Influencers drive the festive funnel as brands bet big on short-form content
As festive ad spend peaks, experts say influencers are key to engagement and conversions, with quick commerce platforms leaning heavily on creators for their festive push
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Published: Oct 10, 2025 8:42 AM | 7 min read
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As the festive ad rush peaks, influencer-led campaigns are proving to be the most efficient lever for brand engagement and conversions. From Flipkart and Myntra to BIBA and Swiggy Instamart, marketers are leaning on creators to push sales.
Flipkart’s Big Bang Diwali Sale 2025 saw Raj Shamani and Pankaj Tripathi drive smartphone upgrades, while Nothing’s “Go Subtle or Go Nothing” campaign with Samay Raina highlighted how humour-led creator content is overtaking traditional festive advertising.
Clothing brands are experimenting with immersive in-store creator experiences, inviting influencers to try on outfits and produce content that debunks myths while showcasing festive collections.
Read On: Influencers cost sheet: Festive ad rates up 10-30%, short-form content sees 25-30% rise
At BIBA outlets, mum influencers, models, make-up artists and comedy creators were invited for styling sessions and to shoot festive Reels. Collections such as the “Different by Design” wedding line and the bold “BIBA Reds” capsule — featuring versatile lehengas and fusion sets for Karwa Chauth and Diwali — came alive through these collaborations.
BIBA Managing Director, Siddharth Bindra, told e4m, “In our 25 per cent digital spend during the festive season, a big chunk goes into content and influencer marketing. Influencers have their own followings, and we pick those whose audiences overlap with our consumers. Marketing has to entertain to hold attention, which is why it’s not just about clothes...we bring in comedy, store experiences, everything that keeps people engaged.”
The brand’s newly launched bridal store in Chandni Chowk, Delhi, extends this approach offline, converting influencer buzz into actual store visits. “Influencers help us close the loop across awareness, engagement and conversion, online and in-store,” Bindra added.
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Nish Hair founder Parul Gulati also posted a “Diwali Dhamaka Sale” campaign (10–16 October), personally showcasing hair extensions and offering up to 35 per cent discounts. This growing trend of founders becoming the face of their brands combines authenticity with influence, building credibility directly from the top.
Read On: With success rate of 30-40%, brands turning to AI for festive campaigns
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The Qoruz Festive Season Report 2025 estimates that influencer spends are set to cross ₹700 crore this festive cycle, with campaigns seeing a 2x–3x spike during Navratri to Diwali compared to regular months.
Suneil Chawla, Co-Founder of Social Beat, agreed that the surge is industry-wide. “On average, creators are charging 15–30 per cent more compared to last year. The rise is being fuelled by higher brand spends and the surge in demand for festive-led content across categories. This increase is more pronounced in creators with over 200K followers. Given the large number of creators with 10K–200K audiences, their price increase is not as significant,” he said.
Campaign dynamics are evolving fast. Brands refreshing creator content every 72 hours see 1.6x higher engagement than slower campaigns, underlining how quickly relevance fades in the scroll economy.
Influencers Embedded in the Funnel
Quick commerce platforms like Blinkit, Flipkart and Myntra have leaned heavily on creators for their festive push. Swiggy Instamart’s Grand Diwali Sale, for example, extended its influencer focus after successful region-specific campaigns.
Abhishek Shetty, Marketing Head of Swiggy Instamart, explained, “Region-specific campaigns have also proven effective, with festivals like Durga Puja generating 6–7 per cent organic engagement. Creative freedom for macro influencers allows messaging to feel natural while resonating with audiences, as seen with Bharti Singh’s Pujo integration.”
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“Influencers play a key role in our marketing funnel. They help bridge the gap between brand communication and authentic audience connection. For every campaign, we ensure a balanced mix of macro and micro influencers. While macro influencers drive scale and visibility, micro influencers bring credibility and trust through deeper engagement with their communities,” he said.
Read On: The Festive Marketing Playbook: How quick commerce brands bet on humour to win the season
Shetty added that influencer campaigns are measured not just for impressions but for business outcomes. “Mid-funnel metrics such as app sessions, keyword searches, search impressions, and GMV of select products are monitored to understand how influencers influence purchase decisions,” he explained.
In the electronics category, Reliance Digital’s #FestivalOfElectronics campaign tapped influencer Koushani (2.2 million followers) to highlight discounts of up to ₹15,000, blending entertainment and product awareness seamlessly.
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Multi-Channel Marketing Meets Performance
Speaking on the sidelines of Flipkart’s festive campaign, Tusharr Kumar, CEO of OML Entertainment, discussed the growing sophistication of full-funnel influencer strategies. “Categories like beauty and mobile phones are using influencer marketing extremely effectively. As brands realise that influencer marketing can drive the full funnel, more will gravitate towards it,” he said.
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“The festive season is a high media exposure period. Brands are active on television, on-ground events, and digital, working with creators and influencers. The consumer is being exposed to messaging across channels. Great marketing campaigns tend to follow a multi-channel strategy,” he noted.
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He added that efficiency depends on the brand’s DNA. “If you are a brand born on digital, talking directly to your consumers, and your audience is primarily online, a multi-channel strategy might not be as efficient. It really depends on who you are as a brand and what product you’re selling.”
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On influencer ROI, Kumar said, “You can plan for a campaign which is performance-driven. If you've got a well-planned campaign with a creator, layering that with a media plan, whether on Meta or YouTube, makes the campaign more powerful. Creator-led content performs far better in digital media buys. Some creators build awareness, while micro and nano creators drive bottom-funnel metrics such as purchase or repeat sales. Many brands now track ROI using special codes throughout the year to measure the creator’s contribution to repeat business.”
Economics of Influence
According to Shudeep Majumdar, Co-Founder and CEO of Zefmo, micro and mid-tier creators are witnessing faster fee inflation than celebrities as brands chase engagement-led festive storytelling. “We are seeing a clear preference for short-form video during the festive rush. CPMs are climbing 25–30 per cent in peak weeks, while CPCs have remained relatively stable, supported by sharper hooks, strong CTAs, and offer-led creatives,” he said.
Zefmo’s data shows that Reels and Shorts are driving this surge, commanding 20–25 per cent higher fees than static formats. Indicatively, a single short-form video (organic only, excluding usage and boost rights) costs between ₹3,000–15,000 for nano creators, ₹15,000–75,000 for micro creators, ₹75,000–3 lakh for mid-tier creators, ₹3–15 lakh for macro creators, and ₹15 lakh up to several crores for celebrities, depending on category, timelines, and deliverables.\
Read On: Brands to spend over ₹700 cr on influencer marketing this festive season: Report
The Data Backs the Influence
According to a Kantar report, influencer content delivers a 3 per cent lift in aided brand awareness and 2 per cent in message association, compared to 8 per cent each for all-digital ad formats. However, in mid and lower funnels, influencer content drives a 10 per cent rise in brand perception and a 7 per cent increase in purchase intent, outperforming traditional digital ads.
Attention retention is where influencers shine. Influencer content records an average skip time of 17.8 seconds compared to 7.9 seconds for branded content — a 2.2x improvement. Visibility duration is also 1.4 times higher, making influencer-led storytelling ideal for engagement-driven marketing.
Trust remains a defining differentiator. Kantar’s global influencer study found that 67 per cent of people trust influencer recommendations more than traditional advertisements. Insiders estimate that 28 per cent of product page views now come directly from creator links, highlighting influencer content’s growing role in driving purchases.
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