Influencer Marketing Trends in 2025
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The Festive Influence: How UK Supermarkets are Harnessing the Power of Local Influencers for Christmas Campaigns
Christmas is one of the most important events for your marketing team. But competition skyrockets, and getting your brand noticed can be challenging.
Influencer marketing is one of the fastest-moving channels, but it's also highly effective for connecting with target audiences. There is so much potential to get eyes on your brand, transform sentiment, and promote your Christmas selection.
So, we've collected five fresh influencer marketing campaigns and tactics from 2023/2024 to inspire your festive campaigns.
Key Takeaways
- Genuine content resonates more with consumers during the Christmas period.
- Nano and micro-influencers may just be your secret weapon, with their unbeatable ability to engage their audiences.
- Lidl's activation of local influencers through its Freeway Truck campaign is one of the most exciting supermarket campaigns this year.
The Rise of Local Influencers in Retail Marketing
The influencer marketing industry has matured, and brands must work harder to cut through the noise. This has pushed marketers towards smaller, more authentic, and hyper-targeted campaigns.
The Kolsquare State of Influencer Marketing Report found that 47% of UK brands work with nano-influencers, compared to only 29% working with celebrity creators. While costs may affect these decisions, 68% of UK brands activating influencers spend over 100K per year, suggesting that marketers choose these creators because they're effective.
Micro and nano-influencers are authentic and offer higher engagement rates–two of the top five concerns for brands when selecting influencers. Smaller creators also allow brands to target specific niches. Brands with multiple retail stores can activate local influencers with engaged communities in a specific location to build hype. These creators are typically relatable and showcase their everyday lifestyles, which are more similar to audiences than the glossy, high-fashion content of many mega-influencers.
Local influencers allow brands to create a sense of community. These are creators that shoppers may bump into at local events, and they share content about the places locals go.
It allows brands to spotlight brick-and-mortar stores, generate buzz through user-generated content (UGC), and curate enticing experiences that are promoted by trusted voices.
Smaller, local campaigns also allow you to adopt a test-and-learn approach. Working with smaller creators, you can quickly adapt to what works and what doesn’t. It's the perfect way to connect with potential customers authentically during the holiday season and show that you understand them.
Looking to collaborate with influencers locally? Click the city name to check out the top 10 Manchester or Liverpool influencers.
Mum-and-Dad Influencers: The New Wave of Family-Focused Marketing
There is so much value in connecting with local communities. But you can also pair that with one of the most important parts of the festive period: family.
There are 19.4 million families in the UK, and in 2023, the average household spent £1,811 during the festive period. With the cost of living, costs have risen, and parents want to be sure they're spending budgets in the best ways.
Mum-and-dad influencers present a fantastic opportunity to connect with potential customers authentically by demonstrating the value of your products. Unlike the "mummy bloggers" of the past who shared curated parenting insights through written blogs, today’s family influencers develop highly visual, engaging content that feels real. They post meal prep ideas, narrate the challenges of a family day out, and share self-care guides. For these influencers, storytelling and relatability are superpowers.
Nadia Thorburn, a mum of four, is a great example of this type of creator. In the carousel post above, Thorburn shares her honest experience of the past week. It's genuine, relatable content that gained 3.4K likes. Thorburn's overall Instagram engagement rate is also high at 2.3%, signalling that her community is strong.
Connecting with shoppers through mum-and-dad influencers is a great tactic, but brands need to tread carefully. Both parties must ensure they adhere to regulations, especially when children are featured in promotions. Compliance with advertising laws isn’t optional—it’s essential for maintaining brand safety. High-profile controversies, such as Ruby Franke's parenting scandal, stress the risks when working with children.
Despite the challenges, the appeal of family influencers is undeniable. Many supermarkets and retailers are activating these creators to convince parents that their products are safe, valuable, and worth the price tag.
On the Kolsquare database, we launched the Compliance Score that tells you whether creators adhere to regulations and helps protect brand safety. Click here to learn more about the Compliance Score.
List of 5 UK Supermarket Campaigns that Truly Resonate
How do relatable, authentic campaigns look? Here are some of the best influencer campaigns for the holiday season.
1. Waitrose - Influencer Event on Instagram and a Whodunnit
In 2024, Waitrose is collaborating with influencers through unique campaigns. Let's investigate.
Christmas Influencer Event: Waitrose ran a Christmas PR event in November. They invited influencers to attend a classy Christmas dinner with all the trimmings at a castle on Brownsea Island.
