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When affiliate marketing is no more and you have to go to the factory?

Vimmy

Advertising Network
Affiliate Manager
Vimmy
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Getting into affiliate marketing by waving a $500 bill like you did 10 years ago will no longer work. Competition has increased, many rules and restrictions have appeared. Perhaps it's time to close your office and go to work in a factory?

Conversations that affiliate marketing is dead have been going on for years. In the article "Is affiliate marketing still alive?" In 2021 we discussed this topic in more detail.

“Time passes”, “the market changes”, you say, and we completely agree. So let's take a look at the statistics from the past few years to understand how the affiliate marketing industry is faring around the world.

Who are we talking about

Please note that the statistics below include those who run campaigns by taking offers on products, those who promote products through their blog, social media or website, and those who work with affiliate programs such as Amazon . In other words, the entire diverse field of digital and affiliate marketing is reflected.

Affiliate Marketing

As of 2023, there are over 10,000 affiliate marketing companies and services around the world.

According to Google Trends, searches for "affiliate marketing" have grown by 300% over the past 7 years.

According to Similarweb website, using its 2022 keyword research tool, the breakdown for the top monthly search terms is as follows:

  • The phrase "affiliate marketing" was searched 501.4 thousand times.
  • The query “what is affiliate marketing” was searched 62.2 thousand times.
  • "Amazon Affiliate Marketing" was searched 15.5 thousand times.
  • "Affiliate programs" was requested 9.6 thousand times.
The affiliate marketing industry is currently valued at $17 billion and is expected to reach $40 billion by 2030.

There are 2,200 affiliate marketing groups on LinkedIn.

336,000 people list "affiliate marketing" as their job title on LinkedIn.

Affiliate marketing generates between 5% and 25% of online sales for some of the largest brands in the world.

95% of affiliate marketers fail and quit.

54% of affiliate marketers are men, while 43% are women.

Traffic

Previously, desktop traffic prevailed over mobile traffic, then they became equal. It's time to recognize that mobile traffic dominates the affiliate marketing market. Most purchases occur through phones, which are in our hands 24/7, without weekends or holidays.

According to the existing statistics conducted by Saas Scout: Every second website visitor browses blogs and websites through a smartphone when searching for a specific product or service.

Therefore, optimizing landing pages and the entire campaign for mobile traffic is more relevant than ever.

It is also important to pay attention to page loading speed as it becomes a key factor. A delay of just one second in website loading can result in a 7% drop in sales.

47% of website visitors expect it to load in less than 2 seconds. If your site takes more than 3 seconds to load, you'll likely lose 40% of your customers.

Another interesting fact: According to Think With Google, 53% of shoppers do research before purchasing to ensure they're making the best choice possible, while the remaining 47% simply make the purchase.

Social media

Social media plays an important role in the world of marketing. More than 65% of marketers and affiliate marketers use social networks to interact with potential consumers. Not surprising considering that over 3.03 billion people use Facebook and Instagram has over 2.3 billion active users.

A Forrester survey found that the majority of executive-level marketers (54%) consider affiliate marketing one of the three most important channels for attracting customers. One in five respondents even named it the most important digital marketing channel currently.

Untitled-47.png

In the graphs above, we see statistics from a 2019 survey that asked the question: “Which digital marketing channels are most important for your business?”

About money

According to the 2023 edition of Authority Hacker, 15% of publishers and affiliates earn between $80,000 and $1 million annually, while 57.55% of them earn less than $10,000 per year.

According to statistics agency AffSTAT, approximately 35% earn at least $20,000 per year.

The average salary for an affiliate (employee), according to Glassdoor, is $59,060 per year. This figure ranges from $58,000 to $158,000, including “additional payments” in the form of bonuses, commissions or percentages of campaign revenue.

A few years ago, STM Forum conducted a survey among members asking how much they earned per year. Below is a graph with the results of this survey:

L1EYEn16FfzLii2cu79PNbsB6LXHS6lpJjrdMhVvUqKBT-sWPYcAAcWQqR_FYTGzHKFGeymKZXd_ueN97zH6SCBurHClFSUiECIOWD6Vc_Vh-M9ErA1pHjx3prMAGa5pPHpEFHTjmtxJWh9rZudYPsQ

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an unconditional trend of our time, which is gaining popularity and covers many areas. Affiliate marketing is no exception.

AI is already being used in almost every industry and will continue to help automate tasks such as lead generation, customer service, personalizing marketing campaigns, and improving advertising effectiveness. Not to mention that AI is capable of creating texts, especially short ones, performing translations and creating unique images for your advertising campaigns.

According to PRNewswire and Cheq.ai, click fraud in affiliate marketing accounted for 17% in 2022, some of which was driven by AI, and is estimated to be worth approximately $3.4 billion.

For 2023, marketers, including affiliates, expect losses of about $1.5 billion. It is important to note that the amount for 2023 appears to be less significant than in 2022, but keep in mind that 2023 is not yet over and AI fraud continues to grow.

Conclusion

From the statistics presented, it is clear that 95% of those who start working in the field of digital marketing ultimately abandon this business.

