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Feeling the pressure to boost holiday sales or launch a new product? If you're a brand or a marketer, you're probably wondering how to team up with influencers in creative ways to achieve your marketing goals. The usual approaches like sending gifts to influencers, product seeding, or unboxing are tried-and-true methods. But what's fresh and exciting for this holiday shopping season?

Well, you can kick things off by seamlessly featuring your products in influencer videos. Sometimes, less talk and more action pique curiosity about your product. Alternatively, consider letting influencers organize contests, collaborate on gift guides, offer virtual shopping experiences, and more.

Now, let's delve into why partnering with influencers is vital during the holiday shopping season and explore innovative ways for brands to make a more significant impact beyond the conventional approaches.

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Importance of Influencer Brand Partnerships for Holiday Shopping Season

Influencer collaboration to promote holiday sales carries significant importance for brands and marketers. Here are some key reasons why partnering with influencers is essential during this festive period:

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1. Amplified Reach: Influencers have built loyal and engaged followings in specific niches. Influencer partnerships help brands tap into dedicated communities and reach a wider audience, with influencer recommendations strongly influencing purchase decisions.

For example, a fashion brand partnering with a popular fashion influencer during the holiday season can showcase the latest holiday limited editions, party outfit ideas, and gift suggestions. The influencer's expertise and personal style can inspire their followers and drive them to explore the brand's holiday collection, resulting in increased brand awareness and holiday sales.

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2. Authentic and Engaging Content:  Influencers possess the skill to create authentic and engaging content, making them valuable partners for brands. They are adept at showcasing a brand's products or services in a way that aligns with their personal style and is relevant to the holiday sales campaigns. According to a study by Stackla, 86% of consumers consider authenticity a crucial factor in determining which brands they choose to support.

An example of this is how a beauty brand collaborates with a beauty influencer to create tutorials and Halloween makeup looks using their products. The influencer's expertise and creativity can inspire their audience to try new looks and purchase the recommended products, thus driving holiday sales.

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3. Trust and Credibility: During the holiday season, influencers' trusted relationships with their followers become even more valuable. Data from McKinsey indicates that social media recommendations influence more than 50% of holiday sale purchases. When influencers endorse a brand or product, their recommendations carry weight and credibility, making their followers more likely to trust and consider the brand for their festive needs.

For instance, a food brand partnering with a well-known food influencer to share holiday recipes and tips can position the brand as an authority in the culinary space. Followers trust the influencer's expertise and are likely to purchase the brand's products for their holiday cooking needs.
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Check out our Influencer Marketing Playbook!
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Evolving Beyond Traditional Methods for Maximum Impact

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As the holiday shopping season approaches, brands face a saturated market where traditional influencer brand partnership methods, such as unboxing videos and product reviews, may no longer be enough to capture the attention of consumers. One reason why traditional methods may fall short is that consumers have grown accustomed to these types of content and may be less responsive to repetitive approaches.

With countless brands vying for consumers' attention during the holiday sales season, it's crucial for brands to evolve their influencer strategies to stand out and maximize their impact. By going beyond the traditional methods, brands can bring novelty and excitement to their influencer collaborations, making their content more memorable and shareable.

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Traditional Influencer Brand Partnership Methods

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A. Recap of traditional approaches:

Traditional influencer brand partnership methods have proven effective in engaging audiences and driving conversions. Some commonly used approaches include:

1. Unboxing videos: The popular collaboration method of unboxing videos allows brands to showcase the excitement of their products being unpacked and provide a genuine first impression to the audience.
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2. Product reviews: The traditional approach of product reviews enables brands to receive honest and unbiased opinions from creators, highlighting the features, benefits, and potential drawbacks of their products.
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3. Tutorials or how-to-videos: Brands can collaborate with influencers to create tutorials or how-to videos, where the influencers demonstrate how to use their products and provide step-by-step guidance to the audience.
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4. Comparisons with similar products: Collaborating with influencers to compare their products with similar items in the market allows brands to emphasize their offerings' unique selling points and advantages.
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5. Integration into daily routine: Brands can showcase their products as an essential component of an influencer's daily routine, allowing the audience to see how the products seamlessly fit into real-life scenarios.
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6. Testimonials: Collaborating with influencers to share their personal experiences and opinions about a brand's products provides social proof and validates the quality or effectiveness of the offerings.
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7. Guest posts or blogs: By collaborating with influencers on dedicated blog posts or guest posts, brands can leverage the influencer's platform to provide comprehensive information, images, and personal experiences about their products.

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B. Advantages and limitations of traditional methods

Advantages of traditional methods

• Highly effective in creating product awareness
• Showcasing the features and benefits
• Leverage influencer credibility and reach

Limitations of traditional methods

• Standardization can lead to reduced audience engagement
• Authenticity may be questioned if reviews or tutorials appear scripted
• Lack of creativity and uniqueness can make it challenging for brands to differentiate themselves

To maximize the impact of influencer collaborations during the holiday season, brands need to consider evolving beyond traditional methods and embracing new and innovative approaches. By doing so, brands can capture the attention of their target audience, leave a lasting impression, and drive meaningful engagement and conversions.

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Creative Brand Influencer Partnership Ideas

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1. Integrating your product organically during the random influencer conversation video

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‍Integrating your product organically during a random influencer conversation video is a smart and effective marketing strategy. Instead of forcefully promoting your product, this approach involves incorporating it naturally into the flow of the video content. This means that the product becomes a part of the conversation or activity without dominating it.

The key advantage of this approach is its authenticity. When viewers see a product being used or discussed naturally within the context of a video, it doesn't come across as a blatant advertisement. This makes it more relatable and trustworthy.