The lavish event gave guests plenty of opportunity to create entertaining content featuring Waitrose’s food and tag fellow influencers for maximum engagement.
The event focused on micro-influencers, prioritising authenticity and community engagement. And while the campaign exudes luxury, it’s low-risk and relatively low cost. It also builds relationships with the influencers they invited.
Influencer Profiles: Waitrose invited Katie Pix, a UK-based food influencer known for her approachable cooking style and engaging content. Pix’s audience is 48% UK-based, and 14% live in Greater London. Pix tagged the supermarket in 10+ pieces of content between October and November, resulting in around £10K in EMV.
Pix's content about the event was supported by sponsored posts highlighting Waitrose products, including a taste test of Waitrose’s mince pies.
Luke Catleugh also has a predominantly UK audience, with a significant 22% located in Greater London. He posted nine pieces of content between October and November featuring the brand, resulting in around £5K in EMV.
Christmas "Whodunnit" Ad Campaign: You’ve probably seen the 2024 Waitrose ad with the classic whodunnit, but rather than a murder, it’s a more creative option: a stolen pudding. The fun ad campaign has been backed by influencer content on social media to increase engagement. This is a great tactic as it combines different channels to boost the campaign's power. While not the most wholesome campaign, it taps into the story of the dreaded--rather than warm--Christmas dinner.
Influencer Profile: Waitrose activated Mollie Pearce, who has 105K followers and a high engagement rate on Instagram of 5.31%. Pearce's audience is 79% UK-based, and 20% live in Bristol. In the video, she tries to figure out who committed the crime, building anticipation for the Part 2 reveal in December. The post resulted in around 36K plays.
2. Marks & Spencer - Influencer Activations Beyond the Holidays
In 2022, Marks & Spencer leaned into the festive magic, with food taking center stage. They went big, collaborating with YouTube royalty Zoe Sugg.
Sugg has been an M&S ambassador for a few years. Her rise to fame was on YouTube back in 2009 through makeup tutorials and vlogging. Now a mum, she posts updates about her life to her 9 million Instagram followers.
Sugg is a veteran influencer and understands that authenticity is key. While her profile has risen–alongside her wealth--her honest, genuine content bridges the gap between her and her audience. In addition, M&S is a supermarket in a higher price bracket that can create aspirational and relatable content. In addition, while Sugg is an established creator, she doesn't have a disengaged legacy audience. Her engagement rate is still incredibly high for her level of reach at 2.32% on Instagram.
Most importantly, Sugg’s content is highly authentic. M&S didn’t go for high production value or a showy campaign, they simply allowed Sugg to do what she does best: talk to her followers like friends. In a stylish setting, she showcased M&S’s products and explained why they're essentials for the Christmas period. She also promoted their 4 for 3 deal.
The post gained 77K likes. The campaign was clearly effective, and M&S worked with Sugg again throughout 2024, creating multiple pieces of content. As a result, her post in November 2024 about the M&S Christmas range brought in even more likes.
Just this post alone, which clearly highlight's M&S's Christmas range, resulted in 82K likes, 675K views, and 2M plays. We estimate that her four posts between mid-October and mid-November 2024 resulted in £400k in EMV.
This campaign successfully combines style and food, with influencers highlighting the essence of M&S. It also shows how long-term relationships (rather than one-off activations build trust.)
3. Lidl 2024: Kings of Influencer Marketing Lidl Launch The Christmas Freeway Truck, Plus the Lidl Song
Lidl has had a great year for influencer marketing with their iconic "Ode to Bakery" campaign on TikTok. Despite launching on the platform for the first time, Lidl did everything right, creating viral sound and UGC. The result? 32.3% ad recall uplift, 20.9 million impressions, and 39K likes.
Let's see what Lidl has planned for the 2024 festive period.
Christmas Event: Lidl is spreading festive joy with a great campaign for the holiday season: The Lidl Freeway Truck. This event is definitely a creative nod to Coca-Cola's iconic Christmas truck advert.
The Lidl Truck is local influencing at its best. The truck is stopping all across the country from Dundee to Southampton. It's family-friendly and grabs the attention of potential customers by keeping things local, keeping to the core values of Christmas.
On Lidl's website, it's stated that they are spreading "some festive magic from the 14 November until the 1 December." And there are prizes to be won. "Present boxes made up of Middle of Lidl items will be available to the first 250 visitors at each of the 9 stops. 1 in 10 boxes will also contain a ‘Golden Ticket’ giving shoppers £100 towards their festive food shop at Lidl."
