An Honest Look Back at BFCM 2025

Black Friday Cyber Monday 2025 is officially wrapped.

This year, our team at Performance Partners supported over 30 DTC brands across health and wellness, sleep, supplements, beauty, telehealth, fashion, gadgets, and home.

Across the portfolio, we worked with more than 2,400 affiliates.

That includes 120 media buyers, 220 listicle and editorial partners, 250 email partners, and 1,800 creators and content affiliates.

In November alone, we activated 900 new affiliates and negotiated hundreds of custom BFCM deals across every channel. And the results showed up. November was our strongest month ever. BFCM was our strongest weekend ever.

Across all brands, our work helped drive more than $82 million in tracked affiliate revenue this year, with a huge share coming from November and BFCM as media buyers and top publishers scaled hard.

Multiple clients hit 100K months for the first time. Some passed 300K. A few broke 500K.

Across the full portfolio, average performance landed at an 8X return on ad spend, with several programs beating even that.

But the numbers never tell the full story. Behind them was real grind, real teamwork, and real problem-solving. And that’s the part I want to share next.

1. We started Q4 outreach in September to lock in premium placements early.

Most partners fill their BFCM calendars fast. By starting two months early, we secured better listicle spots, higher visibility placements, stronger deal coverage, and more committed media buyers.

When you wait until November, you're fighting for leftovers. Early outreach means better inventory and more revenue. It's that simple.

2. We rebuilt every client offer to be media-buyer-ready.

We worked with brands to adjust CPA payouts, improve conversion funnels, tighten upsell paths, and strengthen AOV so media buyers could scale fast without hesitation.

3. We activated and warmed up hundreds of creators before BFCM hit.

Instead of waiting for the BFCM weekend, we turned creators on in October and early November. This gave us data, momentum, and a bank of ready-to-scale partners.

Activation before Q4 is a compounding advantage. By the time the peak weekend arrived, we had hundreds of creators who already knew the brand, trusted the offer, and had content ready to go.

4. We ran a focused listicle strategy with personalized pitches for top publishers.

We didn't blast generic offers. We crafted pitches around each publisher's audience and performance model, and we negotiated for inclusion in multiple roundups and deal pages.

Listicles are a discovery engine during BFCM. You win when you show publishers exactly how your brand fits their audience.

5. We coordinated a two-manager structure for every client to double execution speed.

One manager owned outbound recruitment and partner activation. The other owned optimization, funnel improvements, and deal negotiation.

Q4 is a volume game. Speed wins when two people push from different angles. Outreach increases, activations increase, and partners scale faster. This was one of the biggest structural changes we made this year, and it paid off in ways I didn't fully anticipate.

I want to be honest here. We had a great BFCM, but there were moments where I know we left an opportunity on the table.

1. I could have pushed clients to finalize their BFCM offers earlier.

A few brands locked in their offer structure later than ideal. We still drove strong results, but earlier confirmation would have allowed us to negotiate even better placements and give media buyers more time to scale.

2. I could have given my team more buffer time leading into the peak week.

Our execution was strong, but November is always intense. Looking back, I could have cleared more operational noise and removed lower-priority tasks so the team could stay fully focused on partners, deals, and activations.

3. I could have created more BFCM-specific creative and content packages for affiliates.

We delivered solid assets, but next year I want to roll out more pre-tested angles, email templates, ad hooks, and landing page variations so affiliates have plug-and-play materials ready to scale on day one.

1. How quickly media buyers scaled once the offer clicked.

I've worked with media buyers for over 17 years, and we always expect a ramp period. But a few of our media buyers went from testing to full scale in less than 24 hours because the offer, the funnel, and the CPA lined up perfectly. When the economics are right, growth can happen way faster than you expect. 

2. How much competition there was for premium listicle placements.

Even with early outreach, publishers were getting bombarded. Some of the biggest outlets filled their BFCM spots before October ended.

The trend is clear. If you're not pitching personalized angles early, you're invisible. The bar for what counts as "early" is moving up every single year.

3. How late some brands finalized their BFCM offers.

Even with clear deadlines, a few brands pushed their final decisions right into mid-November. It compressed activation time and negotiation windows more than expected.

