Every year around Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas, there are sales, deals and offers everywhere you look. And the affiliate world is no different. If you do it right, holiday promotions can make up 30-50% of your affiliate income for the entire year. Today I’ll share with you 10 tips for increasing your affiliate revenue through holiday promotions.
Everyone thinks of buying gifts and getting deals during the holidays, but have you thought about MAKING money during the holidays?
Promoting affiliate offers during the holidays can result in substantial affiliate income without requiring you to create products, manage inventory, or handle customer service.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan (or proponent) of “get rich quick” schemes, but as an affiliate you can piggyback on the excitement created by major retailers for deals during the holidays to generate affiliate income for yourself.
The psychology is already working in your favor. Consumers EXPECT deals during the holidays. They’re actively searching for them. Their wallets are already open, and they’re in buying mode.
When we ran the Shutterfly affiliate program, 60% of our annual affiliate revenue came between Black Friday and December 18th. Let me repeat that. MORE THAN HALF of our entire year’s revenue came in less than a month.
During some of Shutterfly’s bigger holiday seasons, Black Friday and Cyber Monday alone generated about $1 million in affiliate sales, about 5% of annual sales in those two days. At Adidas, another program I managed, Black Friday and Cyber Monday were about 3-4% of annual sales.
That’s the power of holiday promotions.
People are looking for deals, and your audience is no different. They’re scrolling through their inboxes looking for the best offers. They’re checking social media for discount codes. They’re asking friends what deals they’ve found.
Will YOU be there with the right offer at the right time?
What I mean by holiday sale
When I say “holiday sale” I’m talking about a sale that’s based around a holiday. The most common are around Thanksgiving (Black Friday, Cyber Monday) and Christmas, but it could be 4th of July, New Year’s, Memorial Day or any other holiday.
Think beyond just the major shopping holidays.
I ran a New Year’s promotion for a $497 personal-productivity course. The previous year’s enrollment period had generated $22,365 in sales from 10 actively promoting affiliates. Getting affiliates to do anything at all, not the conversion rate, was the bottleneck.
I didn’t raise the standard 40% commission. I offered an all-affiliate $150 bonus for generating at least five sales, reached out to smaller affiliates who’d signed up but never promoted, and asked them to commit to just two emails. I supplied the emails, graphics, and a simple promotional calendar. Enrollment closed January 8, a hard deadline tied to the live course starting the next day, and we did not extend it.
The results were 110 sales totaling $54,670, about 144% more revenue than the prior year’s $22,365. Twenty-two affiliates participated, including 14 promoting the course for the first time. Eight qualified for the $150 bonus.
Several smaller affiliates who could never compete on a leaderboard against a 100,000-subscriber affiliate generated five or six sales each, because the target was achievable, and they put in more effort than usual. Holiday incentives don’t have to focus only on the biggest partners. Sometimes the bigger opportunity is getting 20 smaller affiliates to do something they otherwise wouldn’t have.
Valentine’s Day is HUGE for certain niches. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day drive serious revenue. Back to School season in August rivals some winter holidays for certain products.
Even lesser-known holidays can work if your audience celebrates them or if they align with your niche.
These sales also tend to be very compressed, lasting anywhere from 4 to 48 hours. This compression creates urgency, which is one of the most powerful motivators in marketing.
The shorter the window, the more powerful the urgency.
So here are 10 tips for making the most out of holiday affiliate promotions.
1. Plan, plan, plan
I mention this throughout my course, No Product, No Problem. A successful promotion needs a plan. Not a perfect plan, just a plan.
This is what happens when you DON’T plan. It’s 9am on Black Friday. You suddenly remember you wanted to promote something. You scramble to find your affiliate link.
You throw together a half-hearted email. You send it out with a typo. And you make a fraction of what you could have made.
Sound familiar?
Planning prevents that nightmare scenario.
Start by asking yourself these questions.
What are you going to mail about?
What days/times are you going to mail?
Will you do a blog post?
Will you record a podcast episode?
What graphics will you use?
Who on your team needs to be involved?
What’s your backup plan if the offer sells out or the link breaks?
Asking these questions BEFORE the promo and making a plan will have a dramatic impact on how well you do in holiday promotions.
