The fourth quarter is nationally renowned as the gravy quarter, so it is only fitting that we capitalize on that. There are many factors that influence success, so it is vital as an affiliate marketer to plan your end of year strategically and thoroughly. Previous quarterly marketing tactics will not necessarily triumph in Q4, so here are some tips to incorporate in your gravy quarter planning!

Identify With and Become the Brand

Take the time to assess the active marketing initiatives of the brand you are looking to promote:

- What mediums is the brand actively using to market its product? (online, radio, etc)

- Current SEM promotion: is the brand marketing on all tier 1-3 search engines?

- Note the verbiage and graphics used in all of the promotions (is the message clear and marketable?)

- What is the value proposition to the user and is there a sense of urgency (seasonality/limited time offer)?

Determine the core demographic of the brand and identify who the online target audience is:

- Is there a similarity (brand demo and online target audience)?

- If so, draw the parallels and note the similarities. This will assist you with marketing to the most  conversion-prone audience.

- If not, be sure to target both audiences, as there may be an opportunity to capitalize on a new (unsaturated) market share.

Competitive Landscape Analysis

Conduct an extensive search to determine who the brands’ offline/online competitors are:

- Analyze each competitor’s campaigns by taking note of the features/benefits of the product and the value proposition to the user. Note the distribution channels that your competition is using to promote their campaigns (IE: SEM and social media, etc).

- Diversifying distribution channels allows for extensive reach, building brand awareness, and increasing your conversion rates. (e.g. SEM targets real-time purchasers while social media provides brand engagement/awareness).

- Do not simply mirror the competition but trump it through creative and savvy innovation!

- Identify what is marketable about the competitor’s campaign and finesse it, i.e. the value proposition to the customer must be unique and enticing.

Distribution Channel: En Route to Conversions

- Establish a marketing budget, which is flexible for the emerging media landscapes: SEM distribution: Be clear with what your ceiling and floor spends are but ensure you have the ability to inflate/deflate daily. Make sure you manage your spend as these costs inflate quickly.

- Institute a monthly test budget: If you’re monthly marketing budget is $1000 (SEM distribution), allocate $200 of that to test distribution via an alternative channel.

- Marketing your campaign through more than one distribution channel will assist with stabilizing your revenue streams and building your portfolio. Just like your investments in equities, diversification is critical to long-term success in online marketing.

Happy Marketing!

Chantelle S. White
MediaTrust – Business Development & Partnerships