Online marketing thrives on key holidays, and the affiliate channel is no different. Your affiliates are looking for a reason to promote you, and providing them with special deals around key holidays gives your brand the opportunity to get featured on their web sites/blogs to bring in new customers.
Mother’s Day 2015 is just around the corner, and if you have a product that can be given as a gift, you must set up a promotion and communicate it right away to your partners.
Tips for reaching affiliates before a holiday:
- Create a special offer for your affiliates, and send them a heads-up with sale details at least 2 weeks before the holiday so that they have time to prepare a write up about your brand.
- Some great holiday promotions include: Free Shipping, a % off between 10-20% at minimum, or a buy one get one (BOGO). If you really want to go crazy, offer 2 of these incentives at the same time!
- Create a promo code. You can create one general promo code, and do what we call a “vanity code” for your larger affiliate partners. A vanity code includes the name of the partner in it and typically helps convert better because the customer feels like they are getting an exclusive deal, which they often are.
- Most large shopping sites such as Ebates charge a placement fee to get optimized, but if your business revolves around gifting, you should think about doing this. Another way to get around a paid placement might be to offer the web site a higher commission during the holiday in exchange for a good spot on their site. For example if you pay affiliates a 7% commission, consider offering 15% for a holiday placement for a short time to get some extra traffic.
Here is a list of key marketing holidays for 2015 to keep handy courtesy of Fandom Marketing.
2015-Marketing-Holidays-Calendar_by-Fandom-Marketing
Affiliate Program Tips for Merchants 