The holiday season is not only a time of festive celebrations but also a pivotal period for brands and retailers to capitalize on the immense potential of social commerce. In this report, we explore the dynamic landscape of holiday marketing on social media, delving into key strategies and insights for brands and retailers to achieve success during the holiday 2023 season.

We explore the dynamic landscape of holiday marketing on social media, delving into key strategies and insights for brands and retailers to succeed during the upcoming holiday 2023 season.

Coresight Research Analysis

• October and November are the two months when brands and retailers typically push their holiday content on social media. Out of all the companies in the Coresight 100—our focus list of retailers and brand owners, spanning Asia, Australia, Europe and the US—16 have posted holiday-related videos or feeds on key social media platforms as of October 1, 2023. Most of the posts are related to Halloween products, and we have not seen holiday-season-related videos that have gained strong popularity. The absence of holiday-season-related posts and videos suggests that companies are still in the early stages of their holiday advertising campaigns.
• As of October 1, 2023, 21 companies in the Coresight 100 have joined Facebook Shop, where people can browse, explore and purchase products directly on Facebook. Many brands and retailers publish shoppable posts on Instagram and TikTok; however, in those cases, audiences must leave the platforms and make their purchases on the brand’s or retailer’s owned website.
• When celebrities, key opinion leaders (KOLs) and content creators promote holiday offerings, their endorsement can carry significant weight with their followers. Additionally, their interactions with followers can drive conversations and boost post engagement, making them valuable assets during the holiday shopping season.

Brands and retailers should initiate their social media holiday marketing early to secure proactive shoppers, optimize strategies, manage inventory effectively and stay competitive in a dynamic retail market.

Additionally, partnering with celebrities, KOLs and content creators can be a game-changer in regard to viral marketing. These influencers have the power to drive engagement, trust and shopping behavior. Still, brands and retailers should ensure they work with influencers whose values match their brand and resonate with their target audience.

Brands or Retailers Poised To Gain Advantage

• We think businesses focusing on engagement and authenticity in social media are poised to win this holiday season. Businesses should look to build a genuine connection with the audience through relatable content and interesting creator-, celebrity- and KOL-generated content, which can help establish trust and drive post engagement.

Brands or Retailers That Risk Losing Advantage

• Brands and retailers that are not active with a holiday strategy on social media risk losing advantage this holiday season as they will likely miss out on opportunities to reach a broader, digitally savvy consumer base.

The holiday season is not only a time of festive celebrations but also a pivotal period for brands and retailers to capitalize on the immense potential of social commerce. In this report, we explore the dynamic landscape of holiday marketing on social media, delving into key strategies and insights for brands and retailers to achieve success during the upcoming holiday 2023 season.

October and November: When Brands and Retailers Ramp Up Their Holiday Social Media Content

According to the Q3 Sprout Pulse survey by Sprout Social, a social media intelligence provider, 67% of marketers responded that they anticipate their companies will begin publishing holiday content for “end-of-year holidays” in October or November of this year (Figure 2).

Figure 2. When Businesses Anticipate They Will Begin Posting Holiday Content (% of Respondents)

Source: Sprout Social

Two Key Opportunities

During the holiday season, brands and retailers have opportunities to connect with their audience and drive sales via strategic holiday-themed content. Below, we dive into two of the most powerful strategies that can help brands and retailers stand out and succeed with their holiday social media posts.

Shoppable Posts

Shoppable posts on social media can be an effective strategy to drive sales as they make shopping more seamless and convenient. Businesses can also tag multiple products within a single post, allowing users to explore various items from one post, leading to cross-selling and upselling opportunities. For example, fashion brand Aerie used shoppable YouTube video content in late 2022, which helped drive sales and resulted in a 25% increase in total marketing ROI, according to Hootsuite, a social media management platform.

As of October 1, 2023, 21 of the Coresight 100 companies have joined Facebook Shop, a feature where people can browse, explore and purchase products directly on Facebook, according to our research. Many brands and retailers have included shoppable posts on Instagram and TikTok; however, with these posts, audiences must leave the platform in question and make purchases on the brand’s or retailer’s owned website. We think shoppable posts that allow audiences to buy products without leaving the platform, as Facebook Shop does, could create more seamless experiences and drive impulse sales.

