Influencer marketing is like the new word of mouth, with 63% of consumers making repeat purchases based on influencer suggestions. Enter B&Q, the UK’s go-to for home improvement and garden living, with a festive mission: to be the ultimate destination for kicking off Christmas shopping, especially with their real Christmas trees in the spotlight.
B&Q knew the power of user-generated content (UGC) to stir up excitement for the holiday season. As it turns out, nearly half of consumers enjoy seeing brands share UGC, making it a perfect opportunity for B&Q to tap into influencer creativity and bring their social channels to life.
So, the B&Q team teamed up with impact.com’s Creator platform and expert influencer team on a festive campaign.
In the end, B&Q’s influencer campaign achieved these impressive results:
- 42 pieces of content
- Engagement rates nearly 20% above the industry benchmark
- 85% average view rate—achieving 283% of the target
This playbook walks you through the planning, execution, and results of B&Q’s campaign, which was run by impact.com’s influencer services team.
B&Q triples its CTR benchmark with an influencer program makeover
The Christmas campaign isn’t B&Q’s first successful influencer campaign with impact.com/creator. Read about their influencer program makeover here.
Read it hereWhy having a dedicated influencer team can optimize your campaign
As brands gear up for the coming year, a significant 86% are setting their sights on long-term influencer partnerships. This strategy lets influencers dive deeper into the brand’s story, enhancing their messaging and crafting genuine content. But, it also requires more resources to maintain these valuable relationships.
That’s where impact.com’s influencer services team steps in. With their expert guidance, brands like B&Q can stay focused on crafting compelling messages and achieving their goals, while ensuring that other parts of their business continue to thrive.
The impact.com expert influencer team offers services to manage the full partnership life cycle, including:
- Recruiting top talents in the brand’s vertical (in this case: home, garden, and DIY partners)
- Building a program strategy
- Negotiating flexible contracting and payment terms with influencers
- Tracking partner performance across different social channels
- Analyzing real-time reports for brands
- Pivoting to the best-performing channels and partners
B&Q set out with a clear mission: to boost brand awareness and put the spotlight on their real Christmas trees during the festive season. The goal was to also engage audiences, positioning B&Q as the ultimate Christmas destination.
Every year, retailers have just one chance to hit the mark in the Christmas tree market. The stakes are high, with big rewards, but also big risks. B&Q aimed to ensure everyone knew about their real Christmas trees, which are a key part of family traditions and happy holiday memories.
However, launching this campaign wasn’t without its hurdles. The seasonal nature of Christmas trees and the logistics of their arrival left little room for planning. Coordinating with influencers added another layer of complexity, as each had different schedules depending on when their local B&Q stores received trees. That’s where impact.com’s influencer services team came to the rescue, smoothing out these challenges and ensuring a successful campaign.
Manage and scale your influencer program with a team of strategic experts
Explore the range of services provided by impact.com’s expert influencer team in this one sheet.
Read it here5 ways B&Q built an engaging Christmas campaign with impact.com’s expert team
B&Q understood the challenge ahead for their campaign, but with impact.com’s team by their side, they rolled out a winning strategy in five simple steps.
Step 1: Outlining campaign goals and potential roadblocks
The B&Q team kicked off their campaign with impact.com’s influencer team over a strategy call to establish the campaign’s two main goals:
- Driving awareness of B&Q’s real Christmas trees available in-store
- Increasing audience engagement and position B&Q as the go-to place for Christmas shopping
B&Q and impact.com brainstormed any potential hurdles for their campaign. They knew they had to navigate the annual seasonality, deal with tree supply logistics, and work within the short window for real tree sales.
But first, they needed to recruit the right partners.
Warren Hoyte shares a special family bonding moment, drumming up excitement over decorating their B&Q Christmas tree.
Step 2: Re-engaging former partners to generate authenticity and hit campaign goals
The next step for B&Q was to reconnect with high-performing creators who had excelled in previous campaigns. The team believed these creators offered a diverse range of styles perfectly aligned with the brand’s Christmas collections.