I recommend creating your plan at least TWO WEEKS before the promotion starts. This gives you time to prepare your content, get your graphics ready, and schedule everything in advance.
The best affiliates I know have their holiday promotions planned out by mid-October. They know exactly what they’re promoting, when they’re promoting it, and how much revenue they expect to generate.
I learned this the hard way running the Shutterfly program.
Through October one year, our affiliate sales were up about 90-100% over the previous year. I was on pace for bonuses tied to finishing the year up 75-80%. But I hadn’t prepared aggressively enough in late summer and early fall for how much November and December mattered.
November and December sales still grew about 25% year over year. Because the holidays made up such a large share of annual revenue, that pulled full-year growth down to about 46%. I missed substantial performance bonuses, around $50,000.
The next year I paced myself differently and prepared for the holiday rush instead of spending my energy earlier. October growth was only about 40-45%, lower than the prior year’s pace. But November and December grew about 65-70% over the previous holiday season, and the year finished with more than 50% growth.
A great affiliate manager can’t treat November and December like an ordinary eight weeks.
FREE RESOURCE. Get our sample Promo Prep Plan.
2. Find a variety of offers
Let me give you an example. My audience is broken down into basically four different segments or groups.
- I really want to learn affiliate marketing and they are brand new
- I really want to focus on affiliate marketing and I’ve made a couple thousand dollars online
- I want to learn how to run an affiliate program
- I want to do affiliate marketing AND run an affiliate program
Those are the four segments or groups that make up my audience.
By promoting a variety of offers, you’re able to promote offers that are targeted to each segment or group within your audience.
And because the sales are typically very short, it’s easier to promote different offers to different groups. You’re not asking them to commit to weeks of emails about the same product. You’re giving them a quick opportunity and moving on.
This variety also protects you. If one offer underperforms, you’ve got others that might overperform.
Look for products for different segments. Don’t just promote advanced courses if half your audience is just getting started.
Look for products of different types. Mix courses with software. Add physical products alongside digital ones. Include services if they make sense for your audience.
Hit different price points. Promote offers for everything from $0.99 to $500.
The beauty of holiday promotions is that people are in buying mode across ALL price points. Someone might grab a $7 ebook on Monday and a $297 course on Friday.
Finding low-priced offers that have longer (or lifetime) cookies is an especially good idea, because the entry offer is so low, and then if they purchase later, you get credit!
For example, Amazon’s cookie lasts 24 hours. But if someone adds something to their cart using your link, you get credit for everything they buy in that session, not just the item you promoted.
That $12 book you promoted might turn into a $400 commission if they decide to buy a TV while they’re at it.
To get started with affiliate marketing the right way, download my free quickstart guide to affiliate marketing. Grab your copy here!
3. Get clear on the days and times
During holiday sales a lot of times the start and end days and times will be very specific.
For example, when we worked with Shutterfly, we would have deals that were ONLY valid from 3pm to 8pm Pacific time. That’s it. Five hours. Miss it and you’re done.
Because of this, make sure that you know exactly when the start and end days and times are for the offers you’re promoting.
Write them down. Put them in your calendar. Set THREE reminders (not just one, because you’ll dismiss it and forget).
Pay attention to time zones. If you’re on the East Coast and the sale starts at 12am Pacific, that’s 3am YOUR time. Plan accordingly.
You don’t want to email your list about a deal that ended an hour before they got the email.
I’ve seen this happen more times than I can count. An affiliate gets excited, writes a great email, but forgets to check the time zone. Their audience clicks through to find the sale is over.
It will frustrate your audience and cost you money. Worse, it damages your credibility. Your audience starts to wonder if they can trust your recommendations.
Double check. Triple check. Then check one more time.
4. Tease it in advance
If I was going to have a Black Friday offer on my site, I’d want to tell you it was coming well before it went live.
HEADS UP. Be watching for our CRAZY Black Friday deal, starting 6am ET on Black Friday.
^^Just like I did there ^^
This is called “seeding” and it’s one of the most underutilized strategies in affiliate marketing.
When you tease an offer in advance, you’re doing several things.
First, you’re building anticipation. People start watching for your email. They’re primed and ready to buy.
Second, you’re training your audience to take action quickly. They know this is time-sensitive, so when your email hits their inbox, they open it immediately.
