Founder and CEO of Sway Group, an award-winning agency that specializes in influencer marketing with a focus on B2C nano and micro campaigns
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Record inflation, high gas prices, lingering pandemic impacts, supply chain issues—there’s no doubt about it, brands are in for another unique holiday season.
While last year’s holiday trends offer useful insight into what’s likely to resonate this year, 2022 brings new context and associated consumer behaviors. The opportunity for driving revenue is enormous (over the last five years, holiday sales in November and December have averaged about 19% of total retail sales), but it will also be crucial for brands to adjust their outreach for 2022.
When it comes to authentic and persuasive holiday promotions, nothing beats the effectiveness of influencer marketing. Holiday influencer marketing campaigns are typically prepared well in advance to benefit from this important sales period, but it’s never too late to refine content strategies for success.
Let’s dive into some best-practice influencer marketing tips for the 2022 holiday shopping season.
Offer Deals—But Don’t Get Lost In The Sales Noise
This year’s higher prices are likely to prompt consumers to search for discounted purchases, and brands would do well to adapt holiday strategies to include more bundles and deals.
However, it can be a challenge to stand out from all of the other sales. Using influencers to promote a big sale is a common tactic, but it isn’t always a slam dunk: For example, Nordstrom’s once-iconic anniversary sale has drawn criticism from the influencers who once promoted it, with some complaining that the sale has lost its luster.
Best-practice tactics:
• Partner with influencers who are authentically brand-aligned and can share their real-life perspectives and sale recommendations.
• Offer real value in sales promotions, not just buzz—influencers can bolster value messaging with relatable examples (e.g., showing how they use a brand’s membership rewards to redeem points for purchases).
• Ask influencers to creatively promote lesser-known options for savings, such as a brand’s offer for free shipping, bundle or quantity discounts, or value-adds. Alternatively, provide influencers with an exclusive discount code or voucher for their followers.
Pivot To Creative Gifting Options
This year’s holiday shoppers are likely to be searching for budget-friendly gifting options, and as in years past, we expect to see more interest in nontraditional gifts and experiences.
Best-practice tactics:
• Ask creators to help promote branded content with a nontraditional gifting theme, sharing authentic why-to-buys through their own lens of influence.
• Put the spotlight on personal storytelling with relatable and heartfelt holiday stories that audiences can relate to.
• Lean into the 2022 gifting trends we’re seeing, such as charitable donations and sustainable/eco-friendly gifts; handmade items, memory books and photo gifts; health and wellness-based gifts; travel-based gifts and accessories for those returning to travel; and gifts that support the hybrid work life, such as home office-focused items.
Make It Personal
Influencers can help share the personalized, curated content that modern audiences are looking for. Outdated “spray-and-pray” tactics that deliver one message to many can not only be ineffective but also even potentially alienating (for example, assuming that everyone is ready to get back to shopping in person). Influencers have the ability to weave brand messaging into genuine, real-life reviews and recommendations based on targeted audience needs.
One major advantage of influencer campaigns over traditional advertising: Messaging can be updated on the fly. If a brand needs to change up its outreach due to unforeseen circumstances (price hikes, supply issues, shifting consumer preferences), influencer content can be quickly adjusted with personalization in mind.
Best-practice tactics:
• Consider partnering with micro- and nano-influencers, who can share a credible “everyday people” vibe along with associated perspectives and recommendations (note that smaller influencers are often seen as more relatable than those at the celebrity level).
• Try a geotargeted campaign that’s been tailored to audience locality and behavior. This deeply personalized strategy can help brands reach holiday shoppers with incredibly targeted messaging by demographic, location, interests, platform and more.
• Avoid scripted brand language in favor of flexibility when it comes to influencers’ content prompts, and prioritize their ability to bring brands into the conversation in personal, organic and relevant ways.
Show The Ease Of Shopping
One way to appeal to last-minute shoppers is to show them how easy it is to make a purchase or return an item, whether in-store or online. Any brand that offers seamless shopping, flexible delivery options and free/streamlined returns should be shouting these benefits from the rooftops.
Best-practice tactics:
• Ask influencers to include a strong focus on buying options and last-mile delivery in their promoted content.
• Partner with a variety of influencers who can share different perspectives about shopping: Some can authentically promote the in-store experience, while others can call attention to seamless e-commerce options (including social and live shopping) and contactless delivery.
Don’t Forget About Diversity, Equity And Inclusion
As holiday campaigns roll out and the sales noise increases, avoid the echo chamber effect by ensuring that campaign content includes a broad range of viewpoints and lived experiences. According to research by McKinsey & Company, “gender and ethnic diversity, inclusion, and performance go hand in hand.”
Influencer marketing campaigns are more effective when they represent the lives of the audiences who experience them. It’s never too late to reevaluate a holiday campaign’s inclusiveness and take any necessary steps to eliminate messaging bias or inequity.
Best-practice tactics:
• Prioritize diversity in influencer content by partnering with a variety of creators who can recognize the individual attitudes and practices within target demographics.
• Walk the talk: Show diversity, equity and inclusion brand values by avoiding underrepresentation of the people portrayed in outreach and visual content.
• Foster a culture of belonging: Knowing that holidays revolve around faith-based or cultural beliefs, ask influencers to authentically share holiday promotions in a way that’s inclusive and welcoming to all people and perspectives.
Above all, remain agile throughout the holidays and into 2023. The key to making the most of this promotional season is to stay flexible—and ready to make quick adjustments to stay relevant to ever-shifting consumer needs.
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