One of the best things about being an Amazon Associate is you have so much control over what you promote to your audience. You’re able to select products you personally recommend, as well as share only the programs and promotions that are most applicable to your community. You can even make endless modifications to your strategy based on seasonality, performance data, audience feedback — anything that’s meaningful to you.

This flexibility and customization is especially helpful for creators who tend to feel uncomfortable with sales and marketing activities. By controlling what, when, and how you promote, you can share in a way that feels authentic to you.

Major shopping moments make things tricky though. The pressure to capitalize on big earning opportunities can cloud even the most genuine creator’s thinking, and result in some salesy or off-brand posts.. The key to maximizing earning potential on major ecommerce days — while also producing content you’re proud of — is taking a moment to get in the right mindset. By quickly identifying the angle you want to take with these posts, you can approach them with the same tastefulness you do the rest of your work. Here are some ideas:

Many big shopping days occur around holidays or seasonal events, so a great way to avoid being overly promotional is to focus on celebrating the occasion. Of course, some of these days are entirely about shopping (Black Friday, Cyber Monday, etc.) and it’s perfectly fine to “celebrate” that. But for the others, it helps to lead with genuine enthusiasm for the event. Do a post (or a whole campaign) around, say, Valentine’s Day, sharing your favorite aspects of the holiday. Linking to a related gift guide or mentioning your store from this content then feels more natural and less sales-driven.

You’ve built a loyal audience in large part by being a resource to your community, and major shopping moments are great opportunities to further that reputation. There are lots of ways to be helpful in these moments; you can:.

The promotional aspect of these activities is baked right in. No pushiness needed.

A big turn-off for any audience is when a creator adopts a noticeable change in tone or their usual approach. First and foremost, stay true to your brand voice and values. Work the affiliate stuff in at the end, not the other way around. And be sure to publish plenty of posts that are entirely marketing-free!

You don’t have to be a “marketing person” to be successful in affiliate marketing, even on major shopping days. Use the tips above to guide you in selling more without “selling out.”