We’re entering the busiest time of year for commerce businesses, with Black Friday on November 24th kick-starting the festive shopping period. Affiliate marketing on Black Friday requires adjusting and adapting your approach, but there is potential for big profits.
To help you make the most of Black Friday and the festive period, we’ve written up a few key tips for planning and preparing. Read on to check them out.
What Can We Learn from Last Year?
Black Friday takes place on the first Friday after the US holiday of Thanksgiving. It used to signal the beginning of the Holiday shopping period and often sees big promotions and discounts at a range of retail outlets and online stores.
In the past, Black Friday was mostly a US event, but it has since spread across the Western world, and it now plays a significant date on the global business calendar.
If you’re looking to learn about affiliate marketing on Black Friday, you should start by analysing the previous year. On Black Friday 2022, over 87 million people shopped online in the US alone, with $40 billion spent globally. This clearly highlights the potential the period offers for affiliates and ecommerce businesses.
In terms of products, home appliances and tech items sold the most, particularly things like Apple AirPods and Echo Dots. Given the almost unwavering popularity of these products, it’s likely we could see this trend repeated. If you currently promote tech products, you will be in an excellent position to benefit from the Black Friday rush.
Preparing for the Peak
Black Friday is when consumers are on the hunt for bargains and discounts. To maximise results during this period, you should work to make it clear that the deals you are promoting offer the best value for money.
Consider redesigning your landing pages and platform to reflect the time of year. Highlight the value of the deals you promote to draw in customers. You should also refocus your SEO strategy, targeting Black Friday-related keywords to drive further traffic.
One of the most important things you can do when preparing for the Black Friday peak is to ensure your platform is mobile-compatible. Mobile shopping accounted for 55% of all ecommerce sales across last year’s Black Friday and Thanksgiving period, representing an annual increase of 8.3%. By designing a mobile-compatible platform, you will be able to boost conversions during this period.
What About Affiliate Program Managers?
So far, we’ve discussed affiliate marketing on Black Friday from the affiliate perspective. Now, let’s talk about how affiliate program managers can ease the pressure on affiliates during what can be an extremely busy and hectic time.
Communication is vital. Affiliate managers should reach out to partners and ensure they have everything they need to make the most of the Black Friday rush. Affiliates may need new marketing material such as banners and landing page templates, so make sure you distribute these in plenty of time.
You will also need to develop special affiliate codes for the season and disseminate information about deals and bargains. Make sure you get this info out to partners as early as possible to give them a chance to properly integrate new details into their campaigns.
The popularity of the Black Friday and Thanksgiving period means we could see more affiliates joining programs. To ensure you don’t lose out to your competitors, restructuring your offers can incentivise affiliates to choose your program over your rivals.
Reaching out to affiliates, rather than letting them come to you, can be an effective approach. Be sure to highlight the benefits your program can offer, such as holiday bonuses, marketing materials and payout schedules, to onboard new partners in time for the sales rush.
Advice From the Experts
We reached out to TopCashBack Group Commercial Director, James Little to ask if he had any advice for affiliate program managers as we head towards Black Friday:
He spoke about the importance of treating affiliates as fully-fledged business partners. James advises, “Make sure you have all the T’s ticked: Transparency, Tracking, Trust.”
James went on to reinforce how critical preparation is for reaching out to affiliates during this key period: “Give your affiliates your best deals in advance – many will sign an NDA if they have to, but sharing these will help them know what to promote. If you want extra exposure, make sure you’ve planned ahead. Getting in touch on key dates is unlikely to always get a quick or useful reply!”
In Conclusion…
Black Friday is a huge date on the ecommerce calendar. For affiliates and affiliate program managers, it’s a period with the potential for huge profits. However, heading in unprepared means you will be unable to take full advantage of Black Friday. Ensure you have everything set ahead of time to make the most of Black Friday and Thanksgiving.
