March saw the world as we know it turned upside down. As with all businesses, both the Conversion Digital team and our clients had to pivot strategy. While there was a lot of uncertainty at first, the picture is clearer now.
Thankfully, the majority of eCommerce stores have been able to continue trading throughout the lockdown period. As brick and motor stores were forced to cease trading for the foreseeable, all of our clients at Conversion Digital can continue trading.
Of course, this isn’t without facing challenges like never before. From stock issues and staffing to logistics of deliveries, there’s been a lot to consider in the past weeks to make things work. The good news? People are still spending money. While our partners have seen an increase in demand for homewares and garden essentials, our clients have seen a surge in sales when it comes to loungewear and sportswear.
Fashion giants Boohoo reported a 54% increase in pre-tax profits, with sales in April up YoY despite coronavirus. Boohoo isn’t the only brand that’s seen YoY growth, as several of our clients here at Conversion Digital have also seen a positive uplift.
Affiliate Strategy for Conversion
Of course, our role is to ensure our clients are getting the best out of affiliate marketing at this time. So, while our clients are busy finding their feet and connecting with customers like never before, we’ve been working on a comprehensive strategy for each and every brand.
As the needs and wants of our target consumers have changed, so has the strategy. To make affiliate marketing work for our clients, we’ve been partnering with key publishers, optimising promotions and considering the future. We’re closely monitoring consumer behaviour and key shopping dates so that we’re able to maximise exposure to drive sales.
From capitalising on student loan drops to recognising the value in key publishers such as Blue Light Card to 21 Buttons and everything in between, we’ve not slowed down affiliate activity. In fact, right now, as the cost of marketing is cheaper than ever in some cases, several clients are doing more than ever. The best bit? A majority of our clients have seen MoM growth and it’s only set to improve.
Planning Ahead for Conversion
While many brands will step back out of fear right now, other brands will step forward to fill the gap. This is what we’re encouraging our clients to do. In terms of marketing budget, affiliate marketing is usually safe from cuts as it is paid on performance. With that said, brands are often reluctant to invest in additional exposure. Along with commission-based opportunities, we’ve also seen a reduction in the cost of tenancy and exposure. Now is a great time to optimise.
Beyond affiliate marketing, for the brands that can afford to do so, we strongly recommend that you continue to assign a significant marketing budget, it will never be so cheap to do so again. It would be naive to assume that every business will come out of the COVID-19 crisis on top; however, the future certainly doesn’t look as bleak as it did a matter of weeks ago. Of course, a level of uncertainty is still here, but what we do know, is consumers are still selling. Now is not the time to pull back on budgets, instead, invest wisely and it will pay off.