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Holiday Home Makeover 

For: Homeware & Lifestyle Brands 

For many consumers, the holidays are a chance to transform their homes with a festive spirit, and they’re turning to influencers for ideas — from Pinterest boards of centerpieces to Instagram posts of gorgeous DIY projects. Collaborating with influencers to showcase beautifully set tables and inspiring decor is a great way to connect with shoppers in an inspiring, “share-worthy” and organic manner.   

We recommend selecting a number of lifestyle influencers in each of your target markets for a “holiday home makeover,” whereby influencers use your products to transform a room in their homes for a “how to” blog post and an inspiration photo on Instagram or Pinterest. If you have an online store and are part of an affiliate program, we recommend incorporating Shopping Links Affiliate Links (SLINKS) to encourage viewers to immediately shop featured products and track the sales from the collaboration.   

Family Portrait or Photo Shoot

For: Fashion Brands 

In between holiday shopping, cooking, family get-togethers and workplace parties, parents must also find the time to buy the kids’ holiday outfits — and probably update their own. Engaging bloggers to show how easy this can be using your brand to outfit the whole family is very effective. We recommend selecting a couple of bloggers in each of your targeted regions to post a family photo on Instagram, as well as an article on their personal blog, that shows everyone in the family outfitted in your brand. Depending on each blogger’s influence level and your budget, we recommend gifting the product at a minimum, and offering payment to high-influence bloggers.   

Holiday Beauty “How To” 

For: Beauty Brands 

Beauty consumers have embraced influencers in a way that has had a significant impact for brands, with many turning to bloggers over editors for product advice and direction. Taking advantage of the increasing number of video bloggers, we recommend selecting 4-5 diverse beauty bloggers to give “holiday makeup” tutorials on YouTube using your products to show how to achieve the perfect look for workplace parties, family soirees, or a special night out. Complementing these short videos with a preview on Snapchat or Instagram Stories is a great way to bolster views. (If your brand has a YouTube channel, it’s always a good idea to negotiate the right to post the video to your own viewers as well.) We recommend gifting 2-3 mid-range bloggers, and running a paid-plus-gift collaboration with 1-2 top bloggers who have strong audiences across all their channels. 

The Perfect Holiday Gift 

For: All Brands 

Nothing channels the spirit of the holidays like gift giving, and consumers often trust influencers more for ideas than traditional ads or media. We recommend gifting  5-10 influencers with a product that they select, and in turn give to a friend or loved one in a blog or Instagram post explaining why that gift is special. In a twist on this idea for global brands, you can engage bloggers around the world to show what the holidays mean to them, incorporating your brand in the spirit of gift giving. A great idea is to engage with a number of different bloggers in different regions and ask them to pick a gift for another blogger. This is a great way to compound the social impact of the one collaboration. With more than 10,000 influencers from 103 nations, our community allows for collaborations with bloggers in all parts of the world.  

Cyber Monday

Last year, online retailers generated more than $3.1 billion on Cyber Monday, giving brands across all industries an opportunity to boost sales by adding integrated Influencer Marketing and Affiliate Marketing campaigns to their overall Cyber Monday strategy. Collaborating with top influencers while incorporating affiliate links allows you to increase brand awareness, effectively introduce new products, and take advantage of generating immediate sales on a day that customers are likely to make purchases.  

We recommend selecting a large number of influencers in each of your target markets to promote the products or coupon code you have designated as part of your Cyber Monday campaign, sharing on their personal blogs and Instagram feed. Incorporating SLINKS will also help to track the results of your efforts. We recommend adding payment and gifting for mid to high-influence bloggers as many will be less likely to post just sale information about your brand.  

No matter what your goals may be this holiday season, opportunities for creative holiday collaborations are endless. As with all marketing initiatives, planning ahead is key to success. With many top influencers filling their calendars through the holiday season, now is the time to start securing the best bloggers for your brand. 

Need help finding the right influencers, or still aren’t sure of the best collaboration idea for your brand? We’re always happy to assist you! Get in touch at hello@shoppinglinks.com.