What's New in Affiliate Marketing Rules for 2024 Holiday Gift Guides? A Lot!

Sign up now for an expert-led workshop that'll set you up for client success this holiday season ... HGG pitching has already started!

Happy Monday!

I’m so desperate to cool off from this never-ending Phoenix heat that I’m headed to Iceland with my dad tomorrow … and speaking of cooler weather, it’s basically time to start preparing your 2024 holiday gift guide pitches.

Yeah, you heard me right!

In reality, you won’t want to start pitching until mid-August (though I have already received about a dozen HGG pitches over the last week, so some brands ARE already in holiday pitching mode!), but there’s still a lot for you to do between now and then, like:

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!).

I 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 Nicole Pajer and Sarah Karger are joining me in hosting a “Christmas in August” workshop and you won’t want to miss it!

To get you dialed in on everything you need to know about affiliate marketing, Nicole and I (as part of our Top Tier Consulting business) are bringing back affiliate guru Sarah Karger to join this Q&A session (just like we did in our most popular session of 2023)! Sarah 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:

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 right afterwards for people who pay to register so they can watch on their own time.

Rate: $49 for Paid TTC Substack Subscribers; $99 for Free TTC Subscribers
(NOTE: You must be a paid subscriber to the Top Tier Substack to receive the 50% discount; not this one, which is my personal Substack)

(Hint: you can upgrade today to get 50% off this workshop and a discount on 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