Affiliate marketing connects businesses with partners that can drive traffic, generate more leads, and ultimately increase revenue for the brand.
It is a win-win for both sides. Affiliates get a commission for every sale they make and brands pay only when they see results. There are a lot of affiliate programs out there that drive results for brands as shown in the affiliate marketing statistics we will share today.
Even though affiliate marketing has been around since the early days of the internet, it’s only seen a sudden splurge in interest recently.
With more businesses relying on online channels to create sales and generate revenue, affiliate marketing statistics and trends show that it is here to stay.
In this article, we will look at the latest affiliate marketing facts, trends, and statistics.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a form of performance marketing where affiliates earn commissions based on website visits, signup,s or sales they generate for a merchant.
The modern affiliate marketing industry was born in 1989 when Amazon first launched its Associates platform. According to Demandsage, affiliate marketing spending will be $15.7 billion in 2024. Also, about 83% of marketers are using affiliate marketing to grow their brand’s awareness.
any brands are integrating this lucrative tactic into their marketing strategy. This is because it offers a wide range of benefits for both marketers and advertisers alike.
Many traditional publishers are now even pivoting to affiliate marketing to earn revenue from their content.
Here are some affiliate marketing facts you need to know:
Affiliate Marketing Statistics (Top Picks)
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- Affiliate marketing can drive up to 30% of your sales.
- Amazon Associates is the largest affiliate network in the US for physical products. That’s because Amazon holds 50% of the eCommerce marketing in the US.
- The average marketer spends 8% of their budget on paid advertising and 15% on content marketing.
- About 16% of all online orders in the United States come from affiliate marketing, while 15% to 30% of all sales made by advertisers come from affiliate programs.
- According to Google Trends, the interest in affiliates has increased by 300% and reached its peak popularity in July 2020.
- An affiliate marketer can earn as much as $1,000 from a single sale.
- According to Mediakix, Over 81% of businesses have affiliate programs
- According to the influencer marketing hub, by 2022, the affiliate marketing industry will reach an estimated worth of $12 billion.
- The global affiliate marketing spend is estimated to reach 15.7 billion in 2024.
- Affiliate marketing has a market value of over $27.8 billion.
- According to Google Trends Since 2015, the searches for the keyword “affiliate marketing” have increased by over 300%
The Size of the Affiliate Marketing Industry
The first step to building a successful digital marketing strategy is to know who your customers are. Once you have a good idea of their age, interests, and habits, it will be easier for you to understand which online channels they frequent and how to best reach them.
In fact, if you already have an eCommerce website, you can access existing customer data in order to make this process even easier.
Country
Affiliate Marketing Industry Value (USD)
United States
6.8 Billion
Japan
3.3 billion
Germany
1.3 billion
France
522 million
Canada
118 million
India
96 million
Brazil
33 million
Autralia
9.3 million
United Kingdom
6.3 million
1. About 73% of merchants agree they met revenue expectations by using affiliate marketing. (Satyanarayana, 2019)
Research has shown that many brands are happy with the results they are getting from their affiliate programs. About 73% of marketers are happy with the revenue generated from their affiliate marketing efforts.
2. About 20% of publishers’ annual income comes from affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing is great for content creators. On top of selling ad space, affiliate marketing programs make it easy to generate revenue. According to 99firms content affiliate marketing accounts for 20% of affiliate marketer’s annual income.
3. On average an affiliate marketer can earn about $51, 000 per year from affiliate marketing.
The average affiliate marketer can make $51, 000 a year from affiliate marketing alone. Understand that you have to put in the work to archive these numbers. When you put in the effort in affiliate marketing you can get the rewards for your hard work.
4. 90% of advertisers agree that affiliate marketing plays a crucial role in digital marketing strategy. (Hallur, 2021)
Given how the world is quickly shifting from traditional means of advertising, it’s no surprise that 90% of advertisers agree with this. Affiliate marketing does play a crucial role in today’s digital marketing strategies. It is one of the best ways to scale your business.
5. According to ZDNet, 76% of publishers say the best benefit of affiliate marketing is it is easy to monetize.
A study by zdnet.com has revealed that 76% of publishers say affiliate marketing’s best benefit is that it’s easy to monetize. This is largely because there are affiliate networks that make approval for affiliate programs fast.
US Affiliate Marketing Statistics
Affiliate marketing is a giant industry. It is ever-growing with many brands adopting this strategy every year.
