Affiliate marketing is familiar to us in recent years. It is considered a popular and highly effective way to make money online. However, as the wave of people entering the affiliate marketing field continues to grow, the question that troubles newcomers and even those who have been relying on this income stream is: Is affiliate marketing still worth investing your efforts, time, and even money into in the economic context of 2024 - 2025?
Is Affiliate Marketing Worth It in 2024 (With Backed Data)?
To answer briefly: Worth it, absolutely worth it.
Despite the increasing competition and the growing difficulty for newcomers to break into this field, affiliate marketing remains one of the few fields where the income generated far exceeds what you need to invest.
The Affiliate Marketing Industry In Numbers
Just look at the numbers below, and you’ll understand why I make such a statement:
- In the year 2023, the total worth of the worldwide affiliate marketing platform market was estimated to be $16,207.46 million and is expected to reach $38,352.89 million by 2030.
- Looking ahead, people who study market trends think that by 2030, the affiliate marketing industry could be worth $40 billion, which is more than double its value in 2023.
- Global affiliate marketing spending is expected to reach $14.3 billion by the end of 2023 and increase to $15.7 billion in 2024, according to Influencer Marketinghub.
- The number of e-commerce users continues to rise, with the United States alone expected to surpass 264.9 million users by 2025.
This means that even though it’s considered to have entered a saturation phase and is no longer experiencing rapid growth as before, affiliate marketing still has room for potential development. There are still attractive profit areas waiting for you to seize in this field.
- According to a survey conducted by Influencer Marketing Hub with about 3,500 participants, 23% are looking to invest over 40% of their marketing budget in influencer campaigns, which represents a substantial increase compared to the previous year.
- In the United States and Canada, 16% of all sales made through online shopping (eCommerce) come from affiliate marketing.
- In the digital media industry, which includes things like online advertising, digital content, and online services, about 15% of the total income is generated through these affiliate marketing efforts.
As you can see, affiliate marketing has been and continues to generate substantial profits for businesses. With such high profitability, there is no way they will overlook a revenue-rich channel like this. On the contrary, businesses will tend to invest even more to continue tapping into the potential that affiliate marketing brings.
Income Range of Affiliate Marketers
While individual affiliate incomes varied widely, Affiliate Marketing Report published by Influencer Marketing Hub reveals that:
- 3.78% earned over $150,000 annually from affiliate marketing.
- 7.94% earned between $100,000 and $150,000.
- 5.15% earned from $50,000 to $100,000.
- 16.21% earned from $10,000 to $50,000.
- 57.55% earned less than $10,000.
While most fell into the last category, persistent individuals often progressed to higher income levels over time.
AuthorityHacker’s survey with 2,270 professional affiliate marketers also found that the average affiliate marketer earns $8,038 per month.
For example, many nano fashion influencers have earned their first income by simply trying on clothes they love, uploading them to their personal accounts with affiliate links for viewers to purchase, and then receiving commissions from each successful order from this link.
You could argue that the cost of buying clothes for review is an investment. The expenses for internet access, photography or video recording equipment, and posting content online are also considered investments. However, it’s clear that we must acknowledge that these “investments” are relatively small compared to the capital required to open even a small clothing store.
When Should You Do Affiliate Marketing?
If you possess the following elements, you should seriously consider starting affiliate marketing NOW.
Regular Personal Experience with Products and Sharing
In 2023, being ‘laid-back’ in affiliate marketing can never lead to success. One key to achieving quick success is building an emotional connection with your target customers. This makes them trust you enough to click on affiliate links and make purchases. It also helps in retaining loyal followers for your long-term affiliate activities.
Moreover, individuals with a large social media following will attract more appealing offers from brands.
Experience with Affiliate Marketing
While not mandatory, having some experience with affiliate marketing will give you an advantage. One significant reason is that affiliate marketing in 2024 and 2025 has become much more competitive. You need flexibility in your strategy, agility to catch affiliate marketing trends, and the skills to handle unexpected situations, especially when risks arise. If not managed skillfully, these challenges could halt your affiliate career.
Pursuing affiliate marketing without experience not only risks financial loss but also increases the likelihood of failure.
A Good Amount of Traffic
If you have a personal account, fan pages, video channels, or blogs with a substantial amount of traffic, starting with affiliate marketing becomes easier. Therefore, a common strategy nowadays is to build credibility through attractive content that piques the interest of your target audience to ensure a steady flow of traffic. After a while, you can implement the initial gears of your affiliate project. While this strategy requires time and money, its long-term effectiveness justifies the investment.