4. How expensive Q4 traffic became for affiliates.

Many media buyers and content partners shared the same pain point. CPCs and CPMs jumped higher than last year, and some of the usual angles stopped converting as expected.

Offers need stronger economics to stay competitive during Q4 inflation. Brands that didn't adjust their CPAs or improve their funnels struggled to get traction.

5. How many creators wanted to promote but didn't have content ready!

We had hundreds of creators raising their hands, but many of them didn't have reels recorded, product shots done, or scripts prepared.

If you want ‘scale’ from creators, you need to warm them up weeks in advance. Execution readiness is an underrated aspect.

6. How hard my team pushed even at the end of November.

By BFCM weekend, most teams in the industry are exhausted. My team was still sending outreach, negotiating deals, and coordinating boosts at 10 p.m.

Here’s what I realize now. A strong culture beats burnout when everyone is aligned on the mission. I'm incredibly grateful for this team, and it's a reminder that the people you work with matter just as much as the strategy you deploy.

I've been doing this for a long time, and this BFCM felt like a turning point. Here's what I think is coming.

Media buyer partnerships will become the foundation of every high-performing affiliate program.

Brands that saw their biggest spikes during BFCM will realize those wins came from media buyers who could scale fast with the right CPA and the right funnel. More brands will shift budget toward media-buyer-friendly offers and treat these partners like a core acquisition channel rather than a side experiment.

By next BFCM, media buyers will be the top revenue driver for most mature affiliate programs. Mark my words.

Editorial and listicle partners will start locking Q4 placements even earlier.

This year, the best publishers filled their BFCM calendars before October. Next year, it will happen in September. Early outreach will no longer be an advantage; it will be a requirement.

Brands that aren't pitching listicles and deal pages by late summer will miss out entirely. The window is closing faster than most people realize.

Affiliates will demand stronger economics and better conversion paths.

CPCs, CPMs, and competition are rising across every platform. Affiliates are tired of testing offers that don't convert or that lack strong AOV and upsell paths.

Brands that don't raise CPAs, improve checkout flows, and increase average order value will struggle to attract quality partners. The bar for what counts as a "good offer" is about to rise dramatically. If your offer isn't compelling enough to make an affiliate money in a high-traffic-cost environment, they'll move on to the next brand in 48 hours.

BFCM rewarded the brands that prepared early. The biggest wins came from the clients who finalized their offers in advance, approved creative on time, and let us build momentum with partners weeks ahead of the peak. 

Affiliate marketing is no longer a side channel during Q4. This BFCM proved that affiliates can drive serious revenue when the program is built correctly. Media buyers, listicles, and creators pushed volume at levels that used to be reserved for paid social. If you're still treating affiliates as a "nice-to-have," you're already behind.

Partnership depth beats partnership quantity. The best results came from partners we nurtured, not the ones added last minute. Good communication, fast deal-making, and strategic support created loyalty and stronger pushes during the busiest weekend of the year.

This was the most competitive Q4 we've ever seen.

Publishers filled their calendars early. Traffic costs reached new highs. Creators were overwhelmed. To win in this environment, brands need an active affiliate team that treats partner recruitment like a sales function.

The opportunity is bigger than most brands realize. Across our portfolio, we saw programs cross $100K, $300K, and even $500K for the first time. That's a signal that affiliate marketing, when done with the right partners and the right strategy, can be a core revenue driver for DTC brands.

I don't know where you're at in your affiliate journey; whether you're just getting started, rebuilding your program, or already scaling hard. 

But if this BFCM taught me anything, it's that the opportunity is real, the competition is fierce, and the brands that win are the ones that move early, move fast, and treat their partners like the growth engine they are.

If you're planning for 2026, start now. 

Don't wait until September. Don't wait until your offer is "perfect." 

Start building relationships, start testing angles, and start treating affiliate marketing like the channel it deserves to be.

Thanks for reading. If you have questions, thoughts, or just want to compare notes on what you saw this year, hit reply. I'd love to hear from you.

Here's to a strong finish to 2025. And an even stronger 2026.

Talk soon,

Fred