The statement that affiliate marketing is dead should not be taken literally. Affiliate marketing has not disappeared, but rather has evolved and adapted to changes in the world and technology. Just as VHS cassettes and CD players have given way to new technologies, that doesn't mean that we don't watch movies or listen to music anymore.

Regarding the current affiliate marketing, opinions differ. Some may see it as more challenging due to increased competition and changes in regulations and technology, while others see new opportunities and ways to succeed.

We believe that affiliate marketing continues to exist and change, and there are still opportunities and potential for making money in this industry.

What do you think?
 
Regarding the current affiliate marketing, opinions differ. Some may see it as more challenging due to increased competition and changessame in regulations and technology, while others see new opportunities and ways to succeed.
I think it's always been that way. Things change and evolve and people have to be flexible enough to adjust strategies or procedures.

There are always people who will wildly succeed where others fail. But the same opportunities are there for everyone to have the same outcome.

By the way, I've been reading that this industry is dying for at least 10 years. :rofl
 
Best I have done lately is to identify and reject 4% to 20% outright fraudulent traffic but I really feel another 10% maybe slips through.

It's a cost of doing business to me --the KPI number I use it what my actual engaged traffic costs me not the click counter bullshit --tracking that way has led nowhere really. Counting bots? Gimme a break, Jack. Right now my situation is sort of unique as I have GA$ installed on the white-label itself (of the ``offer``).

The internet has expanded with greater business competition and particularly affiliates.

These newer internet users spend less and are worth less. Mobile traffic spends less in the product domain that I am in. I am not going to work my ass off to make pennies in these new markets selling to mobile phone users with little money. I have no interest in chasing the market to the bottom.

That said; I think there can be an omnichannel approach with all the mobile traffic in 1st tier countries --where the real money is --and also the competition. Exposing a high cost product to mobile traffic, geo-fenced to ``work type locations`` during working hours when people are goofing off or on a break during the working day. I can do that and try.

Interpretation:
1710768392777.png
 
Best I have done lately is to identify and reject 4% to 20% outright fraudulent traffic

It's higher IMO.

I've been testing some of the click fraud prevention platforms out there for the last year and I keep seeing between 27% and 39% from both FB and Google banner ads. Mostly on the CPA stuff. Competitors try using bot farms to run out my budgets. The bot farms don't seem to go after my content site ads, or rarely.

Bot farms are so easy to make now, the less sophisticated ones are quick and easy and there are tons of YT vids for making them. The more sophisticated farms can get made on FIVERR really cheap and they are much harder to detect.
 
1. How accurate are these tools really --no one gets under the hood and looks
2. Assuming these tools* are accurate do the ad sources honor the refund requests for you? Are these tools cost effective.
I just lower my bids by the percentage of junk traffic. If i get no traffic then I just move on. That traffic network is working on slippage.

If you recall I did a demo here using my own host server IP as a VPN and was able to click thru on Google and Bing PPC ads with no issues. That IP was at Linode IIRC :D I wasn't masking anything, using the current version of Chrome, X10 Linux.

What I do not know if if the PPC customer was charged -- by what you are saying they were. Classic increased profit by slippage by the ad source.
 
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I think it's always been that way. Things change and evolve and people have to be flexible enough to adjust strategies or procedures.

There are always people who will wildly succeed where others fail. But the same opportunities are there for everyone to have the same outcome.

By the way, I've been reading that this industry is dying for at least 10 years. :rofl
Completely agree, that's exactly how it is. Discussions have been and will always be there. Those who want to continue working, continue ;)
 
View attachment 35250

Getting into affiliate marketing by waving a $500 bill like you did 10 years ago will no longer work. Competition has increased, many rules and restrictions have appeared. Perhaps it's time to close your office and go to work in a factory?

Conversations that affiliate marketing is dead have been going on for years. In the article "Is affiliate marketing still alive?" In 2021 we discussed this topic in more detail.

“Time passes”, “the market changes”, you say, and we completely agree. So let's take a look at the statistics from the past few years to understand how the affiliate marketing industry is faring around the world.

Who are we talking about

Please note that the statistics below include those who run campaigns by taking offers on products, those who promote products through their blog, social media or website, and those who work with affiliate programs such as Amazon . In other words, the entire diverse field of digital and affiliate marketing is reflected.

Affiliate Marketing

As of 2023, there are over 10,000 affiliate marketing companies and services around the world.

According to Google Trends, searches for "affiliate marketing" have grown by 300% over the past 7 years.

According to Similarweb website, using its 2022 keyword research tool, the breakdown for the top monthly search terms is as follows:

  • The phrase "affiliate marketing" was searched 501.4 thousand times.
  • The query “what is affiliate marketing” was searched 62.2 thousand times.
  • "Amazon Affiliate Marketing" was searched 15.5 thousand times.
  • "Affiliate programs" was requested 9.6 thousand times.
The affiliate marketing industry is currently valued at $17 billion and is expected to reach $40 billion by 2030.

There are 2,200 affiliate marketing groups on LinkedIn.

