24 Affiliate Marketing Statistics You Need To Know
Affiliate marketing is a fantastic way to make money on the side.
However, as you’ll find out, it can also be one of the best ways to help you generate a passive income of almost $10,000 per month.
Still not sure whether it’s worth it?
That’s what we are going to help you with in this post.
We’ll be looking at 24 affiliate marketing statistics from the last twelve months. This will help you make better predictions about the next year, to maximize the impact of your affiliate marketing business.
Let’s jump in!
Market Size and Growth
Affiliate marketing is estimated to be worth $17 billion – and it’s constantly on the rise.
If you ever wondered whether affiliate marketing is profitable, this is the proof. Plus, affiliate marketing alone is responsible for 16% of all internet orders.
But that’s not as fascinating as the projections about the future…
Forecasts predict substantial growth, projecting the industry to reach $40 billion by 2031 – so affiliate marketing will more than double its size in the next 8 years!
Not to mention the need for affiliate marketing from brands.
Companies, especially the Fortune 500 companies, derive 5% to 25% of their overall online sales from affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing is not going anywhere – it’s skyrocketing.
Now is the best time to get into it!
Revenue and Earnings
If you’re looking for affiliate marketing as a side job, you should get excited.
The average full-time affiliate marketer earns an impressive $8,038 per month, showcasing the earning potential within the industry.
This means that it can easily turn from the ‘money on the side’ into a full-time income…
…without doing 8 or 12-hour shifts at work!
Source: Authority Hacker
It may be a bit tougher in the beginning, but once you get the hang of affiliate marketing, you can see amazing results. That’s right, Affiliate marketers with three or more years of experience earn approximately 9.45 times more than beginners.
That’s why it’s vital to sharpen your skills and don’t get discouraged in a few weeks.
In fact, beginners (less than 3 years of experience) who take affiliate marketing courses earn 57.7% more than those who don’t.
Plus, 66% of affiliate marketers earning $10k+ a month take affiliate marketing courses.
Of course, the earning potential depends on the niche you choose, too.
Here are a few niches with the highest monthly earning potential.
- Education/E-Learning: $15,551
- Travel: $13,847
- Beauty/Skincare: $12,475
- Finance: $9,296
- Technology: $7,418
- Digital Marketing: $7,217
But, it all depends on your experience and passion.
We’ve created an in-depth guide about making money by blogging which will let you choose the best niche for you.
Plus, we’re also sharing useful tips for making more money with your online business.
Traffic Sources and Platforms
Not sure what is the best way to generate affiliate marketing leads?
Well, it turns out that over 78.3% of affiliate marketers primarily rely on search engine optimization (SEO) as their main traffic source.
Source: LinkedIn
Of course, this doesn’t mean you should neglect other ways of generating traffic.
In fact, more than 88% of consumers have been inspired to make purchases by influencers – always a good idea to run influencer marketing campaigns on social media.
Not sure which social media platform to choose? Here’s an indication of how social media platforms rank amongst affiliate marketers:
Source: Supermetrics
These are the most used social media platforms by affiliate marketers.
Also, around 79.3% of affiliate marketers have embraced AI-driven content. We’re not big fans of that, since rumors say Google will punish this type of content.
This is because most AI-generated content is low-quality and doesn’t follow E-E-A-T.
Source: Portent
If you’re looking for long-term results, we recommend using AI as a helping hand – assisting with research and outlines, but not writing itself. It’s as simple as asking AI to come up with compelling content ideas.
Then you can ask it to create outlines for the ideas it has come up with earlier.
Plus, you can use AI for creating examples for your content. This can make your article more actionable and relatable for readers – which can boost their time on page and engagement.
Don’t forget to optimize your website for mobile traffic, too!
Around 50% of all affiliate-related traffic comes from mobile devices – and if your website isn’t optimized for mobile, you won’t rank high and will most likely put off potential customers.
Keep that in mind!
Networks and Programs
To start your affiliate marketing journey, you’ll need the right affiliate marketing program.
The most popular one, and our favorite choice, is Amazon Associates – which is used by 58.5% of affiliate marketers.