A List of Potential Customer Emails
Email marketing remains one of the most effective revenue-generating channels for businesses. There’s no reason to bypass affiliate marketing if you have both experience in email marketing and the necessary resources, such as an email list containing potential customers. Every dollar spent on email marketing, it generates an average of $36 in return, as reported by Litmus, demonstrating that email still holds its unique appeal!
Read More: How to Build an Email List Fast for Marketing? Guide in 2024
You’re A “Specialist” In Your Field
You don’t need to have official credentials to be considered an expert in a field, but you can still be seen as a “specialist” if you have in-depth knowledge about your chosen niche. This expertise enables you to create engaging and highly relevant content tailored to your target market.
Once you are recognized as a “specialist,” you stand out from general marketers, and your recommendations and suggestions carry more weight, making your audience more likely to trust and act on them. Your in-depth knowledge helps you identify and promote high-quality products that truly align with your audience’s interests, enhancing your credibility and increasing conversion rates.
If you have a product that complements your niche, promoting related items can offer significant benefits.
For example, if you sell a specialized cooking device like an air fryer, it makes perfect sense to advertise accessories or recipe books that enhance the use of the air fryer. Your customers, who are already interested in your cooking device, may find value in these supplementary products, creating a natural opportunity for cross-selling.
By suggesting these additional items, you provide extra value to your customers while potentially increasing your overall sales through these related offers.
Your Field Generates High EPC
Earnings Per Click (EPC) is a vital number for affiliate marketers, revealing how much you earn on average with each click on your affiliate link.
In simple terms:
EPC = Commission from selling a product / Number of clicks on your referral link
For example, if you earn $50 from a sale and your link receives 100 clicks, your EPC would be $0.50.
If your niche has a high EPC, it means each click brings in more money. This lets you invest more in advertising strategies like paid search or social media ads because you’re getting better returns from each click.
However, it’s important to check the terms and conditions of affiliate programs. Ensuring that you adhere to these guidelines will help you leverage high EPC effectively while staying compliant with the program’s rules.
When Does Affiliate Marketing Fail?
While affiliate marketing holds significant potential, it’s not the right path for everyone. Many affiliates have made critical mistakes, wasting their time and money. The most fundamental mistake is often choosing the wrong time to start. Here are some scenarios when affiliate marketing does not work for you.
Expect too much
One common reason affiliate marketing efforts fail is having unrealistic expectations. It’s easy to anticipate quick and substantial returns, especially when starting out. However, affiliate marketing typically requires time and consistent effort to see significant results.
Expecting immediate high profits can lead to disappointment and a premature abandonment of your campaigns. To succeed, it’s crucial to set realistic goals, understand that building a successful affiliate marketing strategy takes time, and be prepared for a gradual growth process.
When you recommend products that don’t meet your audience’s expectations or lack real value, it damages trust and credibility. Affiliates may be tempted to promote products with high commissions even if they are of poor quality. While this might offer a quick financial gain, it can severely damage your reputation and long-term success.
If your recommendations consistently fall short, your audience may lose confidence in your advice, leading to lower conversion rates and reduced earnings.
Lack of Awareness of the Upcoming Challenges
Affiliate marketing may have a low barrier to entry, but it doesn’t mean it’s easy. Many people only see the appealing income of others shared on social media and believe they can earn a high income by dedicating just a few hours each day.
This is far from the truth. Successful affiliates spend a significant amount of time researching their industry, trends, competitors, and products. They continuously acquire new skills to keep up with the fast-paced affiliate marketing landscape. If you don’t fully grasp the difficulties of affiliate marketing and aren’t adequately prepared, it’s not the right time to start.
Lack of long-term planning, tracking, and analysis
Affiliate marketing often falters due to a lack of long-term planning and ongoing analysis. Many marketers dive into campaigns without a clear strategy or fail to monitor their performance consistently. Without proper tracking, you can’t identify what’s working and what isn’t.
Implementing tracking tools and regularly reviewing performance data will help you make well-informed changes and optimize your efforts for better outcomes.
Insufficient Funds
While affiliate marketing requires less investment compared to other industries, it doesn’t mean you can start with only $10 in your pocket and expect to generate $500 per month.
Achieving such results is possible but generally limited to the top 5-10% of the most talented individuals in the field. To get started, you’ll need about $20 - $50 per month. Having more funds will make your journey smoother and more efficient.
