With half of September done, it’s amazing to think of how fast this year has gone. Before we know it, Christmas will be upon us and we will be wondering how it’s already time to celebrate 2020.

If you’re a marketer, you know that this is crunch time. Q4 is one of the busiest times of the year for any business, and marketing is the driving force to Q4 success. That means traditional marketing, performance marketing, and any other type of marketing you might be involved with.

While a lot of what I’m about to go over has a good foundation that covers all types of business, this focus will be on performance marketing and the affiliate space. This area tends to be something that some brands leave to their agency to cover or they let the program ride along with no extra involvement. However, getting more involved with the program during this time and adding your program to the company’s overall strategy can prove to be essential to a more successful end of the year.  

By now, I’m sure as a company you’ve started your Q4 strategy and if you haven’t, I suggest getting on that as soon as possible, especially when it comes to your affiliate program. Things move fast and if you’re looking for end of year success, now’s the time to get going.

Now, where do you start? With the below five tips being your strategy focus, you can have a very effective plan implemented with very little stress added to the Q4 frenzy. 

1. Start planning yesterday

As I mentioned, if you haven’t already, you should start getting your mindset into Q4 mode and get your strategy underway. Plan some meetings with your program manager(s) to discuss placements, budget, and goals. Have your priorities changed? What does the budget allow for? Having everyone on the same page at the start is always a good idea. This also alleviates some work and stress on your end if your program manager is confident with their approach to the quarter. 

2. Get your partners engaged

Offering Q4 bonuses and/or commission increases are a great way to get your partners ready to promote during this busy buying time. If this is a route you would like to take, I would suggest sending out an announcement of the opportunity as soon as possible. This will make sure to get your brand in your partners’ minds while they’re planning their own Q4 schedule. 

The same thing goes for placements. Put out “feeler emails” now to your program’s top partners and see if there are any Q4 placements you want to get in on before they all get booked. A lot of top partners start scheduling their Q4 placements early, therefore, you’ll want to beat other brands to the punch. Having top placements set is the best course for affiliate success, especially in this quarter.

3. Q4 assets: ready and available

Affiliates are just as busy during the end of the year, so try to make things as enticing and easy as possible for them. Create new seasonal banners and text links to add to the network and let your partners know they’re available (include a few ad codes for them to easily grab as well). Another thing that your partners would appreciate is seasonal landing pages to promote. With such themes as Fall Style, Thanksgiving Recipes, Holiday Travel Tips, and other specific focuses popular this time of year, having landing pages dedicated to specific themes can intrigue affiliates and aid them in promoting.

This mindset works for your upcoming sale schedule as well. For example, when it comes to Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals, create a newsletter schedule leading up to the big event so affiliates can better prepare. The sooner your partners know what’s available to promote, the more opportunities you have to be promoted.

4. Stay ahead of the game

Speaking of promotions, as hectic as things can get, try to have promotional details confirmed ahead of time. Last-minute sales aren’t always picked up and promoted this time of year. An affiliate or influencer has probably been planning and scheduling as much as you have, consequently ending up not having the time or space available if they are unaware of what’s being offered.

This is also a good thing to note throughout the year too. If you tend to offer deals and promotions at the last minute, then your partners are going to assume that Q4 isn’t going to change this. Therefore, you run the risk of not being considered for big placements and opportunities. Build that trust and relationship throughout the year and you’ll be one of the first brands your partners think of for the big holiday season.

5. Don’t forget to breathe

Yes, this is an important point to focus on during Q4. If you stress out, panic, or lose focus, you can forget something important, let things fall through the cracks, overcompensate, the list goes on. Keep you and your team calm, organised, and healthy. And, remember to always set realistic goals.

If you’re still wondering how you can have a relaxed Q4 with limited time available to hit your goals, I get it. Customers are saving for Christmas gifts, people are taking time off to travel for the holidays (employees and affiliates), so you’re feeling like you have to hurry and grab every opportunity you can at every possible moment you can. However, that’s not what good marketing strategies are made of. 

If you take the above tips and include your affiliate program as a true extension of your marketing efforts, you’ll hit the goals that matter. Worrying about every little opportunity can actually cause you to put effort into goals that aren’t that important; leaving you scrambling to get back on track.

Don’t let this Q4 get the best of you and your company. Start planning with your partner program in mind and you’ll be sure to see big wins. Just don’t forget about Q1 during it all.

The post Performance Marketing Q4 Planning: Five Tips for a Successful Quarter appeared first on PerformanceIN.

