Q4 Peak Planning Checklist
Preparation and Planning
Top tip
Creating promotion specific landing pages can streamline activity.
Your business
Conduct an internal SWOT analysis to highlight your brands strengths and weaknesses
Optimise your website for both mobile and desktop
Consider offering additional delivery options and make sure your final postage date for Christmas is clear
Top tip
Creating partner specific voucher codes may help boost performance and prevent leakage. Read more here.
Your strategy
Define Golden Quarter specific goals and expectations including KPIs (key performance indicators) and goal ROI (return on investment)
Review last year's Q4 strategy to shape this year's campaign
Think about things like; What was successful? What did not go well? Which products achieved the most?
Identify your top performing partners to discuss potential opportunities for this period
Determine your budget
For example, 20% of total marketing spend
Review your Awin Affiliate programme
Top tip
Schedule bonuses for reaching sales thresholds or commission changes ahead of time, allowing for dynamic commissions during the golden quarter.
Make sure your programme overview, T&Cs and contact details are all up to date
Refresh your product feed, making sure it includes accurate products and pricing
Learn more about product feeds here
Add seasonal promotions to the ‘My Offers’ tool and associated creatives to ‘My Creatives’
Update publisher commission rates in the Commission Manager tool
Consider implementing additional commission groups to offer commission flexibility rates based on products or customer type
Review publisher recommendations and publisher applications
Communicate and Re-engage
Top tip
Creating publisher specific voucher codes may help with your reach and performance.
Update/create your programmes 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
Additional Exposure
Top tip
Don’t be afraid to negotiate with publishers when looking to book in additional exposure.
Request Q4 media decks from your top publishers and consider purchasing additional exposure
Keep track of exposure by taking screenshots and putting all exposure dates into your online calendar
Utilise the Manual Commission tool to pay for exposure
During Peak
Top tip
Monitor and log competitors discounts and offerings during key sale periods to make sure your offering is competitive
Check monthly period comparison on your dashboard daily for a quick pulse of programme performance
Check that your top publishers are sharing the most up to date offer, creatives and are using the correct tracking link
Avoid publishers sharing out of stock products by reviewing inventory weekly and communicating any changes via the Communication Centre
Review your budget often and consider booking last-minute exposure
Key dates
October
31st October
Halloween
November
11th November
Singles Day
29th November
Black Friday
December
2nd December
Cyber Monday
25th December
Christmas Day
26th December onwards
Boxing Day/Winter Sales
Postal dates
Postal dates refer to last day to be able to post for 3+ day shipping. Please refer to postal websites to confirm final shipping.
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