Third, you’re increasing your open rates. When people are expecting an email from you, they’re more likely to open it.
You won’t necessarily send a dedicated email about these offers, but mention it in a blog post (like I just did), mention it in a newsletter, post it on social, etc.
Drop hints everywhere. Make it a breadcrumb trail that leads to the sale.
Start building a little buzz and excitement. I typically start teasing major holiday promotions 5-7 days in advance. For smaller flash sales, 2-3 days is plenty.
5. Ask for holiday-themed creatives
Ask for graphics and other creatives that are holiday-themed.
Having graphics, for example during Christmas that have snowflakes or are red and green themed can help, especially in sidebar ads and social media.
This seems like a small thing, but it makes a BIG difference.
During the holidays, people are seeing red and green EVERYWHERE. They’re seeing snowflakes, turkeys, fireworks, hearts (depending on the holiday). When your promotional graphics match what they’re seeing everywhere else, it FEELS like a holiday deal.
It triggers that psychological response. “This is special. This is limited time. I should pay attention.”
Most affiliate managers will create holiday-themed graphics if you ask. But most affiliates DON’T ask.
They just use the standard graphics and wonder why their conversions are lower than expected.
Don’t make that mistake.
If the affiliate manager doesn’t have holiday graphics, ask if you can create your own (make sure you get approval first). Or use tools like Canva to add holiday elements to the existing graphics.
6. Ask for an exclusive code
One of the biggest things I see with new affiliates is they’re afraid to ask for things like exclusive codes. Regardless of how small you are, if you ask for an exclusive code, you just might get it.
For me, as an affiliate manager, it’s easier to give you an exclusive code, regardless of your audience size than it is to take the time to ask how big your audience is, what your social media reach is, etc.
Exclusive codes are powerful for a few reasons.
They make your audience feel special. “Wow, Matt got me an exclusive code just for his audience!”
They’re easier to remember and share. Your audience can remember “McWilliams” versus “Save20wx10”.
They help you track your results more accurately. When someone uses your exclusive code, you KNOW they came from you.
They can increase conversions.
Not all companies will give out exclusive codes, but since my website is mattmcwilliams.com, an exclusive code like “McWilliams” will convert better for me than “Save20wx10”.
So don’t be afraid to ask. The worst they can say is no, and you’re no worse off than before.
The people who get them are the people who ask for them.
7. Treat it like a big launch
Go big. If you only have a 48-hour window that you plan on promoting, plan on sending 4 or 5 (or 6 or 7) emails in that time frame.
I know what you’re thinking. “Won’t people unsubscribe if I send that many emails?”
Maybe. A few might. But after 20+ years of doing this, I’ve learned this.
The people who unsubscribe during a promotion were never going to buy anyway. They were dead weight on your list. Let them go.
The people who DO want the deal will appreciate the reminders. In fact, many of them will thank you for reminding them before the deadline.
Focus on the deadline.
Most of the sales in a 48-hour sale come in the last 4 hours.
The same is true in a 17-day sale.
Nothing moves people like a deadline.
In one recent holiday promotion, we made 68% of our total revenue in the final 6 hours. That’s more than two-thirds of ALL sales happening at the very end.
If you’re not mailing multiple times on the last day, you’re leaving money on the table. Lots of it.
This is a sample mailing schedule for a 48-hour Black Friday promotion.
Friday, 6am. “The sale is LIVE!”
Friday, 2pm. “Don’t miss this…”
Friday, 8pm. “Last chance to save 50%”
Saturday, 9am. “24 hours left”
Saturday, 2pm. “This ends tonight”
Saturday, 6pm. “Final hours”
Saturday, 9pm. “Going, going…”
Saturday, 11pm. “Gone in 60 minutes”
That’s 8 emails in 48 hours. And it works.
On a kitchen equipment program I managed, normal four-day affiliate sales ran about $27,000 at a standard 10% commission. The owner asked whether paying affiliates more for Black Friday was really necessary “when everybody’s offering discounts anyway.”
I proposed three changes for the four-day Black Friday through Cyber Monday window. We raised commission from 10% to 12% on qualifying sales. We added a $250 bonus for any affiliate generating at least 25 sales. And we used four separate promotional emails, each tied to a specific offer or deadline, alongside a 20% customer discount on selected products. Affiliates were told exactly when each offer started and ended.
