Top Brands Hiring UGC Creators: December 2025

December was the busiest month of the year for creator partnerships. Holiday campaigns, gift guides, year-end pushes, and early New Year content all collided.

We tracked verified paid partnerships across Instagram and TikTok throughout December 2025. Here's the complete breakdown of what happened across every niche.

The Big Picture

December partnerships were dominated by three themes:

1. Gift guide content - Brands pushed "perfect gift" angles across almost every category
2. Holiday-specific moments - Christmas morning, NYE prep, family gatherings
3. "New Year, New Me" previews - Wellness, fitness, and self-improvement brands started early

Fashion remained the highest-volume category, but Home & DIY saw a massive seasonal spike. Beauty brands focused heavily on luxury fragrance and holiday glam.

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Niche Breakdown

Fashion

The biggest category by volume. Fast fashion brands like SHEIN, Temu, and H&M dominated with haul content and holiday outfit ideas.

What worked:

• Holiday party outfit content
• "Affordable gift" angles
• Family matching pajamas (Old Navy, Target)
• New Year's Eve styling

Top brands we tracked:

• SHEIN (across multiple sub-stores: SHEIN BAE, SHEIN Curve, MISSGUIDED, ROMWE)
• Temu
• H&M
• Windsor
• White Fox Boutique
• Adidas, Nike, PUMA (athleisure gift content)

Trend to watch: "Capsule wardrobe" content is emerging for January as creators pivot to minimalism angles.

Beauty

Fragrance dominated. Luxury fragrance brands ran heavy "signature scent" campaigns, while drugstore brands pushed holiday glam tutorials.

What worked:

• "Signature scent" narratives (Dior, YSL, Valentino)
• Holiday glam GRWM content
• Hair transformation videos (Shark Beauty, Bellami)
• Gift set unboxings (Charlotte Tilbury, IPSY)

Top brands we tracked:

• Dior, YSL Beauty, Armani Beauty, Valentino Beauty (luxury fragrance)
• SHEGLAM, NYX, Maybelline (affordable makeup)
• Shark Beauty (hair tools - massive December push)
• Charlotte Tilbury, Dove, Garnier

Trend to watch: "New Year skincare reset" content is ramping up. Brands are shifting from glam to self-care.

Home & DIY

Biggest seasonal spike. Holiday decor, kitchen content for hosting, and home organization drove this category.

What worked:

• Holiday decor reveals and setups
• Kitchen content for hosting
• "Cozy home" aesthetic content
• Smart home security (Ring had a strong presence)

Top brands we tracked:

• SHEIN Home
• Temu (home decor)
• Ring (home security)
• Neat Method (organization)

Trend to watch: January will bring "home reset" and organization content. Expect decluttering and fresh start angles.

Food & Beverage

Holiday recipes and hosting content. Brands pushed easy entertaining, gift baskets, and festive recipes.

What worked:

• Holiday entertaining recipes
• Easy meal prep for busy season
• Protein and health-focused products for gym crowd
• Cultural holiday food content (strong Latin food representation)

Top brands we tracked:

• Goya Foods (consistent presence with recipe content)
• Premier Protein
• Primal Kitchen
• Kellogg's, Lifeway Kefir
• Lakanto (healthy holiday treats)

Trend to watch: "New Year nutrition" is the obvious pivot. Protein brands and healthy eating content will surge in January.

Technology

Content creation tools won. CapCut and Insta360 targeted creators directly, while smart home tech pushed holiday gift angles.

What worked:

• Creator tool tutorials (CapCut editing features)
• Camera and content gear gift guides
• "Capture the holidays" angles

Top brands we tracked:

• CapCut (heavy investment in creator education content)
• Insta360 (photography and video gear)
• Ring (smart home)

Trend to watch: Creator economy tools will continue investing in creator-to-creator content.

Health & Wellness

Wellness apps and supplements positioned for January. December content focused on staying healthy during holidays.

