Online businesses have been eagerly anticipating Autumn as the beginning of an especially profitable period. Holiday shopping starts earlier online, and we see a steady increase of other sales as well. It all starts with back-to-school in September and continues right through the holiday season
Whether affiliate marketing is your primary source of revenue or a secondary source, there are affiliate programs that will boost your bottom line this Fall. Focusing on the right categories will position your online business for a golden finish to 2024, and an even more profitable 2025.
TIP: If you’re new to affiliate marketing, read How to Start Affiliate Marketing in Canada.
How to Find Profitable Affiliate Programs
Affiliate networks can play a critical part in evaluating affiliate programs and estimating ROI. They can also help you choose programs for seasons or special occasions. For example, ShareASale features affiliate programs for Fall holidays like Halloween or Thanksgiving, or the season in general.
[DISCLOSURE:Â We may receive compensation for links to products on this website.]
Additionally, you can utilize the same tools that online sellers and ‘super affiliates’ use to choose products.
For example:
• You can search for trending Autumn keywords with Semrush and use those that relate best to your niche.
• Google Trends can be a valuable source of intel as well. Use it to find topics that are currently trending, along with seasonal trends.
• Online marketplaces often reveal trends and best sellers, providing a wealth of valuable information and sales data. Tools like Jungle Scout use this data to evaluate market demand and trending items.
• You’ll find great ideas on lists of best selling products for other business models as well, such as The Best Dropshipping Products to Sell in Autumn 2024.
Related reading: The Best Affiliate Program Networks for Canadians
What Are the Best Affiliate Program Categories for Autumn?
The following affiliate program categories were chosen based on network data and our own experience (last year and this year-to-date). For a quick start, I included examples of affiliate programs that convert well for us in some categories. You can easily work these programs into content and marketing funnels for your most profitable Fall yet.
Back to School
So many products and services can be related to back-to-school shopping. It can be everything a university student needs to live on campus, electronic devices, tutoring, clothing, books, and the usual stationery or art supplies.
A popular affiliate program for electronic devices is Acer. However, one of my biggest categories isn’t the devices themselves, but their accessories. Consider the devices used by your customer avatar and start researching trends. From phone cases to apps, whether students need it or want it, anything related to their devices has potential.
For everyday school supplies, I usually point people to Amazon.
Additionally, online learning is HUGE globally and adults are heading back to school this Fall too. Recommend Udemy (Rakuten), a leading marketplace platform for learning and teaching online, with over 155K courses in 65+ languages.
Weather & Warmth
Clothing (not just warm, but dry for Fall rain & mud), blankets, portable heaters, hot drinks, and anything else that warms the body, heart & soul.
“Enter the competitive market for calming weighted blankets (over 100,000 searches per month) or niche-down and sell weighted dog blankets and vests (2,100 monthly searches),” suggests Shopify. “You could specialize in luxury cashmere blankets (2,800 searches per month) or target consumers looking for equally indulgent, but far more affordable, blanket hoodies (29,000 searches).”
Fall Holidays
Autumn Holidays include Halloween and Thanksgiving, both in October here in Canada.
Canadians are CRAZY about Halloween and their spending on the holiday proves it. Décor, human & pet costumes, and of course all the treats, are waiting for you to post a lucrative link.
Halloween Costumes has a fantastic selection of costumes and you can join their affiliate program through CJ.com.
Thanksgiving isn’t as big of a deal here as it is in the U.S., but it’s still celebrated with family & food and it’s a dynamic theme for sales events.
Indoor Hobbies
All types of crafting will pick up again in the Fall! Mary Maxim Canada is on ShareASale and is a recognized craft brand in this country.
Indoor Entertainment & Cooking
As we head inside and pack away our barbecues, more cooking and entertaining will be indoors. Trending items like cast iron pans, cutting boards, or clever multi-use products can be top sellers this time of year and they make fabulous gifts too.
Meal Kits grow in popularity every year, thanks to our desire to dine-in on healthy food but with as little time and effort as possible. HelloFresh has a fantastic meal kit affiliate program for Canadians.
TIP: Think outside the box! I once helped a client make an Autumn killing on attractive, indoor-outdoor folding chairs with a drink holder attached. Many people require extra seating for indoor entertainment, especially with the holiday season coming up. Being light and foldable solves the inevitable storage problem for the rest of the year, and they were relatively inexpensive to ship.
