Holiday social and influencer campaigns in 2025 split pretty cleanly into two camps:

• Authentic, human, simple content that felt like real people sharing real moments
• AI-driven, over-engineered creative that tried to impress… and missed the emotional mark

Across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, audiences made it clear what they wanted during the most emotional shopping season of the year. Below are the standout wins, the very public misses, and what brands should do differently heading into 2026.

Wins

Influencer Gift Guides That Felt Like Friends, Not Ads

One of the strongest holiday plays of 2025 was the return of influencer-led gift guides that felt genuinely personal.

Brands like L’Occitane partnered with lifestyle creators to share “my holiday picks” content instead of scripted promotions. Creators walked through what they were gifting, how they were using products, and why they loved them—often filmed casually at home.

The result? Content that looked organic, built trust, and reportedly moved both brand perception and sales more than discount-only posts.

What brands should do in 2026

• Build a small bench of on-brand creators and brief them on how they actually use or gift the product
• Repurpose those short videos into paid social and on-site gift guides
• Keep captions clean and minimal so the creator’s voice leads

UGC + Influencer-Led Holiday Challenges

Community-driven campaigns surged this season, especially when brands paired UGC challenges with a few anchor influencers.

A strong example came from Haribo, which leaned into a seasonal “hunt-style” giveaway mechanic. Limited packs plus a simple hashtag prompt encouraged customers to share their finds—effectively turning everyday buyers into holiday micro-influencers.

What worked

• One clear challenge (not three competing ones)
• A single hashtag
• Easy-to-film prompts that fit real life

What brands should do in 2026

• Design challenges around simple actions: unboxing, decorating, before/after, or a quick holiday “hack”
• Save top UGC into Instagram Highlights and TikTok playlists so it keeps working post-holiday

Influencers Flattening the Funnel for BFCM

Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2025 proved what many brands already suspected: influencers can flatten the funnel.

Successful campaigns used creators not just for awareness, but to move audiences from discovery to purchase in a single piece of content. The best playbooks followed a simple structure:

• Pre-sale teasers
• Week-of deal walkthroughs
• Last-chance reminders with clear CTAs

Creator-specific links and codes made ROI easy to track—and easy to defend internally.

What brands should do differently

• Stop treating influencers as “top-of-funnel only”
• Brief creators for conversion with specific offers and deadlines
• Keep the structure tight instead of posting one-off, disconnected promos

Misses

AI-Generated Holiday Ads That Felt Soulless

Holiday is where audiences are least forgiving of inauthentic creative, and 2025 made that painfully clear.

McDonald’s pulled an AI-generated Christmas commercial after widespread backlash. Viewers criticized the visuals as cold and mismatched to the emotional warmth people expect from holiday advertising.

The brand acknowledged the disconnect—and social moved on fast.

The takeaway

• Holiday content is emotional, nostalgic, and human
• AI spectacle without heart doesn’t land

What to do instead

• Use AI behind the scenes for ideation, scripting, or versioning
• Keep on-camera storytelling rooted in real people, creators, and communities

When Luxury and Influencers Overpromise, Under-Deliver

Luxury brands weren’t immune to holiday missteps. The cautionary tale that kept resurfacing was Chanel’s advent calendar backlash, reignited by influencer unboxings that revealed underwhelming fillers at a premium price point.

TikTok did what TikTok does best: called it out—fast and loudly.

What brands should remember

• Social audiences expect perceived value to match the hype
• Influencers amplify excitement, but they also amplify disappointment

What to do in 2026

• Ensure high-priced holiday bundles clearly justify the cost
• Coach creators toward transparency and context, not just “OMG unboxing” energy

A Trend Worth Watching: Celebrity & Creator-Led Holiday Ambassadors

Another notable shift in 2025 was the blurring line between celebrity and creator.

Brands like Fashionphile tapped Martha Stewart as a holiday ambassador, while True Religion partnered with Ciara for festive content that lived across social platforms.

These campaigns mixed polished hero assets with more casual, behind-the-scenes content—structured like influencer programs, not traditional TV ads.

The opportunity for smaller brands

• Borrow the structure, not the celebrity
• Anchor the season with one trusted, recognizable creator
• Build layered content around that partnership across channels

What This All Means for 2026

The brands that won holiday 2025 didn’t chase every new tool or trend. They focused on:

• Real people
• Clear stories
• Simple execution

The brands that struggled tried to over-optimize the magic out of the season.

As you plan for next year, the question isn’t how advanced your holiday campaign is. It’s whether it feels human enough to belong in someone’s feed—or their living room.

And holiday audiences have made one thing clear: they can tell the difference.

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