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Before Amazon Prime Day hit our collective consciousness back in 2015, when people thought of big shopping days, they thought of Black Friday. But suddenly, Amazon was getting the whole world to shop in the middle of July. It took Amazon’s competitors, online and brick and mortar, large and small, a while to figure out how to react to this massive event.

It didn’t take too long before others started getting in on the action. If people were going to go shopping in the middle of July, other retailers wanted a piece of it. As of last year, Target, Walmart, and eBay were among the other eCommerce giants vying for consumer cash on Prime Day. Many smaller e-commerce retailers and small businesses stepped up promotions to try to get a piece of the pie.

This year, Amazon Prime Day will cause even more disruption since it is being held much later than usual. This year, Amazon Prime Day will include 48 hours of deals October 13-14. Amazon reportedly delayed this year’s event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, they may have changed the holiday shopping season forever.

If you are in affiliate marketing, you are definitely going to want to get in on this. This year, it seems like Amazon Prime Day may take Black Friday’s place as the official kickoff to the holiday shopping season. Everyone who is paying attention, including affiliate marketing experts, realizes that they need to adjust to this new reality or risk missing out on those consumer dollars. Target and Walmart have already adjusted, with Target setting its Deal Days and Walmart its Big Save for mid-October.

How Will This Year’s Amazon Prime Day Impact Affiliate Marketing?

You might think that the benefits of this new date for Prime Day will be limited to Amazon and the other e-commerce and big-box retailers who jump on board. However, this is an opportunity for everyone, including affiliate marketers, to have their best year ever. While giants like Amazon, Walmart, and Target are positioned to make the most out of the shopping frenzy, getting everyone online and ready to shop can benefit any type of seller.

In this case, Amazon is providing the spark to get people thinking about holiday shopping. They are getting people online early in their search for bargains. If you want to see more customers in affiliate marketing, all you need to do is find a way to get those shoppers’ attention.

Make the Most of Prime Day: Affiliate Marketing Tactics

1. Do Your Own Thing

Face it, you simply can’t compete directly with Amazon, so don’t try. Instead, do what you do best and take advantage of all the additional online traffic and interest in getting deals. Whatever your approach, whatever your niche, whatever your affiliate partner, stick the basics of what you do and take advantage of the extra consumers ready to buy. Keep this in mind as you create ads that will stand out on their own and don’t just recycle used copy.

2. Do Your Research

Affiliate Marketers have a wealth of information at their fingertips. If you are going to be ready to take advantage of the holiday shopping season that will kick off on Amazon Prime Day, you should know what people are looking for. Although you are not competing directly with Amazon, it won’t hurt to research what their top sellers were for last Prime Day. The beginning of holiday shopping is often a rush for the best deals on the season’s most in-demand items. If you offer those through your affiliate marketing channel, you may want to feature those. If those items are likely to sell out quickly, it would be worth researching comparable items or know what is next on everyone’s shopping list.

3. Clean Up Your Act

If you ran a brick and mortar store, wouldn’t you be getting it ready for the holiday shopping season right now? Traditional retailers do more than decorate. They neaten up, clean up, and train up their staff to get ready to make the most of the increased traffic. You should be doing the same for your eCommerce presence. Take care of the basics like ensuring your links all work and landing pages look like they should. Then go deeper and look to see if you are doing everything possible to optimize conversions. Ensure that your landing pages match your ads and that your calls to action are clear.

4. Start Early

Companies like Amazon have found they do well with special deals on special days. Still, Amazon has already realized that people don’t want to wait. They release early deals in the weeks leading up to Prime Day. People who are looking for something specific are already looking for deals. Make sure you are ready to attract shoppers who are prepared to buy now.

5. Don’t Stop

Not everyone will get to take advantage of the big sales that surround Amazon Prime Day. Some people miss out on deals when supplies run out. Some have other things to deal with during those days. Still others just plain forget. In the days and weeks following Prime Day, these people will be roaming the web looking for their own deals to make up for what they missed. These are people who know what they want and are ready to buy. Your only task is getting the right ad in front of them and being prepared to convert the sale.

This year’s holiday shopping season will be much different from years past. The worldwide pandemic has changed everything. Amazon’s response to the pandemic, moving Amazon Prime Day to October, has also likely impacted the market. We won’t know until next year when we look back on how everything played out. For affiliate marketing, the best approach is to do everything you can to take advantage of the opportunities created by the major sellers. Let them get the market moving and be ready to reach the people they miss.