How Affiliates Can Leverage the Holidays

Offer Gifts
Tis the season of giving! Make sure to offer gifts on your site during the holiday season—this could be anything from special offers or deals, bonus bucks, 1 month free subscription to your newsletter, buy one get one free offers, etc. (get creative here). These offers can pay off big time—and double your user base in the process.
 
 
Write Reviews
Writing reviews of casino programs is good business for a number of reasons. Not only will users of your site come to trust the advice that you give and are likely to follow your recommendations, writing reviews can boost sales for your affiliate partners—which will facilitate more money coming your way.
Learn more about the importance of affiliate reviews!
Social Media is Key
During the holidays make sure to promote your website, blog, YouTube channel, etc., on as many social networks as possible. Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and more should be flooded with your subscription info, promo videos, holiday bonuses and deals—anything potential users will be interested in and current users can share.
Create a Holiday Email Campaign

Create an email campaign that includes holiday promotions, newsletter offers and other bonuses and deals; i.e. perks for new subscribers, “Thank You” bonuses for loyal users, etc. Keep your emails holiday-themed to catch the eye of your reader—embed pictures of gambling Santas, flirty pics of a young Mrs. Claus and so on. Have fun with this—it’s the holidays!

Create Holiday Landing Pages
Set up landing pages on your site that are SEO friendly with holiday keywords such as “In Stock,” and “Where to Buy.” Get creative with how you complete these sentences, such as “Online Gaming In Stock” or “Where to Buy Online Gaming,” etc. Use Google AdWords to find other holiday keywords.
Promote Affiliate Partner Deals
Check with your affiliate partners to find out what holiday deals they are promoting (casinos are all   offering discounts and promotions this time of year). Search for holiday-themed banners and publish these on your site or blog with the advert embedded. You’ll get much higher click-through rates and sales from holiday advertisements.

Connect With Your Users

While you should have constant contact with your users all year long, the holidays are a special time to reconnect with clients you may have lost along the way and send gratitude and well wishes to those who are in your immediate circle. Sending a message of thanks can often mean more to a client than any monetary offer or bonus. It’s the holidays—share the love.
Update Your Site
You should be updating your content daily, but the holidays are a great time to give your site an overhaul for the new year. Do you have pages that are just messy and need to be cleaned up? Been thinking about a site redesign? Now’s the time to do it. You’ll likely have down-time during the holidays, so use this time to focus on your site and make it the best it can be.
Increase Your Affiliate Knowledge
As a gaming affiliate, you should strive to know everything there is to know about being a gaming affiliate. Use the down-time during the holidays to get to know more about your business and the gaming industry in general. Read other affiliate blogs, learn more about your casino affiliate partners, etc. Knowledge always pays off.
Get a Head Start on 2012
The holidays are a perfect time to get a head start on business for the new year. Sort through your files, organize your invoices and other paperwork (this is great for getting tax-ready, too), and make a list of business goals you want to achieve in the next 12 months. Draft a business plan for the new year and list monthly goals. Then come January, hit the ground running.

What are you doing to leverage sales during the holidays? Do you use these tips or others not listed here? Tell us in the comments below.