It seems that the ever-important 4th quarter is expanding each and every year. The start of this season is no longer confined to the day after Thanksgiving. Its importance continues to grow. Success during this period is vital to your annual goals, and given the uncertainty in the economy, having all your ducks in a row for this potential windfall is an imperative.
The fundamentals and foundational aspect of all your digital marketing remain as important as ever, especially in your affiliate channel. So, what can you do now to ensure that your affiliate and partner marketing channel is ready for success in 2022 Q4?
Below is a brief outline of 10 things you can do now to make sure you don’t miss a thing this year.
The fundamentals and foundational aspect of all your digital marketing remain as important as ever, especially in your affiliate channel
- Review partner performance
- Assemble marketing assets
- Identify top performers
- Schedule face time
- Optimize creative
- Review product performance
- Recruit new affiliates
- Ready exclusive offers
- Increase commissions
- Connect with current affiliates
1. Review partner performance
Review previous performance to develop your list of top partners. When we talk about future planning, we talk first of low hanging fruit. This list of your top partners is just that, easy pickin’. These are partners that performed for you in the past and most likely you can count on to provide those same results in the future. This is your first list of partners to reach out to and discuss their plans, what they need, and how you can work together in 2022.
2. Assemble marketing assets
Collect and aggregate your marketing materials and promotional calendar for the entire quarter. When you have discussions with affiliates, you are going to want to have a clear idea of what your organization is going to be doing and offering consumers throughout this period. This will help you focus your efforts around days most likely to produce for your channel.
3. Identify top performers
Identify your current top producers. You may have considerable overlap between this group and the group you identified in step 1, but make sure you don’t miss anyone. These are partners that are currently successful in your channel. Time to see what they can do going forward.
4. Schedule face time
Arrange and coordinate your meetings. In order to achieve success, you need successful partnerships. In order to have successful partnerships, you need relationships. And relationships aren’t created in email or text messages. Zoom, phone or other means, reach out to your partners and schedule meet and greets to get to know them more, understand the opportunities you both can take advantage of and get some exposure scheduled on your calendar.
5. Optimize creative
Optimize your creative and create your communication calendar. You need text links and banners that coincide with your marketing calendar. Then you need to plan and schedule your communication with affiliates about all these offerings. Utilize the networks’ and platforms’ ability to schedule creative in advance to be released at a later date and use your calendar and a task manager to schedule out your communication to your partners.
6. Review product performance
Product merchandising schedule. Review last year’s top product performance, compare to this years and the upcoming quarter expectations and develop a plan to highlight those top sellers to your affiliates. You should be creating text links for these as well as highlighting them in your data feeds and all affiliate communications.
7. Recruit new affiliates
Recruit new affiliates. If you don’t have a large network of affiliates and publishers that you have built up over decades, like the team at JEBCommerce has, you need to utilize the networks’ and platforms’ recruitment tools to find new affiliates in your program.
8. Ready exclusive offers
Use exclusive offer and vanity codes to increase exposure. Many affiliates, not just coupon sites, will only feature you during this time if you have good deals and deals exclusive to them. Don’t discount these when making your plans. In economic times like these, coupons and discounts become foundational – customers won’t buy without a deal.
9. Increase commissions
Increase commission rates for added exposure. In your conversations with affiliates from steps 1-8, be open, and offer an increased compensation for added exposure. It’s a negotiation. Know your top line offer you can get away with and don’t be afraid to offer more to receive more.
10. Connect with current affiliates
Speak with as many affiliate partners as possible. Now. Affiliate marketing is unlike any other digital marketing channel. It is based on relationships. Relationships are based on track record and trust.
Speak with as many affiliate partners as possible. Now. Affiliate marketing is unlike any other digital marketing channel. It is based on relationships. Relationships are based on track record and trust. It is impossible to build those without conversations. The more you are talking to affiliates, the more successful you will be. Get to know them and speak to them as often as you can.
Success this year is achievable, even through the tumult and turbulence we are facing. It is times like these that fundamentals really come into play and show the potential of the channel. While the steps above are not complicated, they may be difficult to complete. If you need help preparing for Q4, contact us today at gethelp@jebcommerce.com.
