Summer Sale Season: A Brand’s Guide to Standing Out During Affiliate's Biggest Week
If it feels like your feed is turning into a curated shopping channel, you’re not wrong. This week kicks off what we’re unofficially dubbing Summer Sales Week. As nearly every major retailer launches a sale and social channels flood with content, we’re sharing ways to rise above the noise and make your affiliate strategy stick.
First, a quick look at what’s live or coming up:
Amazon Prime Day (July 8–11)
Target Circle Week (July 5–12)
Walmart Deals (July 7–13)
Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (July 9–August 4)
Best Buy Black Friday in July (July 8–10)
Kohl’s WOW Deals (July 8–14)
These mega-sales are no longer just retail events, they’re content Super Bowls. Creators build multi-slide carousels, shoppable hauls, real-time recaps, and product roundups at record speed. And affiliate marketing is at the center of it all.
But it’s not just about pushing product, it’s about trusted voices helping people feel smarter about what they buy, when they buy it, and who they buy it from. According to LTK, 84% of shoppers say they trust a brand more after a creator recommendation.
So how can brands breakthrough in a week this competitive?
With every brand and creator posting, it’s noisy, but not impossible. Here's how to show up and drive traffic through influencers:
1. Prioritize alignment over reach
Choose creators who already use and genuinely love your brand. If a creator has never shopped at Kohl’s before but post about it during their WOW Deals, their followers will know it’s not authentic. Audiences are smarter than ever, and conversions come from trust.
2. Prep like a pro
These sales are often planned months in advance, and creators are planning in advance, too. Share high-res assets, top-performing SKUs, affiliate links, messaging guidelines, and content deadlines with creators as soon as you can. This will help them pre-build roundups so they’re not scrambling mid-sale(s), increasing the chance of creators driving to your sale.
3. Make creators feel like insiders
In addition to sharing early, give your partners something their audience can’t get elsewhere: exclusive SKUs, private sale previews, unique promo codes. This helps drive both urgency and loyalty. And when possible, build ongoing relationships that fuel more authentic advocacy that doesn’t only occur during peak promotional moments (see #1).
4. Create IRL moments
Affiliate may be digital-first, but real connection drives real results. In-person previews, creator retail activations, and private walkthroughs of your product line deepen relationships and fuel better content and build community. Think collab, not transaction.
5. Explore new platforms and unexpected creators
Bloggers still reign supreme in affiliate, but platforms like Substack are giving rise to a new class of trusted recommenders. Likewise, creators outside the traditional retail space often have deeply engaged, niche audiences that convert. Thinking outside the box on where and who you partner with can help you stand out.
6. Keep your commission competitive
This one may feel obvious, but as you can see from the list above, creators have options. Commission rates need to be competitive for creators to link to your sale over a competitors’ – especially during high-traffic weeks like this. Setting variable rates or bonus incentives are great options to have influencers choose to share your links during a busy time.
TL;DR: Affiliate marketing is no longer an end-of-funnel tactic, it’s a full-funnel storytelling strategy. The brands winning today are the ones building year-round relationships with creators who remember and advocate during peak promotional moments. Brands that treat affiliate like a relationship, not just a revenue stream, will rise above.
It's a crowded week, but it’s also a golden opportunity. Happy shopping!