They zeroed in on four influencers, each bringing something unique to the table. These partners had worked with B&Q before, a nod to authenticity and strong rapport. Take Jade Sweeney (@home_on_the_commons), known for engaging, conversational content that gels perfectly with B&Q’s family-focused vibe. Meanwhile, Rachel Verney (@the_shoestring_home) infused her posts with vibrant, creative flair, adding a splash of color to the campaign.
The other influencers recruited were:
- Warren Hoyte (@daywithdad)
- Georgina Raine (@georginaraineinteriors)
Georgina Raine adds her unique spin to Christmas tree decorating and lists all the products she used, conveniently available at B&Q.
Step 3: Creating detailed briefs to inspire seamless production and compelling content
To hit their brand awareness and engagement targets, B&Q needed content that truly captivated audiences. So, they turned to influencers to craft behind-the-scenes Instagram Stories and Reels. These Stories gave audiences a peek into influencers handpicking their real trees and decorations alongside a B&Q employee, all while spotlighting the quality and service that make B&Q a top choice for holiday cheer.
The Reels took it a step further, capturing the magic of decorating at home and weaving B&Q into cherished family traditions. With compelling calls to action, these posts didn’t just boost engagement—they solidified B&Q’s place in the hearts of Christmas enthusiasts.
To keep everything running smoothly, impact.com focused on setting up tailored timelines and deliverables for each influencer. With impact.com/creator and its campaign dashboard, B&Q had a clear view of what each influencer needed to deliver and by when, ensuring everything launched on time.
Plus, impact.com’s team crafted detailed briefs to streamline the process. These included store locations specific to each influencer and handy tips on using royalty-free music, reducing revisions and speeding up content creation.
Step 4: Encouraging partner communication and reviewing content before going live
B&Q and impact.com’s expert team really got involved in this campaign, actively engaging with influencers to ensure everything was on track. Regular check-ins meant influencers had all the support they needed to hit their deadlines.
While the influencers received detailed briefs with clear messaging, they were given the freedom to inject their own personal touch. This approach was crucial for B&Q, as they valued content that felt both genuine and inspiring.
Before the content went live, influencers submitted drafts to stakeholders through impact.com. This snappy process allowed the team to review deliverables on a dime, ensuring the messaging, CTAs, links, and overall vibe aligned with the brand.
The platform simplified workflows and accelerated the review process, letting B&Q track content delivery against deadlines, approve or request changes, and add suggestions for improvement. Plus, it offered a handy content library, ready for future use, amplifying B&Q’s reach at a moment’s notice.
Rachel Verney shares her top tree decorating tips, emphasizing B&Q’s one-stop-shop offering for all your Christmas decoration needs.
Step 5: Evaluating campaign success
B&Q’s influencer campaign delivered an impressive 42 pieces of engaging content, capturing attention during a competitive Christmas season. The campaign gained a noteworthy 85% view rate—climbing 283% above the target.
The campaign’s top performers played a key role in raising brand awareness and driving engagement.
At the core of this success was the impact.com/creator platform, which enabled meticulous planning and rapid execution. Thanks to this powerful tool, B&Q enjoyed a standout 2023 Christmas campaign, leaving a lasting impression.
Jade Sweeney showcases her Christmas tree journey from store to at-home setup.
Accelerate your influencer campaigns with the right team and technology
Brands are quickly learning the power of combining the best technology with an expert influencer team. Here you can gain views across every step of your campaign, automate processes such as payments, and scale as you go.
Thanks to impact.com’s Creator platform, B&Q’s Festive Fir Trees campaign achieved its campaign goals and beyond. impact.com’s technology-enabled B&Q to connect with influencers, collaborate, and manage their partnership marketing campaigns effectively using dashboards that consolidated multiple reports.
With impact.com’s real-time reporting features, you’re able to evaluate individual influencer performance for each content type, see what approaches resonated best with audiences, and double down on high-performing strategies—like B&Q did.
Discover how impact.com’s influencer team can supercharge your campaign today.
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