How Advertisers Can Keep Themselves on the Affiliate “Nice” List This Christmas

As Frank Sinatra once said in the 1977 musical drama, New York, New York: “Affiliate marketing never sleeps.”

He was mostly right, but with Christmas seeing the world placed on pause for a few days, affiliate marketing campaigns can often be treated as an afterthought. A lack of clarity over the festive period can leave a bitter taste in the mouths of affiliates, and with 2020 being a particularly challenging year on the lead generation front, it’s vital to keep the affiliate channel well-nourished ahead of 2021 and a huge year for the industry.

But how can you ensure a campaign runs smoothly during a period in which lines of communication are often trickier to maintain? Let’s take a look…

Seasonal landing pages

It may be that one time in the year when everybody can put their feet up and put away a couple of kilos of shortbread, but campaign optimisation waits for no one. Are you ensuring your landing pages are given a festive makeover? Have you given your copy a Christmassy refresh? Could your landing page imagery do with a snowy smattering? Any one of these measures can breathe new life into your campaign during a period in which consumer spending is at its highest.

A wintery landing page could elevate your campaign over Christmas

Communication is key

Every campaign is different, and those differences extend to flexibility over the festive period. If you’re scaling back your operation over Christmas but are still looking to take traffic, you need a clear, actionable plan to keep affiliates in the know in plenty of time.

If budget is reducing, a discussion can be had about how we can ensure that only the best-performing affiliates will push traffic during periods when call centre and sales team capacities are often at their lowest. If campaigns are pausing entirely, put together a plan of action with your account manager to establish a timeline that ensures traffic is being delivered for as long as you have capacity, before a clean break for Christmas.

Historic Data Insights

Perhaps Boxing Day is a bumper day in your sales calendar, or a particular channel of traffic performs especially well during those cold, anonymous days between Christmas and the end of the calendar year. Your historic data could be vital piece in the puzzle for affiliates looking to optimise their end-of-year schedule.

For example, data over the last ten years at Monetise has shown that sports betting campaigns are particularly strong between Christmas and New Year, while astrology and home improvement offers also enjoy a festive seasonal spike. If you have compelling data that could entice an affiliate to up their numbers over Christmas, let your affiliate manager know and they will be happy to oblige.