30 Powerful Affiliate Marketing Statistics
Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing where businesses reward affiliates for each customer brought to them by the affiliate's own marketing efforts. Typically, affiliates earn commissions on sales that are generated through their customer referrals.
Although sometimes used interchangeably with referral marketing, there are key differences between the two channels. If you aren’t sure what type of program is best for your brand, check out our guide on affiliate vs referral marketing.
How Affiliate Marketing Works
There are three basic steps in the process of affiliate marketing:
- A customer clicks on an affiliate's link and is taken to the merchant site.
- The customer either makes a purchase or signs up for a newsletter or other type of subscription.
- The affiliate receives a commission when the transaction occurs, which is usually paid by the merchant at the regular rate (percentage of sale price) or a set fee.
Why is affiliate marketing growing in popularity?
Affiliate marketing is growing in popularity because it is a very effective way for businesses to reach new customers.
It also enables businesses to track the effectiveness of their marketing efforts by seeing which affiliates are generating the most sales. Additionally, it is a cost-effective way for businesses to advertise, as they only pay commissions to the affiliates who generate sales.
Affiliate Marketing Statistics
- With 18.15%, product or service relevancy is the leading factor for marketers to choose a program. (Social Media Today)
- Content and blogs generate almost 40% of affiliate publisher commissions in the U.S. (Awin Report)
- Search interest in “affiliate marketing” is up over 200% since 2015. (Google Trends)
- 81% of brands have affiliate programs. (Mediakix)
- Organic search has a 53% traffic share on average across industries. (BrightEdge)
- 85% of online shoppers check Google for information before making a purchase. (Kenshoo)
- 40% of online marketers consider affiliate marketing a crucial skill. (BloggingX)
- Affiliate programs are the top customer acquisition channel for 40% of US merchants. (Backlinko)
- Just under 68% of affiliate marketers connect with customers on social media. (Master Blogging)
- Nearly a quarter of all affiliate programs are in the fashion industry. (AM Navigator)
- 50% of affiliate-referred traffic comes from mobile devices. (Call Hippo)
- 81.4% of affiliates promote B2C products or services. (AffStat)
- A staggering 94% of publishers use multiple affiliate marketing networks. (Affise)
- 74% of US online shoppers check multiple affiliate websites prior to deciding on a purchase. (Cyber Cash Worldwide)
- 79% of marketers use affiliate marketing to engage existing customers. (Get Cake)
- Nearly 65% of affiliate marketers generate traffic by blogging. (Awin, BloggingX)
- 71% of affiliate publishers in the U.S. work with 3 or more networks. (Forrester)
Affiliate Marketing Industry Statistics
- ShareASale holds the largest share (55.7%) of the global affiliate marketing market. (Appsero)
- The affiliate industry is responsible for a total of 16% of online orders. (Uniquodo)
- 81% of advertisers and 84% of publishers in the U.S. have turned to affiliate marketing (Forrester)
- In 2019, affiliate marketing reached $6.4 billion in turnover. (eMarketer)
- Affiliate marketing is responsible for 16% of global ecommerce sales. (Fetch Profits)
- America is the biggest player in the global affiliate marketing industry with a 39% share. (Software Findr)
- Affiliate marketing is estimated to be worth $12 billion globally. (BloggingX)
- The largest coupon affiliate websites generate over $1 billion in revenue. (Statista)
Affiliate Revenue & Earnings Statistics
- 86% of publishers expect their affiliate marketing revenue to stay consistent or increase in the future. (Fetch Profits)
- 65% of merchants report an annual affiliate marketing revenue of up to 20%. (BloggingX)
- 9% of affiliate marketers today make more than $50,000 a year. (Investopedia)
- 73% of merchants believe affiliate marketing programs meet their revenue expectations. (Fetch Profits)
- 35% of affiliates make at least $20K in annual revenue from their affiliate marketing efforts. (AffStat)
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