Every autumn, it’s the same old story! Online stores prepare for one of the biggest sales battles of the year. Black Friday and Cyber Monday concentrate colossal volumes of purchases in the space of a few days. Want to make the most of this sales marathon? Affiliate marketing is the lever of choice!
Here, our team gives you the keys to managing your Black Friday Cyber Monday affiliate program. Build a solid and adaptable BFCM affiliate strategy now!
Do Black Friday and Cyber Monday represent major opportunities for your e-commerce business?
Yes, especially if current figures are anything to go by! According to Fevad, online sales in 2024 reached a record 175.3 billion euros in France. This represents growth of 9.6% on the previous year. Black Friday alone recorded an increase of around 40% in transaction volumes compared to 2023.
In France alone, these seasonal promotions now account for over 20% of e-commerce sales in the last quarter, according to Fevad. These two days, now inseparable, form an essential strategic duo for e-commerce brands.
With CPMs doubling and CPCs rising by +40% in certain verticals (notably fashion and home), it’s becoming vital to find a profitable and measurable lever. Affiliate marketing is the solution. Why ? It’s profitable, measurable and agile!
Black Friday vs Cyber Monday: two dynamics, two strategies
Of course, before you focus on your Black Friday Cyber Monday affiliate program, you need to understand their specific dynamics. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are not alike.
Black Friday attracts bargain hunters and impulse buyers. Cyber Monday, on the other hand, appeals to a more rational audience. Here, consumers compare, wait for the best offers or finalize their shopping baskets.
Cyber Monday is often a “smart retargeting” phase, ideal for re-launching unconverted weekend visitors.
Here’s a summary table to help you visualize the strategic differences between these two highlights.
| Period | Main objective | Type of offers | Type of affiliates |
| Black Friday (Friday to Sunday) | Volume and visibility | Massive discounts, bundles, flash deals | Cashback, comparison shopping, media |
| Cyber Monday (Monday) | Conversion and optimization | Targeted offers, cross-sell, free delivery | Newsletters, retargeters, active influencers |
Do you need a dedicated e-commerce affiliate program or simply adapt your existing one?
By taking these two dynamics into account, you can already structure a program for BFCM. Rather than seeing Black Friday and Cyber Monday as a single campaign, treat them as a complementary pairing:
- The first is a massive acquisition ;
- The second is to convert efficiently.
Here, you have two options.
Option 1: Adapt your existing affiliate program
Here, you keep your current affiliate base, but offer them special Black Friday / Cyber Monday offers (exclusive codes, conversion bonuses, time-limited creatives, etc.).
The benefits? Your partners already know your brand, your validation process and your product universe.
Limitations? Not everyone will be available or motivated to push your brand in a sea of competing offers.
Option 2: Create a dedicated “BFCM” mini-campaign
You build a parallel program, with reinforced commissions, a specific bonus budget and a limited duration.
The benefits? You manage this operation as a project in its own right, with clear affiliation KPIs and precise monitoring.
Limitations? It requires more management (briefing, express recruitment, affiliate tracking, reporting).
What’s the right choice for your level of maturity?
Depending on your level of maturity in affiliate marketing, you’ll need to adopt different strategies. This chart will help you identify the most effective approach for your brand during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
| Maturity level | Recommendation | Primary objective |
| Young brand | BFCM dedicated mini-campaign | Do a quick, measurable test |
| Experienced brand | Adapt existing program to a segment (star products, VIP affiliates) | Strengthen profitability |
| Intermediate brand | Mix of both: special campaign + current network activation | Maximize coverage |
Tip: even if you adapt your program, consider creating a ready-to-use “BFCM communication pack” for your affiliates (banners, messages, product visuals). The easier you make it for them, the more they’ll promote you.
How to prepare your Black Friday Cyber Monday affiliate program?
To ensure the success of your BFCM affiliate program, you obviously need to plan everything several weeks in advance. Here’s a checklist of the key steps to take before Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
| Step | Ideal timing | Key action |
| Affiliate recruitment | 6 to 8 weeks before | Target comparators, bargain blogs and shopping influencers |
| Tracking tests / platform | 4 weeks before | Check conversions in sandbox before rush |
| Commission / bonus budget | 3 weeks in advance | Allow for a 10-15% above-average margin |
| Crea / visuals / promo codes | 2 weeks in advance | Provide assets in advance to avoid delays in going online |
| Internal communication | 1 week before | Coordinate channels: e-mailing, social ads, affiliation |
A quick reminder: tracking reliability is non-negotiable. An untracked click is an invisible sale. And an invisible sale means a frustrated affiliate.
Our advice: create an internal countdown: “D-60: affiliate recruitment”, “D-30: test tracking”, “D-15: promotional codes sent”, etc. A successful campaign is first and foremost a well-timed campaign.
How do you recruit and motivate the right affiliate partners for BFCM?
Let’s move on to the most important point: choosing the right e-commerce affiliates. The success of BFCM depends largely on the responsiveness and motivation of your affiliates. During this period, they are very much in demand. So you need to stand out from the crowd with a clear value proposition.
The most successful partners?
