How to Run a Successful Black Friday Affiliate Marketing Campaign
Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) are key calendar dates that offer retailers the biggest opportunity to showcase their deals. With around 60% of UK consumers waiting until BFCM to make their purchases, marketers and affiliates can take advantage of this by running a well-planned and targeted Black Friday affiliate marketing campaign.
To plan and execute your own seasonal affiliate marketing campaign, we’ve compiled a list of the best steps to take. With these tips and pointers, you can run a lucrative Black Friday affiliate marketing campaign that gets higher revenues and wins more customers.
First off, let’s review why it’s a good idea to get prepared for Black Friday.
Why Should You Run a Black Friday Affiliate Marketing Campaign?
Black Friday is an end-of-week seasonal shopping event that kicks off a pre-holiday sales period. Also known as Cyber Five or Cyber Week, buyers often use this period to make big purchases through exclusive deals and special offers. The impact of BFCM can have far-reaching effects on buyers and sellers.
- In 2019, Amazon’s highest-selling product in the UK was the Echo Dot 3rd Generation smart speakers which sold over 30,000 units on Black Friday.
- Traffic from Black Friday shoppers increased by over 34% in 2021, compared to 2020.
- Some affiliate Marketers have made over $13,000 during Cyber Week.
- Predictions suggest the top-performing verticals for 2023 will be electronics, apparel, and groceries. Together, they’ll contribute over $100 billion to online spending during the Black Friday buying and selling season.
7 Steps You Can Take to Boost Black Friday Affiliate Marketing
So what steps can you take to get the most out of Black Friday affiliate marketing?
Start Planning Early
The best way to plan for a successful Black Friday and Cyber Monday is to start early. Not only will this give you the space to brainstorm ideas and set out financial milestones but it will allow your affiliates to prepare too.
Your affiliates need plenty of notice, active communication, and guidance to succeed. And starting early can help to iron out issues and keep your top affiliates focused. Plus, a longer lead-in time means you can onboard new affiliates.
Do Your Research
Data drives everything we do. Yet 1 in 4 UK retailers don’t review data on Black Friday before they start planning. But with the knowledge that two-thirds of consumers wait for Black Friday to buy premium goods, marketers and affiliates can optimise their sales by reviewing relevant data. For example, in 2021, supply chain issues were one of the biggest factors for Black Friday’s performance. So it’s worth reviewing where you may need to make contingencies.
Also, take some time to review your current or new affiliates. It’s important to be on the lookout for any potential increase in fraudulent activity or potential scammers.
Optimise Landing Pages
Running a successful Black Friday affiliate marketing campaign relies on attracting customers to exclusive deals and offers. So, get focused on creating a personalised landing page that contains persuasive content and sharp copy.
The Coupon Affiliates Landing Pages module will allow you to create personalised landing pages for each of your affiliates.
Also, don’t forget to leave enough time to carry out A/B testing, and ensure your on-page SEO is on point.
Update Your Creatives
Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions rely on striking visuals to gain customers’ attention. Try to use a range of creatives to promote deals including images, videos, and links to sites.
And while you must let your creativity shine, it’s also important not to use Black Friday to revolutionise your business. It’s an important period, so stick to what you know. Keep your formats traditional but bring excitement and originality using creative content.
The Coupon Affiliates plugin also makes it easier to give your affiliates access to creatives such as banners and images, available for them to download directly in their affiliate dashboard.
Promote Exclusivity and Urgency
One of the most important things to plan for Black Friday is how you’ll promote urgency in your campaign.
Some examples of this include:
- Black Friday special offers
- One-day only deals
- Multi-purchase discounts
- Timing of sales and the expiry of coupons or offers
- Ship-by deadlines for deliveries
You can also use these opportunities to drive traffic from your subscriber list to your Black Friday site. Often, the best way to do this is via your newsletter email subscriber list.
Incentivise Your Affiliates
You can incentivise your affiliate partners on Black Friday in many different ways:
- Commissions: You may like to present your affiliates with an increased commission amount based on specific products or categories.
- Payout Details: You can set your affiliate’s expectations by defining your payout methods, thresholds, and timelines.
- Terms of Service: Setting up terms of reference on how you’ll work with affiliates can help to establish parameters and boundaries. But it can also provide an explicit agreement that your affiliates must abide by.
- Reward your top performers: Whether you work with multi-level affiliates or in another form, rewarding your most successful affiliates will incentivise them. So, give some thought to what you could offer the best-performing affiliate during the Black Friday period.
Give Affiliates a Personalised Experience
Affiliate marketing tends to get the best results when affiliates feel they’re appreciated and part of a community. So set up regular meet-ups to catch up with your affiliates and rally them around the Black Friday and Cyber Monday season.
You may also find it helpful to brainstorm ideas. This can also help to secure your affiliate’s buy-in to new content or promotional concepts. Also, give your affiliates a sense of ownership over campaigns with their own dashboard. You can track their performance and commissions using the Coupon Affiliates plugin.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are Not to be Missed
Black Friday is a critical time for eCommerce and online vendors. And a well-planned campaign can offer the perfect opportunity to engage affiliates and incentivise sales.
Affiliates and marketers find their Black Friday affiliate marketing campaigns are more likely to be successful using management tools. And with the Coupon Affiliates plugin, you can make the whole process of running your own affiliate program much easier!
Get started today with a free 7 day trial.
Mike King is a content writer and consultant at Contentar. He specialises in writing about digital marketing, eCommerce, app development, and assistive technology.
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