Affiliate marketing started in 1989 and has been steadily gaining momentum since then.
It continues to grow in popularity since the barrier to entry is very low and often requires no money to get started.
Today, it’s the most popular revenue-sharing model that has opened numerous channels through blogs, social media sites, forums, and big affiliate programs like Amazon Associates.
But while many individuals have found success in affiliate marketing over the years, things have changed considerably, and lots of marketers find themselves questioning if this marketing method is dead.
So, in this article, I will discuss whether affiliate marketing is dead or still works.
Is Affiliate Marketing Dead?
The short answer to this question is “NO”.
Affiliate marketing is not dead.
It still works.
A lot of people will talk about it, they’ll say that affiliate marketing is dead because they use that as a part of their strategy to get you into something else.
But out of all the business models I’ve tried, affiliate marketing is still my favorite way of making money on the internet.
Have A Look At Some Affiliate Marketing Statistics.
- 81% of brands depend on affiliate programs.
- Affiliate marketing is a $12 billion global industry as of now.
- In the U.S.A, annual affiliate marketing spending is expected to reach $8.2 billion in 2022.
- Affiliate programs contribute 30% of revenue for businesses.
- In 2017, Affiliate marketing generated over 5 billion clicks and more than 170 million transactions globally.
- 15% of the total digital media revenue is made through affiliate marketing.
- 65% of merchants that use affiliate marketing said that it produced 5-20% of their annual revenue.
- Affiliate marketing generates 16% of all eCommerce sales in the United States.
- Around 48.36% of affiliates earn more than $20,000 per year, 12% make $75,000 in affiliate income, and 3% are earning over $150k per year.
- Businesses have allocated 15% of all marketing budgets to affiliate marketing.
- Around 84% of bloggers and content publishers monetize their blogs and websites with affiliate links.
- 80% of businesses use affiliate marketing to generate leads and sales.
- 40% of marketers think that affiliate marketing is an important and crucial skill to have.
- 73% of companies reported that their affiliate revenue met their needs.
- The affiliate marketer’s content pool has increased by 175%.
- 67.32% of affiliate marketers connect with clients using social media platforms.
- 64.48% of affiliate marketers use blogs to generate traffic.
If you look at the above eye-opening stats about affiliate marketing, you will release that affiliate marketing is not dead.
Yes, affiliate marketing is still alive and well.
In fact, there are many successful affiliates who make more than $100K each month.
Have A Look At Some Successful Affiliate Marketers.
Here is the list of some successful affiliates who are making huge money online:
1. Patt Flynn.
He began putting his efforts into affiliate marketing after being laid off from his job in 2008.
He worked hard on his website for over a year and his first income through affiliate marketing was around$8,000.
In the space of five years, this man’s revenue went from $8000 in 2008 to more than $50,000 in 2013.
2. Jeremy Schoemaker.
Jeremy started his affiliate blog ShoeMoney.com in 2003 and turned things around.
At the young age of 28, he was already having trouble paying his debt.
His debt was around $50,000.
But after starting his own affiliate blog, he was able to earn more money in just one month than his entire life.
His estimated earnings in 5 Years is around $2,000,000 to $4,000,000.
3. John Chow.
He started from nothing and now he earns over $50,000 every month.
His affiliate website JohnChow.com has more than 200,000 monthly visitors.
He claims that he’s earning this amount of money just by working 2 hours a day.
4. Darren Rowse.
He started affiliate marketing through his blog in the year 2002.
After a few years, he was already earning more than $60k per month.
He is now one of the most successful affiliate marketers around and is able to live off his online earnings only.
5. Neil Patel.
I think every affiliate marketer and blogger knows him.
His blog neilpatel.com is one of the largest online marketing blogs on the internet.
He started his blog in 2006 and now he is earning $150k+ per month through affiliate marketing alone!
It’s not a surprise that there are many successful affiliates out there who have made their fortunes by using this fantastic business model to generate sales and leads.
Affiliate marketing is performance-based marketing in which affiliates are only paid commissions on sales they generate.
This saves a lot of money for merchants as they only pay when the sale is made, instead of paying fixed rates per impression like in banner ads.
It’s a win-win for both merchants and affiliates.
So, affiliate marketing is never going away and is never going to die, it’s going to be around forever.
Why People Are Saying That Affiliate Marketing Is Dead?
There are a lot of people who are calling affiliate marketing is dead.
They say it is because of the following reasons:
1. Growing Competition.
Affiliate marketing is getting more and more competitive because there is an increase in the number of affiliates.
But the increase in competition does not mean that affiliate marketing is dead.
If you work hard on your blog content and SEO strategies, etc., then you can become a successful affiliate marketer.
2. Strict Regulations.
Internet tech companies are tightening their ad policies.
Governments and public opinions have pressured internet tech giants to regulate content.
But these regulations are not “the death of affiliate marketing.”
