Maximize your earnings now. The holidays are right around the corner and it’s the biggest shopping season of the year. While every holiday shopper is gearing up to get the best gifts for their loved ones, lead them to a path of discovery and inspiration by honing in on the right items. From copy to product selection to social sharing, here are the best tips and tools for creating a high-converting gift guide.
Headline and Copy
Your headline introduces your gift guide. A click-worthy one will ultimately get your reader to shop. Make sure it’s attention grabbing. In your copy, be clear and concise. Let your readers know what your gift guide is about with a few short sentences. Tell them who will love these gifts and give them a reason to buy.
Top Performing Themes
Because most shoppers have a budget, themes catered to price points are a great way to get people to click. “Under $50” and “Under $100” gift guides have historically performed well.
Around the holidays, shoppers are more in a discount frame of mind. In November 2016, items under $20 had the highest conversion and drove the most traffic. These are easy items for most people to act quickly on. By December, we saw more shoppers bought items from $20-$50. It’s the best converting price range!
Gifts by price point:
- Top Gifts Under $50
- The Best Gifts Under $100
- Budget-Friendly Gifts
- Chic Gifts Under $75
- Best Stocking Stuffers Under $20
Gifts by recipient:
- Top Gifts for Her
- The Best Gifts for Him
- The Best Gifts for Moms
Content Ideas
Another clever tip is to search “gift guides” on Pinterest and view pins that have been re-pinned thousands of times. Seeing the themes and gifts that readers are favoring will help guide your content.
Drive traffic to all your other gift guides. Provide roundups at the end of your post with links. Joanna Goddard from A Cup of Joe provides a great example here.
A product collage or flatlay will grab the reader’s attention. There are some great third party collage tools such as Canva to help you easily create a beautiful product roundups. Draw the shopper in by curating a palette of gorgeous, drool-worthy items that are pleasing to the eye. See example post here.
Product Selection
To maximize your earning potential, choose items from high commission retailers. When you’re comparing the same products across different stores, choose the item labeled with “High Commission.”
In your Collective analytics, under merchandising insights, review what sold for you last year during the November and December timeframe. Look up the top brands, products, and categories. Include similar products this year in your round-up. Chances are, it will most likely perform this time around, too!
Shoppers have their favorites when it comes to stores. In 2016, the top performing retailers included:
- Nordstrom
- Target
- Neiman Marcus
- Macy’s
- Anthropologie
- Asos
- Shopbop
- J.Crew
- Ulta
- H&M
Optimize SEO
It’s not just what you put in your gift guide, but how you promote it. Don’t just cater to your niche, reach shoppers searching for gift guide ideas online. Make sure to tag your post with the search term “gift guide” along with keywords that focus on your theme (gifts under $50, holiday gift ideas, gifts for her etc).
Broad terms are harder to rank for, but the more granular you get, the better chance you have for ranking higher on search results pages. For example, if you are creating a gift guide that includes great gifts for 3 year old boys, put all that in. Also, remember long form content is best, make sure each post is at least 300 words.
Share on Social
The goal of your gift guide is to get people to shop. Get more eyes on your gift guide by adding social share buttons on your post, so readers can easily share your content. Don’t forget to post links to your gift guides on all your social channels (FB, Pinterest, Instagram) to boost traffic.
Update Posts
Keep your gift guides up to date! We offer a Sold Out Notifications tool on product widgets. Check your shops every couple of days to replace any sold out products and add on any items/categories currently performing.
Here’s to you maximizing your earning potential!
xo,
Julie
Shopping Editor
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