Lack of Passion and Enthusiasm
Understanding affiliate marketing is one thing, but it’s essential to have a deep passion and enthusiasm for it. While the ultimate goal is making money online, having a genuine passion for what you do is the driving force that keeps you engaged and motivated. Without this passion and determination, daily tasks may become monotonous, leading to discouragement and loss of belief in making money online.
Procrastination and Avoidance of Experiments
Procrastination and laziness are common issues for everyone. Many people want to earn money online but dedicate too little time to it, often just 1-2 hours per day. This isn’t enough for those considering making money online as a serious endeavor. Procrastination may result from a lack of passion, or it can stem from a fear of trying new things. In the end, laziness leads to minimal or no progress in your affiliate marketing efforts.
The provider doesn’t follow FTC guidelines
Affiliate marketing can also suffer if the affiliate programs or providers you work with don’t adhere to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines. These guidelines ensure transparency and honesty in advertising, such as disclosing affiliate relationships and avoiding deceptive practices. Working with providers who ignore these rules can result in legal problems and damage your reputation.
It’s important to partner with reputable programs that follow FTC guidelines to maintain compliance and protect your brand’s integrity.
What Do You Need to Get Started
Everyone can start earning from affiliate marketing, but to have a stable income from this work, you need to equip yourself with the right knowledge and skills.
Build the Right Mindset and Understanding of Affiliate Marketing
To step into affiliate marketing, you need to have a deep understanding of affiliate marketing. Once you’ve grasped the nuances of affiliate marketing, building the right mindset will help you succeed and stay committed to this work.
If you rush into making money without a serious investment in affiliate marketing, you’ll quickly lose motivation and feel discouraged when you don’t generate converting orders. At that point, you may become uncertain about this job and question whether you should continue. So, prepare a strong mindset to start off smoothly.
Research the Market, Products, and Target Customers
Understanding the market, products, and target customers is crucial. Take the time to research and find out what your target audience likes. Create appropriate content to attract customers better.
Also, make sure to thoroughly research the products you want to promote. If possible, try and experience the products to build trust with your viewers.
Be Patient and Diligent
Affiliate marketing is similar to planting a tree. You need to invest time and effort into nurturing it before you can reap the sweet fruits.
Beginners often have a rush mentality, wanting to earn money quickly without focusing on creating quality content. Share the content with people in your network by adding links to your digital business card. Anyone who scans your business card or clicks its link will have easy and direct access to the content, thus expanding your reach and clientele base.
Today, one of the sustainable affiliate marketing channels is a website. You can start by exploring platforms for creating free e-commerce websites and designing your own site.
In addition, digital marketing tools like Facebook Ads, Google Ads, and analytics tools are valuable allies in effective affiliate marketing. Explore and learn every day; useful knowledge will help your work grow and earn more money.
Collaborate with a Reliable Affiliate Marketing Network
Apart from the above, choosing a reputable affiliate network is crucial. Select an efficient affiliate marketing network with high commissions and good publisher support services.
Currently, affiliate networks in Vietnam are constantly expanding and developing. You can search for information about reputable platforms in the market, such as Rentracks, Accesstrade, Adflex, and choose the most suitable one to start with.
Affiliate Marketing Strategies You Should Use in 2024-2025
Here are some key strategies and tips to optimize your affiliate marketing efforts:
To build trust with your audience, it’s essential to promote products or services that you are familiar with and genuinely believe in. Avoid promoting products that are unrelated to your niche or target audience, as this can erode trust and credibility.
Don’t Push Sales, Offer Choices
Instead of aggressively pushing your loyal customers to make immediate purchases, provide them with a range of product choices. Offer recommendations for high-quality products or services that align with their interests and needs. By doing so, you can increase the likelihood of repeat visits and conversions.
Diversify Your Affiliate Partners
It’s crucial not to rely solely on one affiliate partner or product provider. Collaborate with multiple vendors within your niche to offer a variety of products and services to your audience. This strategy can diversify your commission earnings and create a stable revenue stream as you build your affiliate website.
Continuous Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Regularly monitor and optimize your conversion rates. Analyze your website’s performance using tools like Google Analytics to identify areas for improvement. Focus on on-page optimization, content quality, and user experience enhancements to increase your conversion rates. Even a 2% increase in conversion can have a significant impact on your affiliate earnings.
Leverage Your Traffic Sources
Understand the sources of your website traffic, whether it’s organic, paid, social media, referrals, or direct traffic. Tailor your marketing efforts to capitalize on high-converting traffic sources. Use data analytics to gain insights into your audience’s demographics, interests, and behavior, allowing you to tailor your content and promotions more effectively.
