When it comes to affiliate marketing, the most important thing you can do is generate high quality leads for the products you are promoting. While sometimes it can seem like you are constantly working to get new leads and making little progress, know that this is a very effective business model. In fact, according to a new report from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), it is an industry that generates nearly $186 Billion in sales each year.
They found that lea lead generation directly accounts for a massive amount of consumer spend, and more and more brands are catching on to this fact. Brands appreciate the fact that they only have to pay the affiliates when they are successful. For example, an affiliate marketer who never generates a sale isn’t going to get paid much, or anything.
Another benefit that the report found brands like is that they can choose what type of action gets paid for. Some companies, for example, just pay a set amount for each customer that signs up and provides them with their information. Other brands require actual sales to be made. There are, of course, many different options available to companies, and the affiliate marketing professionals can tailor their sales around this.
In 2014 alone, consumers made over 125 million purchases through affiliate websites. This generated billions in sales and provided brands with new customers, many of whom will keep coming back.
Dan Bunyan, who is the Senior Manager at PwC said, “The fact that consumer spend is growing at nearly twice the rate of advertiser spend, indicates the OPM market is maturing and brands are becoming more efficient in how they drive consumer spending.”
This also shows that affiliates are giving a better return on investment than ever before. While affiliate marketing is still in a state of constant change and growth, it has in many ways settled down a little bit over the past few years. It is no longer seen as a ‘get rich quick’ scheme by the bigger brands, and it is becoming an industry where people are making actual careers.
This, of course, helps to improve the quality of affiliates. Despite this maturation, however, this is still largely an industry of independent providers. Affiliates can start their own business with very little investment and work the hours that they want. This is very attractive to many hard working individuals who are looking to make great earnings, without having to work for a large corporation.
The report also finds that there is still rapid growth throughout the mobile industry, which is not surprising. A growing number of consumers are using their mobile devices a majority of the time, or even exclusively. Affiliates who are keeping up with that trend are realizing great ROI’s and making greater number of sales than ever before.