By Saturday morning, we’d already passed $40,000 in affiliate sales. By the end of Cyber Monday, total affiliate sales hit $94,500, about 3.5 times the typical four-day figure and about 55% more than the $61,000 from the same period the previous year. Five affiliates hit the $250 bonus.
The extra commission and discount cost was manageable, and it brought in a meaningful number of new customers. Several affiliates who rarely promoted became active because they had a clear, time-limited opportunity and a specific incentive. A modest commission increase plus a clear bonus and promotional plan can get affiliates to make a much bigger commitment than usual.
RELATED POST. How To Close Sales On The Final Day Of A Launch
8. Focus on the transformation, then scarcity
Leading up to the promo, focus on the value, the benefits, and the transformation. Everything leading up to the promotion should be about what the product will do for you, how it will change your life or your business.
This is where you paint the picture. You show them what’s possible. You get them excited about the outcome.
For example, if you’re promoting a course on productivity, you talk about how it will help them get 3 hours back in their day. You describe what they’ll do with that extra time. You make them WANT the transformation.
Then, the moment the sale begins, focus on scarcity only.
When a sale only lasts 24-48 hours, you don’t have time to focus on transformation once the sale starts, it’s a total scarcity play.
Your emails should sound like this.
“The clock is ticking…”
“Only 12 hours left to save 40%…”
“This deal ends in 3 hours…”
“Last call…”
When the sale begins, the time for benefits, value and transformation has passed. Everyone who’s going to be convinced by the benefits has already been convinced.
Now you’re reminding them that the window is closing. You’re activating their fear of missing out (FOMO).
This approach has consistently generated 40-60% higher revenue for us compared to continuing to focus on benefits during the sale period.
9. Use blog posts, social media and sidebar ads
With regular promotions, blog posts, social media and sidebar ads just aren’t very effective. The ROI isn’t there for longer promotions.
But when you’re talking about holiday and flash sales, they’re GREAT places to sell.
Email is still the absolute best way to sell, but blog posts, social media and sidebar ads are a close second during holiday promotions.
If email is king (and it is), then these three are queen.
They work especially well during holidays.
Blog posts. People are actively searching for deals. A blog post titled “The Best Black Friday Deals for ” can drive organic traffic for days.
Social media. Your audience is scrolling more during the holidays. They’re looking for gift ideas and deals. A well-placed social post can generate significant sales.
Sidebar ads. With the urgency of holiday sales, those “ignored” sidebar ads suddenly get attention. The ticking clock makes them impossible to ignore.
Post the offers you’re promoting on your blog, share them on social media, add sidebar ads to your site.
Create multiple touchpoints. Someone might see your sidebar ad, scroll past it, see your social post, ignore it, then finally open your email and buy.
Especially when you’re promoting low-priced deals, there is no barrier to entry, so social media works very well. A $7 ebook is an impulse buy that happens right there on Facebook.
10. Watch what other people are doing
You’ve heard me quote Picasso many times when he says,
Watch what others in your industry and niche are doing. Subscribe to their email lists. Follow them on social media. Pay attention to their strategies.
Watch what and how they’re promoting Black Friday deals.
What time do they send their emails? How many emails do they send? What language do they use? What graphics grab your attention?
Take notes. Screenshot everything. Create a swipe file of ideas.
Not so much so you can change what you’re doing this year (see #1 above about planning…), but if you will watch and take notes this year when the next holiday promo comes around you’ll have the playbook!
I keep a running document of holiday promotion ideas. Every time I see something clever, I add it to the file. By the time the next holiday season rolls around, I’ve got dozens of proven ideas to choose from.
This is how you get better year after year. You learn from what’s working in the market and adapt it to your own style.
So now you have 10 tips for promoting holiday offers as an affiliate.
Now all you have to do is execute.
Go find one offer (or more) that you can promote during the next holiday season and take action. Start with your plan. Find your offers. Set your calendar reminders. Create your teaser content.
The opportunity is sitting there waiting for you. The only question is whether you’ll take advantage of it.
I think you’ll find, if done right, holiday offers will become some of your favorite affiliate promotions! They’re fast, they’re fun, and they’re profitable.
Have you promoted holiday offers? If so, how did it go? If not, what has held you back?
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