336,000 people list "affiliate marketing" as their job title on LinkedIn.

Affiliate marketing generates between 5% and 25% of online sales for some of the largest brands in the world.

95% of affiliate marketers fail and quit.

54% of affiliate marketers are men, while 43% are women.

Traffic

Previously, desktop traffic prevailed over mobile traffic, then they became equal. It's time to recognize that mobile traffic dominates the affiliate marketing market. Most purchases occur through phones, which are in our hands 24/7, without weekends or holidays.

According to the existing statistics conducted by Saas Scout: Every second website visitor browses blogs and websites through a smartphone when searching for a specific product or service.

Therefore, optimizing landing pages and the entire campaign for mobile traffic is more relevant than ever.

It is also important to pay attention to page loading speed as it becomes a key factor. A delay of just one second in website loading can result in a 7% drop in sales.

47% of website visitors expect it to load in less than 2 seconds. If your site takes more than 3 seconds to load, you'll likely lose 40% of your customers.

Another interesting fact: According to Think With Google, 53% of shoppers do research before purchasing to ensure they're making the best choice possible, while the remaining 47% simply make the purchase.

Social media

Social media plays an important role in the world of marketing. More than 65% of marketers and affiliate marketers use social networks to interact with potential consumers. Not surprising considering that over 3.03 billion people use Facebook and Instagram has over 2.3 billion active users.

A Forrester survey found that the majority of executive-level marketers (54%) consider affiliate marketing one of the three most important channels for attracting customers. One in five respondents even named it the most important digital marketing channel currently.

View attachment 35251

In the graphs above, we see statistics from a 2019 survey that asked the question: “Which digital marketing channels are most important for your business?”

About money

According to the 2023 edition of Authority Hacker, 15% of publishers and affiliates earn between $80,000 and $1 million annually, while 57.55% of them earn less than $10,000 per year.

According to statistics agency AffSTAT, approximately 35% earn at least $20,000 per year.

The average salary for an affiliate (employee), according to Glassdoor, is $59,060 per year. This figure ranges from $58,000 to $158,000, including “additional payments” in the form of bonuses, commissions or percentages of campaign revenue.

A few years ago, STM Forum conducted a survey among members asking how much they earned per year. Below is a graph with the results of this survey:

L1EYEn16FfzLii2cu79PNbsB6LXHS6lpJjrdMhVvUqKBT-sWPYcAAcWQqR_FYTGzHKFGeymKZXd_ueN97zH6SCBurHClFSUiECIOWD6Vc_Vh-M9ErA1pHjx3prMAGa5pPHpEFHTjmtxJWh9rZudYPsQ

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an unconditional trend of our time, which is gaining popularity and covers many areas. Affiliate marketing is no exception.

AI is already being used in almost every industry and will continue to help automate tasks such as lead generation, customer service, personalizing marketing campaigns, and improving advertising effectiveness. Not to mention that AI is capable of creating texts, especially short ones, performing translations and creating unique images for your advertising campaigns.

According to PRNewswire and Cheq.ai, click fraud in affiliate marketing accounted for 17% in 2022, some of which was driven by AI, and is estimated to be worth approximately $3.4 billion.

For 2023, marketers, including affiliates, expect losses of about $1.5 billion. It is important to note that the amount for 2023 appears to be less significant than in 2022, but keep in mind that 2023 is not yet over and AI fraud continues to grow.

Conclusion

From the statistics presented, it is clear that 95% of those who start working in the field of digital marketing ultimately abandon this business.

The statement that affiliate marketing is dead should not be taken literally. Affiliate marketing has not disappeared, but rather has evolved and adapted to changes in the world and technology. Just as VHS cassettes and CD players have given way to new technologies, that doesn't mean that we don't watch movies or listen to music anymore.

Regarding the current affiliate marketing, opinions differ. Some may see it as more challenging due to increased competition and changes in regulations and technology, while others see new opportunities and ways to succeed.

We believe that affiliate marketing continues to exist and change, and there are still opportunities and potential for making money in this industry.


What do you think?
Is this a topic for discussion? Affiliate marketing being dead is delusional, in fact, it is always gonna get better and better IMO. More companies, more products, as long as there is increase in population generically. I don't even care about stats regarding this.
 
Well i think aff marketing became more dificult because the competition its big as so many people join these days in hope for a better life but the tought of affiliate marketing beying dead its far from the truth as its a multi bilion dolar industry and lets not forget that the world get more and more digital
I think that those who want to succed in this field should adapt to changes ,bring more value and efort ad its not as easy as in the past where you could make some spam and get easy sales
 
the tought of affiliate marketing beying dead its far from the truth
Agreed. A bit of 'the sky is falling' attitude every time something changes or people are not making what they thought they would or should.

We Are Doomed Reaction GIF

Email spam is very old school today.
I still get the odd email from that Nigerian prince or the lawyer informing me of my inheritance in that part of the world.
 
If affiliate marketing were dead, which is not going to happen, people that were engaged in it would find other ways to earn money online, they are not going to work at any factory. The only people that would get a job are the clueless ones that don't know what they are doing.
 
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