GST cuts, festive rush drive influencers’ big-billion days as brands loosen purse strings

GST cut coupled with festive season drive higher spending by brands on influencers.

This festive season, it’s raining campaigns and big paydays for influencers, with GST (Goods and Services Tax) cuts adding extra cheer to brand budgets and the festive season unlocking a surge in marketing spends.

Advertising and influencer marketing agencies told Moneycontrol that GST savings in categories such as electronics, durables, and automobiles have given brands extra headroom.

Much of that is being redirected to influencers, especially in conversion-heavy segments like cars, appliances and premium beauty products, said Tushnik Thakur, Deputy Head, Content & Creator, IN, AnyMind Group.

"With a decrease in tax outflow, many brands have been able to slightly expand their marketing budgets and that is turning out to be good news for influencers," noted Sagar Pushp, Co-Founder & CEO at ClanConnect.

What does the GST relief mean for influencers?

According to Biswamitra Ray, Senior Vice President at Animeta, brands are channeling their GST-linked savings into marketing to make the most of the current positive consumer sentiment.

GST 2.0 has led to increased advertising budgets by 15-20 percent during the 2025 festive season, according to Vaibhav Gupta, Co-Founder and CPO (Chief Product Officer), KlugKlug.

An estimated 8–10 percent surge in overall brand advertising spends are tied to the GST cuts with a significant portion being deployed into digital and influencer campaigns, noted Vaishal Dalal, Co-founder & Director, Excellent Publicity.

Driven by this momentum, influencer marketing spends are expected to touch around Rs 700 crore during the 2025 festive season, 10–20 percent higher than 2024. Categories such as consumer durables, fashion and beauty, FMCG, and e-commerce are leading the surge, Gupta added.

"We have seen a noticeable increase of 15 percent in digital budgets across automobiles, consumer durables, and D2C (Direct-to-Consumer) brands," said Himanshu Rawat, Business Manager at Nofiltr.

In addition, festive campaigns, boosted by improved consumer confidence and GST reforms are attracting new market entrants, including many D2C and regional brands, Gupta said. "The sector is projected to cross Rs 4,500 crore annually in 2025."

Festive fireworks for influencers

This festive season has been especially busy for wildlife photographer and traveller Subhash Nair, who has more than seven active brand queries, particularly from phone and travel companies. He is seeing a 25 percent increase in brand interest along with higher deal values.

"Brands now look for multiple deliverables like stories and usage rights, not just a single post. A key shift is that earlier costs were benchmarked mainly on reach, with little weight on content quality, whereas now queries are centered on authentic storytelling and well-crafted narratives," he said.

Digital content creator Abhina Yadav is working on two special projects with AI platforms, along with campaigns for Bajaj Lighting and Nilkamal Homes. He has also partnered with a quick commerce brand, for which he plans to complete the content just before Diwali.

In addition to better deal values, an 80–90 percent surge in his case, Yadav is also seeing a rise in AI-driven campaigns.

Actress and creator Pragya Nagra is fielding twice as many brand queries as last year. "Since a lot of campaigns close at the very last moment, I will have to wait and watch how many more come up. This season, I have noticed some interesting queries from brands that haven’t been very active on digital in the past which makes it refreshing to collaborate."

Food blogger Anushka Rawat, who has worked with Theobroma, Instamart, India Gate, Maggi, and Nestasia, currently has 3–4 brand projects for the season.

HashFame, a networking platform for creators and marketers, has recorded a 40 percent spike in campaign briefs, according to its co-founder Anirudh Sridharan. The platform expects a record quarter for creators.

Bigger pay cheques this festive season

Brand deal sizes are 15–25 percent higher this year, Gupta said, with top creators handling as many as 15–20 campaign requests a week. Around 40 percent of brands have raised influencer budgets, and 15 percent of festive advertisers are newcomers to influencer marketing, Gupta added.

Creators are earning anywhere between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 12 lakh, depending on their following and deliverables. AnyMind Group's Thakur noted that pay is higher as brands increasingly bundle formats such as Reels, Stories, and shoppable links into single campaigns.

Influencer paycheque get a festive boost

Who is getting more money?

Seasonal pricing increases are steepest for macro (100,000–500,000 followers) and mega creators (500,000–1 million followers), while nano (1,000–10,000 followers) and micro creators (10,000–100,000 followers) have seen their rates remain relatively stable, according to HashFame.

That said, some marketers are now allocating 30–40 percent of campaign budgets to micro and nano creators, up from 20 percent earlier, Dalal said.

Celebrity influencers are losing their sheen, while brand requests for regional creators have jumped 40–45 percent this year due to their higher engagement rates. "Brands often mandate 25–30 percent of a campaign roster to account for regional talent."

Over 35 percent of festive campaigns this year are expected to be barter based, led by micro and nano creators.

Who are the top spenders?

Some of the top brands investing heavily in influencer marketing include VLCC, Ferns & Petals, e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart as well as quick commerce players such as Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart, pointed out Gupta.

Dalal noted that clothing brand Madame has increased its influencer allocation to around 15 percent from 10 percent last year. "Many brands have raised influencer budgets by high double digits."

For Pushp, e-commerce is the single largest spender. "As we get closer to the holiday season, when shopping peaks, ecommerce platforms are investing heavily in influencer campaigns, from unboxings to haul videos and live shopping streams. Compared to last year, spending from this industry has increased roughly 15–25 percent," ClanConnect's Pushp said.

Fashion, beauty, electronics, FMCG, and fintech brands are driving the bulk of festive spending, AnyMind Group's Thakur said.

Are brands spending more on influencers this festive season?

Almost every brand across ecommerce, mobile phones, FMCG are spending higher than last year, by 20-30 percent, said Pankaj Malani EVP and revenue head at OML.

AnyMind Group's Thakur estimates influencer marketing now accounts for 35 percent of digital ad spends up from 20 percent last year.

Collaboration volumes are also higher. Gaming creators are increasingly part of mainstream campaigns, said Rohit from Alpha Zegus. While the ban on real money gaming and fantasy sports has hurt some segments, esports is benefiting, with marquee names like Tesla entering the space.

"Auto to FMCG brands are treating gamers as their Diwali season ambassadors," he added.