Influencer marketing is one-part science and perhaps three-parts art. The science of influencer marketing – pairing products with influencers and using campaigns to deliver certain results – is the driving force behind any campaign. But the creativity and artistry of a great post are what get a sponsored post the attention of its target audience. In this post, we’re listing 14 spectacular social media holiday posts that you can use as inspo for your own year-end social media strategy.
The challenge with Instagram influencer marketing, or social media marketing on platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and just about any social media platform is the sheer volume of content being created and published to each platform. Check out these numbers:
- Instagram has roughly 1.4 billion monthly active users publishing 95 million videos and photos to Instagram every day
- Facebook boasts 2.9 billion monthly active users publishing 4.75 billion posts each day
- Apps like TikTok and Pinterest aren’t far behind, with 732 million and 478 million monthly active users, respectively
That’s a lot of posts. It can be easy for a brand to go unnoticed in the avalanche of content that comes through their audience’s feed every few seconds. The key – and the advantage skilled influencer partners can provide – is knowing how to get the right kind of posts in front of the right followers. Marketers need a way to grab and keep the attention of their prospective customers on platforms that are churning out more content than any user can consume.
The good news is consumers do find value in Instagram ads. About 83 percent of Instagram users say they use the app to discover new products and services. And 80 percent of users say they use Instagram to research and decide whether to buy a product.
Once you have their attention, you can convert that attention to action, or even a purchase, with the right marketing strategy. As it turns out, 87 percent of Instagram users take an action, such as visiting the brand website, after looking at an Instagram ad. Even on Facebook, advertising images have a 4.66 percent click-through rate. And influencers are influencers, in part, because they have a knack for creating and posting the right images.
What to Expect in This Post
So, what is the right image? With billions of multi-media posts moving through social media platforms every day, figuring out how to post the right type of image isn’t always intuitive. In this post, we want to focus strictly on the creative aspect of influencer marketing, and that is creating an image that gets the attention of your potential customers and keeps them from scrolling past your sponsored post or swiping away from it indiscriminately.
So, let’s look at 14 well-styled social media holiday posts.
Incredible Instagram Posts from Top Influencers
HOLIDAY POST EXAMPLE #1: HOLIDAY FAM JAMS
Nothing puts me in the holiday spirit like a cozy pair of PJs. It was a tradition in my family for the kids to open one present the night of Christmas Eve, and the gifts were always matching pajamas for the whole family. Influencer Courtney Brand Agbetola of @greeneyesgoldsoul is taking holiday jammies to the next level with her family and their partnership with The Honest Company. This social media holiday post exudes the family values and happy, healthy vibes Honest champions as a brand, making it the perfect sponsored post.
HOLIDAY POST EXAMPLE #2: BUILDING THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT
Nothing says heartwarming like holiday activities with the fam. Burton B. Buffaloe of @bbbuffaloe specializes in festive family pictures and sweet captions that capture life’s moments. Like this one sponsored by LEGO, where Burton and his husband built LEGO ornaments with their two children. This post has it all. Family first. Product front and center. And holiday decor to top it off.
HOLIDAY POST EXAMPLE #3: HOLLY JOLLY HOME DECOR
While Americans are the largest Instagram audience, it’s important to remember 88 percent of Instagram users are outside the U.S. Home decor influencer, Claudia Guzman, hails from El Salvador. Her account @glamurosa_guzman_decor reaches more than 23.5k followers stateside and internationally. She has a knack for putting home goods front and center in her posts, like this one from last Christmas. This post garnered nearly 8 percent engagement and featured products from three different brands: Home Goods, Pier1, and Big Lots.
HOLIDAY POST EXAMPLE #4: #NEUTRALCHRISTMAS
Jo Shetley, the wife, mother, and personal blogger behind @the_simple_farmhouse, proves that you don’t have to stick to the traditional reds and greens when decking the halls. The holiday spirit is evident and elegant in this post featuring home decor products from Anthropologie, Crate and Barrel, and Bed Bath and Beyond. If you’re a decor brand looking for influencers, it’s important to align your store’s style with your influencer’s. Do your customers like a classic look like Claudia’s or do they lean more understated like Jo’s?
HOLIDAY POST EXAMPLE #5: CHRISTMAS BAKES, COFFEES, AND CAKES
Another international influencer we love is @rubybhogal, affectionately known to Great British Bake Off fans as Rubes. Ruby’s feed is filled with delicious treats, recipes, and gorgeous selfies — making her a dynamic influencer. And influence she does! With a whopping 226k followers, Ruby connects to her fans through giveaways, sponsorships, and paid ads. She has an ongoing partnership with Nespresso, and she posted several photos to her grid last year in anticipation of the holiday season.
This three-photo carousel post brought in nearly ten thousand likes. Because Ruby tends to get more engagement on posts where she is pictured, whether a posed shot like the one above or a glam selfie, she was able to use her likeness to catch her followers’ eyes while scrolling. And of course, her Christmas Puddings got their own glam shot next to the tried and true Nespresso machine.