On Instagram, 23% of the Coresight 100 companies have created pages that include posts that lead to purchasing options on the brand’s or retailer’s website. On TikTok, 20% of Coresight 100 companies have included links that direct audiences to brands or retailers’ websites. While not as seamless as purchasing directly through a platform, providing a direct link to a brand or retailer’s website from social media platforms can drive more traffic to the website of a business, potentially leading to higher sales and conversions.

Crocs’ Facebook Shop (left) and Wayfair’s Instagram shoppable posts
Source: Crocs/Wayfair

Partnerships with Celebrities, KOLs and Content Creators

We have seen videos or posts that include celebrities, key opinion leaders (KOLs) and content creators outperform typical social media posts. For example, among Levi’s most recent 10 videos on TikTok (as of October 1), the video that features Lauren Kim, a fashion KOL with 172.8K followers, gained the highest number of views (nearly 250,000).

Source: Levi’s

When celebrities, KOLs and content creators promote holiday offerings, their endorsement can carry significant weight with their followers. They also engage directly with their followers through comments, replies and interactive features, which can drive conversations and boost post engagement. Our US Social Commerce Survey 2023 found that 54% of all respondents follow some type of influencer on social media, up 12 percentage points from last year. Among respondents who follow influencers or celebrities, more than 80% report that influencers or celebrities affect their shopping behavior at least some of the time.

However, it should be noted that simply teaming up with KOLs and content creators is not enough. Brands and retailers must ensure that they align with influencers that resonate with their target audience and whose values match their branding. The leading types of influencers/celebrities/creators that respondents to our social commerce survey said they follow is (in descending order) friends or family members, celebrities, beauty influencers, fashion influencers, experts and customers; this underscores that influencers can be more than just regular celebrity names.

WHAT WE THINK

Brands and retailers should initiate their social media holiday marketing early to secure proactive shoppers, optimize strategies, manage inventory effectively and stay competitive in a dynamic retail market.

Additionally, partnering with celebrities, KOLs and content creators can be a game-changer in regard to viral marketing. These influencers have the power to drive engagement, trust and shopping behavior. Still, brands and retailers should ensure they work with influencers whose values match their brand and resonate with their target audience.

Implications for Brands/Retailers

• With social commerce gaining prominence, brands and retailers must diversify their social media presence beyond traditional platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube. Expanding to new channels, such as TikTok, can present new opportunities to reach a wider audience.
• Shoppable posts on social media can be an effective strategy to drive sales for businesses by making the shopping process more seamless and convenient.
• Partnering with celebrities, KOLs and content creators can be a game-changer. These influencers have the power to drive engagement, trust and shopping behavior. Brands and retailers should align with influencers whose values match their brand and resonate with their target audience.

Brands or Retailers Poised To Gain Advantage

• We think businesses focusing on engagement and authenticity in social media are poised to win this holiday season. Businesses should look to build a genuine connection with the audience through relatable content and interesting creator-, celebrity- and KOL-generated content, which can help establish trust and drive post engagement.

Brands or Retailers That Risk Losing Advantage

• Brands and retailers that are not active with a holiday strategy on social media risk losing advantage this holiday season as they will likely miss out on opportunities to reach a broader, digitally savvy consumer base.

Implications for Technology Vendors

• Tech vendors can develop and offer enhanced social commerce tools that facilitate seamless in-app payments, augmented reality experiences and interactive features. These innovations can help brands and retailers retain consumers on social media platforms.
• Developing advanced data analytics and insights tools can empower brands and retailers to make data-driven decisions. Tech innovators can provide solutions for gathering, analyzing and interpreting consumer data to optimize marketing strategies.

NOTES

Data in this report as of October 1, 2023.

Companies mentioned in this report are: Aerie, Associated British Foods (LSE:ABF), Big Lots (NYSE:BIG), BJ’s Wholesale (NYSE:BJ), CVS Health (NYSE:CVS), Dollar Tree (NasdaqGS:DLTR), Five Below (NasdaqGS:FIVE), Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW), Macy’s (NYSE:M), Marks and Spencer (LSE:MKS), Meta Platforms, Inc. (NasdaqGS:META), Sprouts Farmers Market (NasdaqGS:SFM), Target (NYSE:TGT), Tapestry (NYSE:TPR), TikTok, Walgreens (NasdaqGS:WBA), Williams-Sonoma