Sometimes it’s a simple matter of seeing your products in the lives of your ideal customer, identifying pain points in that scenario, and then presenting your product as a solution. In this case, we inadvertently added a whole new selling season to an item that was originally marketed only as outdoor seating. We created content and promotions, then sent it out to their affiliate partners for them to promote. Everyone made more money that year.
Pets
Pets will spend more time indoors now too, and that means they need indoor activities to keep them active and intellectually content. We’ve seen fantastic returns on pet subscription boxes this time of year, such as PupJoy’s subscription boxes.
Autumn Health
Indoor Exercise, immunity supplements, skin care, humidifiers, and flu remedies perform very well for us this time of year. Our go-to health affiliate is Well.ca.
“If the search for a product to sell is becoming too stressful, try turning your bathroom into a spa with trending items such as bath salts and bath bombs,” advises Shopify experts. “Some popular bath time products contain therapeutic ingredients like CBD, the hemp-derived cannabis extract, for added relaxing effect.”
TIP: You can find great ideas on lists of best selling products for other types of businesses as well, such as The Best Dropshipping Products to Sell in Autumn 2024.
More Affiliate Marketing Tips for an Awesome Autumn
It takes more than perfect products to earn high commissions from affiliate marketing. Following are a few additional tips to earn more money from this popular online business model.
• If you’re using affiliate marketing to supplement revenue from something else, Fall themes related to products you sell can do very well.
For example:
- If you sell survival gear, you can publish content on related topics featuring affiliate partners, similar to What to Include in your Cat’s Emergency Go-Bag on AllNaturalPetCare.com.
- If you sell winter sports equipment, you can promote adventure travel affiliate partners on your website.
- If you’re selling a home maintenance course, you could promote products to help reduce the cost of heating your home.
The same tactics apply to any kind of website sponsorship or influencer marketing.
• Keep the current state of the economy in mind as you make your selections. Get started with our post, 10 Types of Affiliate Programs That Earn More in Tough Times.
• Once you have narrowed it down to a few advertisers, contact their affiliate managers and ask them what their best selling products are. Then, create content or marketing funnels that are specifically designed to promote those products. It’s a great way to come up with content ideas that will be a good use of your time.
• Autumn content created around affiliate programs can result in engaging social media topics, and you can learn a lot from the discussion. Ask followers about their pain points or desires. Then, you can create more content to help them.
Continue to monitor social media throughout the Fall, not only for what’s trending but also for problems and challenges consumers are experiencing. For example, forest fires inspired our feature on air purifiers, which inadvertently covered allergies too. We reviewed it with a pet sector slant for our natural pet care niche in Protect Yourself And Your Pets With An Okaysou Air Purifier. Always be on the lookout for opportunities on social media, and keep your brain in creative mode to come up with the best angles.
Where do your affiliate sales come from in the Fall? Please share your comments below, or join us in the Online Business Canada Facebook group.
7 Recession Proof Online Businesses To Start From Home
Expert help to choose, start, and run the business of your dreams!
“Almost 200 pages of pure gold…”
———————————
© CanadiansInternet.com – Content on this website may not be used elsewhere without expressed permission. Thank you for respecting the effort that we have put into our original content.
DISCLOSURE: We may receive compensation for links to products on this website. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Our content is provided for informational purposes only and does not guarantee results.
Melody McKinnon is an internet entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in a wide range of online business models, backed by a formal business/marketing education and enhanced by training and mentorship. She has owned or managed both educational and ecommerce websites. Her book, 7 Recession Proof Online Businesses to Start From Home, is available from all major ebook retailers.
Melody has worked with many businesses in a multitude of capacities. She can often be found on CanadianDigitalMedia.com, CanadiansInternet.com, CanadianFamily.net, and AllNaturalPetCare.com, as well as other quality digital publications. Her content has earned reference links from highly-respected websites, magazines and university textbooks.
I started planning my fall affiliate marketing campaigns early this year for the first time and what a difference its made in my stress levels LOL. I planned gift guides and everything else. It’s open to edit in case something comes up like a special affiliate opportunity or something, but everything else is done. Now I can focus on other things to make 2024 profitable and stop giving myself grey hair over my procrastination. Good luck to all!
Mandy
I love this time of year! It’s cooler AND sales start increasing hopefully until the end of the year and beyond. I hope the late Black Friday doesn’t hurt online orders but it’s still early enough to get the orders sent in plenty of time.
excellent suggestions! i’m loathe to get in on the pumpkin spice themes but whatever works!