Read More: How to Increase Website Traffic Organically: 9+ Crucial Tips
Segment Your Audience
Dive deep into audience segmentation to understand the specific needs and preferences of different visitor groups. Create personalized messaging and offers to cater to these segments effectively. Automation and email marketing can be powerful tools for engaging with segmented audiences.
Provide Value and Build Relationships
Always prioritize providing value to your audience. Building trust and strong relationships with your audience is essential for long-term success in affiliate marketing. Offer valuable content, insights, and recommendations that genuinely benefit your audience.
SEO Optimization
Due to the growth of social media, many people have forgotten that websites and blogs can also be profitable sources for affiliate marketing. Especially when you have SEO skills, not utilizing SEO optimization and a proper website for affiliate marketing is a waste.
Before deciding to make a purchase, most customers typically search on Google. Usually, they only look at the first page of search results. Therefore, your task is to figure out how to have your website visited by many people daily, or how to ensure that when customers search for related keywords, they will find your website.
If you are lucky and put in enough effort, at some point, your website will attract automatic and consistent daily visitors, even when you are asleep. Customers will come to you on their own, and you won’t waste resources on targeting the wrong audience.
How to Align Affiliate Marketing with 2024 Trends
To make Affiliate Marketing suitable for the trends in 2024, here are some common approaches that can still generate good income for individuals and organizations:
With the rapid growth of social media, leveraging platforms like Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, etc., has become a common and effective way to do affiliate marketing.
By sharing affiliate links within your social media posts, you can tap into your follower base to reach potential customers.
Many successful affiliate marketers have social media accounts, fan pages, or YouTube channels with a substantial following.
Earn with PPC Marketing (Pay Per Click) in Affiliate Marketing
PPC Affiliate Marketing involves running ads on platforms such as Google, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and others.
This approach offers a quick way to reach your target audience but requires a budget for ad spend.
Successful PPC marketers need experience in ad creation, cost optimization, and staying updated with industry trends and strategies.
Content-Based Affiliate Marketing
Content marketing is a strategy that involves creating valuable content to attract target customers to your blog or marketing website.
Affiliate blogs feature affiliate links to introduce users to products or services.
Blogs also provide essential information to readers about product features, benefits, and standout qualities through articles, reviews, and comments.
This approach, while not new, remains highly effective in affiliate marketing.
Affiliate Marketing through Affiliate Networks for Major Merchants
Directly affiliating with large e-commerce platforms like Shopee, TikTok Shop, Lazada, etc., can lead to confusion and inefficiencies in selecting products or brands to promote.
Affiliate networks act as intermediaries connecting affiliate marketers with e-commerce platforms, facilitating regular updates on promotions and commissions.
When choosing this method, prioritize reputable and prominent merchant partners within affiliate networks for long-term collaborations.
FAQs
Is Affiliate Marketing Similar to Referral Marketing?
Affiliate Marketing and Referral Marketing differ in their strategies and objectives.
In Affiliate Marketing, content creators collaborate with businesses to promote products, earning commissions on sales generated through their links.
In Referral Marketing, existing customers are rewarded for bringing in new customers. Participants actively share referral links, and rewards vary, ranging from discounts to gift cards.
The distinction lies in who benefits: Affiliate Marketing benefits content creators, while Referral Marketing rewards existing customers for referrals.
Should I Join Any Paid Course For Affiliate Marketing?
To be honest, the answer is “it depends.” Some people have successfully proven themselves in affiliate marketing without relying solely on theoretical knowledge from books but by being quick to grasp trends and having a keen eye for product or platform changes. However, not everyone can achieve this.
I can only say that thorough preparation before entering affiliate marketing is always essential.
If you’re feeling uncertain about this, you can start by enrolling in some highly recommended courses.
Should I Quit My Job and Go 100% on Affiliate Marketing?
If you’re just starting with affiliate marketing, the answer is “No.”
If you have already generated a substantial income from affiliate marketing, then the answer could be “Maybe.” However, remember that diversifying your sources of income is never a bad idea. Putting all your eggs in one basket can increase the risk of losses beyond what you might imagine. Even though you treat affiliate marketing as your business, remember that even business has ups and downs.
The “best” product to promote in affiliate marketing greatly depends on several key factors, including target audience, niche, product quality, relevance, and commission structure. Considerations include aligning with audience interests, focusing on trending or essential items, promoting high-quality products for trust-building, exploring lower-priced items with high turnover, and choosing products with consistent year-round demand.
Niche products with less competition and legal/ethical compliance are also favorable for long-term success and credibility.
