Last Christmas online sales grew a whopping 15.5% over the previous year. Compare that with a 3.6% increase for retail sales over the same period and it is undeniable that the online marketplace is red hot for Christmas. So just how much of this pie do affiliate marketer’s get a share of?
Well, the short answer is – it depends. It depends on many things, but specifically – how much effort you put into marketing to the Christmas demand, and the products you’re currently promoting...
Christmas for Affiliate Marketers of Digital Products
In Mark Ling’s experience, he has found that sales for products under $50 often increase. However for many digital products with a higher price point, sales are often lower than usual over the Christmas period.
Don’t interpret this as ‘bad news’ though. Affiliate marketers are not dependent on a revenue surge at Christmas time - there are many seasonal trends that provide opportunities for digital products to thrive. For example, many niches may only need to wait one more week after Christmas for the enthusiasm of New Year’s resolutions to result in an increase in sales (hello, weight loss product affiliates!).
What’s more, merchants of digital products will often do a Christmas promotion that can give buyers that extra incentive needed to purchase - making your job easier. A good example of this is SaleHoo.com, who are offering their 2011 webinar training series for free to buyers who purchase membership in December.
Christmas for Affiliate Marketers of gifts and physical products
Affiliate Marketers of gifts and physical products, as you might expect, reap the benefits of the Christmas season the most:
- Now is probably the best time of year to be an affiliate of Amazon.com – just one lead could result in multiple sales if they buy more items than you bargained for!
- Mark Ling’s Jamorama.com site usually doubles their sales every December, as their guitar lessons are a digital product that is popular as a gift.
So how gift-worthy are the products you promote? Some niches will always be no-go areas for Christmas gifts, but you’ll be surprised at how many aren’t when you put your mind to it.
Take some of the AffiloJetpack niches for example: the dog training, golf, green energy and learn to sing niches all hold potential to convert sales as Christmas gifts – if you market the products that way of course. If you haven’t already, get started on this now!
How else can you make the most of Christmas?
Set up a mini site! It doesn’t take a SEO expert to recognise that there is a ton more traffic coming through on all Christmas-related search terms at this time of year. You may simply use Google Adsense on your site, but there are also plenty of Christmas products to promote - a quick search in Clickbank’s marketplace for ‘Christmas’ affiliate programs returned 341 results. What’s more, Christmas is a niche familiar to most of us - so it shouldn’t be too difficult getting content for your site.
I would love to hear how Christmas affects your affiliate marketing business and what strategies (if any) you use for this time of year, please share with us below.
Happy holiday season!
Evelyn • 14 years ago
James Pruitt • 14 years ago
actually, I have already got my christmas promos set up and running. I am thinking about Valentines (being big in the relationships niche)
Joan Stalker • 14 years ago
Underground Elephant • 14 years ago
I was looking over the Groupon affiliate program and it seemed promising for specific offers.
Zee Guo • 14 years ago
Such as...weight loss. Probably the last thing you'll think of during Christmas time..
Weight loss programs are not good gifts.
Although I can see it kicking off for new years!! New Year resolutions should be a good angle of attack.
megachile • 14 years ago