Affiliate marketing is experiencing immense growth as more brands, industries, and individuals join the game. This has made the affiliate marketing industry a sought-after and popular field. Considering this, we have compiled a list of the biggest trends in affiliate marketing in 2024.
But that is not all, as we have also collected some hands-on, valuable tips that you can apply to your affiliate marketing campaigns immediately.
Why you should monitor affiliate marketing trends in 2024?
The affiliate marketing industry is constantly changing. Because of that, you would be wise to continuously keep an eye on how the industry evolves and expands if you wish to make the most of the opportunities arising. You should be monitoring all the trends regarding affiliate marketing, the industries, products, platforms, and channels that play a significant role in the field.
About ten years ago, blogging, review sites, and coupon sites were the three main ways to run successful affiliate marketing campaigns. Over the years, though, the channels changed, and so did the content. Blogging remains a popular option, but social media have soared, and they are also playing an influential role.
New ideas pop up on how to utilize mainstream social media every year, while new social media platforms and technologies have enriched the field. And while eCommerce or marketing will be among the most popular industries for years to come, some new sub-niches have skyrocketed in the competition. For instance, with the COVID outbreak a few years ago, video conference applications experienced a massive boost in revenue. So did their affiliate programs.
In the past year, the global affiliate marketing industry reached $17 billion, with the toy industry boasting a 109% growth, closely followed by software. All these opportunities await to be explored, and the only way to make an informed decision is to keep track of all the updates. Monitoring the trends will allow you to identify the new possibilities and opportunities arising in the field. Also, it will guide you toward the suitable industries to target and focus on.
Trends in affiliate marketing in 2024 – which industries to target:
The affiliate marketing field is constantly developing and changing; some industries stand out and allow for exceptional financial benefits.
Retail
Online shopping is set to see a more significant surge in revenue in 2024. Affiliates in this industry leverage technology to provide outstanding virtual shopping experiences. Add the fierce competition and the hard-to-miss promotional campaigns, and you have an industry set to thrive.
All retail brands and vendors have affiliate programs from eBay to Etsy and from Shopify to BigCommerce.
Eco-friendly products
Raising awareness about eco-friendly brands through affiliate marketing programs is a relatively new and promising niche. One that is slowly establishing itself as more brands turn eco-friendly and go out of their way to help foster a greener way of living. Consumers have also been making a conscious shift to eco-friendly products as sustainability is fundamental to them, with 73% of consumers stating that they would happily change their consumption habits to help the environment.
Blueland, Saatva, and Medley are some eco-friendly brands that have affiliate programs.
Fitness and wellbeing
The COVID years were a turning point regarding physical and mental health. For that reason, the fitness and wellbeing industry ranks among the most popular in affiliate marketing. It features new brands, gadgets, tools, and methods to improve your well-being, but it also enjoys a broad audience committed to improvement.
Reebok, Ellesse, Fitbit, or BlixBike run affiliate marketing programs that are very popular.
Technology
This is one industry that will always be integral in affiliate marketing. Whether it is about gadgets to improve your life, ways to automate your productivity, enhance your security or boost your sales, technology is everywhere.
Within its range, there are numerous affiliate marketing opportunities. From building your website to keeping track of your health and monitoring your home to AI assistants, technology offers a variety of sub-niches to thrive in as an affiliate.
One example of a booming program is the Coupler.io affiliate program. If you cover topics such as data integration, analysis, or visualization, you’ll have an easy time driving new subscribers to the platform. We offer a 50% revenue to you for the first subscription a customer purchases and 20% for each subsequent payment, forever.
Marketing
Much like technology, marketing is also an industry that envelops numerous sub-niches, each with many SaaS affiliate programs. From end-to-end marketing solutions to sales platforms. From automation tools helping manage customer experience to data integration tools that boost your business. Every sub-niche has its affiliate marketing program.
MailChimp, Hubspot, and Hootsuite are only a few of the numerous affiliate programs run by marketing products and tools.
What are the latest affiliate marketing trends?
The continuous growth of affiliate marketing has made the industry appealing not only to individuals pursuing a thriving affiliate marketing membership but also to brands.
