Affiliate ABCs host Deborah Carney joined Kim Salvino and Amy Ely of buy.at to discuss Q4 planning and ideas to generate the greatest revenue during one of the most lucrative times of the year.
Topics include:
· Important information to ask merchants in order to effectively promote their program in Q4
· Great Q4 holidays (beyond Black Friday) and niche topics to consider for promotion opportunities
Key takeaways:
· Don’t wait on the merchant – know what you need well in advance, and don’t be afraid to ask
· Plan out a promotional calendar and the dates you’ll need relevant creative from merchants
· Consider creating a media kit detailing your audience demographics, planned promotions, and communications channels you use (email, PPC, etc) and send to potential merchant partners
· Ensure your content and ads aren’t displaying expired promotions
Tricia Meyer posted a great seasonality calendar – http://www.tricia.me/SeasonalityCalendar.pdf
Helpful statistics:
· comScore 4th quarter sales reached $39 billion in 2009 and $43 billion in 2010 – presenting a huge revenue opportunity this year
· The largest online sales day in 2010 was Cyber Monday and the peak week was December 5-12th
Drew Thorne-Thomsen from Ring Revenue, joins Affiliate ABCs hosts Vinny O’Hare and Deborah Carney to discuss the Ring Revenue service. Pay per call has been around for awhile but it is getting more traction as more affiliates are looking for ways to monetize offline advertising or other untraditional types of advertising and pay per call gives affiliates, networks and merchants a way to start tracking those sales. In addition to the call tracking, there is also a corresponding link that can track.
MakeBeer.net offers a full line of Cooper’s Home Brew kits, ingredients and equipment for brewing beer at home. The Cooper’s Brewery in Australia was founded in 1862 and the MakeBeer.net product line contains eighteen varieties of beer from the Master Brewers at Coopers Brewery including popular beers such as IPAs, lagers, ales and stouts and each kit makes 6 gallons of beer. Their Cooper’s DIY Beer Kit contains all the equipment and ingredients needed to brew a full batch of beer and is very popular as a gift during the holiday season as well as Father’s Day and Valentine’s Day in addition to year-round sales.
The MakeBeer.net affiliate program is exclusively on ShareASale and offers a 15% commission and a 90 day cookie as well as a full product datafeed which is also available in PopShops. They have several video creatives available as well as a Top Sellers widget that is updated weekly.
OfficePlayground.com carries over 1300 fun toys just for your desk and their office toys also make great gifts, party favors, and are fabulous for meetings and events. Some of their products include stress balls, slingshot flying animals, zen gardens, Hoberman spheres and Newton’s cradles. Their product line is very popular year round and their biggest holiday, Bosses Day, is coming up soon in October.
The Office Playground affiliate program is exclusively on ShareASale and offers an 8% commission and a 30 day cookie as well as a full product datafeed of over 1300 products. They have several widgets available, including a Top Sellers widget that is updated weekly, and are adding new product videos each week.