You’ve tackled recruitment and hooked some great partners, now what? A recruited partner is not a profitable partner – an active partner is, though. However, once an affiliate decides to sign up for a partnership a lot aren’t quite sure what the next steps are. Or, your brand is added to a very long list of other brands. Therefore, when it comes to your affiliate program, communication with your partners is key. 

For the best form of communication, email has been declared as an affiliate’s preferred contact with program managers – 84.12% of affiliates to be exact. A great way to stay within what the affiliate prefers and to get as much information across as possible are monthly newsletters.  

In the marketing world, you have email campaigns, and this is mostly how brands speak to their consumers, but these newsletters are different. Unlike email campaigns, an affiliate newsletter is a more personal form of getting your message across. Think of an affiliate newsletter as a cross between a mass email campaign and a regular email. Most account managers are used to these affiliate newsletters, but some managers who are not familiar with a marketing email campaign can tend to rely on their regular email skills when drafting a monthly newsletter. 

How do you get that sweet combination of a marketing email campaign and a personal email? With best practices that keep your newsletter professional and branded, while maintaining a certain level of personality to make the publisher feel like you’re talking to them.

With the inboxes of affiliates full of emails on a daily basis, especially top publishers, it’s easy to get lost in the mix. Not to worry, this list of dos and don’ts will help you find your sweet spot and get to the top of their priority list.

Do

Create a header and include an intro

Creating a header helps brand your newsletters and make it more official – making your partners aware you’re giving them important information. Go a step further and create a few different headers that are titled appropriately for what you’re sending (i.e. Affiliate News, Promotion Alert, etc.). With the header in place, an introduction to what they are going to read should not be ignored. This doesn’t necessarily need to be a long five sentence paragraph. Think of it as the headline to an email campaign. Make it catchy and grab their interest.

Add personality but be concise

Personality is needed, but nothing will make a reader stop reading more than a long-winded email or run-on sentences. Have fun with your copy but get to the point. The faster they grab their info, the faster they can start promoting.

Make the important info prominent

Have a sale going on? Make the promotional info and/or coupon code stand out. Try a bold coloured font to grab their attention. Also, bold keywords or phrases that you want them to pay attention to. This tip will help with the skimmers.

Encourage collaboration

Another point to these newsletters is to open the door of communication. Let your partners know that they can contact you for further info or to discuss the program. Always include your contact information.
DO add imagery. Articles with images get 94% more views (source) and this goes for newsletters too. People engage better when there’s something visual in front of them. Campaigns and newsletters also look more professional and appealing to imagery.

Provide an array of info

If you’re only sending one topic over and over, it tends to lose its meaning. Sure, promotional information is important; however, if an affiliate isn’t really thinking about your brand and they already know what will be in your email, not even a sale will entice them if they’re busy. Giving options and keeping things fresh makes people want to open. They want to see what you’re offering. Getting them to open will give you more opportunities to stay on their mind, even if you weren’t there, to begin with. On top of your important sale newsletters, try pre-written content ideas, or marketing tips.

Don’t

Leave your point at the end

Making the reader wait until the end to find out the point of your newsletter can have them stop reading before ever reaching it. Give a little towards the beginning and then finish with an actionable call-to-action at the end. 

Overdo the correspondence

Just like not sending enough newsletters can hurt your chance of getting promoted, so can sending too much. One to two newsletters a month is a nice sweet spot. Keeps you on top of the affiliate’s mind without being pushy. Of course, there will always be one-offs from time to time with an announcement or huge sale; that’s okay, just make sure to space them out.

Write a novel

When there’s a ton of information to be given, make it easy to read. As mentioned above, it’s best to be concise. That doesn’t necessarily mean short and sweet, it’s just about making your point without a lot of fluff. More information shouldn’t equal more words. If you have a lot to give, make it a list format for an easy read.

Assume the affiliate will do the work

Affiliates work hard, so that’s not what this best practice means. What this ‘Don’t’ is referring to is – don’t assume that just because you gave them sale information or inspiration for an article that you’ve guaranteed that the affiliate will close your newsletter and promote. Life can get in the way or a million little things can deter them from finishing what you started. Help them out by including related text links, banners, or products within the newsletter. If they’re interested and you’ve taken out most of the work, your chances of getting promoted just went up.

Creating a content calendar that helps you organise your topics and deployment is an easy way to stay on top of your newsletters and these best practices. Planning ahead will also help with the writing process, giving you the freedom to take your time when drafting up the perfect affiliate newsletter.

Remember, staying on top of your communications and giving your brand the best chance of getting read is the key to more promoting. Just keep these best practices in mind when writing and do some A/B testing to see what your partners prefer. 

The post The Do’s & Don’t’s of Affiliate Newsletters appeared first on PerformanceIN.