Explore 35 essential affiliate marketing stats for 2025, including industry growth, influencer impact, brand adoption, top channels, and key trends to power your affiliate strategy.
Since its emergence nearly two decades ago, affiliate marketing has completely transformed the business world. It has now become one of the most popular ways to drive sales and generate revenue.
For Internet entrepreneurs, affiliate marketing remains one of the most lucrative opportunities and is becoming increasingly appealing for businesses as well. The stats and trends indicate that affiliate marketing will continue to pave a unique path in the future of marketing strategies.
The following article will cover some of the most exciting and anticipated stats in the affiliate marketing industry. Check out these affiliate marketing industry statistics for 2025.
The global affiliate marketing platform market has tripled its value in the last decade, and is still expanding rapidly. Research estimates a trajectory headed to over $55 billion dollars by 2031. (Verified market research)
In the United States alone, affiliate marketing spending has already hit the $8.2 billion mark. This growth reflects a significant increase in the adoption and effectiveness of affiliate marketing strategies. (Statista)
But what’s behind such a mass adoption of affiliate marketing?
Some of the key factors driving this growth include:
This indicates a pretty solid expansion, driven by the increasing adoption of affiliate marketing across industries. But it’s not only growing faster; Affiliate marketing is also growing stronger and becoming more effective.
“In 2025, affiliates will leverage AI to analyze user behavior, preferences, and purchasing patterns, allowing for more targeted and personalized marketing strategies”
– Cristy Garcia, Chief Marketing Officer at impact.com
As of now, fashion, retail, wellness, and technology and SaaS are all industries where affiliate marketing is being adopted the most, but other industries such as travel and beauty follow closely behind.
In fact, nearly 90% of publishers expect to see a steady flow or a significant increase in their affiliate marketing revenue. Another staggering 91% of merchants plan to sustain or increase their affiliate marketing budgets. (True List)
High revenue, high hopes.
Studies show that consumers are more likely to spend money on products recommended by affiliate programs than those they find on their own. In fact, affiliate marketing influences at least 16% of all online orders.
This trend highlights the trust and influence affiliates hold, making affiliate marketing a sizable tool for driving sales.
Case study: Discover Cars.
A notable success story involves Discover Cars, a car rental comparison engine that used Post Affiliate Pro (PAP) to improve their affiliate marketing efforts.
By implementing PAP’s comprehensive tracking and management tools, Discover Cars gathered over 1,300 affiliates generating 750+ commissions per month.
This boosted their revenue and improved their SEO statistics, all while establishing great relationships with top-tier affiliates. The easy integration and fast customer support provided by Post Affiliate Pro were crucial in helping Discover Cars step up to another level in their journey to success.
Read more about Discover Cars’s success journey by Post Affiliate Pro!
With such an active market, there’s no surprise that North America accounts for more than 2 out of every 3 affiliate marketers worldwide.
According to global affiliate marketing statistics, the majority of affiliate marketing campaigns take place in the United States. Nearly 40% of those advertisers in the US claim that affiliate programs are their top customer acquisition channel. (WPBeginner)
And there are pretty solid reasons behind this point.
Affiliate programs offer several advantages over other customer acquisition channels, mainly PPC advertising, email marketing, content marketing, and display advertising.
They are cost-effective because merchants reduce wasted ad spend and only pay for actual sales or conversion. Affiliate programs also extend reach through diverse channels, like blogs and social media, where affiliates often have established trust with their audience.
“It’s the ultimate win-win situation. All affiliates get something from the arrangement, as does the company running the affiliate program, making it a mutually beneficial relationship.”
– Russell Brunson, Co-founder of ClickFunnel
The scalability is also a huge factor, which lets merchants to grow their customer base without significant additional investment.
When you see such a high percentage of adoption, it speaks volumes about its effectiveness. That’s why over 80% of brands, such as Nike, Apple, and Sephora, use affiliate marketing for driving their sales. (Growth Collective)
Affiliate marketing business requires very little or no initial investment. Commission rates can be set prior to working with affiliates and brands want to reap the benefits of affiliate marketing without putting significant resources into it.
In a nutshell, affiliate marketers make it easier for brands to achieve their marketing goals.
That’s where Post Affiliate Pro steps in.
It’s a comprehensive platform for managing and optimizing affiliate programs from a single dashboard. It offers numerous tools for tracking performance, automating payments, and analyzing data, making it easier for brands to monitor their affiliate marketing efforts and achieve better results.