Another great aspect of this post: aside from giving her followers product recommendations with her Nespresso partnership, she also provides value by providing her Christmas Pudding recipe in the caption. That way her followers can celebrate in style just like she does, down to the very last ingredient.
HOLIDAY POST EXAMPLE #6: SEASONS GREETINGS
Influencers specialize in all sorts of content. The perfect niche for your influencer marketing campaign might not be what you first expect. For example, @julesdenby focuses her page on the seasons of New England. That means you can find plenty of holiday content on Julie’s Instagram this time of year — like this expertly shot photo of her town. Can you say Hallmark Movie?
HOLIDAY POST EXAMPLE #7: SET THE SCENE
You know what they say: location location location. Influencers like Trudy Leung of @missvancityfoodie know how to set the perfect holiday scene. Let them work their creative magic to highlight your product in the winter wonderland your consumers call home. If you own a small business with a storefront, it can be a huge advantage to find influencers in your city.
HOLIDAY POST EXAMPLE #8: GET YOUR TAG ON
Don’t forget to list your products on your business Instagram shop tab. That way, when influencers post your products, they can tag them directly in their photo.
Bonus points for showing up in the “similar products” suggestions when other influencers post items similar to those you sell. Instagram’s new social commerce features allow you to leverage influencer marketing on a whole new level. Maximize your influencer relationships and benefit from those who are using similar tactics and products in their posts. Win-win!
Check out these holiday mug suggestions that popped up when I engaged with influencer @robin.forslund’s post.
HOLIDAY POST EXAMPLE #9: PUPS FOR THE PEOPLE
When searching for influencers, don’t sleep on the power of pets. Of course, if you’re in the puppy sweater business, influencers like @oka.the.corgi are likely already on your radar. But these pretty pooches can help sell more than dog accessories. This post also highlights some eye-catching holiday decor, and that only scratches the surface of possibilities for pup-fluencer posts.
HOLIDAY POST EXAMPLE #10: RED, GREEN, AND YUMMY ALL OVER
Holiday posts don’t have to be relegated to decorations, cozy sweaters, and twinkly lights. The right image can make food campaigns very festive. And it doesn’t stop there! Look for influencers with a knack for up-leveling traditionally non-holiday products in celebratory ways. Like this charcuterie board!
Post from @petalandplatter.
Perfect Holiday Posts on Other Platforms
We may be partial to Instagram for picture-perfect posts, but it’s important to give credit to our Facebook, Pinterest, TikTok influencers as well. Here are some of our favorite festive posts on other platforms:
HOLIDAY POST EXAMPLE #11: FACEBOOK FESTIVITIES
When it comes to influencer marketing for your holiday campaign on Facebook, don’t underestimate the power of video. Influencers like Rachel Zoe, built and maintain their followings by connecting with their audience. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth a million clicks. Or at least 11,000 in the case of this post from last December.
POST EXAMPLE #12: TIKTOK TIPS AND TRICKS
I love a good montage, don’t you? TikTok offers incredible video editing capabilities that allow influencers to stitch together videos from their own camera rolls plus their sponsored brand’s content. This post by @theshayspence sponsored by Delta gave viewers a look into a trip to The Big Apple during the most wonderful time of the year. No detail is spared, from the flight to the festivities. It allows the viewer to take a journey with the influencer, and imagine themselves as the protagonist alongside them. TikTokers love that main character energy.
HOLIDAY POST EXAMPLE #13: TRADITIONAL TOKS
Of course, more traditional TikToks, like this talking head video from @mrwilliamsprek, work wonders as well. Like on any other platform, TikTok influencers thrive on connection to their audience. So posts like these that put the influencer, and your product, front and center, often get great engagement. (With relatively minimal effort!)
HOLIDAY POST EXAMPLE #14: PINTERESTS THAT PIQUE INTEREST
Get the most from your influencer posts, when they capture the holiday magic from every angle. Slideshow posts like these are great for marketing home decor products and anything that shimmers from all sides. The more immersive the experience for the viewer the better! Instagram isn’t the only platform where influencer images reign supreme!
Post from RhiannonLawsonHome.
The Wrap-Up
By and large, the key takeaway for this particular post is the importance of the art of posting to Instagram and other platforms. Influencers like Burton, Julie, and Trudy have mastered the art of creating and curating engaging content for their Instagram followers. They know what their followers want to see. More importantly, they know how to present their ideas, products, news, and adventures to their audience in pictures.
It’s a skill, for sure. And one you certainly want your influencer partner to have. But it’s not always easy to find the right influencers like Ruby Bhogal or Jo Shetley, who can put your product in front of tens of thousands of people in a way that makes them remember and even share your product.
We can help you build relationships with the right influencer partners and create influencer marketing campaigns that impact your target audience. There’s no time like the present to start your holiday marketing efforts.
