points of the brand – consistent, dependable, short-notice comfort – through influencers rather than conventional adverts.
Google Workspace
Google wanted to promote their video calling app ‘Google Meet’ to new audiences in the holiday season. Traditionally advertised as a business solution, Google wanted to tap into the sizeable user base that use video calling apps for connecting with family.
Influencers – particularly family-oriented creators, like @francislola (337K followers), were the perfect way to do this. By speaking to audiences who followed an inspirational motherhood and family role model like @francislola, overlaid with her personal and emotional experiences using the app, Google was able to fuse the fuzzy feelings of Christmas connections and the Google Meet product.
Google gave each influencer room to make the content their own, while ensuring that they hit upon key messaging before the end of the Insta reel or TikTok video. By hitting on the message that ‘Google Meet is built right into all Android devices’, customers were left with an impression of its convenience compared to competitor apps, having just seen it in action with cute family reunions, fun with filters and great call quality.
HP
You might be forgiven for thinking that it could be difficult to market printers at Christmas time. Think again!
Like Google in example above, HP have recognized that the real value of a product is in how it’s used. The brand decided to shine a light on the printer’s role in festive family traditions, and most importantly, how it could help people get even more joy out of their precious moments during the holiday season.
Whether it’s printing out all kinds of fun designs for decoration-making with the kids, or making custom labels to put on jars of festive jams and preserves, viewers are left with the impression that they’re really missing out on creative options without a HP printer.
@florinehofstee (243K followers) and @houselarsbuilt (241K followers) are the perfect home, crafts and family influencers to make this point, by showing off how easy it is to print directly from your phone, or add personalized labels to delicious jars of apricot jam.
Campari
Campari is a classic Italian aperitif known for its vibrant red color and distinctive bittersweet flavor. Often used in cocktails like the Negroni, it’s a symbol of sophisticated, timeless drinking culture.
The brand teamed up with US fashion and lifestyle creator @mrlittle (638K followers) on Instagram to raise awareness for the new Campari bottle design during the holidays.
Viewers were treated to a sleek piece of video content showing Rashad (Mr Little) hosting a cocktail party. With opulent golden apparatus, and the evening sun proving a stunning backdrop, we can see that visuals are the core element of the content. We’re given close up shots of Campari cascading into the glass, being stirred smoothly through ice, and being served up for the guests to enjoy.
Campari is a brand that upholds sophistication. We can see the brand’s core values shine through the content. It’s sleek, smooth, and exudes lavishness upon every drop.
While the production is magnificent, the influencer selection is even better. When teaming up with just one creator, brands must ensure that they truly encapsulate brand values. Rashad is a cool customer whose fashion sense, affection for fragrance, and leadership on topics such as self-improvement were too much for Campari to ignore.
When brands team up with creators matching their core values, that’s the perfect cocktail.
Marshalls
Marshalls sells everything from clothing and footwear to home decor, kitchenware, toys and more. Christmas is a huge opportunity – but one where they need to differentiate themselves from the competition.
They collaborated with a number of influencers to demonstrate the huge array of products on offer to Christmas shoppers, allowing them to play to their strength – product range. @malloryleerichardson (181.7K followers) did a gift haul that had something for literally everyone, from toddlers and children right up to presents for dad.
@natashac44 (1.3M followers) took a similar approach, but brought viewers into the Marshalls store itself to discover everything that was on offer. That wasn’t all – as a colorblind person, she posted her video in black and white. This ensured those who were affected by it, or shopping for those with the condition, were able to appreciate that many Marshalls products offered a great experience nonetheless.
Marshalls also teamed up with a Washington DC radio station to offer prize tickets to major holiday season events, something which @jessicarosehood (86.8K followers) showed off with tons of great personal videos from her last Christmas in a sparkling D.C. and all its festive shows.
Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s were looking to promote some of the major savings they offered on Christmas dinner centerpieces, whether it was 50% off beef or a third off pork shoulder.
Rather than rely on conventional, staged shots of Christmas foods, Sainsbury’s worked with a range of influencers under the “Hey Sainsbury’s” slogan. Influencers challenged Sainsbury’s to help them put a twist on the classic meal or convince their mum to stop making Christmas puddings, showing viewers the shopping they brought home and the meals it turned into.
When influencers mention the Nectar card savings they made as they unpack the shopping, it feels like a natural and familiar experience – as though coming from a friend or family member. As a result, viewers come away with a thought like “those pulled pork buns that @muddlethroughmummy made would be great for Christmas Eve”. The product offer becomes intwined with a moment of inspiration.
Olaplex
Olaplex promises to keep their consumers’ hair shining all year round, so the brand wasn’t about to let down its audience during the busiest period of the year, when that shine matters most.