As affiliates are intended primarily to generate revenue for their partners, advertisers are finding that affiliate marketing contributes to 23% of their revenue on average. This is on a par with other forms of revenue generation, such as search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising. (Uniqodo)
When considering the return on investment (ROI), affiliate marketing often stands out due to its performance-based nature. Here’s a quick breakdown of how affiliate marketing compares to other advertising methods in terms of ROI:
Increasing numbers of consumers rely on social media opinions, such as those found from friends, family, and influencers, for the purpose of making a purchase decision. In fact, about 42% of people use social media to make purchasing decisions. (WPBeginner) The top contenders that drive affiliate sales are Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
So, what can you get from digital content about products and services?
Due to the fact that Gen Z and Millennials are the most active social media users, there are many opportunities for marketers to reach new audiences.
According to recent statistics, 83% of marketers use affiliate marketing to boost overall brand awareness. Additionally, 79% of marketers employ affiliate marketing to engage existing customers, making it a pretty versatile tool for both acquiring new customers and nurturing current ones. (Forbes)
Affiliate marketing increases brand awareness by leveraging the reach and credibility of affiliates. These affiliates, often bloggers, influencers, or niche websites, create content that promotes the brand, reaching audiences that might not be accessible through traditional advertising channels.
Influencer marketing, once seen as a nice-to-have, has quickly become essential for brands due to its vast user base.
Today, 93% of marketers incorporate influencer marketing into their campaigns, recognizing it as a key advertising strategy. (Oberlo)
Compared to hiring a graphic designer and creating static ads, using influencer marketing simplifies reaching customers. Engagement rates are higher, and it targets a broader yet specific audience more effectively than TV ads. Companies are truly realizing the potential of social media content to monetize with minimal effort and investment.
Daniel Wellington, a watch brand, did exactly that.
It successfully leveraged influencer marketing to grow its brand. By partnering with numerous micro-influencers on Instagram, Daniel Wellington created a buzz with authentic content that resonated with audiences and caught their attention.
These influencers posted stylish photos featuring the watches and used personalized discount codes, which drove significant traffic and sales. This strategy helped Daniel Wellington achieve huge growth, going all the way from a startup to a globally recognized brand.
Video marketing holds its place as a powerful tool in affiliate campaigns, offering significant engagement and conversion benefits. And while it may be obvious how much of an impact video has on marketing, here are some up-to-date statistics as of 2025:
(Rev, SocialPilot, The Tech Report, HubSpot Blog, Wyzowl, 33rd Square)
Using an affiliate marketing strategy allows smaller businesses to compete in the market and reach new audiences with minimal upfront costs.
(DemandSage)
Even more optimistically, nearly 60% of merchants report that affiliate marketing has helped them generate earnings of $5 million or more by carefully considering their affiliates spending wisely on commissions (TrueList).
Many small businesses and individual entrepreneurs have found success by partnering with Amazon Associates and Rakuten’s affiliate networks, leveraging extensive product range and global reach. They also can take advantage of these platforms which provide tools and support to optimize affiliate marketing efforts.
By leveraging affiliate marketing, small and medium-sized businesses can also get their fair share of substantial growth and revenue with a relatively low investment.
Before making a purchase, 81% of consumers conduct online research to gather information and address any inquiries about the product or service. (Saleslion)
This trend is significant for affiliate marketers. Why?
It indicates huge potential to reach a targeted audience and increase profits through optimized online content.
Additionally, Think with Google reports that over 60% of shopping occasions begin online. This further emphasizes the need for businesses to maintain a strong online presence to capture these early-stage researchers (Think with Google).
There’s no denying the power of SEO and its capabilities of generating traffic. Reports show that for over 78% of affiliate marketers, content marketing tactics are the preferred methods of traffic generation. (Authority Hacker)
You can utilize several SEO trends to enhance your affiliate marketing efforts effectively.
These metrics measure the user experience on your website and significantly influence Google rankings. By improving these areas, you can enhance your site’s performance and visibility.
Many publishers prefer affiliate marketing because it’s simply easy to manage. Surveys show that 76% of them choose this method for its simplicity. (99 Firms)
Instead of negotiating prices for each sale, unique affiliate codes allow businesses to track commissions effortlessly. This streamlined process, which wasn’t possible ten years ago, makes [affiliate marketing](https://www.postaffiliatepro.com/academy/how-to-succeed-in- affiliate-marketing/) a hassle-free monetization method.
Artificial intelligence is transforming the affiliate marketing industry, all the way from the creation process to interpreting analytics. The widespread adoption of AI tools really highlights their effectiveness in optimizing marketing efforts, especially when it comes to tailored personalization.
That’s why at least 79% of affiliate marketers use AI tools for content creation. (Authority Hacker)
AI tools can automatically generate high-quality content, or analyze audience behavior to tailor content to individual preferences.
