40+ Updated Affiliate Marketing Statistics Every Marketer Should Know in 2022

Here’s a detailed article on affiliate marketing statistics for 2022.

The affiliate marketing we knew years back has totally evolved evidently from the one we practice today.

…Including the strategies, techniques and even the cost of hosting one.

Coming to the trends, we all know affiliate marketing has experienced a spike over time.

Funny enough, experts still predict a 10% extra growth in the incoming years.

Yet, “Is Affiliate marketing worth it”: Lots of people end up asking this types of questions.

That aside, Research has it that most well-planned affiliate marketing programs can boost revenue by a massive 30%.

So why won’t it grow, when It both benefits the publishers as well as the Merchants?!

Arguably, affiliate Marketing is one of the most effective marketing strategies currently in vogue. 

The fact here is that affiliate marketing has come to stay and I don’t think it will be leaving anytime soon.

Affiliate Marketing Statistics In 2022 – Editors Choice

1. Over 16% of all revenue generated in the digital media industry is as a result of Affiliate Marketing.
2. The affiliate marketing industry is estimated to be worth $12 billion. 
3. A staggering 73% of merchants believe in the marketing potentials of affiliate marketing
4. Affiliate marketing accounts for 4 of every 25 online orders (16%) taking place in the USA and Canada.
5. As per usual, affiliate marketing spending is expected to increase by more than 10%, over the next few years.
6. Statistics reveal that Affiliate marketing strategies that are well-designed can increase revenue by up to 30%.
7. Roughly 94% of publishers rely on multiple affiliate programs rather than the traditional system of using 1 or few affiliate programs.
8. Affiliate marketing is considered a critical skill by over 40% of marketers worldwide.
9. After Google AdSense, Affiliate marketing appears to be the highest and most lucrative revenue generator.
10. As regarding commission rate, Advertisers generate mostly between 15% – 30% commusio rate for all sales made.

Affiliate Marketing Statistics of The Industry

Based on our research, here is the list of the top Affiliate Marketing Statistics in the industry for 2022.

11. Hypothetical Growth 

Source – Statista

Affiliate marketing hypothetical growth is no longer news to our ears.

The industry’s 10% spike in spending is just not enough; it is even expected to excel beyond that.

An industry whose spending was barely 1.7 billion in the past decade is now projected to clock 8.2 billion mark on its annual spending in 2022.

Taking things a few years back, Affiliate marketing spending hovered around $1.6 billion in 2010. 

If we go by percentage, you would notice the industry’s spending experienced a 512% increase. 

Insane right?

Not only that, affiliate marketing is a multi-billion industry that Worth’s over 12 billion dollars, as of 2018.

12. The Fashion Niche is the largest Sector in affiliate marketing industry

Source – AM Navigator

Followed by the Sports & Outdoors, Health and Beauty, and Travel niche, Fashion Niche is the largest affiliate marketing niche category.

According to an analysis taken up in 2015, AM Navigator –a group of affiliate marketing experts– analysed a list of over 550 affiliate programs across 6 affiliate networks with the aim to seek the top, hot affiliate program.

Geno Prussakov –CEO of AM Navigator– summed up the affiliate programs and grouped them into categories (in other words, niche)

After the analysis, he was able to come out with a set of figures which he converted into percentages.

The results;

1. 1. Fashion Niche – Fashion niche took the lion’s share amounting to over 23.27% (¼) of the analysis
   2. Sports and Outdoor – After the fashion niche, Sports and outdoor were discovered to be the toppers of the analysis. Sports and outdoor overtook a percentage of 18.6%

• Health and Beauty – After the analysis, it was discovered that the sum total of the market share of the fashion niche, sports-and-outdoor, health and beauty were already more than half of the total market share (around 55.68%), with Health and beauty holding for 13.81%.

• Travel – The analysis scored Travel niche on a market share of roughly 1/10 (10.74%).

• Home and Garden – Home and garden came out fifth on the list with an 8.7% market share.

• Other niches such as Computers & Electronics,  Education & training, and business were able to appear in the top 8 with 6.65%, 5.37%, and 5.12% respectively.

Although this research was done way back in 2015, it is still significant today. 

13. Roughly 94% of publishers rely on Multiple affiliate programs

Source – Rakuten

Relying on a single affiliate program is relatable to someone putting all his eggs into one basket – it’s of no use: any silly mistake,  you’re gone for good.

