5 Tips for Managing Merchant Affiliate Programs During the Holiday Season

Holiday Banners

During this time of year, your creatives will stand out more with a little holiday re-design.  Keeping your overall brand image is obviously important, so throwing a little snow over your logo, or having a pumpkin harvest in your design will not hurt.  It will add an unique look to your brand and create more clicks.  Be creative with your banners, that’s why they are called “creatives”!  By updating these banners you will be eliminating the banner burnout that can occur as well.  You can add this holiday theme with a static or animated graphic, depending on where your ad is going to be displayed.  Sure, having snow falling down onto your logo may sound great, but make sure it fits the page the affiliate has it on.

Publisher Rate Cards

E-mail your top affiliates and find out if they have any fourth quarter rate cards.  Most larger affiliates will have some sort of paid placements already established.  If not, work with them to come up with something that works for both of you.  Offer a 1% increase in commission for the month for a special placement on the website.  Please remember that being on the homepage of the affiliate may not always be the best place for your offer.  If the rates are too high for you, don’t be afraid to ask to work something else out.  Let’s face it, this is a big time of the year for the affiliate as well, they will be willing to work with you.

Offer

This is by far the most important part, no matter what time of the year.  If you don’t have a good enough offer, the rest of these tips won’t make a difference.  I am not even to go into this even more because it is just marketing 101 to make sure you have a good offer.

Coupon Codes

This one could go either way.  If your offer is compelling enough, you may not even need coupon code.  However, with the economy the way it is, consumers are looking for every possible way to save some extra money.  If you are selling products with higher margins then a coupon code would be an excellent option for you.  One coupon that is always great is a free shipping code.  Look at your bottom line figures and see if offering free shipping is a better opportunity or a standard 5% off coupon.

Affiliate Contests

Run a few different affiliate promotion contests.  You don’t want to discourage your affiliates that are not able to bring in comparable sales numbers as your super affiliates so do something on a percentage increase base.  Geno from AM Navigator has some great contest ideas in his book, A Practical Guide to Affiliate Marketing: Quick Reference for Affiliate Managers & Merchants.

Make sure you make this holiday season your best fourth quarter ever.
photo credit: Fuzzytek via photopin cc