It’s generally accepted that evergreen content is possibly one of the most powerful and effective forms of content to produce. Evergreen content consists of posts, pages, and articles that don’t include a lot of time-sensitive material and instead manage to stay relevant days, months, and even years after being published.
By consistently publishing evergreen content, you increase your chances of your content getting circulated over time, thus exponentially increasing the people you reach.
But when it comes to affiliate marketing sales, it’s also a good tip to utilize seasonal content as well. After all, people are inclined to buy specialized products for holidays like Easter, Christmas, and back-to-school time. If people are already willing to spend the money, then what you need is a good plan to get them to see the products and services you promote. I knew an affiliate marketer that had an Amazon Associates site focusing on Halloween costumes and made a reasonable yearly income from it with the vast majority of sales in the just a few months. So make no mistake, there is a huge amount of money for those who focus on seasonal sales.
Any affiliate marketer wants to maximize their sales with a solid online marketing strategy, however there is considerably less information circulating about how to best utilize affiliate links that are seasonal. If you were to ask any traditional salesman, he or should would definitely be able to name a season where the most sales happen. It’s a natural thing for businesses to experience ebbs and flows.
What Could Be Considered Seasonal?
Seasonality refers to sales that spike in cycles, resulting in variation. Some examples of time periods where you could utilize seasonal sales include:
- Holidays like Christmas, Easter, the 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Mother’s or Father’s Day, and Valentine’s Day.
- Sporting events like NFL or NCAA March Madness.
- Themed months like Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
- Life events like weddings or graduations.
- Highly anticipated awards shows like the Oscars or Grammy’s.
- Lesser-known holidays, like Pi Day or Sibling’s Day.
- Quick response sales, like the death of a pop icon or high profile trials.
How Can You Focus On Affiliate Marketing With Seasonal Products Or Services?
Depending on your audience, utilizing seasonal sales could be an effective way to boost your commissions in your online marketing strategy. But how can you add this into your affiliate marketing to-do list?
-
- Newsletters. Your email list is a powerful tool full of your most engaged audience members. Get your followers excited about the upcoming season a month in advance by sprinkling links in your newsletter. Then one or two weeks beforehand, you can really kick things into high gear. This way they get a little preview and then they’re reminded later as the season approaches.
-
- Blog posts. Blog posts for seasonal products or services should be published in advance and then promoted heavily over social media channels as the dates approach. Remember to keep in mind the buying habits of your site’s visitors to appeal to them in the best possible way. Additionally, offer multiple products in one post, allowing them to choose what they feel is the best one for them instead of just showcasing one or two things. This can maximize your opportunity for commissions.
-
- Sweepstakes, contests, and giveaways. People love free stuff, and by offering a special kind of contest for them to enter, you can easily attract a lot of buzz to your site, Facebook fan page, or newsletter list. You’ll likely end up with a lot of new people following you, excited about the seasonal offerings, and many of them will continue to stick with you, increasing your sales during non-seasonal times.
-
- Paid advertising. A small investment in advertising could end up in a lot of sales for your holiday, back-to-school, or sports event offerings. There will already be a lot of excitement generated for these seasonal events anyway, and seeing your ads will only get more people clicking on your links to buy products. My friend that earned a ton of money from Halloween costume sales used PPC advertising on Facebook to earn his income. Just be careful as PPC can get expensive very quickly if you aren’t watchful.
Prepare For Seasonal Sales
Preparing for seasonal sales requires a thorough understanding of your ideal client. For example, if most of your affiliate links get clicked on from people living in the United Kingdom, the 4th of July won’t be a big deal to them. Make sure to consider:
- The age, gender, and geographic location of your ideal client.
- What type of job they have and what type of job they would like to have.
- What their hopes and dreams are.
- The types of things they like to do for fun, like favorite hobbies or activities.
- What they struggle with regularly.
- Their social media habits and preferences.
- How they get their news and how they communicate with others.
- Their likes and dislikes.
Taking some time to figure out and completely understand your ideal client will shed a lot of light on their spending habits and what they’re looking for. You will be able to clearly see what products and services they’ll benefit from most! Not only that, but you’ll also have a better idea of how to reach them with this information, thus increasing your sales.
After you’ve figured out your ideal client, you then need to look at a calendar and decide when to start pushing certain items and services. While it’s certainly not set in stone, small reminders a month out are a great way to get clients thinking about your product. Then as the date approaches, you can push your marketing strategies with more force, making them more noticeable.
The worst thing you can do, though, is wait until it’s too late and try to jump on the bandwagon a few days beforehand. While seasonal sales can be fleeting, preparing for them is not. It requires not only planning out your time and strategy in the best way but also understanding who it is that you want clicking on your links.