It can also automate repetitive tasks, allowing marketers to focus on other details with strategy and creativity. As an example, AI-driven analytics can identify trending topics, while AI-powered chatbots can engage users and offer personalized recommendations.
But content creation isn’t just about the content. It also needs to be distributed.
Affiliate marketers also branch out their reach by using multiple platforms at a time, with the average social media marketer using at least 3 platforms simultaneously to expand their audience.
There’s no doubt that email remains a vital channel for engaging and converting audiences.
It offers direct, personalized communication with both potential and existing customers. With the ability to segment and tailor messages, email marketing allows for higher engagement rates and more targeted marketing efforts, resulting in better conversion rates.
That’s why experienced marketers are nearly 48% more likely to use email marketing than beginners would. (Authority Hacker)
The average open rate for email marketing ranges from 15% to 25% across various industries. For instance, the average open rate is 37% in the health and fitness sector and 33.1% in the e-commerce sector.
Click-through rates (CTR) for email marketing average around 1%. Specific sectors like technology see higher CTRs at around 2.6%, while real estate average about 0.9%. (Smart Insights)
There are companies whose business models rely entirely on affiliate commissions. Probably the most well-known of them is Groupon, a company that connects local merchants with subscribers.
Some other popular coupon affiliate sites include:
Approximately $1.4 billion is generated by affiliate marketing each year, with over 50 million active users, according to Statista. Of that, Groupon alone brought in just over $500 million dollars in 2023. (Statista, Statista)
While they are very single-purposed, sites like these can bring unexpected results for businesses.
Content affiliate marketing has grown from simple coupon sites to a major player in the industry. Nearly 40% of affiliate commissions in the U.S. come from content and blog websites, according to industry reports. (Affiliate WP)
This change shows how diverse and effective affiliate marketing channels have become.
In fact, the rise of content-driven affiliate marketing highlights the increasing preference for valuable and informative content over traditional advertising.
This trend not only diversifies the types of affiliate publishers but also strengthens consumer trust, as audiences often view blog and content creators as more credible sources compared to direct advertisements. The focus on content lets affiliates engage more deeply with their audience.
Business owners will need to consider mobile phone users in their upcoming affiliate marketing campaigns. Of the 97% of Americans who own a cellphone, 90% are smartphone users. (Pew Research)
With more and more people using smartphones to buy online, you’d have to think about how you advertise and approach these people. Mobile affiliate marketing is the future.
Mobile devices have changed every aspect of the marketing landscape, and they continue to do so with around 50% of affiliate traffic coming from mobile sources. (99 Firms) To keep up with this trend, many marketers and companies are beginning to think about mobile-specific affiliations such as:
Amazon Associates is by far the most popular affiliate network with a 48.23% market share. This is followed by Rakuten Affiliate Network (7.12%), ShareASale (6.57%), and CJ Affiliate (6.39%).
Amazon Associates leads the market by a mile due to its strong brand trust and vast product range, which caters to various niches. The user-friendly interface, competitive commission structure, global reach, and reliable payouts make it attractive to affiliates.
Additionally, Amazon offers support and resources, like marketing tips and detailed reports, which helps affiliates maximize their earnings.
With many online businesses already using social media in their marketing strategies, Instagram officially launched its native affiliate tool last year.
This feature allows creators to recommend products to their followers and earn commissions on sales generated from their posts.
When creators publish posts with affiliate features enabled, an “eligible for commission” text is displayed under their username.
This new tool is a game-changer, as it allows affiliate influencers to essentially create their own shop within the Instagram platform, which really pumps those conversion rates.
Several creators have already found success with Instagram’s affiliate shops. For example, beauty influencer Huda Kattan utilizes her affiliate shop to recommend makeup products she uses, leading to significant sales increases for those items. Similarly, fitness influencer Kayla Itsines promotes workout gear and supplements, driving high engagement and conversion rates from her followers.
TikTok comfortably takes its place in the marketing space with over 1.5 billion active users as of 2025. At least 40% of this active audience is between the ages of 16-24 years old, offering high potential for affiliate marketers. (Authority Hacker)
Creators and sellers have already embraced this affiliate marketing trend, with over 29% of affiliate marketers already using TikTok as a means of driving sales.
Several creators have successfully utilized TikTok’s affiliate shop to boost their sales and engagement. For instance, beauty influencer Mikayla Nogueira uses her TikTok affiliate shop to recommend makeup products, resulting in a significant uptick in sales for the brands she promotes. Similarly, fitness guru Demi Bagby leverages her TikTok presence to market workout gear and supplements, pushing substantial traffic and sales.
