GST cut sets stage for Rs 700-crore ad blitz in influencer marketing this festival season

More ad spends on influencer marketing during 2025 festive season.

The new two-slab goods and services tax (GST) regime, which brings down prices of items ranging from milk to small cars, comes as marketers are expecting an advertising bonanza with festival season getting underway.

Influencers and regional content are expected to lead charge as ad spends are expected to be significantly higher from the previous year, fuelled by growing participation from Tier 2 and 3 markets. Influencer campaigns, too, will likely see a two to three times spike compared to an average month.

Revised GST rates, agreed to on September 3, come into effect September 22, when nine-day Navratri festival that honours goddess Durga begins. Marketers also expect creator-led campaigns to play a central role in shaping brand narratives and driving purchase from Navratri to Diwali in late October.

Brands are expected to spend more than Rs 700 crore on influencer marketing during this stretch, with engagement peaking in the weeks leading up to Diwali, according to Qoruz, a creator intelligence and collaboration platform.

Regional content is expected to drive 30 percent higher engagement than English content. "As consumers look for authenticity and relatability, regional creators are becoming essential to campaign strategy, especially in culturally rooted festive moments," said Aditya Gurwara, co-founder and head of Brand Alliance, Qoruz.

Consumer durables, fashion and beauty, FMCG, and e-commerce are likely to see the highest spending. These categories are investing in creator partnerships to build trust, showcase utility, and influence purchase decisions, particularly in middle India.

Also read: GST 2.0: Tax cuts to fuel India's clean energy sector as rates on parts slashed to 5%

Trust is the USP

More brands are entering influencer marketing, with 15 percent of them investing in creators for the first time. These first-timers are largely emerging direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands leveraging the festive window to scale visibility, along with regional and mid-market players.

Most influencer-driven purchases now start before the consumer even searches. "That is the shift we are seeing this festive season. It is no longer about grabbing attention, it is about earning trust early. When a creator shows up in your language, during your rituals, with products that fit your reality, that is not advertising, that is belonging,” Gurwara said.

When it comes to last year, the 2024 festive ad spend on influencer snapshot shows that over 337,500 brand mention posts were recorded across social media platforms. As many as 121,800 unique creators were active who generated 1.7 billion engagements.

Last season, campaigns that rotated fresh creator content every 72 hours saw 1.6 times more engagement than those that went live all at once. The insight is shaping how brands are planning this year, said Priya Vivek, co-founder, Qoruz.

Also read: GST cuts put FMCG, durables, and footwear stocks in the spotlight

Notably, 28 percent of tracked product page visits during this period came directly from creator links, bypassing search engines and traditional discovery paths. With campaigns already rolling out for Navratri and beyond, both engagement volumes and direct-to-product actions are expected to climb meaningfully this year.

"It's less about how many creators you're working with, and more about how early you're involving them. We are seeing teams track trends in real time, align content with platform behaviour, and sequence creator drops more deliberately. The results are showing up in sharper execution,” she said.