The latter seek alternative ways to gain trust and exposure to a broader audience. New social media (such as Tik Tok and Twitch) are utilized, and new ways of using the more mainstream social media platforms have sprung up (eg. social selling via video on YouTube).
Artificial intelligence has also joined the game, and a shift toward authentic content that is inclusive and does not oversell is what shapes the industry.
So, let us explore these developments in the field.
Virtual Shopping
Virtual shopping is taking over, and it is now expanding in many different directions. Virtual reality and/or augmented reality environments like metaverse are new and practically unexplored regarding affiliate marketing opportunities.
By creating your affiliate marketing program on a metaverse or a related platform, you get a headstart in collaboration with the brands entering an entirely new environment. Early adopters of this virtual, interconnected world can enjoy a new revenue stream.
Video selling performed via robust eCommerce platforms is also an opportunity for affiliates to take advantage of. Another affiliate marketing niche to explore is serving products to your audience via live streaming and offering tips, promo codes, and advice. E-tail is a field on the rise, and joining will help you tap into new products, brands, and opportunities.
Micro-influencers go big
With so much content created and published daily, customers and users search for authentic, niche-specific content that resonates with their needs. Inclusivity is also on the rise, consuming real, not promotional, and more humane content.
This shift opens up opportunities for micro-influencers who remain true to their beliefs, are committed to a brand, and serve a specific but loyal audience. It also takes the focus off mega-influencers who have a somewhat broader audience.
Crypto and NFT join the game
Cryptocurrencies have been around since 2009. Since then, they have multiplied, expanded, and established their presence. The field offers some of the most competitive referral programs and commission rates with huge profit potential. You can promote specific crypto or a platform and help reach a wider audience.
Contrary to cryptocurrencies, NFTs are a newcomer within the crypto industry. They have stormed in, though, and there are already several platforms for trading NFTs and building affiliate programs around the promotion of those platforms.
Bigger budgets and an expanding ecosystem
One thing is certain, the budget allocated for affiliate marketing will be multiplied; as it delivers results to brands and, of course, profits to affiliates.
The industry, the tools, and the budget will be growing significantly. As the ecosystem expands, so do the efforts for better campaigns and more successful results. This has evolved into a buzzing industry that will keep growing.
Voice Search is the queen
If content is king, then voice search is the queen. Though voice search and most of its enhanced features are still under active development, it has been evolving into the most frequently used means of searching online. This shows the direction in which content creation must go in the future, as it needs to become voice search-friendly.
What are the best channels to implement your affiliate marketing ideas in 2024?
With so many changes in the affiliate marketing field, it is understandable that new channels are getting into the game while the older channels are undergoing a revamp.
Blogs have always played an essential part in the industry and have been the primary means of monetization. They will remain a powerful tool to create and publish content, reach a wider audience and help with conversions. Niche-specific blogs will become even more popular and influential, where authors will publish quality content regularly.
Social Media has consistently featured among the most prominent affiliate marketing trends, as they have amplified and enhanced affiliate marketing and delivered outstanding results. Affiliates can utilize relatively new social media platforms and social media management tools to reach a new audience or tell a story differently, in a more fascinating way.
For example, you can leverage the power of video content on Tik Tok to create snackable content or the immediacy of social selling through streaming live on Twitch or YouTube. Going live on Instagram for live shopping while at the same time advertising exclusive promo codes via your broadcast. Using video content on different platforms can help you with promotion of your affiliate marketing program, while tracking crucial video marketing metrics is a way to evaluate the impact.
Newsletters are also an effective tool, especially if you carefully compile the list of subscribers and share helpful information.
Podcasts dedicated to a specific niche or industry can also be used as a great way to address a particular audience and raise awareness about a specific brand or product.
As is the case with all affiliate marketing efforts, when promoting a brand, it is best to be doing so in alignment with your beliefs, be subtle and provide value to your audience.
How to improve your campaigns using the affiliate marketing 2024 predictions
After taking a closer look at what the future holds for affiliate marketing, here are some valuable tips on how to improve your campaigns.
