For anyone involved in online marketing, it’s probably no surprise that 2013 was another bumper year for holiday retail shopping/spending on the web. Leading digital business analytics firm comScore reports that between November 1 and December 31, online shoppers spent more than $46.5 billion. They also reported that the two busiest days were Cyber Monday and the day after, with a total spend of $3.15 billion.
For those like me who are very into affiliate marketing, this is one of the best times to rack up sales and earn commissions. Shoppers are simply in the right mindset to shop, and more are now buying their items and gifts online. Affiliate marketers need to take advantage of this “feeding frenzy” and make their sites or affiliate links stand out with additional advertising, more content creation and timely posts.
As in years past, this is the time to do that extra advertising and increase your spending. This year I did a press release every day through PRWeb during the weeks around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It has always been beneficial for me to create content that is directly related to these shopping days, heavily promoting the discount coupons and offers of the companies that I promote with my sites. This also builds links/ranks for vital keywords in Google News and Yahoo News around those special Christmas shopping events.
However, I just didn’t focus on search engines, I also increased my Facebook ads and Tweets to make sure I was getting traffic from social media sites. Like other online marketers, Google’s Panda and Penguin updates have taught me to never rely solely on search engine traffic, it can all be gone in the blink of an eye.
That said, it should come as no surprise that 40% of traffic to retailers this holiday season came from search engines according to Experian, a marketing services company. Apparently, this traffic is down 13% from last year, perhaps because many shoppers use Google’s paid product ads to find the items they want. Also keep in mind the growing influence of social media platforms and forums in delivering online traffic.
Affiliate marketers should also take advantage of these social networks with branded Twitter feeds and at least one Facebook fan page. Highly targeted ads on Facebook can pay off, with many marketers reporting good results. Personally, I didn’t find my FB Ads as effective at driving large amounts of traffic as press releases or even search engines, at least not directly from Facebook, but I have seen an increase in direct traffic to my site. This type of traffic is really hard to judge, but it probably comes from increased exposure of my brand on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Done right, social media fan/follower/subscriber base should be a year-round marketing project, building a loyal following with relevant posts and informative content. After all, during this holiday season, one report shows a 39% increase in traffic coming from these upstream social networks and anyone doing affiliate marketing online can’t ignore these numbers. Especially on Facebook, what has really worked well for me is offering free, helpful guides/videos to drive potential buyers into my lists and into my marketing funnels. Since it’s all about “sharing” content, this content can’t be too commercial, or it will turn people off instead of bringing them closer to your brand.
Experian also reports that discount coupons are falling out of favor with the buying public, but I disagree with their findings. On the other hand, I am a bit biased because I have effectively used discount coupons in my affiliate marketing for over 10 years. During peak holiday shopping days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, my Promoted Businesses offer some of the best deals of the year and this translates into higher sales. Potential customers are also looking for the best deals right now, and the affiliate marketer needs to take advantage of them.
While all of this marketing might make you feel like an aspiring used car salesman, I’ve always thought of this as a win-win situation where the customer gets a great deal and the affiliate earns a small commission. From the beginning, I have always placed an emphasis on providing valuable content first and coupons/discounts as a follow-up or bonus. If you’re an affiliate marketer and you’re not offering a coupon or discount, keep in mind that many shoppers (online and offline) are putting off their holiday shopping until they see these great deals and the discounts each merchant offers.
If you’re not targeting your online marketing at these special discounts, you may be leaving a lot of sales on the table or being picked up by other sellers. During the holiday shopping season, I just make sure my subscribers/followers/fans know about these great deals and we both walk away smiling. And as the statistics above show, more and more customers are turning to online retailers for the items and gifts they want for the holidays. Affiliate marketers simply have to follow the money if they want to survive in this highly competitive game.