There have been a number of articles recently that give us clues about changes we might see to our affiliate marketing sales as a result of social distancing.
Amazon, for example, announced on March 17th that it was suspending shipments of nonessential items to warehouses in the US and the UK until at least April 5th.
That means that they won't be replenishing supply of those nonessential items for the next couple of weeks. They'll sell what they have but we may see supplies of nonessential items dwindle or even run out.
Nonessential items include things like toys, fitness equipment, home decor, clothing, appliances, jewelry, and makeup, etc.
This means you want to keep an eye on your affiliate links to those kinds of products.
If you see that something is out of stock you might find a replacement item that is still in stock so you could switch out your links - at least temporarily.
Facebook reported on March 18th that they are seeing "big surges" in usage. Not a surprise with so many of us staying at home for weeks on end.
That's a great clue, though, that people ARE online.
People are surely experiencing moments of boredom and they'll be online looking for news, looking to interact with their family & friends, and spending more time on social sites than before.
It's a great time to put a little extra effort in on any Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram profiles you have for your websites.
Are consumers shopping less online?
Not according to Amazon and Walmart both of whom are hiring at least 100,000 people in the US for warehouse and delivery positions to keep up with demand.
However, I suspect that WHAT people are buying has changed - temporarily.
Essential items (food, hygiene, cleaning supplies, medicine) are huge right now. Anything you know you can't find in your grocery store suddenly are things that are also popular online orders right now.
Consumers are going to go right to Amazon for those things. They're not really a huge affiliate opportunity.
Affiliates, though, might benefit from writing blog posts about how to make homemade versions of items that are hard to get and in demand.
Articles on how to help those most in need would get a lot of attention, too.
One blogger combined those two ideas and created a post on his free sewing pattern site calling on all who sew to make hospital masks to help with the current shortage. (He got a nice mention in Forbes online magazine!)
Two creative website geniuses spent 3 hours creating a site that features a toilet paper calculator. It tells you how long your supply of TP will last - complete with Adsense (or similar) ads on the site. They have been all over the news - smart guys!
I believe, too, that while there is certainly a percentage of the population that is going to hold on more tightly to their disposable income there are also those who want to tackle some hobbies or projects they haven't had time for in awhile.
Those who crochet, sew, paint, draw, knit, are into photography, or into any other at-home hobby may be looking to order supplies online that they would have otherwise purchased in their local stores. Posts about hobbies could do well at the moment.
Same goes for yard and gardening supplies for some parts of the world. It looks like I may have my two youngest at home all day for a couple of weeks. A great opportunity to get our back yard in shape for the summer!
In fact, anything that helps people figure out what to do with their time at home (how to keep kids entertained, how to home school your children until schools open up again, how to eliminate tension while you're all cooped up with family) would be great blog post material (as long as it relates to your website niche in some
way).
There is lots of opportunity to do well online despite all the changes with which we have to cope. It's just that the market has temporarily shifted. The demand is for different kinds of products and article topics for the time being.
Think outside the box and you may find some new and exciting ways to drive traffic to your sites in today's environment.
Thanks!
Sincerely,
Erica Stone
erica@extremereviewer.com