- Cashback and coupon code sites
- UGC influencers and creators
- Shopping & deal hunters newsletters
- Technophile affiliates (during Cyber Monday).
The right strategy: don’t go for quantity, go for relevance. Three well-briefed partners can generate more than twenty misaligned affiliates.
How do you convince Top Affiliates?
- Offer boosted commissions (+20 to +30%) over the period
- Guaranteeing prompt payment: within 15 days is a real selling point
- Offer shared visibility (e.g. mention on your website or newsletter).
Fraud, duplication and control: how to manage the risks?
BFCM is high season for e-commerce… but also for fraud. So, when launching your Black Friday Cyber Monday affiliate program, you need to keep an eye on the following points:
- Stolen or unauthorized promo codes. Lock your codes to identified partners.
- Duplicate sales. Set up a clear multi-touch attribution system.
- Tracking saturated. Check redirections, cookies and pixels before ramping up.
The right strategy: the busier the period, the more important it is to be transparent and responsive with your affiliates. Keep an eye on your high-performing affiliate partners. Over 70% of seasonal e-commerce affiliate fraud is detected in partners who are already active, often through negligence.
How do you monitor the performance and analyze the ROI of a BFCM campaign?
During BFCM, everything moves fast. Apart from tracking fraud, you also need clear, segmented BFCM affiliate KPIs to keep you on track. Here, the real challenge is to know which affiliate partnerships generate sustainable value and not just one-off peaks.
Here are the key indicators you need to monitor closely to better manage your seasonal affiliate programs.
| KPI | Target | Black Friday (trend 2024) | Cyber Monday (trend 2024) | Interpretation |
| Affiliate and influencer click-through rates (CTR) | Measure the attractiveness of content, banners and shared links. | Average CTR of 3.8%, up to 6% for exclusive offers. | More moderate CTR, around 2.5 to 3% (the novelty effect has diminished). | A CTR of > 3% = good visibility and effective message.
Below 2%, revise content or call-to-action. |
| Conversion rate of affiliate traffic vs. other channels | Evaluate the quality of traffic generated by affiliates. | Affiliate conversion between 3-5%, higher than the paid search average (2-3%). | Cyber Monday conversion stable (2.8-4%), as shoppers compare more before buying. | If affiliate CR exceeds your other channels, your partners are bringing in well-targeted traffic. |
| Average affiliate order value (AOV) | Measuring the value of each affiliate sale. | AOV up +5% YoY, averaging around €92. | AOV slightly lower (around €88) | An average basket equal to or greater than your overall average = quality traffic. |
| Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) of affiliated customers | Evaluate the long-term profitability of customers acquired through affiliates | Affiliate customers spend an average of 15-20% more over 12 months | Similar CLV, but more segmented. Tech/cashback offers increase loyalty. | CLV ≥ 110% of average = your affiliates attract loyal customers, not just opportunists. |
| ROAS by affiliation partnership | Measure return on investment by affiliate or network. | Average ROAS 5:1 to 8:1 | Slightly lower ROAS (4:1 to 6:1) due to higher discounts. | A ROAS of > 5:1 indicates true profitability. If < 3:1, review commissions or affiliate selection. |
Capitalize after Cyber Monday: turn your results into a springboard
Black Friday and Cyber Monday don’t stop when the numbers fall. Quite the contrary, in fact! That’s when it all really begins. A successful affiliate campaign is measured as much by its sales as by what it leaves behind: data, insights and strengthened relationships with your partners.
Put your performance under the microscope
Once the frenzy is over, take the time to take your statistics apart.
- Which affiliates performed best?
- Which offers generated the best ROAS?
- Which channels brought in traffic, but no conversions?
- …
Thanks to this detailed analysis, you can :
- Identify the most profitable affiliate partners
- Understanding seasonal purchasing behavior
- Optimize your affiliate commissions for upcoming highlights.
Strengthen relationships with your affiliate partners
The post-BFCM period is also a key time for maintaining relationships with your affiliates. Send your partners a clear, personalized campaign report (key figures, insights, thanks).
This gesture, often overlooked, builds trust and loyalty among your successful affiliates. Some may even become true ambassadors for your winter sales or spring collection launches. Think about it!
Turn your lessons into a sustainable strategy
Finally, draw the overall lessons from the season. Did you run out of time on recruitment? Were some offers too late? The aim here is to turn the BFCM experience into an operational action plan for future campaigns.
Data collected :
- Feed your forecasts
- Adjust your margins
- Boost the long-term profitability of your affiliate marketing campaigns.
The success of Black Friday and Cyber Monday also depends on the post-analysis phase. That’s where continuity is built!
Black Friday and Cyber Monday aren’t just a commercial interlude. They are two powerful levers for multiplying your sales, testing your partnerships and refining your acquisition strategy. By relying on affiliation, you can turn these highly competitive periods into a measurable and profitable playground. Here, every click, every partner and every euro invested really counts.
How do you get the most out of this mechanism? Through meticulous preparation, rigorous analysis and long-term vision.
Black Friday Cyber Monday affiliation isn’t just a sprint. It’s a sustainable investment in performance.
Need help managing your BFCM affiliation campaigns? Come and join us.
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Why use Affiliate on Black Friday?
