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It’s the most wonderful time of the year for advertisers, marketers, and influencers alike. With retail sales peaking amidst the holiday season, you will notice influencers tend to collaborate with their favorite brands around this time of year in an effort to promote new products for Christmas! Whether customers are in the spirit of giving or need to locate the best deals of the season for that mandatory office gift exchange, influencers will be your guide to the best products this holiday season. Influencer marketing is the new frontier of holiday advertising and can be a successful strategy for brands to overcome the competition of advertising during the holiday season. In this blog, we will give you 10 of the hottest holiday campaigns from recent years. You can use these holiday campaigns as inspiration for your marketing strategy or Christmas shopping!
Secret Life of Pets
Forbes reported The Secret Life of Pets to have one of the most successful openings at the box office. The record-breaking movie was fueled by influencers on social media! The Secret Life of Pets movie collaborated with some of Instagram’s most popular users… dogs (how fitting):
@itsdougthepug’s collaboration with The Secret Life of Pets release was one of the top holiday campaigns in 2016. Doug the Pug is always engaging in mischievous fun on Instagram, nothing is more fitting than a campaign about a movie featuring secretive pets. Posts promoting the film all used the hashtag #SecretLifeOfMyPet, encouraging Instagram users to post their own photos of their pets to celebrate the movie release. This hashtag alone has been used over 5,000+ on Instagram!
Shutterfly
Shutterfly is launching a new campaign titled “Anything Flys” this season, and it challenges all social norms around card giving and receiving. The message behind this new campaign is to welcome home any message, and that no matter what people choose to share, it will always be welcome on Shutterfly. In recent years, Shutterfly has collaborated with influencers all over Instagram, including:
Gabrielle Union-Wade back in 2017 to showcase the many cards, prints, and products offered for the holiday season! What better way to spread holiday cheer than a personalized Christmas card? @gabunion’s campaign post features various prints, portraits, and cards that were a part of her very own collection. Her collection was such a success, it stuck around! Check out her collection for gift ideas, holiday décor, and a whole lot of Christmas cheer.
Lulus
Lulus is all over the gram! That is likely because Lulus knows how to best market their products to their target audience of young women. Lulus runs campaigns with some of Instagram’s most popular influencers, in which many young women look up to, including:
During last year’s holiday season, Savannah Labrant posted a photo with her daughter, sporting clothes from Lulus. Her caption included campaign-specific tags hashtags like @lulus and #LoveLulus. The hashtag now has over 150 thousand posts. This campaign promoted clothing from Lulus, the perfect place to do your Christmas shipping this holiday season. This post alone received over 700 thousand likes, allowing Lulus to receive a lot of attention.
Colgate
If “all you want for Christmas is your two front teeth” …. listen up! Influencers on Instagram are promoting Colgate and their new products just in time for the holidays. For example, Aspyn Ovard paired up with Colgate to promote the Optic White High Impact toothbrush and whitening pen. On her Instagram post, she shares the perks of using this product, such as how it has gotten rid of her coffee and acai bowl stained teeth just in time for the holidays! In addition, @sarahmgellar and @igeeokafor both promote Colgate Optic White High Impact toothpaste to their followers, impacting Colgate sales significantly. In each of their posts, they tagged Colgate and included the hashtags #WhiteningThatWorks and #ColgateParnter.
Nordstrom
From the beginning of time, Nordstrom has had the hottest trends in fashion and home decor, making it the perfect place to shop each holiday season. In the past, Nordstrom’s #LoveNordstrom campaign has taken the internet by storm, but last holiday season Nordstrom’s ship to store feature was what influencers on Instagram were promoting heavily. This new feature allows you to pick up packages without the hassle of aimlessly roaming around Nordstrom’s for hours on end! Influencers like @jacimariesmith, @christineandrew, and many more have collaborated with Nordstrom’s to share their newest products and features. In a festive and creative fashion, Jaci posed with a set of gift boxes and holiday lights to promote #Nordstrom! Her one post alone got over 33,000 likes, reaching thousands of Instagram users and potential Nordstrom shoppers.
Legos
Legos are a staple in every child’s stocking! They are fun, they are merry and bright, and they are among one of the most popular holiday campaigns with influencers on Instagram. Here are just a few influencers on Instagram promoting Legos this holiday season:
Legos use hashtags to promote their brand on social media. The hashtag #LegoIdeas has caught on in recent years and appears in many lego ads on Instagram. In fact, almost 140 thousand Instagram users have used this hashtag. #LegoIdeas encourages users to post their creations. For example, @gparrish collaborated with Legos to showcase the joy such a simple toy can bring into your household this holiday season. Her campaign features a photograph of her children decked out in holiday gear as they play with their Legos. Her caption promotes her creative Lego hack and includes the campaign-specific hashtag #ShakeUpImagination. She even wrote a blog to give further details on how she used legos to occupy her children as she prepared for the holiday season.
Macy’s
Macy’s is the hottest department store for your holiday shopping needs. Macy’s has collaborated with many influencers to launch their #FindRemarkable campaign, including:
This holiday campaign provides an Instagram Live hack that can help customers put outfits together with the help of their favorite influencers! For example, @tach.j recently posted a picture in her favorite Macy fashion picks with the hashtag #FindRemarkable. The hashtag has caught on, as Instagram users across the app are posting their favorite Macy’s products, hashtag and all!
Vistaprint
It seems as if Vistaprint has increased marketing and advertising efforts this holiday season, as they have collaborated with countless influencers across Instagram. Given that this is around the time people start to create the perfect family Christmas card, Vistaprint ads have been more prevalent than usual lately. Some influencers that are promoting Vistaprint this season include:
Just yesterday, @madison.murdock posted a Vistaprint ad promoting a new sale Vistaprint is having in celebration of the holiday season. Her post features the hashtag #VistaprintHoliday, a hashtag that Vistaprint is pushing in hopes that it will catch on when Instagram users share their favorite Vistaprints! Madison also included the code “SEASONGREETINGS,” which will give her followers up to 50 percent off their order.
Bombay Hair
You’ve likely heard of Bombay Hair from the many influencers promoting the up and coming brand on Instagram. It is a hair extension and styling tool company, and all products are available worldwide. Recently, Bombay Hair has been utilizing influencers on Instagram for their marketing and advertising efforts during this holiday season. Here are a few influencers currently promoting the Bombay brand:
In just five hours, @peytontganus’s Instagram ad racked up over 13,000 likes, allowing Bombay Hair’s new curling wand to be marketed to the masses. In every Bombay Hair campaign, each influencer receives a code to give to their followers. For instance, @peytontganus’s code is “PG80” and gives followers $80 off and free shipping!
Armani Beauty
Armani Beauty increases marketing and advertising efforts for the holiday season in order to increase holiday retail sales. Through influencers on Instagram and other social media platforms, Armani Beauty finds success in marketing efforts. Wendy Nguyen (@wendyslookbook), for example, is an Instagram fashion icon and prominent influencer. Last holiday season, she collaborated with Armani Beauty to promote their newest cologne for men through various Instagram posts. In one post, she described the product as “deep and sexy.” Who wouldn’t want to purchase? Julia Engel (@juliahengel) is another influencer that collaborates with Giorgio Armani to promote a new fragrance. In her posts she tags both @ArmaniBeauty and @Nordstrom, allowing her followers to locate this new product with ease! From a marketing standpoint, she is appealing to two brands in tagging both the product and department store in which the product was purchased.