Every affiliate professional knows the importance of diversifying affiliate membership in multiple affiliate programs.

Talk about its ability to maximize sales, to double versatility, to lengthen flexibility?! and most importantly, to reduce the risk of higher loss, Diversification is the key!

Thank goodness, affiliate marketers are aware of this fact;

A recent study carried out by Rakuten shows that a staggering 94% of publishers rely on one or two affiliate programs.

If you’re wishing to start affiliate marketing or probably, you’re a noob, then you should take this seriously and avoid putting all your eggs in one basket.

14. ShareASale Appears to be the mostly used affiliate network with a Market Share of 55.78%

Source – Statista

Research carried out by Appsero reveals that ShareASale appears to be the mostly used affiliate network with a market share of 55%.

You can’t help but blame the fact that ShareASale took full advantage of its early entry to the market.

On the other hand, CJ Affiliate (formerly known as Commission Junction) and Rakuten Linkshare were discovered to be the second and third on the list with a market share of  43% and 40% respectively.

15. As per Uniquodo, The Affiliate marketing industry accounts for 16% of all online orders

Source – Uniquodo

Affiliate marketing has come to a point where it now competes with the big guys of Digital Marketing.

According to Uniquodo, research study shows that Affiliate marketing contributes 16% to all orders taken online.

In layman’s terms, this is equivalent to influencing 4 online orders in every 25 online orders recorded.

Sounds insignificant? 

Though it might appear insignificant to you, it’s still a lot, as it competes shoulder to shoulder with other marketing techniques.

For instance, PPC –one of the most effective marketing strategies– influences a whopping 20%, in addition, to all online orders whereas affiliate marketing drives 16%.

On the other hand, Email marketing –a prior king to digital marketing– is gradually fading to leave the tables of the Industry. We don’t even know if email marketing influence on online orders is somewhat close to affiliate marketing.

As said earlier, Affiliate marketing is progressing at a very high rate: we don’t even know what it holds for us in the coming years.

16. Between 2015 and 2020, Search Interest for ‘affiliate marketing’ increased by more than 200%.

Source – Supermetrics, Google trends

With tons of people in the field, engaged in the available thousands of affiliate programs, the industry is still welcoming more people.

According to a search in Google trends, the search term “affiliate marketing” has doubled within 2015 and 2020. 

This is probably as a result of the pandemic which gave rise to online shopping and a bit of downfall to traditional stores due to COVID 19.

17. The Search Interest For Affiliate Marketing experienced a 50% growth Between 2020 and 2021

Source – Esopress, Google trends

More and more people have been found wanting to know more, learn and even join the industry.

Not only did the search interest for “affiliate marketing” double within a 5 years interval (2015 – 2020), 2021 gave birth to a spike of interest in the industry. However, something terrible later happened.

According to Google Trends, the search interest for affiliate marketing experienced a 50% growth from March in 2020 through June 2021. 

If you can recall vividly, March 2020 marked the dubious reign of COVID-19 all over the world. You can attest to the facts that during that time, many were really desperate to make money online. And as a result, the interest for Affiliate Marketing rose drastically.

18. 2021 experienced a 50% fall in the Search Interest of Affiliate Marketing

Source – Esopress, Google trends

After all statistics and reports showing affiliate marketing search trends and it’s spike in the industry, something terrible happened later in 2021.

The search interest of Affiliate marketing experienced a drastic decrease in the search volume.

Within a period of 6 months –From June 2021 through December 2021– Google trends revealed that the search interest for the term (affiliate marketing) had dropped by a staggering 50%.

This appears to be a shocking and questionable stat – the same term that experienced a 50% increase between March in 2020 through June 2021 dropped drastically six months later.

Well, experts predict the reasons for this sudden plunge were as a result of the fact that most people are already inclined to the industry. 

19. Majority Of Affiliate Marketers are New to the Industry.

Source – Esopress

If you’ve been following this article to this point, then you shouldn’t be surprised by this.

Affiliate Marketers, for a fact, have welcomed a significant number of publishers into the industry.

Considering the 250% rise of the search term (affiliate marketing) between 2015 – 2021. Let’s assume the industry experienced a 25% conversion rate for the search interest recorded (of which it should be more than that). 

