What is the future of affiliate marketing?

What is the future of affiliate marketing? We explore what needs to be done to make money and stay on top of the market in 2020

Affiliate marketing is going nowhere but up.

Doomsday's reports on affiliate marketing could not be further from the truth. The cost of getting products to the market, the decline of the retail space and brand importance will see an increase in AM

With Amazon tightening margins and increasing trading rules, there will be a market shift to outside retail.

Add to this the return of Brand purchasing a market shift will become evident in 2020 rising to about $3 billion in 2024

Add to all of this that 77% of users will be under 44 years of age when they purchase on-line. Fashion and electronics will be the big winners

By age is important to understand

Statistica.com

Buyers will be more brand aware

With any purchase, we want to make sure that we are backed up by services and support. When reading product reviews, the most damaging seem to be those that knock the service and return policies.
Therefore majors are determined to ensure quality content at any cost.

Loyalty will need to be bought

Along with branding and consumer awareness, there will be an increase in loyalty programs. Providers will want to bring back repeat buyers and they will be prepared to pay the price.
In all your marketing, a factor for loyalty should have a place in the sun to ensure you have top of mind.

What does branding have to do with affiliates?

Affiliates are there to drive new business to the retail centre. This will become competitive with Keyword driven links winning the day.
Two other factors will drive your opportunity.

Analyst Opinion

In 2018, the percentage of consumers who made at least one purchase online in the previous 12 months grew to 93% of internet users in the U.S., 97% in the UK, and 2% in China. The market of developed countries is in its maturity phase, and the competition among eCommerce players is extremely high and cost-intensive. Marketplaces like Amazon and AliExpress are flourishing, while many stand-alone retailers struggle to find their USP as brand and store loyalty are decreasing and cart abandonment rate in the industry is at 75%. Increased brand engagement can be achieved through community building (e.g., ASOS Marketplace), loyalty programs, and a seamless mobile and desktop user experience.
Statistica.com (eCommerce)

The important part of growth

Mobile dataWriting for mobiles will be more
important
Video marketingShort mass-produced videos

We have seen above that a large percentage of online buyers are under the age of 44 a statistic that indicates action must be quick.

We all understand that the young have attention deficit disorder and need to be entertained in a way that is different from the older group.

That is why video and mobile marketing will grow in stature in the coming year. Your material must concentrate this way.

Being an individual in marketing

what is the future of affiliate marketing
Someone different

With a billion or so blogs going on at any one time you need to be a bit different.
There are structures you must follow and rules of writing but around that, you can apply flair.
Being an individual is like personal branding and you will develop followers because they like your style.
It may be in your natural writing skills, the happy pictures you post or the photo of you dressed as a Unicorn.
Something to recognize, and to be placed at the top of their mind.

Blogging is not a one-time hit, it is a lifetime on the front line.

Every post you make will be linked somewhere to another thus building a continual storyline. That is one reason for standing out from the crowd and demanding attention.

I have my photo attached to my blogs and pages to show that I am an old guy with years of experience behind me. I linked to my About page so that you can read more and just maybe gather some respect.

Regular posting will bring traffic to any site so keep it going at a regular rate.

Social media will change so you will need to go with it.

Every social media challenge has a reasonably clear age demographic so you will need to select your target based on the products you promote.
However, I believe that Facebook marketing will grow throughout the year. I am seeing some great results with good adverts on Facebook. Repetition is the answer and a constant flow of advertising is the answer.

Re-targeting or re-marketing is also a growth product. Over the year-end break, I have been looking at some home appliances in local resellers and advertising is haunting me from the store and from my web searching and price comparison.

Writing for mobile data

Many searches are now done on a Mobile phone so your writing and linking must take this into consideration. Consider what you will be most searched for and then make it clear. Do not put Links close together because it will confuse Apple and not work.
In a recent article by Neil Patel, he said that clicks on mobile were far less than those on fixed units so your concentration should still be on your main computer.
To counter this, of course, is the fact that Google searches mobile-first so we can never ignore it

The increase in video marketing will continue

people making a video
The olden days' way

This is not just about marketing or branding your products but using how to and display quick video clips that demonstrate things we need to know.
The important message is that the length of the videos is decreasing because it is staying in line with our attention span.
I bought a new product at the weekend and had a problem with one of the features. The book did not explain it and I did not want to revisit the store.
I ended up Googling the answer that was clear in a short video.

The price factor will make a difference

My recent retail journey proved a few things to me.
Price is a factor and I did a price search before each purchase as the stores offer a price match policy.
The on-line stores were mostly the price winners so I could have saved myself a lot of effort and time by shopping from the couch.

Retail is in a competitive world but in busy times, we still go through the doors to hold a product.
This is not a conundrum. My wife is an online shopper throughout the year and will rarely visit a store. Purchases are made worldwide as she searches for sites just like yours to buy the things she wants to be delivered to the door.

Staffing levels at the big stores have been reduced to sooth costs, however, this will further drive customers online and I had a recent experience with this.

Pre Christmas I went to the biggest chain store in my area to buy some bath towels. The assistant had no clues and could offer no support. The pricing was unclear and the special docket I had was a day over the final day and was rejected.
My shopping experience was ordinary, to say the least, online would have been better

Conclusion

I researched this topic on affiliate marketing as much for my own benefit as I could to write about it.
I took advice from Jay Oneill, Neil Patel, Statistica, Hubspot, etc and added my own version of what I believe is the future.
There are many benefits with Affiliate marketing the returns are very attractive and it is a substantial growth market.
It takes time to build a business and have an understanding of the principles to get you started. I recommend the training and hosting package at Wealthy Affiliate for anyone entering this business>

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Peter Hanley
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What is the future of affiliate marketing by Peter Hanley

Peter Hanley

I have been in business for many years and the internet to find ways to grow your business faster

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