Q4 is crunch time for influencer marketing. But UK brands face a hard task. They need to break through the content overload to reach shoppers.
To succeed, brands need to stay on top of fast-moving trends. In 2025, AI continues to reshape content creation, social commerce formats are gaining traction and authentic long-term influencer partnerships are taking centre stage.
This article breaks down the shifts that matter most. Use them to sharpen your campaigns, capture attention during the festive rush and build momentum well into 2026.
Keeping up to date with marketing trends has always been important. But in 2025, with consumer confidence low, staying ahead of the game is more crucial than ever.
Deloitte’s consumer tracker found that the Consumer Confidence Index fell by -2.6 percentage points to -10.4% in Q2 2025. As a result, everyday spending shrank to save cash for experiences, such as travel, and high-value footwear and clothing.
As spending becomes more considered, influencer marketers need to do more to connect with shoppers. They can't sit back and rely on old tactics, such as collaborating with the biggest names or relying on vanity metrics, hoping it will make an impact. Campaigns must be deeply considered and break new ground.
So let's examine the current trends shaping influencer campaigns.
From October to December, social media platforms flood with content. You might think cutting through the noise means going bigger: orchestrated campaigns with genius-level taglines. But in reality, influencer campaigns thrive on authenticity.
The Kolsquare State of Influencer Marketing Report found that 47% of influencer marketers prioritise authenticity when selecting influencers. It's the second-most valued characteristic.
Authentic influencer campaigns stem from the following approach:
In addition, social media users perceive creators with fewer followers as more authentic. That's because, as a creator gains followers, their content tends to become more generalised and their audience connections weaken. Many also ramp up brand collaborations, meaning their endorsements lose power.
Here’s why people perceive micro and nano-influencers as more authentic than creators with larger follower counts:
Thanks to their authenticity and close audience connections, nano and micro-influencers, on average, have higher engagement rates.
At peak shopping times, like Q4, these details are more important than ever, as breaking through to audiences requires trust and engagement.
Pro tip: Businesses can create mixed-tier marketing strategies by activating nano, micro, and macro, each with different goals. For instance, macro-influencers target awareness, while nano-influencers build trust.
UK clothing brand, Rare London, ran an effective gifting campaign in Q4 2024. This low-risk tactic involves sending free products to influencers to encourage them to create promotional content. The only costs? The product, postage and packaging.
Rare London's marketing team gifted an occasionwear dress to model and nano-influencer Shauna Cannell (@shaunacannell, 9K followers, Instagram), who boasts an extremely high engagement rate (12%), credible followers and a majority (58%) UK-based audience. Most (85%) of her audience is aged between 18 and 34, fitting the company's target market.
Cannell shared a romantic, old-money-inspired reel wearing the Rare London dress that fit her typical style. The video content went viral, gaining 17K likes and 707K views, equalling €87K in EMV.
The brand also gifted macro-influencer and celebrity Claire Richards (@clairerichardsofficial, 212K followers, Instagram), who featured the brand in her content. The Steps singer’s post generated €6K in EMV. This proves that low-cost campaigns can have an impact, and that star power doesn't always translate to a bigger impact.
Toy shop, Little Wren’s Nest, ran a giveaway competition during the Christmas period to boost engagement and awareness. The brand collaborated with micro-influencer Amee G (@regent_lodge_georgian_home, 79K followers, Instagram). She posted a reel showing her son playing with toys, and the caption shared that her followers could win a £50 gift card for Little Wren's Nest if they tag a friend in the comments.
Two-thirds (66%) of the creator's audience is aged between 25 and 44, which aligns with Little Wren's Nests' target audience.
The reel generated €15K in EMV from over 3K likes and 900 comments. The high engagement put this small business on the map at a lower cost than working with macro-influencers.
TikTok Shop and Instagram Shopping are taking off. And social media platforms now make up a significant chunk (17%) of global e-commerce sales, according to Statista.
Social commerce provides a streamlined purchasing process that eliminates friction, making it attractive to Gen Z shoppers. As Vogue Business put it, “Gen Z broke the marketing funnel” by prioritising influencer reviews during their buying journey.
According to research by Statista, 60% of Gen Z shoppers say they're likely to purchase through a social media platform. Ecommerce brands, especially in the low-end and mid-market categories, must adapt.
A knock-on effect of social commerce is live shopping. TikTok LIVE enables sellers to connect with audiences in real-time, similar to television shopping channels like QVC. It gives companies the opportunity to sell a large number of products within a short timeframe. Q4 is optimal for testing live streams to assess whether they can perform for your brand.
Here’s how to run a successful live stream:
Two-thirds (66%) of marketers believe that AI has improved influencer marketing, according to research by Statista. Video production is now faster than ever, thanks to automated editing, trend spotting, SEO and caption creation. Several apps, such as Canva and Invideo, can even generate video and image content from text prompts.
As one nano-influencer in the Kolsquare State of the Creator Economy Report shared, “AI is going to change the way people will learn about products and brands and there will be for sure some movement on that field for [content creators] too.”
But for marketers, one of the most pivotal AI technologies is analytics. Influencer marketing platforms like Kolsquare record useful data about millions of influencers. The AI algorithm interprets influencer searches to shortlist those who match your requirements.
Gone are the days of shot-in-the-dark campaigns, ruled by vanity metrics like follower counts and likes. Marketers now have access to deep metrics and analysis, including estimates for EMV across each platform and format, audience credibility and past campaign results.
