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16 Key Affiliate Marketing Statistics

Backlinko Team

Written by Backlinko TeamIn collaboration with Semrush

Affiliate Marketing Statistics – Blog post image

This is a complete list of recent affiliate marketing statistics every marketer needs to know in 2024.

So if you want to find data and facts on:

  • Affiliate marketing spending
  • Affiliate marketing adoption
  • Affiliate marketing return on ad spend
  • Popular affiliate networks

You’ll love the list of up-to-date stats on this page.

Here’s a summary of what you’ll learn:

Affiliate Marketing Spending Statistics

In 2024, affiliate marketing is booming, with spending reaching new heights.

This section presents key statistics to show just how much businesses are investing in this growing area, and what that means for the future of marketing.

  • Worldwide annual spending on affiliate marketing is estimated to reach $14 billion – eMarketer
    Worldwide annual spending on affiliate marketing is estimated to reach $14 billion
  • Annual affiliate marketing spending in the US alone reached $8.2 billion, showing a 10.8% year-over-year increase – Statista
  • Around one third (33%) of marketing professionals plan large increases for their affiliate marketing budget in the next 12 months. Overall, 62% of marketers plan to increase their affiliate marketing budget over the next 12 months – Gen3 Marketing
  • 6-in-10 brand say they are increasing their spending on affiliate commissions – Martech Record

Affiliate Marketing Usage and Performance Statistics

Affiliate marketing is now a cornerstone of digital marketing, with widespread adoption and proven effectiveness.

This section highlights key statistics demonstrating its vital role for both advertisers and publishers in today’s market landscape.

  • Survey data shows that 81% of advertisers and 84% of publishers use affiliate marketing – Rakuten
  • On average, affiliate marketing brings a 12:1 return on ad spend (ROAS) – Rakuten
    On average, affiliate marketing brings a 12:1 return on ad spend (ROAS)
  • In a survey of marketers, 50% of respondents say that affiliate marketing channel is “very effective” in terms of achieving business goals, which is behind social media advertising (61%) but above content marketing (46%) – Gen3 Marketing
  • More than half of US and Canada marketers leverage affiliate marketing for mid-funnel (consideration stage, 58%) and upper funnel awareness (56%). Only 32% of respondents claim to use affiliate marketing for post-sale stage (retention and loyalty) – eMarketer
  • More than half (58%) of US content creators reported affiliate commissions as their income source, making it the 2nd most popular income type for creators after sponsored content (82%) – eMarketer
    58% of US content creators reported affiliate commissions as their income source
  • In the first half of 2023, influencers accounted for 58% of newly added publishers to Awin network (global affiliate platform) – eMarketer
  • In a survey of brands, 23.9% of companies reported that between 11% and 20% of their marketing-driven revenue was attributed to affiliate marketing. Here’s the exact breakdown: – Martech Record
    Share of revenue attributed to affiliate marketing Share of respondents
    1-5% 19.6%
    6-10% 21.7%
    11-20% 23.9%
    21-30% 13.0%
    31-50% 10.9%
    Above 50% 0.0%
    Don’0 know 10.9%
  • Among publishers, half of respondents say that over 51% of their publication’s revenue is from affiliate marketing. Here are the exact numbers: – Martech Record
    Share of revenue attributed to affiliate marketing Share of respondents
    0-5% 17%
    6-10% 8%
    11-20% 6%
    21-30% 3%
    31-50% 13%
    Above 50% 50%
    Don’0 know 3%

Affiliate Networks Statistics

Affiliate networks are a critical part of the affiliate marketing ecosystem, dominated by a few major players.

  • Amazon Associates is the most popular affiliate network with a 48.23% market share, followed by Rakuten Affiliate Network (7.12%) and CJ Affiliate (7.07%). Top 5 leading affiliate networks combined have a 74.72% market share –Datanyze
    Amazon Associates is the most popular affiliate network with a 48.23% market share
  • When ranked by number of affiliates in the network, Amazon Associates leads the ranking with 900,000 affiliates, followed by ShareASale (700,000), Awin (225,000), Rakuten (150,000) and ClickBank (100,000) – Statista
  • Top 5 largest affiliate networks combined have user base of nearly 2.1 million connected affiliates – Statista
  • TikTok Shop (officially launched in September 2023) already has 100,000 creators in its affiliate program – Modern Retail

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this list of affiliate marketing statistics.

We regularly update this list of statistics. So feel free to check this page later for new insights.