Hey affiliate marketers, you’re going to want to grab a coffee, Celsius, or bubbly water, and buckle up – because you’re about to dive into a short holiday novel.
As we move into Holiday 2022, we’re sharing a few thoughts, best practices, and readiness tips to win this season. A lot may seem up in the air given the past few years - but one thing is for certain, this holiday season will be far different from what any of us have ever experienced.
First and foremost, it’s no surprise that the holiday "shopping" season starts earlier every year. This is especially true this year – 47% of shoppers planned to start buying their gifts in September and 36% say they plan to shop earlier this year than they did last year, according to LTK. Shoppers are also purchasing earlier this year due to inflation – happening globally – noting that gifts they may want to buy will likely become more expensive closer to the holidays.
To get brands and affiliate marketers prepared, we’ve provided a few key points to think about as we focus on our own clients’ goals and navigating the upcoming weeks:
Recruit, Activate & Diversify
While recruitment should always be top of mind for program growth, now is the time to review your recruitment strategy and onboard new publisher models that may have increased in relevance due to the changes brought about by COVID-19. Notable players include:
- Content publishers specializing in gift guides and product reviews
- Publishers with geo-targeting capabilities
- Publishers that can drive email/newsletter sign-ups
- Publishers with a strong mobile presence and offer mobile-centric placements such as push notifications & app homepage takeovers
- Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) publishers offering financing options for the everyday consumer
- Publishers that can deliver time-sensitive offers to their audience base
As consumers become savvier, they will continue to spend more time researching and finding the best possible value for the product or service they want. This highlights the need to work with a mix of different partnership types, allowing you to reach the consumer at multiple touchpoints during their path to purchase. For example, loyalty partners can help brands retain customers and offer incentives to drive new customers, while deal partners can help liquidate excess inventory. Coupon partners will help engage with the 51% of U.S. consumers who plan to use online coupon sites, apps, or browser extensions while holiday shopping in 2022.
Always Be Testing
Test dedicated media placements with key partners early on to ensure optimal ROAS and use Q3 to learn what types of site exposure perform best when paired with various promotional offer types. With savvy holiday shoppers, there’s untapped opportunity for revenue growth during key shopping periods when using the right placement strategy.
eMarketer predicts that Cyber Monday and Black Friday will remain the biggest days in retail sales volume, but Thanksgiving (11/24) and Singles Day (11/11) are expected to show top YoY increases in 2022. Within the affiliate channel, we’re predicting sales spikes in luxury, clothing, health/wellness, beauty, and shoe brands on Single’s Day. Factor these moments in time into your exposure calendar and optimization schedules.
Promote Clear, Consumer-Centric Messaging
To combat delayed purchase decisions, ensure copy, text links, and ads are able to target the message to the consumer. Utilize urgency messaging or reflect the best possible offers and deals during key periods. Include additional text links to hero products, top categories, and sale/clearance sections.
For example, instead of “Up to 40% off” shift messaging to “For a limited time, enjoy up to 40% off select items, perfect for holiday gifting”. This message includes urgency (limited time) while illustrating the great value (30% off) and contextual storytelling (holiday gifting). Tailored messages increase conversation rate & ultimately create stronger relationships with consumers.
Promote the Essentials
Practical gifts and group gifts will dominate this year. We’re already seeing consumers purchasing items such as shoes, apparel, and general necessities over toys and luxury items. Group or household gift examples include coffee makers, air fryers, and streaming service gift cards – which allow for the entire family to enjoy and give the gift giver flexibility in their budgets by consolidating their gifting purchases.
Frame essentials in a new light – if a brand offers essential items, utilize them as “gateway” products that will attract consumers to the site and eventually convert. As the consumer begins to convert, utilize personalization tactics to show the consumer what else is available. This will drive them to increase their shopping cart with these items and capitalize on both essential and non-essential gifts.
Start Now – Promote Convenience
As we shared earlier, consumers are not waiting for the holidays to start shopping. Right now, they are actively deciding what they want and when they want to buy. Ensure you are offering new customers what they want, while keeping existing customers engaged. Both types of consumers are valuable – so share key information with partners such as:
- The latest possible date someone can buy a gift for on-time arrival: For all holiday offers, be transparent and upfront about delivery cut-off dates. With shipping times likely to be impacted, communicate seamless purchase options such as Buy Online, Pick up in Store (BOPIS), Reserve Online, Pickup in Store (ROPIS) & curbside pickup.
- If brands have this offering, promote buying online and picking up in-store: BOPIS (also known as “click & collect), allows for frictionless holiday shopping while allowing the consumer to avoid high shipping costs. However, BOPIS is more than a pandemic fad, eMarketer revised their forecast on total click-and-collect retail orders for 2020 from 38.6% up to 60.4% with indications that sales will continue to experience steady annual growth, at rates above 15%.
All the above illustrates that the 2022 holiday season will look very different from 2021 and 2020. While it’s always great to look back on what worked and what didn't in 2021, consumers will continue to get savvier and even more cost-conscious given recession speculation. If brands work with the right partners, create a clear promotional message, and continue to promote what the consumer wants, holiday strategies will have a much better chance of finding success in this unprecedented holiday season.