Influencer Marketing & Gifting Trends to Watch This Holiday Season
The holiday season is the most important quarter of the year for retail and brand visibility. In 2025, consumer habits, gifting behaviors, and influencer-driven commerce are shifting faster than ever. If you’re planning Q4 campaigns, here’s what you need to know about how influencers are shaping gifting decisions and where consumers are putting their holiday dollars.
Tracy Glover Studio featured in Veranda Magazine
Influencers Are the New Holiday Shopping Guides
Raw, real, and relatable is the summer vibe.
This year, consumers are leaning more heavily on creators to guide their purchases:
70% of consumers act on creator recommendations.
Trust in influencers is up 21% year over year, making them even more critical to your Q4 strategy.
Holiday shoppers don’t just buy on the spot—41% click through to shop directly, 31% save posts for later, and 68% revisit older posts when making gifting decisions.
In short, influencer content has a long tail effect. Campaigns launched in October can still influence carts in December.
Gifting Behaviors Are Evolving
The concept of gifting isn’t just about others anymore—90% of shoppers say they’ll buy gifts for themselves this season. Campaigns that lean into “treat yourself” messaging have a big opportunity.
Shoppers are also open to tech-enabled support: half of consumers say AI-driven gift guides and chatbots would improve their experience. Pairing creator content with curated digital tools can give your brand a helpful, personalized edge.
Finally, shopping channels are blending together more than ever. Consumers now scroll, stream, search, and shop in one fluid journey. That means holiday content needs to travel seamlessly across platforms.
Timing & Budgets Are Shifting
Economic pressure is shaping this year’s Q4 spending. Consumers expect to spend about 5% less than last year, which makes value messaging and promo codes essential in creator content.
At the same time, shoppers are looking for deals earlier. October has effectively become the new December—if your creator campaigns don’t start until Black Friday, you’re late.
The good news? Logistics are keeping up. Shipping capacity is expected to handle 2.3 billion holiday packages, up 5% year over year, meaning brands can support bigger ecommerce spikes driven by influencer campaigns.