Hone your editorial skills
Affiliate marketing is greatly dependent on the quality of the content published. Excellent editorial skills are essential for curating, editing, and creating quality content. With the ecosystem expanding and the competition rising, poor content not carefully curated is not an option.
The need for more co-marketing efforts requires larger editorial teams with skillful writers that can handle the workload. Link building, blogging, guest posting, and curating content to address more specific and more demanding audiences are some of the tasks that the editorial teams will tackle.
Aspire to become a Premium Content Partner
Creating valuable content that resonates with your audience will always be the goal. And delivering successful results may turn you into a valued affiliate for a brand.
Brands tend to appreciate their best affiliate partners by offering more benefits. The best affiliates are considered invaluable partners and enjoy better conditions in the collaboration. Affiliates who can take content creation to exceptional levels and stand out from the noise can become Premium Content Partners with brands.
This can be achieved by:
- publishing well-researched and well-written content consistently that resonates with the brand’s audience and needs.
- creating unique and quality content that can be curated and re-published on different platforms.
- long-form articles, short blog posts, videos, and stories can become the means for you to bring better results. Using different types of content in your affiliate marketing programs allows for better engagement with your audience.
Eventually, quality content will help you create a fanbase of readers and establish a close collaboration with a brand – turning you from a simple affiliate into a Premium Content Partner.
Create more bite-size content
Although the affiliates cannot ignore the value of the long-form article for some industries, content creation has been experiencing a shift of its own. As users and customers turn toward small bits of content, easily consumed, that do not require a lot of their time. Snackable content, be it video, stories, GIFs, or images that one can consume instantly, is the way to go for content creation.
Focus on Micro
Micro-influencers are an excellent opportunity to reach a specific niche. Their content reaches a highly dedicated audience that often feels like a community. A community that they have built slowly and are trusted by it.
By creating authentic content that aligns with their beliefs and expertise and remaining committed to their values, they can promote a brand or raise awareness within that community. It’s all about engaging with your audience and doing so in a truthful way.
So a turn toward micro-influencers who have a more significant impact on a smaller audience is the next big thing.
Affiliate marketing and cookies have been going hand-in-hand for many years. Especially the third-party cookies that were the ones doing all the measuring and advertising for affiliate marketing.
However, the latest updates and regulations are phasing out third-party cookies. Websites are now legally obliged to inform their visitors about the usage of the personal data that they collect. Moreover, users have to provide their consent to use non-essential cookies explicitly.
With these changes in mind, affiliate marketing must become more transparent, and you need to bring this into your affiliate marketing campaigns. This is how you can achieve that:
- Be open and upfront with your website’s visitors about the data collected on your website.
- Allow them more control over the use of such data; be explicit and over-explanatory about the process to build a relationship of trust. After all, affiliate marketing is about building trust, and showing that you take good care of your visitors’ data is the first step.
- Do not ignore the power of first-party data. They can provide helpful information about a user’s behavior and can be found on many channels, including social media profiles, sites, apps, and subscription emails.
- Once you have established a relationship of trust with your audience, you can always provide value in exchange for more data. For example, you can provide special promotional codes, dedicated loyalty programs, and premium offers to create more engagement while providing a more personalized experience.
Affiliate marketing in 2024: Takeaways
The buzzing field of affiliate marketing has evolved and expanded to include more industries, brands, and products while making the most of the latest technology. The competition is increasing, but so is the revenue that both brands and affiliates enjoy.
Keeping an eye on the latest developments and utilizing the latest technology and new channels can impact your affiliate marketing program and its success.
It is also of great significance that your affiliate marketing efforts are executed in an authentic, non-promotional way that aligns with your values. By addressing your audience with honesty and engaging with them via a medium that facilitates efficient communication, you build a relationship of trust.
In addition, the content created should be of high quality, adding value to the readers’ lives without overselling. These are some of the features making up the most prominent affiliate marketing trends in 2024.
Lastly, there is one important thing you need to keep in mind; in affiliate marketing, an essential feature remains to establish close collaboration and build a relationship of trust between all the members involved; the brands, the affiliates, and the audience.