The haircare brand teamed up with US creators on Instagram from the beauty vertical including makeup artists @makeupbyerika19 (173K followers), @naturally.nish (119K followers), @shawtysin_ (337K followers), and @chadkenyon (189K followers).
In the content we saw creators running through their hair care routines, using the Olaplex Nº.4 Bond Maintenance Shampoo and Nº.5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner to maintain their hair health over the holidays. Olaplex ensured to partner up with Latin American influencers to appeal to that demographic, and also set up a giveaway competition to raise the campaign’s engagement levels even further.
Samsung
Samsung’s seasonal push continued beyond Black Friday and Cyber Monday into the holidays. The brand ramped up its tech discounts in December, partnering with US creators on Instagram including @anniemescall (161K followers), @f1elly (176K followers), and @athomewithsheley (338K followers). Theses influencers were from a mix of gaming and home verticals, with tech products being the focal point of each activation.
Throughout the content we see creators using a range of Samsung products. Influencers from the home vertical were showing off Samsung’s The Frame 75” QLED 4K Smart TV, alongside their seasonally decorated home. Whereas the gaming influencer put Samsung’s curved television to the test, putting pedal to the metal in a racing game to give viewers an insight into the immersive experience.
Each creator provided information on how to access the lucrative deals either in-store or online in their captions.
Klarna
During the holidays, Klarna becomes a best friend, a fallback for anyone looking to shower their loved ones with gifts.
Klarna teamed up with footwear and apparel brand Converse, launching an influencer marketing campaign to highlight a 20% discount on footwear when purchasing through Klarna. The brands enlisted the help of US fashion influencers @_dezsmith (20K followers), @ava.tocloo (461K followers), and @audreytrullinger (150K followers).
Each influencer created Reels content showing different ways of styling Converse footwear alongside seasonal clothing, while the messaging was directed towards the ease of shopping with Klarna, and how shoppers can grab holiday gifts without the stress.
Option B
Option B is an organization that provides practical, compassionate, everyday advice both for those who are facing loss and hardship themselves, and for those who want to show up for their loved ones during life’s hardest moments.
For many, the holidays means spending time with family and loved ones. However, not everyone has that luxury. Option B partnered up with @feedthemalik (181K followers) to raise awareness and provide support to those who find the holidays difficult to navigate.
In the content Anela talks about experiencing the holiday season post-divorce and how she is carving her own path and still finding joy by spending time with friends and family, whilst prioritizing time for herself. She describes how Option B offers support to anyone struggling during the seasonal period, linking viewers to the organization’s website where they can access resources and guides on how to maintain a ‘happy holidays’ despite lifestyle changes and difficulties.
Concluding Thoughts/Key Takeaways
Tap into people’s real Christmas priorities
People don’t want to buy toys at Christmas – they want to see the delight in their child’s eyes when they open a great present.
People don’t want to spend more on food at Christmas – they want to impress their friends and family, and create a meal that’s as special as the occasion.
Influencer content allows you to get directly to the emotional core of your customer’s rationale for purchasing. By working with influencers who your target influencers identify with – homemakers, lavish gift buyers, crafty people, or others – you can create the perfect canvas for your customers to project themselves onto and get inspired.
Storytelling sells in the holidays
The Christmas period is a cozy, nostalgic, and ultimately emotional time for many people. Consumers turn to brands to help them create the perfect festive environment. In order to convince them that you’re the best choice among your competitors, you need to exude an easy, welcoming warmth from the first moment of your marketing content.
The power of your campaign lies in demonstrating the experience or result of your product, which is where influencers come into their own.
Look back over the influencer content featured in this article. The moments where dad is having too much fun with the kids’ mini-drone from Marshalls, where the jars of jam with custom HP-printed labels are left on a neighbor’s doorstep, or where mother and daughter make a Sainsbury’s Christmas dinner together; these are the moments where the holiday feeling, which your customers want more than anything, is found.
Christmas is special – your offering should be too
Viewers are looking for something that sparkles at this time of year. While influencers can do much of the heavy lifting when it comes to marketing your product, you need to make sure you have something exceptional to share.
Take Travelodge’s limited edition Christmas knitwear, or Sainsbury’s Extra Special Christmas range – these limited runs of products are carefully crafted for seasonal consumption. Not only that, but their limited nature makes them perfect for ‘announcement’, ‘haul’, ‘unboxing’ and other classic types of influencer videos.
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Still stumped about how to make a connection with your audience this holiday season?
Whether you’re not sure on the best narrative to support your seasonal offering, or have no idea where to begin digging up some micro-influencer treasures, The Goat Agency is here to help you save Christmas this year.
