Over the years affiliate marketing has seen a variety of changes. In this post we will tell you what have been the major changes that affiliate marketing has undergone in recent years, that make it a relevant and key channel for any business today.
Quality over Quantity
Over the years affiliate marketing has seen a variety of changes. In the early 2000s, when affiliate marketing was relatively smaller and newer, most programs focused on the size. At that time, the goal was to add affiliates at a fast rate, as the size of the program was the most important subject during corporate meetings. Now, with changes in Google’s policies and consumer trends, quality takes greater priority over quantity.
Careful Consideration
Whether it is a large enterprise or an individual blogger, partners in affiliate programs are currently selected after careful consideration. Affiliate marketers now plug in products and work with companies that they believe to be valuable. Their relationship with their audience is built on trust, as trust ensures a long term relationship and greater organic traffic. On the other hand companies now realize that the more niche the target, the better the marketing campaign will do. The best way to reach niche audiences is through affiliate marketers whose area of expertise lies in that specific niche already.
Content creators and influencers
This brings us to the rise of the importance of content creators and influencers. In the early days not many bloggers worked with affiliate programs, but that has changed since. Now not only do they partner with companies, but bloggers and influencers are also very transparent about it. Not every content will have a note that clearly says they are affiliated with a certain company or product but many will. It is all about trust between the content creator/publisher and their audience. From food blogs to beauty gurus, there is a huge range of content creators and influencers to work with. In fact in the last years the affiliate marketer’s content pool has grown more than 175%.
New revenue streams
The exponential growth of social media has also opened new paths in digital marketing. Today 15% of the whole digital advertising revenue is being put in affiliate marketing around the US. 80% of brands now use affiliate marketing as one of their major sales modes and on average affiliate programs contribute 30% of revenue for the companies. A lot of people question if affiliate marketing is dying or if the niches have become too saturated for any new coming affiliate marketers to profit from it. While these are valid questions, trends suggest affiliate marketing is here to stay and will continue to grow in the coming years.
Is the affiliate ecosystem changing quickly and does it require you to adapt very fast? Absolutely, but that is the reality of anything involving digital media. As for saturation being a problem, consider this: when more people join social media, they bring with them their own hobbies and interests which can include anything under the sun (or even beyond the sun). This means that they will look for content creators who share those hobbies or interests. With this rate of growth we do not need to worry about saturation any time soon.
Improved Tracking Capabilities and mayor specialization
Affiliate networks used to properly track performance and manage payouts are increasing in number, providing brands with a greater variety. The systems are becoming much more efficient and reducing the guessing game for all of us by providing tracking of new customers, coupons, and specific attribution.
All of this may sound overwhelming to someone who does not know much about affiliate marketing already but in today’s incredibly specialized world, companies can rarely function without efficient division of work. They simply don’t have time to waste because their competitors will be optimally utilizing theirs. And this is where affiliate marketing agencies come in. With existing intimate knowledge of the process, changes in SEO, trends, and connections with affiliate marketers they know which brand to pair with which publisher for the greatest revenue generation.
Changes after 2020
2020 has been unexpected for most of the world, to say the least. But it also presents us with an interesting model to analyze with regards to digital marketing. The large shift from working in offices to working from home has brought with it many changes. For one, more people want to try affiliate marketing as it can be done remotely. But the existing affiliate marketers have mostly faced a loss in commissions. Consumers themselves are trying to save money, losing jobs, or have had cuts in their paycheck. Simultaneously bigger platforms are imposing stricter ad policies and investing in better content regulations.
One of the biggest changes in 2020 has been the increase in use of softwares like Zoom and Google Meet to keep education and many jobs from halting completely. Tools for online learning as well as blogs about hacks and tutorials, have become more in demand and will most likely stay in demand even when things go back to how they were prior to the pandemic.
While the most popular affiliate marketing category has been fashion (18.7% of total share) followed by sports (14.6%), beauty (11.1%) and travel (8.6%), health care facilities have been the best affiliate niche in 2020 and continue to be in 2021 as well. Apart from the obvious direct Covid-19 related reasons, there are also the side effects of isolating and staying indoors. A lot of people are turning to online counselors, psychological advisors and medical advisors. And even more, are turning to bloggers and artists who talk about these topics.
We also have to consider that everyone is spending more time on social media or streaming networks to pass the time spent indoors. There has also been an increase in DIY tutorials and projects as people now have more time to spend learning skills or just something fun to do indoors. While there will be some people who want to try new things, support small businesses that are cropping up on social media and buy sustainable products, they will still be looking for stability and reliability in these uncertain times. Most people will stick to brands that have developed a loyal relationship with their consumers. While we all may love stability the main takeaway from last year is the crucial need to be able to adapt and to do it quickly.
Conclusion:
Affiliate marketing has evolved over the years in order to keep pace with changing consumers and businesses’ needs encountering new types of partners, like influencers and niche publishers. Today, having an affiliate channel has become a key factor for businesses to drive sales, more so through the pandemic and the changes that Covid 19 has brought in consumer behavior. Affiliate Marketing now takes about 15% of all digital spend in the US and is expected to continue to grow exponentially in the future with digital revenue gaining up space in regular business as the years go by. Succeeding in creating an affiliate channel is something that is really important for any business that wants to drive revenue online and keep being relevant in the future.
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