Publisher Success: Where to Focus New Year Efforts

While some find relief that the hustle and bustle of the holidays has passed, others recognize that the New Year marks the start of another important season of opportunities. In January of 2015, 32 of the 50 hottest advertisers were from the Finance, Fitness, and Dating verticals, with Finance accounting for 45 percent of the action.

We predict these trends will continue this year and advise you to focus your efforts in these verticals early on to find success in 2016.

Finance

As many can attest, the New Year often comes with new financial goals. Whether consumers are focused on tax preparation or resolutions for better saving, in the affiliate space the Finance vertical owns Q1. In order to take full advantage of this period, here are some key things to pay attention to:

• Review your website for appropriate and fresh content.

• Prepare for a massive amount of traffic at the end of January, as this is when many of the tax forms need to be received by an employee, and again at the end of tax season, as many people will wait until the deadline to submit their taxes.

• If you don't have the bandwidth to cover the entire tax season, try to focus on the end of January and the month of April. Less tax returns are filed between the beginning and end of the season, so it's also wise to curb major promotions during that time.

• Subscribe to your advertiser's promotional feeds to ensure all products and offers are up to date. (This includes the Automated Offer Feed or AOF)

• Be creative! The tax industry is extremely competitive, so advertisers are open to testing new, ground breaking ideas.

• Keep an open and direct line of communication with your account manager, CJ representative, and your advertisers. It's imperative that all offers are marketed accurately and direct communication is the best way to keep abreast of all updates and/or changes!

• Maintain proper resources to ensure compliance, as it is crucial to this vertical.

• Stay aware! Work with your representative to stay on top of all developments and initiatives within CJ, and also remain current with what's happening within the finance industry.

Fitness

The only other New Year's resolution more popular than improving ones finances, is getting fit. Naturally that makes the first few months the most active part of the year, and a crucial period for affiliates in the Fitness vertical. Here are some helpful pointers to see success during this time:

• The peak season for Fitness runs from the beginning of January through early March.

• Make sure current links are updated and that you're using links that direct customers to a page that has a live code.

• We have 184 Health and Wellness advertisers within the network with approximately 20 of those accounting for Fitness related advertiser.

Dating

Though not as big as Finance and Fitness, a third important vertical to focus on in the early part of the year is Dating. This vertical drives a large amount of traffic during Q1, so pay attention to these key tips:

• Most transactions occur from January 1 through Valentine's Day.

• Look for the free trial periods of dating websites. During this time they see a large influx of traffic and transactions.

• Put coupons out for subscriptions to these dating sites immediately after the free trial period ends.

• It is key to host banners on your site—many publishers see success here.

• Stay in touch with the advertiser or their account team to ensure that you are in front of all new coupons and promotions.

CJ Tools

As you look at the very different, but very lucrative advertiser verticals, there are a few constant themes—keep open communication and be proactive! Keep those things top of mind, and you should be well on your way to a successful 2016. In addition, CJ has some great tools available to clients. Be sure to take advantage of:

• CJAM Links: Filter through all available links by manually searching for your applicable links.

• Promotional Links Report: This is available via email, FTP, HTTP, or your own in-house FTP/HTTP. The report can be received daily, weekly, monthly, or when new updates occur.

• API: The Application Program Interface allows developers to find and secure links based on your desired query. API Access

If you have any questions on any of the tools or tips above, please leave a comment below or contact our Client Support teams.

Here's to you and successful 2016!