Want to learn affiliate marketing strategies to increase your share this holiday season? Read on.Whether it’s clothing brands for Christmas or discounted watches on Black Friday, people love to buy things during the holiday season. Spending money on gifts for friends and family is a cultural norm in the United States, and never has it been stronger than today. While shopping has always been popular during the holiday season, one trend that has surfaced is online shopping.
In the 2017 holiday season, retail e-commerce sales reached $106.14 billion. This year, sales are projected to increase 16.2% to a staggering $123.4 billion. As an affiliate, this is a time when you can significantly increase your commissions. To maximize your earnings, you need to have a solid affiliate marketing strategy in place.
We at Cloudways have vast experience working with affiliate marketers and helping them achieve great profits. We have assembled a team of affiliate marketing managers to help affiliates develop a strategy and support them every step of the way.
Why it is important to work with high value products is another topic, so we won’t elaborate on that here. But you can read more about it in our blog post “Why focus on high-ticket sales/clients.”
Here are nine affiliate marketing strategies to boost your revenue this holiday season:
Affiliate Marketing Strategy #1: Write about the hottest gift items!
As an affiliate, your blog is your ultimate weapon. From Pat Flynn to Missy Ward, every affiliate writes a blog.
Sure, you need to tell people why you are promoting what you are promoting. You need to use positive and powerful words well, such as product features and service comparisons.
During the holiday season, blogging becomes even more important. People tend to be looking for things to buy. They are looking for ideas. If you are not there, someone else is there.
A great strategy is to find out what people are looking for. One tool you can use to do this is Serpstat. For example, you can type “Christmas Gift” into the query to get ideas related to organic and paid keywords. Some ideas to write about include “DIY Christmas Gifts,” “Top Christmas Gifts for Men,” and “Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas.”
Knowing what people are looking for at Christmas will help you stay one step ahead. Write about these hot topics to rank higher in search engines and bring traffic to your website.
Affiliate Marketing Strategy #2: Offer special promotions and coupons.
Offering a sale or discount is one of the most important factors that influence customers’ willingness to buy. This means that you need to get people’s attention by offering special promotions or coupons.
A good idea is to ask your advertisers or merchants for deals, promos, coupons discounts or vanity items.
should be posted on our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages. And don’t forget about your email subscribers (more on that later).
Affiliate Marketing Strategy #3: Optimize for Mobile Devices
According to Marketing Land, 33.1% of online sales in 2017 were made through cell phones. According to this statistic, sales via mobile devices will exceed 40% this year.
As more and more people will be shopping through their cell phones, you, as an affiliate marketer, need to optimize your website for mobile devices.
Here are some tips to help you form an effective mobile strategy:
Ensure that your mobile-oriented affiliate website is fast; you can perform a speed test with Google’s “Test my Site” application.
Gain key insights from analytics. For example, knowing the time of day online visitors come to your website using their cell phones, you can adjust your bids accordingly.
Simplify things for buyers. Online users are impatient. Forms and checkout processes should be clear and concise. Make sure users don’t have to fill in too many fields before they take action.
Affiliate Marketing Strategy #4: Leverage paid search.
According to Search Engine Land, 85% of respondents to one survey use Google to find product ideas and information before making a purchase. This is not surprising since we all use Google for our searches. From the new t-shirt to the latest gadget, people are using Google to search for products.
This is why you should take advantage of search-based advertising during the holiday season. Certainly, competition will be quite high as many affiliate marketers like yourself are planning to do the same. For keywords focused on “holidays,” you should set your bids higher. Also, when writing your ads, be sure to add seasonal keywords such as “Christmas gift ideas” or “Black Friday deals.
Affiliate Marketing Strategy #5: Use Social Media Marketing Wisely
This one is a no-brainer. In our digitized world, as an affiliate marketer you cannot ignore social media.
Market your unique holiday products with special discounts to your Facebook fans and Twitter followers. Also, don’t forget about holiday-specific platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest, and Buzzfeed.
When promoting on social media, be sure to do so in an organic and personal way. Fake promotions are easily spotted. Also, never recommend a product or service that you have never used. People trust you and expect you to make honest recommendations.
Affiliate Marketing Strategy #6: Focus on product categories that interest you.
There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to choosing the right product category. Different people tend to purchase different products based on their interests and needs. Top categories include technology, home accessories, clothing, children’s products, and gift items. The key is knowing what you want to promote. Personal passion is important. Learn buyer personas and spending habits.
Affiliate Marketing Strategy #8: Employ Email Marketing
During the holiday season, it is even more important to remember to keep in touch via email. Whether it’s a Santa sale or Black Friday, email them a week in advance about offers and discounts; you can use email marketing and automation platforms such as AWeber. tool, and you can also enhance your email list with opt-in plug-ins.
Create a holiday-themed newsletter and make it engaging. Finally, use catchy and powerful subject lines to increase open rates.
Affiliate Marketing Strategy #9: Run a contest.
Contests and giveaways can be a great promotional tactic for affiliates. Not only do they help attract customers, but they also help with overall branding.
Woobox is one tool you can use to create contests, giveaways and other promotions. It can be used as a one-stop solution from gamifying the contest to collecting entries.
You can give away $100 gift cards or even a grand prize. You can also involve merchants to make it more authentic and appealing.
Final Thought
The holiday season can be a goldmine for the well-prepared affiliate marketer; it’s the most profitable time of the year, and the best time to start planning for the holidays is during the holiday season!
It is critical to implement a comprehensive affiliate marketing strategy before the holiday season begins. This includes creative writing, social media marketing, email marketing, contest implementation, and more. You need to determine which strategy will be most effective and act accordingly.
We at Cloudways are dedicated to helping affiliate marketers make the most of the holiday season. From providing holiday creative to offering special deals and discounts to targeted audiences, we help affiliate marketers have a successful holiday season. Our web hosting affiliate program will help you succeed this holiday season.
What do you think about our affiliate marketing strategy for the holiday season? Did we miss anything? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below..