With this assumption, It is estimated that the industry received a total of over 62.5% increase in affiliate marketers.

This study, in turn, correlates with Zdnet.com statistics which includes that;

• 51% of publishers with over 100’000 monthly pageviews have been using Affiliate marketing for over 5 years.
• About 65% of Small publishers have been using affiliate marketing for over 2 years.

20. As per Zdnets, A staggering 30% of Publishers believe that there aren’t just enough products that attract their audience.

Source – Zdnets

According to Zdnets, about 30% of publishers believe there aren’t enough products that attract their readers. 

And 20% of them believe that successfully managing affiliate links on their sites is too difficult.

21. Roughly 90% of Advertisers find Affiliate Marketing to be a very critical and vital marketing strategy.

Source – Rakuten

The importance of affiliate marketing to just any business either local or online, can’t just be overemphasized.

Various statistics and research have kept on reminding us of these importance. 

According to a marketing survey carried out by the Forrester research team, commissioned by Rakuten, in 2016; nearly 90% of publishers find affiliate marketing to be a very vital and important marketing strategy to aid the success of any organisation.

Furthermore, the Rakuten affiliate marketing research showed that the industry has now achieved a state that most businesses can’t do without. The industry is now seen as a channel which can drive in significant sales for almost every type of business.

22. A whopping 80% of Advertisers employ affiliate marketing.

Source – Rakuten

Despite Affiliate Marketing Origins of being a tool to engage more purchase for events, Affiliate marketing has grown to an extent of being one of the most powerful channels for consumer discovery that results in incremental sales at compelling Return of investment, brand engagement and lots more for advertisers.

Affiliate marketing is now seen as one of the go-to marketing strategies, Advertisers use frequently to generate sales with high ROI.

According to Rakuten, Over 80% of Advertisers make use of Affiliate marketing.

23. 84% Of Publishers Harness Affiliate Marketing.

Source – Rakuten

Arguably, the surge on the trends of Affiliate marketing has brought in tons of people into the industry.

According to our hypothetical predictions, we said earlier that the industry saw a 62.5% increase in the industry, of which, most of these young bloods are actually publishers. 

Still on the same research we talked about earlier, conducted by Forrester (Powered by Rakuten), there were also some additional discoveries alongside the aforementioned ones.

Rakuten reported that 84% of the surveyed publishers harness affiliate marketing.

24. Over 80% of advertisers spent more than 10% of their marketing spend on affiliate marketing.

Source – Rakuten

As said earlier, Affiliate marketing has grown to an extent of being one of the most powerful channels for consumer discovery that results in incremental sales at compelling Return of investment.

Recent studies show that most advertisers (around 80% of them) devote approximately 10% of their marketing budget to fully participate in the affiliate marketing industry.

Affiliate Marketing Profit and Revenue Statistics 

25. Over 15% of all revenue generated in the digital media industry is as a result of Affiliate Marketing

Source – BusinessInsider

Overtime, Affiliate marketing has evolved from being a mere go-to resource for promotion to a combo of that and a major source of digital marketing revenue.

Affiliate Marketing competes with the popular ad network, Google’s Adsense  (the major source of digital marketing revenue), to allow marketers and creators to earn passive income.

According to business insider, over 15% of all revenue generated in the digital media industry is as a result of Affiliate Marketing

26. Affiliate Marketing Comes out Second in the Top revenue generator for Publishers

Source – Sovrn

Followed by Display advertising, Brand promotion and Paid product review, Affiliate Marketing appears to be the top revenue generator after Google Adsense.

A recent study carried out by Sovrn (formerly VigLink) with the aim to determine the top revenue generators for punishers, says it all.

In seeking to achieve their aim, Sovrn analyzed a list of over 500 publishers and 100 merchants that currently engage in affiliate marketing.

At that, it noticed that:

• Adsense is the most widely used revenue generator for most publishers
• Affiliate marketing, although newly induced in the system, tops second in the most widely used revenue generator.
• Large publishers (content creators) are most inclined to use the Display advertising monetization technique (the third top revenue generator for publishers).

27. Affiliate marketing appeals to 76% of publishers because it allows them to monetize their content easily.

Source – Sovrn

Still, on the same research study by Sovrn (formerly VigLink), Sovrn was able to achieve additional findings.

