You may feel like you’ve only just packed away the Christmas tree, but Valentine’s Day is exactly two weeks away and with the average South African expected to spend over R700 on gifts, publishers and advertisers alike will want their piece of the Valentine’s pie. Competition for eyeballs and customers is fierce, but there ARE things you can do to help your product or offer stand out from the crowd. Equally there are tactics that are best to avoid. We take a closer look at the Valentine’s do’s and don’ts.
Do try Try “Him & Hers” messaging in your marketing. Men and women are different when it comes to Valentine’s, with men on average spending double what women spend. Product categories also differ with men spending more on jewellery and clothes, and women buying more dinners out. So make sure that your affiliate marketing uses different messaging to funnel men and women to different products on your e-commerce store.
Do learn your social media demographics. If you use different social media channels for your affiliate marketing (and you should), knowing the breakdown of the audience on each platform can help you not only target your messaging, but showcase the right products for each group. Facebook skews slightly toward women as 83% of women are on Facebook, compared to 75% of men. Instagram has an even wider gap with 38% women to 26% men. Do adapt your messaging accordingly.
Do feature gift idea lists. Shoppers are always short on time and love it when you make their lives easier. Maybe start with ’10 Valentine’s Gift ideas for Women’ and as you get closer to the day change it to ‘Forgot to buy a Valentine’s Gift?’.
Don’t forget single people. Pet lovers often use Valentine’s Day as an excuse to treat their sources of unconditional love. Recently single people might be looking to treat themselves with some luxury items. And don’t forget the rise of Galentine’s Day, a fictional-now-actual alternate event that many women and men come together to celebrate in a communal and different way.
Don’t only share popular products and services. Obviously, there are some products and services you won’t be able to escape mentioning in certain fields. But when you can, branch off and share things that not everyone else is talking about. Not only will this make you seem knowledgeable about your niche, but it also give you less competition.
Don’t focus solely on sales. Of course you want to make money, but at the end of the day nobody wants to be ‘hard sold’ to. So although it might be tempting to simply promote, promote, promote, also keep in mind the kind of content that will get your readers coming back to you. Share things with them that they’ll find helpful, like how-to guides or insider tips.
Happy selling!
The Publisher Team
