Affiliate Marketers and Webmasters Are Gearing Up for the Holiday Season
Affiliate marketers and webmasters are gearing up for the holiday season. Tips from Spreadshirt’s affiliate marketing manager.
It’s November, the leaves are changing, the nights are cooler, and there’s that particular smell of marketing in the air. It is making its way on the Internet.
They are already the big players: Amazon, Ebay, Marks & Spencers have all launched campaigns and Christmas bonuses for affiliates. Slowly even the smallest websites – personal sites, blogs, small business pages are looking to get involved in seasonal affiliate marketing.
By following online newspaper formats, traders are finding that they can make a profit with little effort. Google and Yahoo keyword ad campaigns are clean and tidy services that work. Partly due to their relevance, the ads that appear are driven by the content of the page, but also by a subtle design that takes away from the garish and old-fashioned pop-ups.
Another unobtrusive method is the embedded ad. With readers used to seeing ads in all forms of journalism, bloggers in particular can use this medium to introduce ads that readers will see and can even add an aesthetic element to the page. The fun fashion blog gofugyourself.typepad.com does this well, as does the food site http://www.101cookbooks.com/. When ads match the style and theme of the website, they are not only a means of funding, but they also provide a valuable service for site visitors.
Affiliate programs are the tool of choice for small operators. They serve to link websites to a large group of companies willing to pay for the opportunity to advertise on the site. With a variety of settings, owners can be paid for each click made on an ad or any purchase made by clicking on an ad. There are a lot of programs focused on Europe and the UK – they collect traders who cater especially to the UK market. The big players offer the most options and it is usually completely free to sign up. Some favorites are: Affiliate Window (www.affiliatewindow.com), Trade Doubler http://www.tradedoubler.com and Commission Junction (www.cj.com).
What to look for in advertising? Especially for the holiday season, sites that offer gifting options are attractive. Always popular are food and alcohol sites. In the giving season, giftable items in the £20-50 price range can add spark to the site with seasonal banners and some extra spending money. Popular options: wines and spirits from wine.com, delicious chocolates from http://www.godiva.com or something more personal and unique: photos and gifts with photos from Shutterfly http://www.shutterfly.com or custom clothing from Spreadshirt http://www.spreadshirt.co.uk.
Going back to the sources, the favorite base is the net ring. The fantastic sports blog http://www.ericmcerlain.com/offwingopinion links to others and has other links to it. The more organized methods include: Webring http://www.webring.com and RingSurf http://www.ringsurf.com. Sites link smaller sites into one large directory – simultaneously increasing online presence and making less ubiquitous sites easier to find.
All ranges of sites, including those who never thought they could be advertisers, are joining the bandwagon. It adds to the ever-dynamic world of online marketing and offers the promise of rewards for freedom of expression and creativity.