One of these includes that 76% of publishers find affiliate marketing benefitting because it allows them to monetize their content easily compared to Adsense.

In addition to that, 65% of publishers see affiliate marketing as a major source of additional revenue while 34% of them see it as one of few sources of making passive income. 

28. Most Publishers believe That Affiliate Marketing influences over 20% of their annual revenue.

Source – Rakuten

In the same research which Rakuten conducted via the Forrester Research team in 2016 affiliate marketing was found to greatly influence the annual revenue of most publishers.

Precisely, Rakuten recorded that a majority of publishers in the industry, who were surveyed, reported that affiliate marketing influenced their annual revenue by over 20%.

However, It is worth noting that 20% isn’t the final bus stop for publishers. As you can notice, we added a modifier “over” to simplify our statement.

There are still a lot of publishers who earn passively from the system and others who find affiliate marketing as their only source of income.

29. Over 80% of marketers anticipate an increase in their affiliate marketing revenue in the future.

Source – Fetch Profits

One of the major reasons for the surge in the growth of affiliate marketing is its ability to both profit advertisers and publishers. 

Over time, affiliate marketing is now seen as a passive income generator for Publishers – This statistics says it all.

A report from Fetch profits research study has it that over 80% of marketers believe that their Affiliate marketer revenue would either stay the same or increase in due time.

This, overall, emphasizes the strength and reliability affiliate marketing has built over time.

30. Nearly 90% of Merchants plan to subsequently increase their Affiliate Marketing Budget

Source – Fetch Profits

Still, on the same research by fetch profits, there were also additional findings. One of which includes affiliate merchants.

According to Fetch Profits, 90% of merchants surveyed planned to subsequently keep or increase their budget towards affiliate marketing.

Affiliate Marketing Traffic Statistics

31. Mobile devices account for over 50% of traffic in the whole affiliate marketing.

Source – Call hippo

The world has evolved so much. The love and cherish for PC is gradually dropping day by day: and this is mostly due to the advent of mobile devices.

Once regarded as a device that would only be able to carry out mere calling and messaging services, Mobile devices, has now turned out to be one of the most used advanced portable devices the world has ever known.

Statistics shows that:

• 77% of Americans own a mobile device – techjury.net
• In 2020, approximately 99.3 percent of all internet users in China use their mobile devices to access the internet – Statista
• In 2019, mobile phones accounted for 56 percent of all website traffic worldwide – Digital 2019
• There are over 3.5 billion smartphones in there world – Statista
• Mobile devices account for more than 70% of YouTube traffic – Youtube

In correlation to these statistics, Call hippo has gone the extra mile to research the influence of mobile devices on affiliate marketing.

As per Call Hippo, Mobile devices account for over 50% of traffic in the affiliate marketing industry.

32. Social Media serves as a point of connection to over 65% of Affiliate Marketers.

Source – Master Blogging

The Growth of social media has significantly affected the way things are done widely.

Likewise, Social media is also playing a positive role in the success of affiliate marketing.

A recent study from “Master Blogging” shows that 65% of affiliate marketers rely on Social Media to connect with their audience.

33. Nearly 74% of US online shoppers visit many affiliate websites before making a purchase.

Source – CyberCash Worldwide

No one wants to go wrong!

Not me and I’m sure you also don’t want that.

In search to get authentic reviews of products and services to avoid purchasing fake goods, lots of people usually troop into reviews sites.

Although mostly unknown to these shoppers, they actually land into affiliate marketing sites.

According to CyberCash Worldwide, a good number of online shoppers (precisely, 74% of them) head on to several affiliate marketing websites without making a purchase.

34. SEO, generating traffic to over 69.22% of affiliate marketers, tops social media to be the highest traffic generator.

Source – bloggingX

SEO is the key factor to the success of any online business. SEO is even regarded as one of the most effective marketing strategies.

Why?

If the game is played well, you get to have engagements at no expense, exempting SEO strategy.

According to bloggingX, SEO generates traffic to over 69.22% of affiliate marketers worldwide, topping Social media, blogging, email marketing, and PPC.

35. 64.48% of affiliate marketers leverage blogging to drive traffic.

Source – bloggingX

You shouldn’t be surprised by this.

Because I’m pretty sure that you, as an affiliate marketer, have a blog. And if you don’t have one, then I think it’s high time you create ’em.

