Date Change for Our Annual Holiday Gift Guide Affiliate Marketing Workshop!
It's time to start pitching holiday gift guides and the rules have changed for 2024
Hello, Top Tier subscribers!
If you can believe it, we’re just a few short weeks away from holiday gift guide (HGG) pitching season … yes, it’s basically here!
In fact, we’ve already started receiving some HGG pitches, so some of you are starting earlier than EVER … in year’s past, we’ve been seeing these star around the end of August or right after Labor Day.
What does that mean for you?
It’s time to get your ducks in a row and start pitching … but before you do so, you’ll want to learn how pitching HGGs has changed for 2024.
That’s where we come in … with a little help from our good friend and affiliate marketing guru Sarah Karger, we’re hosting a Zoom you won’t want to miss! We had to reschedule the date due to an unexpected conflict. The new date will now be Wednesday August 14th at 11 am PT/1 pm ET (and now “Christmas in July” will be “Christmas in August” LOL!).
This means you still have time to sign up!
But first, here are our top 3 tips you should be following now to get ready for HGG season:
1. Make Sure Your Brand Is On an Affiliate Network
To ensure you maximize your earned media coverage, your brand must be active on an affiliate network that is Skimlinks compatible such as ShareASale, Rakuten, Impact, Commission Junction, AWIN, Pepperjam, etc. You can find a complete list here. We’d say roughly 90% of publications will only consider featuring products that are on affiliate programs (there are always exceptions, but in general, having that squared away is really going to help you to get the buzz on your products that you need and make them gift guide worthy), so you don’t want to be thrown in the delete pile of a writer’s inbox because you don’t meet those requirements.
2. Finalize your Hero Products
To win the gift-giving season, narrowing in on a handful of products presents the best opportunity to own maximum brand awareness. After all, if you're chasing every single media opportunity and every single gift guide you'll be quite exhausted.
Tips for Selecting the Best Hero Assortment
Highly reviewed products
Products that are available on an affiliate network + Skimlinks as well as Amazon
Priced $25 - $200
High-margin products to allow for strategically increased commissions for Q3 and Q4 to incentivize inclusions
3. Get Assets & Samples
Be sure you have images and samples for testing available … writers/editors need these. And if you don’t have them ready to go, media may just move on to the next pitch (our deadlines wait for no one!).
We know that navigating the world of affiliate marketing can be tricky and there are tons and tons of questions that pop up … that’s why we’re hosting our most popular workshop of 2023 again:
To get you dialed in on everything you need to know about affiliate marketing, we’re bringing back affiliate guru Sarah Karger to join this Q&A session! She is a master-level gift guide pitcher (we should know … we’ve featured plenty of her clients’ products over the years because her pitches are always on point!) and a whiz at all things affiliate marketing. Between the 3 of us, we’ll be able to tackle any questions you have on this topic.
We’ve updated the presentation for 2024 (there are definitely some nuances that you’ll need to get up to speed on for this year if you want the best chance at landing coverage!) and will address the latest and greatest in the world of affiliate marketing such as:
The latest platforms and which ones editors care about the most these days
What editors are focusing on this holiday season
How to mention that a client is on an affiliate platform in a pitch: What essential information to include and how to position it
How to get affiliate links in the hands of influencers this holiday season
Is it a deal breaker if my client isn’t signed up with an affiliate program?
It’s 2024: Can we pitch products that aren’t on affiliates? If so, what are the exceptions?
How do I contact e-commerce writers/editors to get my clients into these gift guides?
When it comes to commission percentages, what gets an editor/writer’s attention?
We’ll address all that and more in this hourlong session. Plus, it will also give you a chance to learn from colleagues and hear answers to questions they bring up that you may not have thought of. You’ll walk away with ALL of your affiliate questions answered plus hear best practices on getting your clients on affiliate programs, pitching clients on affiliates, finding the right platforms, and more.
Here are the details you’ve been waiting for:
NEW Date: Wednesday August 14th at 11 am PT/1 pm ET (session will last one hour)
Can’t make it live? We’ll be sending the link out afterward for people who pay to register to watch on their own time.
Rate: $49 for Paid TTC Substack Subscribers; $99 for Free TTC Subscribers
(Hint: you can upgrade today to get 50% off this workshop and a discount on a future workshops … plus you’ll get access to all our paywalled content and archives, too!)
Ready to sign up? Send an email to info@toptierconsulting.NET and we’ll collect payment to hold your spot and send you the Google doc to share your question(s) for the session!
Questions about the session? Shoot us an email and we’ll answer them: info@toptierconsulting.NET
We look forward to seeing you there,
Jill & Nicole (and Sarah!)