Influencer Profile: Lidl worked with relatable mum-and-dad influencers to create an impact. While Yorkshire influencer @jen_and_her_tribe_of_7 doesn’t have the most relatable family (7 kids!) Her content is always relatable, and it truly speaks to her audience. Thanks to the virality of her Reels, Jen’s engagement rate is an unbelievable 136%. She creates a strong community by responding to comments regularly and deeply understanding her audience.
Jen created a Reel showing her shopping for Christmas treats at Lidl while explaining that the Lidl Truck would visit Harrogate, Yorkshire. She also followed up with content showing her and her tribe visiting the Lidl Truck. We estimate that her posts for Lidl created around £10K in EMV.
Lidl also collaborated with Scottish family influencer Jasmine McInnes. Her Instagram account @winging_mamahood has 44K. She created a similar post highlighting the truck’s arrival in Dundee.
These events are so powerful because they also inspired UGC, as people share the experience alongside the freebies and gifts they received.
4. Sainsbury’s - Sponsoring the Experts
In 2024, Sainsbury’s collaborated with authentic and expert influencers in the food niche on social media channels.
Influencer Profile: Zena Kamgaing of @zenaskitchen is a professional who posts her enticing, creative recipes on TikTok and Instagram. She always keeps them accessible, and her engagement rate is high at 2.71%. Her audience is 80% female in the 18-44 age range.
Kamgaing created a tiramisu recipe for Sainsbury’s featuring their panettone.
We estimate that her Reel and 2 connected Stories generated £15K in EMV.
Sainsbury’s also collaborated with another influencer, @beccaeatseverything, a food reviewer with 477K followers. Her engagement rate is incredibly high at 8.69%. She creates in-depth and “honest food reviews.”
@beccaeatseverything keeps her content authentic by only developing sponsored posts semi-regularly. In the last 3 months, she has only created seven sponsored posts on TikTok. However, she posts content roughly once a day.
Sainsbury’s sent the creator many items from their selection and allowed her to review only her favourites for maximum authenticity. While she shows some of the wider product range in the video, she only raves about the five items she likes best. Like the content by Kamgaing, Becca’s post is authentic to her content style.
One comment stated, “I prefer this AD. Only ranking the top items seems more authentic then potential saying everything is good.” It received 1775 likes, showing that authenticity is the best approach.
5. ASDA - Local Micro-Influencers with The Gnome Market Event
ASDA’s Christmas ad for 2024 is the Gnome of Christmas. As ASDA put it on their website, “Go big or go gnome! Or if you’re anything like Asda – do both.”
ASDA took advantage of its cute campaign by creating a Christmas market featuring the gnomes from the ad.
Influencer Profile: Micro-influencer Yemi Fajembola (@yemithompson_) is a creator who shares family content. She posted a sponsored video for ASDA on Instagram while visiting the gnome market. It performed well, with a 3.67% engagement rate and 1.39K likes.
ASDA's campaign combines local and family influencers. This campaign should also generate organic content.
Bonus Campaign: Aldi Ireland Campaign - Gifts, Presents, and Huge Tree
Aldi's campaign keeps costs low and sparks organic content by gifting its products at an event for family influencers. The event had a selection of Aldi's products, plus decorations and a massive Christmas tree to entertain the kids.
About Kolsquare
Kolsquare is Europe’s leading Influencer Marketing platform, offering a data-driven solution that empowers brands to scale their KOL (Key Opinion Leader) marketing strategies through authentic partnerships with top creators.
Kolsquare’s advanced technology helps marketing professionals seamlessly identify the best content creators by filtering their content and audience, while also enabling them to build, manage, and optimize campaigns from start to finish. This includes measuring results and benchmarking performance against competitors.
With a thriving global community of influencer marketing experts, Kolsquare serves hundreds of customers—including Coca-Cola, Netflix, Sony Music, Publicis, Sézane, Sephora, Lush, and Hermès—by leveraging the latest Big Data, AI, and Machine Learning technologies. Our platform taps into an extensive network of KOLs with more than 5,000 followers across 180 countries on Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter), Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat.
As a Certified B Corporation, Kolsquare leads the way in promoting Responsible Influence, championing transparency, ethical practices, and meaningful collaborations that inspire positive change.
Since October 2024, Kolsquare has become part of the Team.Blue group, one of the largest private tech companies in Europe, and a leading digital enabler for businesses and entrepreneurs across Europe. Team.Blue brings together over 60 successful brands in web hosting, domains, e-commerce, online compliance, lead generation, application solutions, and social media.
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