According to recent studies, over 64.48% harness the potential of blogging to drive traffic to their affiliate links. 

Fascinating Affiliate Marketing Statistics 

36. 31.86% of Affiliate Marketers Fall Under the 35-44 age range.

Source – Statista

The affiliate marketing industry is saturated with people of different age ranges. From Under 18 to those in the middle ages as well as Grannies. 

According to “hosting tribunal”, Affiliate marketing is viable to people of all ages.

A deep research by Statista reports that most affiliate marketers fall within the age range of 35-44.

In details, the research implied that;

• Over 31.86% of affiliate marketers are aged between 35-44 years.
• With a share of 27.55%, 25-34 year old affiliate marketers top the list, after the 35-44 age range.
• Going to the oldies, nearly 22.41% of affiliate marketers fall under the age range of 45-54.
• Still on the oldies, as per research, 8.67% of affiliate marketers are under the age range of 65 or above.
• Affiliate marketers under the age range of Under 18 and 18-24 are the least populated. As per the research, both make a share of 0.29% and 5.08%, respectively.

37. With about 54.23% share, Male affiliate Marketers rule the Industry.

Source – torchbankz

Another fascinating affiliate marketing statistics we have on the list is the gender share of Affiliate marketers in the industry.

According to torchbankz, Male affiliate marketers dominate the affiliate marketers scene with about 54.23% while Female marketers are around 42.77%.

38. A Staggering 48% of Affiliate Marketers earn over $20,000 annually.

Source – Scaleo

According to the popular affiliate marketing software research team, Scaleo, as researched, the annual income of affiliate marketers was found to be incredible: both in the negative and positive directions.

Recent statistics revealed that over 48% of Affiliate Marketers earn over $20,000 annually. While this might sound poor to some people, experts reported that the statistics are probably due to the fact that only 34% of affiliates are ready to invest their resources (especially money) to get some return of investment.

Undermining that, approximately 3% of affiliate marketers make over $150’000 yearly from the system. 

39. A 3 Seconds + delay in website load speed can result in a 40% loss in conversion rate.

Source – bloggingX

Recent studies show that you would possibly lose about 40% of your customers if your site takes over 3 seconds to load.

How does this affect affiliate marketing?

Well, question for question: How would a site that visitor hates and leaves get affiliate link clicks?

40. According to Hosting Tribunal, Affiliate Programs on web hosting appears to be one of the best

Source – Hosting Tribunal

Undermining the fact that the Fashion industry rules out the share in the affiliate marketing industry, there are tittle-tattle that web hosting affiliate program stands out.

However, this is on the report of Hosting Tribunal.

Howbeit, there are truths on this.

The apparent leading strategy for most web hosting company is Affiliate Marketing.

Have you ever wondered why in every “Guide to Blogging”, bloggers tend to recommend Bluehost?

Well, their promoting they’re promoting their Affiliate links.

In fact, In 2018 alone, Bluehost affiliate partners received almost $5 million.

AffIliate Marketing Statistics: Infographics

Final Thoughts

Affiliate Marketing is one of the best things the marketing world has ever induced. The industry has grown to a stage where it is seen as a behemoth in the digital marketing industry.

Ever wanted to make passive income as a publisher, at your pace. Or better still, want to involve yourself in product promotion where both you and a publisher tend to earn something in exchange?

Then you’re talking about affiliate marketing.

Coming to popularity? Arguably, affiliate marketing is one of the most popular term in the digital marketing industry: Our affiliate marketing statistics says it all.

Profitable? I hope the statistics from no 15 – 20 gets you informed.

Converting? 

If affiliate marketing is not converting, Why on earth will:

•  80% of Advertisers employ affiliate marketing (No. 12)
•  90% of Advertisers find Affiliate Marketing to be a very critical and vital marketing strategy (No.12)
• Nearly 90% of Merchants plan to subsequently increase their Affiliate Marketing Budget (No. 20)
• 80% of advertisers spend more than 10% of their marketing spend on affiliate marketing

Well enough of the chatter, Affiliates marketing is a combo that guarantees a significant ROI: Our editors choice affiliate marketing statistics shows just that.

All in all, as an online business insider, if you really mean business, then you should consider giving Affiliate marketing a try.