According to a recent report, there are over 11,400 affiliate programs across the United States. And, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Amazon Associates is still the leading affiliate program with around 1M active affiliates. The second-leading program is eBay Partner Network with over 500K active affiliates.
According to Statista, the affiliate industry has been growing at an average rate of 10% between 2014 and 2018.
6. Affiliate marketing spending will reach $8.2 billion by 2022.
The United States is one of the most lucrative markets for affiliate marketing. The US affiliate marketing industry is expected to hit $8.2 billion by 2022, which represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10% over five years.
7. Affiliate marketing grew from $4.8 billion in 2016 to 6.8 billion in 2020
U.S. affiliate marketing spending grew from $4.8 billion in 2016 to $6.8 billion by 2020, according to Statista. This means there is a growing increase in demand for affiliate channels for companies to promote their products. And it lived up to the expectation of reaching that number that year.
8. In 2019, the U.S. accounted for approximately 42% of the global affiliate marketing spending (Source: Statista).
According to statistica, in 2019, the United States accounted for the most revenue generated with 42% of spending coming from them.
9. The insurance industry tops the affiliate marketing sector by a 34% market revenue share
Impact Radius found that the insurance industry was the top affiliate sector in 2018, with a 34% share of revenues. However, this was down from 40% in 2017. Meanwhile, retail brands have risen from 22% to 25%.
10. The US had an estimated value of $6.82 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach $8.2 billion by 2022.
Overall, the US is the largest global affiliate market. It had an estimated value of $6.82 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach $8.2 billion by 2022.
U.K. Affiliate Marketing Statistics
Since its introduction to the UK in 1996, affiliate marketing has continued to grow and evolve. Today, it’s an important part of any small business’ marketing plan. It can help improve brand awareness, and website traffic, and increase sales.
In the U.K. affiliate marketing has become increasingly popular over the past decade. This has led to increased competition among affiliate marketers and businesses. More businesses are looking for affiliates.
Today, there are millions of websites around the world built around niche topics (like Global Tech Stack) that focus solely on reviewing products and services. They are providing readers with transparent, accurate information about them.
That transparency has led many brands across industries to turn to affiliate marketers as part of their overall marketing strategy. They build long-term relationships with them to drive consistent traffic to their websites.
11. In 2020, the U.K. affiliate marketing industry reached a value of $510 million.
According to a study by ZDNet in 2019, the affiliate marketing industry generated $510 million. This was a resulting increase of 8.4% from the figure recorded in 2018. This also goes to show how much the affiliate marketing industry is growing.
12. 16 % of online marketing spend goes towards affiliate marketing in the United Kingdom
Affiliate marketing in the U.K. accounts for 16% of all online marketing spend. This makes it the most popular form of online advertising by a large margin. (11 percentage points more popular than PPC).
13. The number of brands using affiliate marketing in the U.K. has fallen from 92% to 81% in 2021,
This is partly due to COVID-19 causing many businesses to downsize or go out of business completely. Also due to how volatile the industry is becoming larger brands clamp down on their affiliate partners and focus on working with high-quality publishers that they can track and benchmark easily.
14. Affiliate Marketing Market Size & Revenue Statistics
There has been a 75% growth of affiliate marketing industry size since 2016 seeing 2023 having the industry worth a worping $27.8 billion. By 2027 it is estimated to reach $48.0 billion.
| Year | Global Market Size (USD Billion) |
|---|---|
| 2016 | $13 billion |
| 2017 | $14.1 billion |
| 2018 | $15.3 billion |
| 2019 | $16.6 billion |
| 2020 | $17.2 billion |
| 2021 | $20.3 billion |
| 2022 | $23.6 billion |
| 2023 | $27.8 billion |
| 2024* | $32.3 billion |
| 2025* | $37.3 billion |
| 2026* | $42.6 billion |
| 2027* | $48.0 billion |
In Summary: Affiliate Marketing stats
While there are not many statistics about affiliate marketing, in particular, there is a wealth of information about the e-commerce industry as a whole.
Since affiliate marketing is an important part of generating revenue for brands, knowing these stats can give you an idea of how useful this channel may be for your business.
Affiliate marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to promote your products and drive sales.
For businesses, you only pay commissions when there is a sale or lead generated. This means that you don’t need to spend money on advertising if no one buys what you are selling!
Check out these blog posts to learn more
- 21+ Best Affiliate Programs That Pay the Highest Commission
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