According to a survey conducted among marketers worldwide, 29% of marketers claimed that Facebook was the social media platform with the highest return on investment (ROI) that year. (Statista)
Facebook was also the most used social media platform among marketers worldwide. According to a global survey, 89% of responding social media marketers used Facebook to promote their business, while another 80% did so through Instagram. (Statista)
Most popular social networks worldwide as of April 2024, by number of monthly active users (in millions)
As of 2025, Facebook flaunts over 3 billion active users monthly. Instagram follows behind with 2 billion active users, and TikTok with over 1.5 billion active users.
According to Worldmetrics, cost-per-acquistion is the most popular payment method in affiliate marketing, which can range from $3 all the way to $200 depending on the industry. You can find some of the highest commissions with SaaS products, ranging from 20% to 70%.
Here are some of the average commissions varied by industry:
In contrast, cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-mille (CPM) provide income based on traffic and impressions, which might not always lead to conversions.
Cost-per-lead (CPL) focuses on generating leads, often offering higher payouts than CPC but requiring more targeted traffic.
RevShare (revenue share) provides ongoing income from customer purchases, aligning interests between affiliates and merchants but with variable earnings.
These diverse payment models cater to different affiliate marketing strategies and goals, with CPA being favored for its clear conversion-based rewards.
As of 2024, the fashion industry makes up about 19% of all affiliate programs.(Up Promote)
This is because of its strong visual appeal and constant demand for new, fast-paced trends. Instagram and TikTok are key platforms for showcasing fashion, with influencers and engaging posts driving consumer interest and sales.
Fashion brands attract consumers with visually engaging content, and social media platforms provide the perfect space to highlight new styles and collections. This visual engagement drives interest and encourages purchases, making the fashion industry particularly attractive for affiliate marketing.
ASOS is a perfect example.
They regularly leverage influencers to showcase their latest fashion trends and collections, driving engagement and sales through visually appealing content. Here’s @kymkulhman showcasing some apparel for the spring season, linking to the Asos page.
More popularity means more competition, but it also can point to higher profits.
Some of the other most popular and lucrative affiliate marketing niches include that of:
These niches are growing rapidly because they fall in line with the current consumer interests and trends, as well as their potential for high profitability and engagement.
Home and garden, in particular, is experiencing explosive growth due to the increased focus on home improvement and gardening activities, especially post-pandemic.
This is just the start of expressing how user-generated content (UGC) is such a powerful element in affiliate marketing. On top of that:
(CrowdRiff)
Moreover, around 40% of shoppers say that UGC is “extremely” or “very” important when making a purchase decision. This is more influential than product comparison charts (39%) or product videos (37%) (Backlinko).
Ads with UGC receive 4x higher click-through rates and 50% lower cost-per-click than traditional ads (Bazaarvoice).
What does that increase in user engagement look like?
Think longer session durations, more pages viewed per session, and higher interaction rates with content. (Wecantrack)
It goes without saying that user experience (UX) is a critical factor in the success of affiliate marketing. A well-optimized UX can boost conversion rates by up to 400%. (RevLifter)
Let’s translate that into some practices. Here’s what to strive for:
As of 2024, paid search is responsible for about 15% of all website traffic across various industries. This reflects the important role of paid search in driving targeted visitors to websites, complementing the 53% of traffic generated by organic search. (Higher Visibility)
Paid search remains a crucial component of digital marketing strategies due to its ability to deliver immediate results and attract high-intent users. Businesses leverage paid search campaigns to increase their visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs), capturing traffic that might not be reached through organic efforts alone.
On the contrary, websites with a poor user experience have a higher bounce rate, or in other words, see users leaving the site quickly. Putting efforts into improving UX can help reduce bounce rates by up to 30%. (NNGroup)
Slow page loading times never brought the best out of anyone. At least 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less. These faster page load times lead to better user experiences and higher engagement rates. (Forbes)
Business owners who rely on blogs, content, or videos will find organic search very valuable as it drives most of their website traffic. Organic search makes up about 53% of all website traffic across various industries. This type of traffic is free and helps improve search engine rankings. Better rankings lead to more visibility, more visitors, and more conversions. (Higher Visibility)
For content-focused businesses, using SEO to boost organic search traffic is a cost-effective way to grow their audience and reach their marketing goals.
We’re all familiar with the overwhelming number of pop-ups when surfing the web. Naturally, it goes without saying that traditional advertising is increasingly being blocked by internet users.
