Where do you see affiliate marketing heading?
 

Those of us who've been in the business for a couple years know that the affiliate model has changed.

It went from affiliates having to fend for themselves to sponsors providing everything to a lot of programs going invite-only and dropping or ignoring their affiliate programs.

Where do you see it heading?

The large multi-site programs are investing more in other sources of traffic while devoting less manpower and resources to their affiliate marketing.

The small one and two site independent programs are pretty much the same as they've always been. Some of the older sites are fading away as the owners get tired of putting in the work now that the money isn't rolling in so easy.

Overall, the affiliate model is changing as technology makes different content delivery options available. Those that just keep pushing the same old stuff without constantly seeking out new sponsors, weeding out the dead ones or trying new ways to monetize their traffic will likely find it difficult to maintain their income levels.

Great post Toby! I think you are spot on.

Great post and yes affiliates themselves get into these creative ruts as well. They keep hammering on the old ways and not changing to meet the new technology. They get reliant on the affiliate program doing the legwork and work themselves into becoming obsolete.

It's why I've pretty much moved away from adult itself and embraced some other niches and products. Adult used to lead the way and now they've become much more passive.

I think great times are ahead for affiliates who refuse to just be another number in the affiliate database and contact their sponsors, working with them one on one and focusing on building relationships that go beyond sponsor-affiliate.

Social media has also put a large dent in the affiliate marketing model, in addition to mobile devices. Anyone can follow their favorite porn stars through twitter or facebook and by-pass all the desk-top surfing which lead them to our promotions.

To my view there are less affiliates than there used to be, and less of a creative effort towards genuine promotion and marketing.

Yes, there are more places like social media and others for people to go online and spend more of their time, but there are also more people online. Not enough more to completely offset, but it's new faces that weren't online before.

Creative promotion/marketing is a good IF you have something brand worthy, a name or product to be remembered. That doesn't really apply to most affiliates, it's all about building traffic. Far too many in this biz don't do much to build traffic beyond trying to game Google to get ranked higher and a few hard link trades. That's not going to cut it. A much more comprehensive strategy is a necessity to grow your traffic.

In the UK you have to pay 20% VAT on those sales. So it looks like this:

50% Aff
20% VAT
15% Processessing
5% Hosting/Wages/Costs
5% Content

So out of a 20 buck sale, site owner gets a buck.

Or you get traffic and sales in-house...

Yes, but that hasn't really changed much over the last 10 years, other than the VAT ruling for UK sites a few years ago.

15 of my top 20 income producing sponsors year to date are UK based. All these UK sites aren't running affiliate programs to earn just $1 per sale, so I think perhaps your cost percentages may be rounded up to help your point.

That said, in-house sales are an area that lots of site owners let slide when the money was easy. Many started out with their only marketing plan being affiliate sales. As a site owner, if you aren't your own best affiliate you're likely having trouble making ends meet.

20% off your bottom line is quite a difference!

A little but not much. :)

Ain't that the truth.

BOOM. |thumb