You’ve made it through Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and suddenly it’s December and the holidays are in full swing. You handled the sales like a pro, but now it’s important to keep up the pace through the new year to maximize your earnings.
No fear, we’ve got your Blog Smarter, Not Harder Checklist ready to go. Finish strong and strategic with these easy to do’s:
The more links you feature, the more opportunities you have to generate sales and earn money. Ramp up your posting cadence and expand your channel coverage (blog, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, etc) for the remainder of the year.
Utilize our favorite on-the-go tool LinkIt! You know how to use it on desktop, but are you using it on mobile? View our Collective Academy Tutorial here to become a mobile LinkIt pro.
Pro tip: Link to retailer homepages and category pages using LinkIt. Anytime you mention a retailer, add an affiliate link to their site when possible. This will increase your chances of getting credit for driving traffic or sales to their site. Learn how here.
Advanced Program Tip: For our Advanced Program Members, be strategic by linking to high commission retailers. A high commission rate means more money in your pocket! Bookmark our regularly updated list of high commission retailers here.
Some standouts below:
- Alo Yoga – up to 15% commission
- Everlane – up to 25% commission
- Rag & Bone – up to 25% commission
- Sperry – up to 20% commission
- Zappos – up to 25% commission
SEO is Search Engine Optimization. Include relevant keywords and phrases in your blog content to raise your posts higher in search results. Be sure to use descriptive, specific and intentional headers such as “Unique Christmas Gifts for your Husband.”
Here are some trending keywords and phrases to get you started:
- Gift ideas
- Presents for mom
- Holiday
- Last minute stocking stuffers for kids
- After Christmas sales
The best way to blog smarter, not harder is to use your analytics. Review what worked for you last holiday season, as well as what’s working lately (last 90 days), to build a successful content strategy.
On desktop, go to your Analytics tab here or view data on the homepage of our mobile apps:
Clicks and Sales
- What is it?
- Clicks: How many people clicked on your link
- Sales: Gross sales driven
- What to do
- Review top brands, retailers, products, and categories (highest clicks and sales)
- Expand content around these top performers and publish across more channels
Average Order Value
- What is it?
- How much your followers are spending on average, per order at each retailer or brand
- What to do
- Identify your AOV: what are your followers most comfortable spending?
- Build content from this guidepoint, such as ‘Splurge and Save Gifts ’ or ‘Best Affordable Jeans’
Conversion Rate
- What is it?
- The percentage of clicks that convert into sales
- What to do
- Identify high converting retailers and brands, and build single retailer stories around those such as ‘My Alo Yoga Favorites’ or ‘Old Navy Gift Guide’
- Identify high converting products and increase content and linking around those products
Utilize the Holiday Command Center to review what products, price points, categories and more have resonated with your audience. Take advantage of network-wide trending insights, popular products, and real-time stats to inspire your content creation.
Access from your desktop dashboard or the iOS apps. If you don’t have our app yet, you can download it here.
Tap into past, successful content that is still relevant! If you notice a prior post is still getting great traction (look for posts with high traffic and clicks) from the last holiday season, update and re-circulate it on your blog and social channels. There is a good chance that if it was a top performer last year, that it could be this year, too!
This will save you time and allow you to continue reaping the benefits of your top performing posts. Make sure to monitor and refresh current content as well, watching for sold out products (using our sold out notification tool!), feedback, or other edits.
- Holiday Hub: Your ultimate guide to this holiday season
- Blog: Find must-know news, trending products, key strategies and more
- Social: Stay connected through Instagram and in our Facebook Community
- Email: Don’t miss key updates like the top sales to blog about!
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