Make The Most Out Of The Weather

We need to look no further than last Christmas to see the link between weather and online retail. Not many have explored this relationship (though there are some nice branding campaigns) in detail, but luckily my good friend Simon has – and he’s agreed to guest blog and shed some light on this misty topic. So without further ado, let’s hand it over to him:

The esteemed Julian Moskov, multi-talented online marketer, photographer and to a lesser extent footballer invited me to promote a project I have been working on fusing our beloved weather and online retail, otherwise known as Weatherlytics. A simple aim which is ”To highlight the growing trend weather can play for online retailers as part of their digital marketing strategy”

Regular followers of my blog, www.weatherlytics.co.uk will notice how I have identified specific case studies on if using the weather as part of your online sales strategy, you can maximise a specific product promotion and even better help to differentiate your strategy awar from your competition.

Key online channels can benefit from abnormal and seasonal weather changes and I’ve put together some of my own thoughts on how an affiliate marketing channel can be maximised through understanding weather patterns…

Different weather parameters can play host to a number of fluctuations in online user habits as well as types of products that are sold dependent on a season (summer, winter etc) or if it is hot, cold, raining or snowy – a recent article in the Guardian referred to how Google is now beginning to embed key weather insights into a PPC strategy using Google Adwords.

I digress…so, you’ve completed some research on the weather but how can this be used within your affiliate program?

Communicate directly with your affiliates – ensure affiliates are up to speed with the latest promotions and offers that are weather impacted. Affiliates should be seen as an extended sales force who are reaching out to their own online community to promote your product offering

• Search Affiliates (PPC) – Have you thought about communicating to your search based (PPC) affiliates to tailor their campaigns through geo-location? e.g. should the UK be experiencing rainfall in the south west and snow in the north east, different products which reflect an uplift in sales based on these different weather can be promoted through a PPC campaign.

• Product Feed – Do you have a product feed available through your program for affiliates to download? Have you thought about segmenting your feed into different weather related categories e.g. Products associated with Rain, Sunshine, Snow?

• Affiliate Commission Incentives – Categorise your products whose sales are impacted by specific weather patterns – e.g. outdoor clothing during the winter months. Look to offer an incentive to your affiliates to push these types of products e.g. think about an additional commission tier for “winter clothing”?

Further reading on this specific subject (as well as latest news and thoughts) can be found at my blog – www.weatherlytics.co.uk or www.twitter.com/weatherlytics