Last week, we co-hosted a webinar with The APMA to discuss how marketers are planning and executing their affiliate activity for Black Friday.
Discover our webinar poll results and read our summary below before watching the webinar on demand. You’ll also get exclusive Webgains network insights into investment levels, planning timelines and how they contribute to Black Friday success in affiliate marketing.
Hosted by Webgains Head of Client Services Charlie Lynn, the webinar featured experts from leading publishers Linkby, Shoparize and Atolls. The panel explored changing consumer behaviour, the impact of AI on shopping trends, and the biggest wins and lessons learned from past Black Friday campaigns.
During the webinar, we ran a trio of polls asking our audience of marketers about their Black Friday planning, challenges, and opportunities. The results of these are below:
On top of the attendee poll data we collected, the panel discussed themes most prevalent to 2026, and the following only scratches the surface to what was covered:
Black Friday isn’t just one day anymore. For so many brands, it’s become a months-long campaign, and publishers shared examples of advertisers achieving their best results when they secured placements, shared assets and agreed commercials well in advance. Those who left it too late often saw performance plateau or missed key opportunities altogether.
AI has a rapidly growing influence on the customer journey. Listicles, reviews and buying guides all heavily influence AI recommendations and search overviews, which means that brands still need good visibility and great reputation during peak seasons.
It’s quality over quantity and earlier rather than later when in comes to partnerships success during Q4. The panel all agreed that early communication and collaborative planning was key to the success of these campaigns. This is especially important when it comes to brands who don’t want to rely on heavily discounting their products. Publishers can help you find other ways to offer rewards, like gift cards or added-value incentives, to drive sales long after the Black Friday period has ended.
Reflecting on the webinar, Yosmary Pestana Coronado, Director of Client Services at Webgains commented:
“The webinar reinforced many of the conversations we’re already having with clients around early planning, strong publisher relationships and the growing influence of AI on consumer behaviour.
As a network, we’re fortunate to work with some of the industry’s most innovative publishers, and it was valuable to hear additional perspectives from partners such as Atolls, Linkby and Shoparize on how AI and changing customer behaviour are shaping the affiliate landscape. By combining those insights with the expertise of our Client Services and Publishing teams, we’re well placed to help brands navigate change and build winning Black Friday strategies.”
If the webinar highlights above have whet your appetite for more, you can watch our Black Friday planning webinar with The APMA back in full for free via The APMA’s website here.