As of 2025, over 50% of Americans use ad blockers on their devices. Specifically, 37% block ads on laptops and 15% on mobile devices. Users prefer ad blockers to avoid intrusive ads, improve privacy, and speed up page loading times. (EMarketer)
In response, influencers are filling the void. Videos and posts from social media celebrities aren’t blocked and are, on the contrary, eagerly consumed. This shift underscores the growing power of influencers in marketing, as they provide an engaging alternative to traditional ads.
In the affiliate marketing industry, fraud is unfortunately a growing problem.
In 2023, $84 billion of ad spend was lost to digital advertising fraud, and this could even further escalate to $172 billion by 2028. (Jupiter research)
What are some common types of affiliate fraud?
You’ve heard the saying, “All publicity is good publicity” – but that’s usually not the case with fraud.
Fraudulent activities can severely impact trust and revenue in the industry, leading to significant losses for both advertisers and publishers. Take a recent example that took place: Uber reportedly lost $70 million due to affiliate fraud. (Source)
Ebay also had their fair share of losses back in 2013, when two of eBay’s top affiliates were convicted of defrauding the company out of $28 million through a cookie-stuffing scheme. (Source)
The majority of businesses who recruit affiliates use specialized platforms designed to manage and grow their affiliate programs. These network dashboards streamline the recruitment process by providing tools and features that make it easier to find, onboard, and manage affiliates, which is why about 83% of brands and publishers use them. (Affiverse)
The cost of managing an affiliate marketing program in-house can vary widely, with salaries for affiliate managers in the US averaging around $79,663 per year. Outsourced solutions can sometimes be more cost-effective, especially when considering the additional value of expert management and access to a network of high-quality affiliates (Indeed).
Outsourced agencies also offer scalable solutions that allow programs to grow without the client needing to expand their internal resources. They can bring specialized knowledge, tools, and strategies to manage programs effectively, driving better engagement and results from affiliates.
Increasing customer lifetime value (CLV) through affiliate efforts is crucial for sustaining growth and profitability.
Here is the average CLV by industry:
So what are some strategies to increase CLV?
Create customer retention programs, also known as loyalty programs, to keep your customers engaged for longer. You can also invest in tools to improve the customer experience and use predictive analytics to be one step ahead.
Blogging drives traffic for nearly 65% of affiliate marketers, showing the effectiveness of content strategy in this field. (TrueList)
Customers often read 3-4 blog posts about a product before making a purchase. This is because they seek thorough information, and, let’s be honest, probably want to avoid the hassle of returns.
Pat Flynn is a popular affiliate marketer who profits from blogging. Other well-known marketers are Michelle Schroeder-Gardner and Kristy McCubbin.
So, why does blogging work so well?
The affiliate marketing industry has seen significant growth in recent years, increasing in both market size and revenue. This success is mainly due to its ability to help brands promote products and generate passive income for marketers, making it a key tactic for bloggers and marketers.
With low barriers to entry and the convenience of working from home, affiliate marketing is an attractive option for many. It allows for easy market expansion and traffic growth, with payment only required when desired actions are achieved.
The statistics in this article provide valuable insights for bloggers and marketers, helping to refine strategies and maximize benefits from the industry. The future of affiliate marketing is evidently optimistic, so don’t miss out. Make sure to try our 30-day free trial and explore new opportunities.
The global affiliate marketing industry has surpassed $18 billion in value, with a projected trajectory toward $55 billion by 2031. In the US alone, affiliate marketing spending has reached $8.2 billion.
Over 80% of brands, including major names like Nike, Apple, and Sephora, use affiliate programs in their marketing strategies.
SEO, social media (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok), and content marketing are the top channels, with 78% of affiliate marketers using SEO, and nearly 65% generating traffic by blogging.
93% of advertisers work with influencers, and 83% of marketers use affiliate marketing to increase brand awareness. Influencer partnerships significantly drive engagement and sales.
50% of affiliate-referred traffic comes from mobile devices, highlighting the importance of mobile optimization, app-based marketing, and mobile-specific offers.
At least 79% of affiliate marketers use AI tools for content creation, campaign optimization, and personalization, enabling more effective and targeted marketing strategies.
Top niches include fashion (nearly 19% of all programs), home and garden (209% annual growth), technology, health & fitness, wealth building, and lifestyle.
The most common model is cost-per-acquisition (CPA), with commissions ranging from $3 to $200 depending on industry. Other models include CPC, CPL, and RevShare.
85% of consumers find UGC more influential than brand photos or product videos, and its use can increase conversions by up to 10% and engagement by up to 90%.
Amazon Associates is the most popular affiliate network, with a 48.23% market share, followed by Rakuten, ShareASale, and CJ Affiliate.
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