5 Influencer Campaigns That Multiplied Christmas And New Year Sales For Brands
Leading brands, like Calvin Klein, Gymshark, Daniel Wellington, and more, run Christmas and New Year influencer campaigns to capitalize on the holiday shopping frenzy and maximize sales.
Research shows nearly 64% of shoppers rely on influencers to come across gifting ideas for their loved ones on Christmas and New Year. So businesses employ talented creators who best represent their brand message to talk about their products throughout the holidays. The brands are aware of the influencers' convincing power and the number of conversions they can drive.
If you, too, want to stand out and make a mark around the holiday season, Christmas and New Year influencer marketing can be a perfect approach for you. Influencers will help you generate a positive buzz for your product and position yourself in the customer's minds so that when they shop, they think of your brand.
So, to help you "sleigh" your Christmas and New Year influencer strategies, we have handpicked 5 inspiring creator campaigns of all time run by leading brands.
Let's get to it!
5 Successful Christmas and New Year influencer campaigns to inspire your holiday marketing
1. Calvin Klein - #CKHoliday
Calvin Klein, the luxury fashion brand, is an influencer marketing mastermind! The brand knows how to leverage influencers' creativity and their audience.
Calvin Klein is known to have run numerous influencer marketing campaigns that allow YouTubers, celebrities, and content creators to share personal and intimate information about themselves – the best way to engage true fans.
Knowing that fans are always hungry to learn more about their favorite stars, Calvin Klein launched a YouTube series called "In bed with…" as part of their 2019 Christmas and New Year influencer campaign.
The series featured videos of Kendall Jenner and Emma Chamberlain getting ready for the holiday party hosted by Calvin Klein. The celebrities were seen talking about random topics like things they do in bed, preferred travel destinations, and more while wearing their CK favorites.
The idea was to leverage the audience of the celebrity influencers and get them to talk about the product around the holidays. The Christmas influencer campaign was a massive success, bagging more than 3 million views on just one video.
Besides celebrities, the 2019 Calvin Klein Holiday party also invited several lifestyle macro-influencers like Emili Sindlev, Kay, etc., to maximize their visibility. The brand asked the macro content creators to post unboxing videos of the gifted products on their social media handles under #CKHOLIDAY#MYCALVINS. The unboxing videos acted like gift guides for the audiences and encouraged them to give Calvins to their loved ones on Christmas, allowing the brand to boost its shopping sales.
Since the "In bed with…" YouTube series was such a hit, the brand had to stretch it out further as part of its 2020 New Year influencer campaign. The series featured famous internet personalities and social media influencers like Claudia Sulewski, Evan Mock, and Rickey Thompson in Calvin clothing talking about 2019 highlights and how they will spend their New Year.
Why was this holiday influencer campaign successful?
For the #CKHOLIDAY Christmas and New Year influencer campaign, Calvin Klein used three major strategies to earn big bucks.
a. They collaborated with multiple creators
The brand partnered with influencers ranging from mega to macro, allowing them to build mass awareness for the holiday product collection. They even added a link below the posts to encourage people to shop for the exact products the influencers like, resulting in more conversions.
b. They gave the audience what they want
People love learning about their favorite stars and influencers. The #CKHOLIDAY video series gave the customers exactly what they wanted, which allowed the brand to boost views and engagement.
c. They created more shareable content
Social media users tend to share posts and videos with friends they think are interesting to watch or read. The video series and social media posts accounted for more shareable content across social media channels, which boosted engagement for the brand.
Want to leverage influencer marketing for your holiday campaigns? Check out our detailed guide to learn how!
2. The Body Shop - #GiveWithJoy
The Body Shop, a beauty and skincare company, is another example of how brands have used influencers to position themselves in the market. The brand has run numerous influencer campaigns that allow customers to learn more about its products.
For Christmas 2021, the brand wanted to celebrate people who love selflessly. So they encouraged customers to remember selfless people in their lives and gift them The Body Shop products for Christmas. Moreover, they promised to give a small amount of every purchase to women's and children's charities.
The Body Shop ran a Christmas influencer campaign, #GiveWithJoy, where they collaborated with several macro and micro-influencers to spread the message and encourage their followers to buy The Body Shop products as Christmas presents.
In addition, the brand hosted an influencer party and treated creators to free makeup and threading. The chance to connect with other influencers and free products gave the creators a reason to talk about the party on their social media handles, boosting engagement for the brand.
As planned, the influencers shared their experience by posting a picture or writing an article under #GiveWithJoy to tell followers about the generous contributions the brand will make for Christmas 2021.