AI is also transforming campaign reporting, enabling brands to analyse their market share, direct sales generated and audience reach.
But while AI is a valuable tool that speeds up reactions and provides actionable insights, it must be used with care.
AI may undermine authenticity when overused or undisclosed. UK consumers are particularly cynical, with fewer than 10% open to buying from AI-integrated brands.
Here’s how to stay authentic when using AI:
It's worth connecting with audiences on the human level. Over half (51%) of consumers worry that they will lose human touchpoints with brands due to the use of AI.
The more you invest in a collaboration, the more you reap the benefits. While shiny new influencers appeal, audiences respond best to long-term partnerships.
Long-term activations create the following positive outcomes:
Of course, long-term collaborations are only beneficial if you select the right influencers, who align with brand values and ethics, connect with your target audience and engage followers.
Instead of seeking new influencers for Q4 collaborations, consider past performers. Check your analytics to identify top performers. Then, consider hosting an influencer event or sending them luxurious products to maintain a strong relationship.
Fashion and beauty brands are the most experienced influencer marketers. These brands were first on social media, making competition fierce.
Let’s look at how two UK beauty and fashion brands are cutting through the noise on social media.
Sportswear brand GymShark is an expert at influencer marketing. It uses affiliate marketing, a strategy that pays influencers by commission rather than up front. This campaign style makes working with brand ambassadors long-term lower risk.
Affiliate marketing also promotes authentic content, as it’s often hands-off and gives influencers near-complete creative control. The brand doesn’t need to worry that the content will be lacklustre, as influencers can rocket their earnings with well-created content.
In the video below, fitness influencer Milly Goldsmith (@millygoldsmith, 401K followers, TikTok) shares her gym insecurities while wearing GymShark clothing. The creator has a 3.8% engagement rate on TikTok and a 74% Kolsquare Credibility Score. The video generated 54.27K engagements, equalling €63K in EMV. GymShark has worked with Goldsmith long-term. Over the past six months, she generated €131K in EMV for the brand.
British beauty retailer Space NK has seen significant profit increases over the past two years. It recently opened five new brick-and-mortar shops, including a flagship, 4,600 sq ft spot on Oxford Street.
During the Christmas period, the brand gave generous gifts to its long-term collaborators. One influencer, Elaine Callaghan (@elaineyloves, 1.1M followers, Instagram), shared a reel unboxing gifts from Space NK. The video received over 9K likes. Callaghan has continued collaborating with the beauty retailer, generating €85K in EMV over the past six months.
Beauty and fashion influencer Carys Whittaker (@carys.whittaker, 2.5M followers, Instagram) generated €59K in EMV for Space NK over the past six months. During the Christmas period in 2024, she posted multiple Instagram stories, highlighting Black Friday discounts and recommending products, along with direct links.
Over time, the brand built trust with Whittaker's audience. This summer, a reel featuring SpaceNK generated 15K likes.
Still relying on likes and follows to judge campaigns? Then, you may have fallen behind. But you're not alone. Over half (51%) of UK brands say that accurately measuring ROI is a challenge, according to the Kolsquare State of Influencer Marketing Report.
New tools have emerged that allow marketers to develop a deep understanding of their influencer marketing strategies.
These influencer marketing tools are game-changers. They allow brands to track sales back to the influencer using unique links and promo codes. Additionally, awareness metrics, such as EMV, have improved, providing an accurate comparison of the buzz generated by the campaign versus traditional marketing channels.
There are several metrics for each campaign goal:
These more advanced datapoints make explaining campaign results to C-level easy. Tools like Kolsquare report campaign results in real-time, with easy-to-interpret graphs and charts.
In the long run, this data helps you refine your campaign and identify high-performing influencers for future collaborations.
Today's consumers are savvy and cautious. Winning in this environment requires a smarter approach that builds trust via authentic collaborations, experiments with social commerce and strategically incorporates AI.
Choosing an AI-powered tool like Kolsquare gives you the data you need to find influencers who will perform well in the long term and understand campaign performance. Over time, these insights allow you to improve your approach and get ahead of the competition.
Kolsquare is Europe’s leading Influencer Marketing platform, offering a data-driven solution that empowers brands to scale their KOL (Key Opinion Leader) marketing strategies through authentic partnerships with top creators.
Kolsquare’s advanced technology helps marketing professionals seamlessly identify the best content creators by filtering their content and audience, while also enabling them to build, manage, and optimize campaigns from start to finish. This includes measuring results and benchmarking performance against competitors.
With a thriving global community of influencer marketing experts, Kolsquare serves hundreds of customers—including Coca-Cola, Netflix, Sony Music, Publicis, Sézane, Sephora, Lush, and Hermès—by leveraging the latest Big Data, AI, and Machine Learning technologies. Our platform taps into an extensive network of KOLs with more than 5,000 followers across 180 countries on Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter), Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat.
As a Certified B Corporation, Kolsquare leads the way in promoting Responsible Influence, championing transparency, ethical practices, and meaningful collaborations that inspire positive change.
Since October 2024, Kolsquare has become part of the Team.Blue group, one of the largest private tech companies in Europe, and a leading digital enabler for businesses and entrepreneurs across Europe. Team.Blue brings together over 60 successful brands in web hosting, domains, e-commerce, online compliance, lead generation, application solutions, and social media.
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