Introduction

Now is the time to plan for a successful holiday season. To help you maximize your commissions we recommend you begin as early as possible. July is a great time to start your planning process.

Strategies

• Be Flexible: Advertiser budgets are usually tight leading up to the holiday season. Do not let your site's placement prices hold you back. Let advertisers know you are willing to work with their budgets.
• Communicate: Communicate early and clearly with advertisers and inform them of upcoming events and timelines. Set reasonable creative and copy deadlines for newsletter and ad placements.
• Share Your Success Stories: Advertisers appreciate knowing how their placements are expected to perform before they spend. Share details on vertical success and sales lift estimates. If you have a specific type of offer that performs well or experienced success on social media and mobile platforms, share these success stories.
• Holiday Promotions: Ensure your advertisers know and coordinate site placements, promotions, and exclusives around the holidays. If an advertiser is not already planning promotions, now is a great time to provide them.
• Update Your Content: Make sure your content is fresh and seasonal. Differentiate your site from the others in the space. Consider adding value with curated content or more personalized shopping assistance for top categories or customer needs. Consider flash sales or countdown promotions. Get winter holiday pages up early; consumers start searching for ideas well ahead of time.

Actions

1. Analyze your in-house analytics for your site, Publisher Dashboard reports, and your business reports.
2. Create a sell sheet and rate card for holiday placement opportunities.
3. Update your account details so advertisers can find you easily.
4. Update your website with relevant holiday content and images.
5. Update your SEO keywords for top seasonal searches.
6. Make sure to test your site and affiliate links and prepare for additional traffic volume.
7. Optimize your site for mobile and tablet shoppers; check the advertiser’s mobile status.
8. Check your private offers and special offers in the dashboard.
9. Find fresh holiday links and promotions.
10. Look for opportunities with advertisers who pay commissions on gift cards.

Key Holidays

• Canadian Thanksgiving, the second Monday in October.
• Halloween, October 31
• Pre-Black Friday: Sales start in November.
• Singles Day, November 11
• Hanukkah
• US Thanksgiving, the fourth Thursday in November
• Black Friday, the day after US Thanksgiving
• Small Business Saturday, the Saturday after US Thanksgiving
• Cyber Monday, the Monday after US Thanksgiving
• Giving Tuesday, the Tuesday after US Thanksgiving
• Green Monday
• Free Shipping Day, the last day for guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve
• Christmas, December 25
• Boxing Day, December 26
• Valentine’s Day, February 14