As December shortly rolls in, the highly anticipated festive adverts have officially been released. From John Lewis to M&S, Morrisons to Lidl, Disney to Asda, even the most ardent advert Scrooge may struggle to resist a Christmas campaign. Yet considering our usual tendency to press the ‘skip ad’ button, what makes advertising so appealing at this time of the year? Value exchange platform Room Unlocked provides the definitive solution as to why, and how, authentic content may be the leanest solution for stripped-back marketing budgets this Christmas.

Retailers are facing a tough period ahead, with sales expected to decrease by £2.51bn compared to Christmas 2021, falling below 2019’s pre-pandemic results of £83.1bn – according to industry research. At a time where 56% of Brits will spend less per person this Christmas in a bid to cut outgoings, the need for retailers to find a balance between driving sales with a sensitivity towards the current financial gloom is more prevalent than ever. As such, a new concept of the ‘barter economy’ has come to the fore, providing savvy brands with an innovative way of reducing costs, but still engaging in hard-hitting, emotive and wholly authentic Christmas campaigns. Through this approach, brands offer goods or services which content creators then post about, solely in exchange for receiving them as opposed to money.
In relation to traditional, paid influencer marketing, founders of Room Unlocked Alex Payne and Tanya Hamilton-Smith argue this form of value exchange is far more cost-effective for brands this festive season, with proprietary research revealing brands save on average £7,000 per opportunity versus paying for it. In addition to this, they will achieve 15:1 ROI on their marketing spend, which is way above the 5:1 ratio that is considered strong for most businesses.

By targeting the correct influencers that have a genuine interest in your brand, partnerships can be created purely based on passion, which can then be turned into value. Room Unlocked provides the most effective form of influencer marketing, with proprietary research revealing influencers are three to four times more likely to share more authentic pieces of content when they have actively searched out the product or experience they’re advertising – further highlighting the benefits of this approach. Brands also have instant access to diverse advocates from A-list TV talent to macro and micro-influencers, eliminating up to 200 hours of outreach to the wrong people, while also fostering relationships underpinned by love and not currency.