Although we’re only in July, now is an excellent time to start planning your Q4 affiliate strategy. During the peak shopping period, marketing budgets double, gift-giving soars and sales surge. With all the benefits comes the most competitive time of year to get your products seen, too. So, in this blog post, we’re sharing our insight on boosting affiliate performance in Q4. If you’re ready to maximise your affiliate channel, read on.
Five Strategies for Boosting Affiliate Performance in Q4
Identify sales patterns
Thanks to in-depth and real-time reporting, it’s easy to identify affiliate sales patterns. Before you begin to formulate your Q4 strategy, assessing historical data is essential. Most of a brand’s sales come from just 10% of its affiliate partners. So, taking the time to highlight your top performers from previous months and years will allow you to make educated decisions ahead of the key shopping dates.
Secure exposure in advance
With Singles Day, Cyber Week, Christmas shopping & post-Christmas sales in November and December, sales opportunities are aplenty. The downside? Competition is higher than ever. While many affiliate publishers will charge for tenancy placements all year round, prices are hiked in Q4, and top spots are scarce.
If you’re planning to assign a tenancy budget for November and December, you should have it locked in as soon as possible. You may think July is early, but many publishers are already booking in tenancy exposure. So, act fast.
You can always try a commission increase if you cannot invest in tenancy placements. However, exposure in return for a commission increase is hard to come by in Q4. So, you’ll want to start laying the groundwork and nurturing the relationships with your top publishers now.
Optimise onsite conversion rates
With consumer spending and traffic reaching their peak in Q4, you can expect more visitors to land on your site – particularly if you have a solid affiliate strategy in place. Now, it’s down to you to ensure you can convert that traffic into customers.
Thankfully, several high-quality affiliate partners can help you do exactly that. From onsite overlays and time-sensitive offers to basket abandonment emails and virtual shopping assistants, utilising tech partners is an excellent way to boost affiliate performance.
Once again, this will require some pre-planning, as you’ll want to establish a relationship and test the technology and strategies ahead of Q4. So, act now!
Get creative ahead of time
Offering your affiliate partners plenty of resources is vital, particularly creatives. In addition to providing creatives in the sizes recommended by your affiliate network, you should also ask key partners for their specific requirements.
By doing this ahead of time, you’ll be able to ensure your marketing communications are cohesive and eliminate the need for your partners to create their own assets. The result? Brand protection and increased sales!
Stay ahead of the game
If we didn’t reiterate enough, staying ahead of the game is key. From planning promotions ahead of time to consistent communication with key partners, you’ll want to do everything you can to cut through the noise. It’s never too early to put in the groundwork when it comes to boosting affiliate performance.
If you’re keen to level up your affiliate strategy ahead of Q4, let us do it for you. At Conversion, our expert team create bespoke strategies to suit your brand, industry and KPIs, utilising our affiliate partners and wealth of contacts. Keen to understand what we can do for you? Get in touch today and set up a call.