Affiliate marketing was thought to be dead soon, and even this year. We had to see for ourselves and check whether it is actually dying or whether it’s still working. To do this, we took into consideration statistics and evidence from different affiliates and programs. In this article, we will investigate whether affiliate marketing still works and how to make it work regardless.
Reasons Why Affiliate Marketing Might Seem Dead to Some
The Economical and technical growth that the planet has experienced over the last 2 decades has for sure changed the ways things used to work. Affiliate marketing is no different. Back in the 90s affiliate marketing was mainly focused on the size of the campaigns. Companies and Corporations needed nothing but fast and easy popularity, but now in 2022 many things have changed that makes it hard for people who used to work in Affiliate marketing related jobs in the 90s to even recognize it.
Yes, Affiliate marketing is dead, but only as it used to function. Affiliate marketing is at its most powerful and profitable state right now. So why do some people think that affiliate marketing is dead? Let’s see some of the possible explanations.
- The Ever-Growing Competition
Affiliate marketing in the years before was very small compared to what it is now. Affiliate marketers had no competition from the outside world and it was only between them, now there are many more competitors and companies who have entered this business: Websites, Blogs, Tiktok, Instagram, YouTube, etc.
The existence of social media made it very easy for anybody with a dedication to enter this profession and grow in it. And let's not forget that it's been a long time since working from home has been implemented in almost everybody's lives and this has boosted the competition in affiliate marketing since there are more customers.
It has become much easier for people to become an affiliate nowadays, and with these new opportunities, almost everybody wants a piece of the pie. Big companies in order to receive the most profitable outcome from their programs have to be very precise and picky with who they choose for their affiliate programs. Most of the time these companies ask affiliates to apply to their programs only if they meet the criteria that they publish in regards to their affiliate programs.
The size of the audience is not the only thing that matters now, companies require you to show proof of functioning ways that you can make them profit, such as a successful page or blog, email list and so on.
- Quality and Quantity Dilemma
For a very long time the main goal of affiliate marketers and companies who used it was attracting as much attention and reaching as many people as they can. It's obvious that we are living the most commercial lives that humans ever lived. We search for ways to avoid advertisements and there are many tools dedicated to taking ads away. Many people are more than happy to pay a company to save themselves from ads and commercials. In a market like this you should be very careful about your content and the way you gain an audience, standing out of the crowd and giving people your offer is the hardest of tasks now and if you spend money mindlessly on ads and affiliates you won't gain anything but contempt from people.
- Amazon Affiliate Program Changes
Amazon Associates is the largest affiliate program by 46.14% Market share.
In April 2020 Amazon changed some of their Affiliate rates across many product categories. Amazon owns nearly half of the affiliate marketing's market share, so the slightest change in their rate has massive backlashes. This is the main reason people asked "if affiliate marketing is dead?" Or " is affiliate marketing still worth it?". But never forget that there is always opportunity and always chances that you can take to get across these hardships. The fact is that affiliate marketing and affiliate marketers are at their most successful stages and even with all of these changes going on many talented people are making it into this industry.
Is Affiliate Marketing Really Dead
Affiliate marketing is at its all time high, as mentioned before the industry is expected to reach $15.7 billion by 2024 and right now it is valued at $13 billion. But if there is any doubt about affiliate marketing's situation, then we need to talk about the factors that show us if affiliate marketing is really dead or not?
- Affiliate Spending is Still Growing
The amount of money that the companies have spent on affiliate marketing has been growing throughout the past years all around the world. In the USA alone, affiliate market spending was at $5.4 billion in 2017 and it's expected to reach $8.2 billion by the end of 2022. 91% of merchants are planning to increase their affiliate market budgets or keep it as it is, being the highest amount of money that companies spend on affiliate marketing.
- Affiliate Revenue is Increasing
Many active affiliate marketers are experiencing a boost in their income,as a matter of fact over 77% of affiliate marketers have experienced a raise in revenue every year since 2016 and plus 86% of affiliates expect the revenue that they earn to increase or stay consistent in the future.
why wouldn't they, the Affiliate market spending is at its highest ever, and affiliate marketing holds its highest value of all time. It is no wonder affiliate marketers are making more money.
- People are Still Interested
It is obvious that the interest in affiliate marketing has increased amongst people, search interest in keywords related to affiliate marketing have had a considerable amount of growth over the recent years, and some even reached their all-time high. Nowadays affiliate marketing is actually useful and it can be helpful for everyone involved in it, from the company to the affiliate and the customer, everyone is profiting from it. So people love it, it helps them. How can affiliate marketing be dead, it is crystal clear that affiliate marketing is very much alive and going.
- Many Businesses Continue to Benefit from Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing has opened the gates of opportunities to many businesses and organizations.