It is just making it more challenging to use certain types of promotions and advertising.
Affiliate marketers need a better understanding of what is acceptable in the market nowadays.
3. Inclusivity.
More and more people are joining the affiliate marketing business, but big companies are becoming more careful when accepting new affiliates.
Companies are now looking for trustworthy affiliate marketers, which would make it tough for new affiliates to join their affiliate programs.
They now have some strict requirements for becoming an affiliate, such as having a successful website, social media presence, and so on.
The importance of quality lead generation is increasing.
Beginner affiliates will be less likely to be able to produce them.
4. SEO Changes.
With the constant changes to Google’s algorithm, it is hard for affiliate marketers to rank at the first spot of google.
With the increase in the use of ads and featured snippets, it’s now more difficult for any website to be easily visible at the top of Google search results.
On top of that, Google algorithms may change overnight.
But this does not mean that SEO changes are the death of affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketers just need to adjust their SEO strategies and learn how to use different marketing techniques instead.
5. The Rise Of Brands.
Brands have become more powerful than ever and are now controlling the marketing.
Because of this affiliate marketers are starting to lose their power over brands.
But it’s not so bad for affiliates who are good at branding themselves or growing a profitable blog as well.
You have to invest in your own brand because brands are the future.
Why Affiliate Marketing Will Never Die?
Below are 6 reasons why affiliate marketing will never be dead:
1. Affordable Business Model.
Affiliate marketing is easy to start.
It’s an affordable business model and it is more flexible than other types of online businesses, such as drop shipping or freelancing.
Newbies can find success in the industry without investing much money upfront.
You do not have to buy products upfront or put time into recruiting people like with MLM or direct sales businesses.
All you will be doing is promoting products of brands that are already established online!
The only thing you need for affiliate marketing is a domain name (e.g., yourblogname.com) and hosting for your website/blog.
You can start an affiliate blog like mine on Bluehost for only $2.95/month and you will also get a free domain name.
2. Automated Business Model.
Affiliate marketing is 100% digital and can be automated.
With affiliate marketing, it is easy to automate the process of generating leads, finding products, tracking sales and conversions.
You can automate the process of sending out emails via autoresponders or scheduling social media posts ahead of time.
This will allow you to focus on other parts of your life while still growing your affiliate marketing business!
3. Profitable Business Model.
Affiliate marketing is a profitable business model.
New affiliate marketers could easily earn $300+ per month with just one successful blog.
I am making an average of $500/month from my blog alone!
There is no other industry that is as profitable and easy to start as affiliate marketing.
And it’s all because there is less risk involved in the process since you are not investing upfront like when starting other online businesses, such as e-commerce, freelancing, or MLM companies.
There are also low overhead costs for running your own affiliate website or blog, which is another advantage of this type of business.
As affiliate marketing is performance-based marketing, merchants only pay when the sale is made by affiliates, and affiliates are paid commissions based on sales they generate for the merchant.
This saves a lot of money for merchants as they don’t have to spend money on advertising.
So, it’s profitable for both merchants and affiliates.
4. Global Business Model.
Affiliate marketing is a global business model.
You can promote products from anywhere in the world, not just from your country or region.
So you have access to markets and industries that are outside your local region.
This is great for people who want to market in other countries without having to physically be there.
You can be based anywhere in the world like India, Malaysia, Canada, Scotland, Ireland, etc and still you will be able to do affiliate marketing.
The only thing you need is a computer and an internet connection.
5. Simple Business Model.
Affiliate marketing is a simple business model.
It is much easier to start an affiliate blog or website than it is to build something like an e-commerce website, freelancing website, etc.
There is no need for expensive products or inventory upfront because you are just promoting other company’s products that are already available on the internet!
You do not have to recruit people in order for affiliates to be successful either.
All you need to do is generate sales and earn commissions.
6. Easy To Scale.
Affiliate marketing is easy to scale.
It is much easier to scale affiliate marketing than other types of online businesses.
You can hire employees and delegate tasks so that you don’t have to do it all yourself!
If your blog is successful, then you could expand with more blogs or find other niches in the industry you want to focus on.
For example, I started my blog by writing about health topics and marketed products related to the health niche.
Nowadays, I also write about business topics related to marketing, blogging, SEO, etc, and promote relevant products related to these topics.
Now I have multiple blogs on various niches and I promote relevant products according to those blog niches.
I am scaling my blogging business up by hiring writers and social media managers for different niches.
So, it’s very easy to scale an affiliate marketing business.
Conclusion.
Affiliate marketing is not dead and is a profitable business model if you know how to run it right.
It’s a low-risk business model as you only pay commissions when your affiliates sell a product.
And you don’t have to spend money upfront on inventory or recruit people.
So it’s a great way to make extra income without having to invest too much time, effort, and resources.
I hope you liked this article and found it useful.
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Thanks for reading!