The main reasons for its popularity is because of its reputation for reliability, and the fact that it offers over 12 million products.
Amazon Associates packs a huge arsenal of useful features. Here are some of our favorite things about Amazon’s affiliate program.
- Easy linking. You’ll get access to the SiteStrip tool, which is a banner at the top of every product page that will give you linking options for that product, including text and image links.
- Resource center. Amazon offers a large resource center with tutorials and tips to help you succeed as an Amazon Associate. It’s very easy to follow.
- Banners. Create banners to advertise product categories or promote a special event or sale, such as Mother’s Day.
It’s worth mentioning that although the Amazon Affiliate cookie only lasts for 24 hours after a website visitor clicks on the affiliate link, (lower than many other schemes), the real power comes from the fact that the cookie is not specific to any one product.
This means that if a visitor clicks on your affiliate link, and then goes on to buy 10 other products at some point in the next 24 hours, you’ll get a commission on every one of those 10 products – even if they didn’t buy the one you were promoting!
However, despite how good Amazon is, if you’re more experienced, and rely solely on Amazon, you’re missing out. High-earning affiliate marketers ($10k+/month) use an average of 3.03 affiliate networks (other popular affiliate networks used include Clickbank, ShareaSale, and CJ Affiliate).
Looking for the highest commissions?
You’ll get them with SaaS (Software as a Service) products – offering affiliate commissions ranging from 20% to 70%, which is huge compared to the 5% – 25% average. Check these resources to find the best SaaS affiliate programs to promote.
Challenges and Concerns
If you’re an affiliate marketer, you’ve surely experienced some challenges along the way.
But you’re not alone!
Every affiliate marketer struggles at some point. The biggest challenge for 45.3% of affiliate marketers is getting traffic.
Source: Authority Hackers
Plus, 63% of marketers express concern about affiliate marketing fraud.
That’s why we always recommend using only reputable affiliate marketing networks such as Amazon, CJ Affiliates, or Awin.
Consumer Behavior
Most people do research before making a purchase, with 74% of U.S. internet consumers visiting numerous affiliate websites before making their final purchase.
While blog posts are huge in generating traffic, we also recommend considering the benefits of having a blog post form the basis of a long-form video. These long-form videos can also form the basis for short-form videos across social media.
If you can feature an influencer in these videos, it’s even better. This is because 64% of consumers prefer videos when interacting with influencer content.
Source: Truelist
If you’re into time-sensitive offers and ticking timers, we got bad news for you. 75.5% of affiliate marketers find that time-sensitive promotions have little to no impact.
What we recommend instead is showing customer stories and reviews.
9 in 10 consumers make buying decisions based on reviews. Always add testimonials and proof to your offers – it will do wonders for your revenue.
Conclusion – Affiliate Marketing Is On The Rise
Affiliate marketing is extremely profitable with great predictions for the future – we highly recommend you give it a try if you haven’t already.
To learn more about affiliate marketing, check these resources.
- From Hobby to Hustle: How to Turn a Blog Into a Thriving Business
- How To Write A Good Product Review That Sells
- How To Create Affiliate Links From Amazon — Ultimate Guide
Looking for a way to generate more revenue and maximize profits?
That’s precisely what AAWP can help you with!
AAWP is our WP plugin designed specifically to help Amazon affiliates make the most of their affiliate journey – and maximize commissions. We offer a ton of handy tools and features that will help you customize your affiliate ads for the best results.
These features will allow you to not only get the attention of potential customers, but also separate you from other affiliate marketers.
Whether you’re looking to get started with a new affiliate marketing business next year, or scale up your existing business, one thing is certain – the AAWP plugin will help you achieve more success.
Despite affiliate marketing growing at a dramatic rate, with vast turnovers predicted for the coming years, standing out is becoming an ever greater challenge – and a vital necessity for success.
With its unique features, huge amount of control, dynamic content, and visually appealing and eye-catching ads, AAWP will give you the edge of your competitors, and turn more visits into click-throughs.
Get started with AAWP today and make sure your statistics make for great reading this time next year!
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AAWP is the #1 WordPress plugin for Amazon affiliates who are serious about earning more. Get started today!