Understanding Affiliates

Timing is Everything - In the offline world, stores successfully create buzz and hype by having specials run for mere hours. Utilize this method with an online twist, consider running specials for pre-defined time periods, or have 'specials of the hour' by promoting one new offer every hour. This will not only create a buzz, but will also have users frequently checking back to find out about new and updated promotions.
• Hot Items - If you are promoting a particular hot product on your home page, be sure to check stock levels throughout the day by regularly visiting your partner's Web sites. Products can sell out quickly during this time of year. Have back-up hot products and promotions ready to switch out as items become out of stock.
• Create a Buzz - If you send out a regular weekly or monthly newsletter to your user base, start stirring up excitement for your holiday promotions early by including information about hot deals, coupons or offers you will be making available on Black Friday and Cyber Monday and other peak days throughout the holiday season. Even if you can't reveal specific items or deals, you can still get users excited to make your site a priority for their holiday shopping needs. You can even create special editions of your newsletter specifically aimed at creating a buzz around your site for holiday shopping.
• Anticipate Rush Hours - Offline stores offer early bird 'in store only' specials so holiday shoppers usually hit the malls in the wee hours of the morning to attain coveted items. Online shopping gets hit with a mid morning rush once shoppers are home and continues throughout the evening so be prepared to handle larger volumes than usual during these time periods.
• Use 'Online' to Your Advantage - We all know that waiting in lines for stores to open, fighting over the last sweater with a crazed shopper, and standing for hours in the check out and gift wrapping lines is nearly unbearable, so use the online shopping experience to your advantage when reaching out to users. Whether through ad copy in your promotions, or in your newsletters, remind users about the ease and convenience of online shopping, and how promotions you offer can provide additional savings unattainable at offline stores.
• Search Specific - Search publishers will want to pay attention to any hot keywords you are bidding on during this time. Popular keywords, such as 'coupon' or 'deal' or related terms may become very expensive during this time as click volume significantly increases. Closely monitor click spending for Black Friday and Cyber Monday to ensure that ROI metrics are being met and your budget is not being maxed out during these initial days of the holiday season.
• Colors Count - The look and feel of your promotions and Web site are important during this time of year. Shoppers often look for high use of green, symbolizing money, red, signifying discounts, as well as red and green combined, or blue and silver combined - both of which denote the holiday season.
• Keep Up to Date on Advertiser Offers - Expect e-mails from your advertisers up to a week in advance of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as well as in advance of other peak days throughout the holiday season. Note that some programs can not send out special offers until the morning that the promotion is live. Be diligent about checking your partners' communications for up-to-the-minute deals and special offers.
• Holiday Specific Pages - For shopping sites, it is a good idea to create holiday pages using Commission Junction's API (for additional information on Commission Junction's Web Services visit http://webservices.cj.com) or Product Catalog. Creating holiday pages allows you to offer holiday specific items and promotions to users in one central location based on holiday or season. Holiday pages can range from Thanksgiving through the end of the year, and should be easy for users to find by name such as general Holiday or Seasonal, or more specific Christmas or Chanukah.