What worked:

• "Stay on track during the holidays" messaging
• Supplement and vitamin content
• Wellness app features (Noom habit tracking)
• Wound care and recovery (Zeroid)

Top brands we tracked:

• Noom
• New Chapter (multivitamins)
• Animal Pak (fitness supplements)
• Huel (nutrition)

Trend to watch: This is the biggest category for January. "New Year, New You" campaigns are already launching.

Finance & Services

Rewards programs and mortgage pushed hard. CVS ExtraCare ran heavy savings content, Rocket Mortgage targeted homeowners.

What worked:

• "Save money on holiday shopping" (CVS ExtraCare)
• Home buying and refinancing stories
• Insurance positioning (end of year coverage)

Top brands we tracked:

• CVS Pharmacy (ExtraCare rewards program)
• Rocket Mortgage
• Univé (insurance)

Trend to watch: Tax season content is coming. Financial brands will shift to tax prep and savings angles.

Entertainment

Movie promotions and holiday events. Studios pushed theatrical releases while local experiences ran holiday event content.

What worked:

• Movie premiere promotions
• Holiday experience content (Polar Express, holiday events)
• Family entertainment angles

Top brands we tracked:

• Paramount Pictures
• Believe Polar Express Manchester
• Tonies (kids entertainment)

Education & Kids

Learning apps and kids products for gifting. Educational brands positioned products as "smart gifts."

What worked:

• Kids learning app content (holiday screen time)
• Educational toy and resource content
• "Gift that keeps giving" angles

Top brands we tracked:

• Moshi Kids (learning app)
• Rocket (education resources)

Travel

Limited December activity. Travel brands were quieter, with most activity focused on "2026 planning" content.

What worked:

• Destination inspiration for 2026
• Flight deal content
• "Start planning" angles

Top brands we tracked:

• Skyscanner (flight search, trip planning)

Trend to watch: January/February will bring spring break and summer planning content.

Platform Split

Both Instagram and TikTok saw heavy activity. Some patterns:

Instagram favored:

• Polished gift guide carousels
• Story-based hauls
• Aesthetic holiday content

TikTok favored:

• Quick transformation videos
• Honest unboxings
• Trend-riding content

Brands increasingly ran simultaneous campaigns across both platforms with the same creators.

What's Coming in Q1 2026

Based on December data, here's what we expect in January:

Health & Wellness surge. Every fitness, nutrition, and wellness brand is launching "New Year" campaigns. If you're in this niche, pitch now.

Home organization. "Reset your space" content will replace holiday decor. Container Store, organization brands, and cleaning products will push hard.

Skincare over makeup. Beauty will shift from holiday glam to "fresh start" skincare routines.

Fashion minimalism. Capsule wardrobes, closet cleanouts, and "buy less, buy better" angles will trend.

Financial fresh starts. Budgeting apps, savings tools, and tax prep content incoming.

How to Use This Data

Option 1: Smart Brand Matching

Not sure which brands fit your niche? Our Smart Brand Discovery tool analyzes your content style and matches you with brands from our database. Describe what you create, get your top matches with compatibility scores.

Option 2: Generate a Pitch

Pick any brand on CollabFeed and we'll generate a personalized pitch for you. Our pitch generator analyzes the brand's real campaign data and writes a pitch tailored to what they're actually looking for. No generic templates.

If you're planning content: Look at what performed in December and create the January version. Holiday glam becomes New Year glow-up. Holiday recipes become meal prep.

If you're building your portfolio: Create spec content in the formats that worked. Gift guides, transformation videos, GRWM content.

Methodology

This report uses CollabFeed's live tracking of Instagram and TikTok sponsored posts throughout December 2025. We tracked posts containing #ad, #sponsored, or platform-disclosed partnerships across all niches.

Platforms: Instagram, TikTok Period: December 1-31, 2025 Data source: CollabFeed real-time partnership tracking

Related posts:

• Top Fashion Brands Hiring UGC Creators: December 2025
• Top Beauty Brands Hiring UGC Creators: December 2025
• Top 50 Home & DIY Brands Hiring UGC Creators: Mid-December 2025

Data powered by CollabFeed. Track real-time brand partnerships at collabfeed.io.