The Body Shop coupled the influencer content with a video ad they posted on multiple channels to increase awareness about the campaign.
Why was this holiday influencer campaign successful?
The Body Shop brand is known for its activism marketing and cruelty-free products. They have often collaborated with content creators and influencers in different niches, like beauty, pet, and even sustainability, to convey the brand message.
So what was it about the 2021 #GiveWithJoy Christmas influencer campaign that made it successful?
a. They started collaborating early
Knowing that most customers do their Christmas shopping around Thanksgiving and Black Friday, they started their campaign in mid-November. The strategy allowed the brand to connect with people before the shopping season, so they already know which product to buy when the season arrives.
Related: Amplify Your Black Friday and Cyber Monday Influencer Campaigns [5 Effective Tips]
b. They used emotional targeting
Since the campaign asked audiences to gift products to people who show selfless love, the audience became emotionally invested. Through the products, they wanted to show their loved ones that they cared too. And what better occasion to do that than the Christmas season! So as a thank you for the overflowing self-love, customers bought The Body Shop care packages as joyful treats for their loved ones.
c. They presented a strong initiative
The brand's initiative of buying products that give back to a good cause encouraged people to choose The Body Shop products over similar companies, giving it a competitive edge and generating big conversions.
3. Lego - #ShakeUpImagination
Lego, too, has had a history of launching inspirational and click-worthy Christmas and New Year influencer campaigns. In 2017, the brand launched a collaborative campaign with Insta moms and dads, family influencers, and lifestyle creators to reach parents and ask them to gift something productive to their kids.
The influencers posted a picture of their kids playing with the lego sets dressed in cozy Christmas overalls, discussing how the Lego bricks can boost brain activity and stimulate the kids' imagination. The #ShakeUpImagintaion featured posts from several influencers sparking joy in their kids with Lego bricks.
The Lego Christmas influencer campaign turned out to be a massive hit among moms and dads. The influencers Naomi Davis and Christine Andrew generated more than 23K collective engagement on their Instagram posts with positive customer reactions.
Lego complemented the holiday influencer marketing campaign with a video ad that truly brought out the essence of the campaign and tugged at people's emotions. The ad featured kids talking about what they would like to make with Lego bricks. The video caused a positive response in people that they couldn't ignore.
Why was this holiday influencer campaign successful?
The campaign was successful in generating high engagement and sales for the brand because:
a. They leveraged emotional targeting
The Lego Christmas influencer campaign tugged at the emotions of parents who love their kids and desire to give them an engaging, productive game. To do so, the brand adopted a storytelling content strategy that touched upon the parents' need to buy something good for their kids while making positive connections.
b. They used effective brand positioning
The influencer campaign effectively spread Lego's brand message, "to make a positive difference in the lives of children" by revving their imagination. It caused the customers to see Lego as a game that is good for their kids' brain activity and makes for the perfect Christmas eve present.
4. Fabletics - New Year, New You
Fabletics, an American activewear brand co-founded by Kate Hudson, invests vigorously in influencer partnerships, especially around the holidays. When it comes to creator marketing, the brand knows its audience well and uses the insights to its advantage.
For instance, the brand understands its audience becomes particular about health around the New Year, so it launches a New Year influencer campaign every year to boost its holiday shopping sales.
"Since January is our biggest month of the year, we really went after a lot of influencers," says Jennine Matthias, Director of influencer marketing at Fabletics. "We had them focus on 'It's a New Year, New You.'
They position their products as soft, comfortable, and best self-care partners through influencer collaborations. For example, in 2019, to encourage customers to prioritize self-love, self-care, and fitness, they partnered with over 200 paid and 350 non-paid (product gifting) micro-influencers on YouTube and Instagram. They wanted to establish the brand's activewear as trendy, affordable, and comfortable.
To do so, Hayley Pham and Boho Beautiful Yoga (owned by Juliana and Mark Spicoluk) posted videos of them relaxing and practicing self-care routines and doing yoga while wearing Fabletis clothing. The campaign drove close to 13000 new customers through direct links.
Why was this holiday influencer campaign successful?
Fabletics' New Year New You campaign was successful in bringing in thousands of new customers because:
a. They collaborated with micro-influencers
Collaborating with hundreds of micro creators allowed the brand to drive more engagement because of their close connections with the audiences. Micro-influencers interact with their followers daily to establish relationships with them and earn their trust. The audience's trust gives creators a convincing power which helps generate higher conversions.
"We're trying to work with as many people as we can who are of the right audience for us and that match our brand. We saw amazing results from that [for Fabletics]," says Matthias.