planning for peak
Q4 Peak Planning Checklist
2026
Your business
- Confirm your key peak trading dates and promotional periods.
- Identify your priority products, categories and offers.
- Confirm your final Christmas delivery dates and returns messaging.
- Make sure your website, landing pages and promotional messaging are ready for increased traffic.
- Check that your mobile and desktop customer journeys are optimized.
Peak learning
Get ready for peak with our New Awin webinar, designed to help you make the most of the platform this season.
Your strategy
- Set clear peak goals and KPIs for your affiliate program.
- Review last year's Q4 performance: what worked, what didn't and which products and partners drove results?
- Identify your priority partners and agree peak opportunities with them early.
- Decide whether you will use enhanced commissions, exclusive offers or other incentives during peak.
- Set aside a budget for additional exposure opportunities. For example, 20% of total marketing spend.
Top tip
Use Campaign Builder to plan and create your peak campaigns, helping you maximize partner engagement and performance during the season.
Get your Awin program ready
- Check your account overview, T&Cs and contact details are up to date.
- Make sure your product feed is active and contains accurate product information.
- Review your current offers and remove expired promotions.
- Prepare your peak campaigns using the Campaign Builder, offers and creative assets.
- Schedule bonuses for reaching sales thresholds or commission changes ahead of time, allowing for dynamic commissions during the golden quarter.
- Consider implementing additional commission groups to offer commission flexibility rates based on products or customer type.
- Use the new Smart Search tool to find your best-fit partners for peak and review your publisher applications regularly.
Help Center
Not sure how to do it? Find step-by-step guides, walkthroughs and best-practice advice in the Awin Help Center — from platform features and partner management to offers, commissions and reporting.
Activate your partners
- Update/create your programs welcome email to help new publishers start generating traffic smoothly.
- Set up triggered communications to motivate and engage your publishers during the busy period.
- Communicate your Q4 offers directly to your top 10 publishers.
- Reach out to your ‘inactive’ publishers to re-engage your relationship with them.
Top tip
Creating publisher specific voucher codes may help with your reach and performance.
Unlock additional exposure
- Request Q4 media kits from your top publishers and consider purchasing additional exposure.
- Compare exposure opportunities, costs and potential returns, and confirm your placements and deadlines.
- Keep track of exposure by taking screenshots and keep a calendar of all booked exposure and key dates.
- Use the Manual Commission tool to pay for additional exposure, or the Exposure Planner to book and manage placement opportunities (available for Accelerate and Advanced plans only).
New opportunities
Looking for more peak visibility?Request access to the Exposure Hub to explore relevant placements and promotional opportunities that can put your brand in front of engaged audiences.
© 2026, AWIN Ltd. All rights reserved. Awin is part of Axel Springer Group. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.