How to Prepare for Your Holiday and Peak Season Influencer Campaigns

The last three months of the year are some of the most important for retailers who want to capitalize on the holiday season. This year, the holidays may look different, but you can still step up your influencer campaigns for the peak season. Word of mouth marketing leads to twice as many sales as direct marketing, which can have a huge impact on your bottom line going into the end of the year. 

With strategic influencer campaigns, you can reach more of your audience, generate excitement about holiday-specific products and discounts, and drive more sales to wrap up the year. These tips will help you get your influencer marketing campaigns ready for the holiday season so you can maximize your results.

At the end of September and into early October, you should nail down which products you want to promote through your influencers. If your primary focus is Cyber Monday, send out products a week or two earlier than you would if you wanted to promote last-minute holiday shopping. It’s better to start your campaign preparation and planning early instead of waiting until November to get the most out of Cyber Monday. In mid-October, start seeding out those products to your influencers.

The earlier your influencers get the products, the sooner they can create content that aligns with your main focus for the campaign. They can also start teasing the products and build interest in the months leading up to product releases and sales. Make sure to communicate your timeline and campaign goals to your influencers when you start seeding out products so they can generate the best content and most buzz.

In November, all the content will start rolling in. The content your influencers generate depends on you. It may be user-generated content in the form of social media posts highlighting new or hero products. You can also gather eCommerce reviews for holiday kits and collections or your most popular products. Since so many consumers turn to the internet to research potential purchases, updated eCommerce reviews are a great form of social proof for brands to drive conversions.

Another way to generate more excitement around the holidays is with gift guides — curated lists of products tailored to different personas, depending on your audience. Unboxing videos are popular year-round, but they tie in really well with the excitement of unwrapping gifts around the holidays, too.

There are a few different tactics you can use as the foundation of your influencer marketing campaigns to generate buzz around the holidays. If you have a holiday collection, you can gift separate units to your influencers to create awareness about your special products and offerings. You can also ask your influencers to promote holiday kits and sets (if applicable) to their followers since they’re seasonal and make great gifts for friends, families, or shoppers themselves! Give your influencer partners holiday-specific promo codes to share with their audience when they post about your products if you’re driving traffic to your ecommerce page.

Use the season as an opportunity to build deeper relationships with your influencers, especially your VIPs. Create holiday bundles for your VIP creators to go big at the end of the year and thank them for all their hard work for your partnership. Host a (digital) holiday event and invite your creators. Talk about your brand, your kits and products, and give it a cute, festive theme! Send out custom holiday backgrounds, hot cocoa or holiday-themed drink ideas, and other special treats to participants to make it feel more like an in-person event.

The holidays will be here before we know it, but with the right preparation your influencer campaigns will be ready to go. From highlighting seasonal products to special holiday deals, influencer marketing can help you step up your game for peak season this year. Make sure to map out your timeline for the biggest impact and make the holidays feel special by celebrating your VIP influencers and partners with special bundles and fun events.

Octoly makes it easy for brands to build authentic text reviews and amazing influencer content with product seeding campaigns at scale.