The above screenshot is from a TikTok video where Romana shares a candid moment where she's doing her makeup while talking about her baby girl and her family. As she applies her foundation, she mentions using the @BPerfect Cosmetics foundation and pairing it with a brush from @Dollbeauty_manchester. She enthusiastically expresses that the combination is a "chef's kiss" and tells viewers that the foundation brush is back in stock. She mentions the @HNB Cosmetics concealer, remarking that it speaks for itself and doesn't need further explanation.

By seamlessly integrating product promotions into her casual conversation, Romana keeps her viewers engaged and interested in what she's saying. This approach allows her to authentically share her experiences with the products, which can be more impactful than a straightforward advertisement.

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2. Interactive challenges and contests

‍Engage your audience with interactive challenges or contests related to holiday themes. It helps by encouraging user-generated content and creating a sense of community around your brand. For example, an influencer could ask their followers to share their most creative holiday decorations with a brand's product in them. This approach can encourage engagement and promote user-generated content involving the brand's product.

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Recently, Purrfect Little Art, a charming handmade stationery shop, introduced an exciting "Guess the Theme" contest for the holiday season. In this interactive event, participants are invited to test their creative guessing skills by attempting to unravel the mystery behind the upcoming collection's theme. Currently, the big reveal is scheduled for September 1, adding an element of anticipation and excitement. This contest engages the audience and fosters interaction, creating a buzz of excitement around the upcoming collection.

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3. Festive storytelling and behind-the-scenes

Craft relatable holiday stories that incorporate the brand's product, providing a behind-the-scenes look at how your product enhances the influencer's holiday experiences. For instance, an influencer could share the story of how a product made their holiday meal preparation more comfortable or how a product brought joy to their pet.

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KitchenAid, a kitchen appliance brand, partnered with food bloggers and influencers to share behind-the-scenes holiday cooking stories. The influencers posted in-depth tutorials and step-by-step videos demonstrating how KitchenAid appliances made their holiday meal preparations easier and more enjoyable. By showcasing the brand's products in action and sharing relatable stories, KitchenAid effectively highlighted the benefits and value of their appliances during the holiday shopping season.

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4. DIY and holiday hacks

‍Promoting DIY and holiday hacks that feature your product as a solution to common holiday challenges is a strategic approach. By showcasing creative ways to use your product during the season, you provide value to customers and position your product as an essential tool for holiday activities.

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‍For instance, Yankee Candle, a candle brand popular for its range of scents, partnered with lifestyle influencers to showcase the versatility of its candles in creating DIY holiday decor. The selected influencers created and shared inspiring content featuring Yankee Candle products. They demonstrated creating festive centerpieces, table settings, and decor pieces using the candles.

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5. Virtual events and live demonstrations

Host virtual events or live sessions where influencers showcase the brand's product in real-time, leveraging the trend of virtual gatherings during the holiday sales. For products like makeup, virtual live sessions and try-on tools can enable influencers to demonstrate how to try on or apply each product. These experiences can boost the personal shopping experience, delivering a sense of fun and excitement to the audience.

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L'Oreal Paris collaborated with influencers for a promotional campaign showcasing their newly launched virtual makeup try-on tool. With this innovative tool, customers can virtually test various makeup shades and products. As part of the campaign, influencers were invited to experiment with different makeup looks using the tool and share their experiences and results on social media.

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6. Collaborative gift guides

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Collaborative gift guides allow brands to partner with influencers and tap into their expertise to curate holiday gift recommendations. By aligning with influencers who deeply understand their target audience, brands can create gift guides that resonate with consumers and help them find the perfect gifts for their loved ones. Influencers often have a niche or specific area of expertise, whether it's fashion, beauty, tech, home decor, or any other interest.

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Sephora collaborated with beauty influencers to curate a holiday gift guide featuring their favorite beauty products and recommendations for different types of recipients, such as "Gifts for Makeup Lovers" or "Skincare Must-Haves for Winter." The influencers provide their expertise and personal insights to help consumers find the perfect gifts. These gift guides are shared on Sephora's website and social media platforms.

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Related: Top Holiday Influencers for Stellar Marketing Campaigns

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Tips for Building Effective Non-Traditional Collaborations

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A. Researching and selecting influencers aligned with the brand

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Choose influencers whose values align with your brand to ensure an authentic partnership. Take your time to identify influencers whose values, content, and audience align with your brand's identity and objectives.

Leveraging data-driven platforms like affable.ai can assist in finding the right influencers, ensuring an authentic partnership that resonates with the influencer's audience and your target demographic. Fortunately, there are tools like affable.ai's magic search that can help simplify the process. Magic search enables you to search for influencers based on specific criteria tailored to your brand's needs. You can input a few keywords, and the tool will provide results that align with your requirements.

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B. Open communication and brainstorming with influencers

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Collaborating closely with influencers allows you to tap into their expertise and unique perspectives, leading to innovative and compelling content that resonates with their audience. Brainstorming ideas together creates a collaborative approach that allows for the creation of content that is both engaging and mutually beneficial.

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C. Focusing on authenticity and providing creative freedom

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Authenticity is critical in influencer collaborations. When influencers are free to authentically integrate your brand or product into their content, their audience is more likely to trust their recommendations. Giving influencers the space to create content that feels genuine and aligned with their personal style and audience is essential.

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Wrapping Up

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With authenticity and personal connections highly valued in the digital age, non-traditional influencer collaborations can create lasting impressions beyond the holiday season. Also, it acts as a crucial tool for brands to achieve greater brand exposure and stand out in a crowded marketplace. Influencer marketing platform tools like affable.ai can elevate your campaigns by connecting you with the right influencers. ‍Book a free trial with our experts to learn more!

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