There was once a time that companies failed solely because of not finding their own target audience, affiliate marketing through many ways helped these companies. Even for big corporations affiliate marketing is essential and it is now an undeniable factor in a business's success.
Many companies have either entered this market as affiliates or to create affiliate programs. Affiliate marketing is without a doubt the most important way of advertising and it will stay that way. Good affiliate marketing is based on truth and facts, when there's simplicity and clarity, you will find your own people and that's how you create a never-ending relationship between you and the customer.
Suggestions for Succeeding as an Affiliate in 2022
Now you might ask, But how can I surpass these hardships and actually make it work?
Let us tell you about the foundation of a successful affiliate marketing career and share the step-by-step guide on how to do so.
- Make up Your Mind about Your Platform of Choice
There are various options to choose from when it comes to affiliate marketing, Websites, YouTube channels, Tiktok, Instagram, and many more.
Each of these has their own pros and cons. For example, a website can work well in the long term since your article stays relevant for a longer period of time, but it will receive lower engagement consequently. However interaction is much easier with the affiliate links on a website, it takes people just one click to reach the product, unlike Affiliate videos that require the viewer to search a bit more in the video description or the bio links for the product.
In the case of YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, you can gain outrageous views and amazing popularity but it comes at a cost and that is the fact that affiliate videos on social media expire very fast and are mostly ignored after becoming irrelevant. Many people fight this issue by creating videos and reviewing the products so the product can stay relevant for much longer. Bear in mind that these ways are all intertwined with each other and they can be used in the most optimal way to gain audiences.
- Don’t Jump Around Different Niches
The most important part of affiliate marketing is that you have a niche that you enjoy working on and you are passionate about. There is always a need for an affiliate marketer in every industry. It makes the job of everyone easier, and plus how can you even promote something you don't like yourself? And when you find your desired category you have to stick with it, let's say you are active in the field of automobiles, it wouldn't be acceptable if you try to promote kitchen utensils. You will fail simply at both, it gives the people the feeling that you're a sold-out person, without any actual dedication to what you promote.
Loyalty to your chosen path in affiliate marketing is very important. That's why you see coffee-related affiliates doing stuff that are relevant to coffee, if it is relevant you can go for it.
But you will never see a kitchen utensils affiliate marketer never intervene with anything other than their own niche. The same goes for everyone. Always remember that you can never be an expert in 2 things, you are an expert in 1 and just good in the other, let's not mix things up.
- Find the Best Products to Promote
When you found your own niche it's time to go on and search for the best products in your category and promote them according to personal experiences and logical reasons rather than just personal opinions.
Try to keep your opinions out of the promotion and stick with the main picture of the product. Your job is to gain the trust of the customer and make the decision-making process easier for him. Take a look at Tech affiliates, many of these tech affiliates get the most trendy product even if not sponsored by the provider company and try their best to post a very educational guide on it after several days, weeks, or even months of usage. These reviews are not to be rushed and they have to be taken seriously, like every other promotion. Trust is very hard to gain and very easy to lose. So be careful about the products you choose to promote.
- Track and Assess your Performance
Tracking and analyzing the data that you receive is a vital step, this is the only way that can enlighten you about what you have been doing. Your social media stats, your affiliate network's dashboard, and many other tools provide you with accurate data that you can utilize to grow.
There are many applications and tools that allow you to analyze the data such as Total impressions, Conversions, conversion rates, sales, and the earnings per click for every promoted product. Doing so will allow you to get a grasp of your business and see what's working and what's not, so you can improve the things that are working and remove the things that don't.
- Choose your Affiliate Offers Carefully
There are many programs out there, but you need to pay attention to see which programs offer the highest CPMs and CPCs. You also need to check which affiliate programs are good for your niche, and which offers will not damage your reputation. Applying for affiliate programs and partnerships of famous brands is a good way to guarantee your success.
What Experts Are Saying
Now that we know how the situation of affiliate marketing is in 2022 lets see some expert opinions and some predictions for 2023.
Ross Tavendale, Managing Director at Type A Media, has predicted that affiliates are going to take more businesses in their own hands, and affiliate marketing as we know it is going to become more of a B2B thing.
Alexander Blomquist, founder of Affiliate Marketing Pro, also believes that affiliate marketing is yet to grow in 2022 and the years after that.
According to these experts, affiliate marketing is far from dead, but it’s changing shape.
Conclusion
2022 is a big year for affiliates, since there have been many changes to the affiliate programs like Amazon Affiliate Program, and there has also been an increase in the interest in affiliate marketing. If you get an average from the changes, you can see that the growth is more. That is why, the only way to succeed is to stick to a niche, choose affiliate offers carefully, and select your main platform for affiliate promotion.
