At an event held at the NSW Teachers' Federation Conference Center last Tuesday night, the IAB's expert panel, including Jane Huxley and Lauren Reiske of Ar Media, set out its outlook for 2024. affiliate & Partnership Industry Review research discusses how major publishers are doing it affiliate chance.
The survey was designed and conducted in April 2024 by the IAB Australian Affiliate Marketing Working Group to explore affiliate and partnership marketing experiences and plans from both sides of the industry: agencies and advertisers, affiliate publishers and partners. I did. Responses were received from 95 participants in the advertiser and agency industry and 52 participants in the publisher or partner industry who operate affiliate marketing programs in Australia.
66% of advertisers and agencies surveyed have less than five years of personal experience with affiliate and partnership marketing. Company experience varies, but approximately 58% of respondents said their company's experience was five years or less than his. The profile of advertiser and agency respondents' experience with affiliate and partnership marketing is very similar to last year's survey.
Fifty-four percent of publisher respondents had less than five years of personal experience with affiliate marketing, which was very similar to our previous survey last year. Publisher companies are experienced, with 59% having more than 5 years of experience (this is up from 44% in the previous survey).
This year's survey sample of advertisers primarily managed their affiliate programs in-house, while half used an agency last year. Advertisers involved in affiliate marketing come from companies of all sizes. However, 42% are large companies (250 or more employees), similar to last year's survey.
The number of advertising clients that publishers work with in affiliate partnerships varies widely, with 42% having more than 500 advertisers. Publishers from small to large are involved in affiliate marketing, with 33% of publishers having more than 250 employees.
Affiliate marketers and publishers operate in a variety of industries. Retail is a major industry for advertisers/agencies and publishers. Retail has also been the leading industry for affiliate and marketing partnerships in all previous waves of this study (2021 and beyond).
Today, more than one-third of advertisers spend an average of $50,000 or more each month on affiliate and partnership marketing. Spending in the top category of $50,000 or more per month has increased slightly over the past four years.
CPA remains the dominant way to compensate publishers within affiliate programs, and this payment method has been on the rise over the last year. It is also common to use a combination of payment models. Among publishers, usage of tenancy fees (listing fees such as eDM inclusion) increased significantly compared to last year, along with usage of cost per 1,000 impressions.
For 37% of advertisers surveyed, affiliate and partnership marketing contributes an average of 10% or more of online revenue for their or their clients' businesses.
For more than half of the publishers surveyed, affiliate and partnership marketing contributes more than 25% of the company's online revenue. This year's survey shows that the percentage of publishers whose affiliates contribute between 25 and 49 percent of their revenue has increased compared to last year, but overall the percentage of publishers whose affiliates contribute 25 percent or more remains the same as last year. is.
53% of advertisers and agencies increased their total affiliate and partnership marketing spend last year. Last year's survey found that 55% of advertisers and agencies intended to increase spending. 63% of advertisers and agencies intend to increase their affiliate and partnership marketing spend over the next year.
Nearly two-thirds of publishers increased their revenue from affiliate and partnership marketing channels in the last year. 58% of publishers said they had increased the cost of advertising.
Inventory available to affiliate advertisers over the past 12 months. 78% of publishers increased last year the number of advertisers they partner with in their marketing through affiliates and partnerships.
Publishers with affiliate channels have different business goals, but the main goal is to increase revenue, followed by an increase in the number of partnerships with advertisers. Increased revenue has been the main objective for growth since our last survey, when expanding partnerships was more important. Publisher goals for 2024 are similar to last year's goals.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most important, commission rates, tracking and compliance practices were rated on average as the most important features for publishers when working with advertisers on affiliate programs.
Rewards, content, and social are the most popular affiliate partner types advertisers plan to invest in the year ahead.
Given the current economic climate, 67% of respondents across advertisers, agencies, and publishers believe affiliate and partnership marketing channels are more important to achieving their business goals.
When advertisers evaluate affiliate marketing, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most important, ROI and sales volume were rated as more important success metrics on average.
89% of advertisers using affiliate marketing are satisfied with this channel in terms of return on investment in the last year. By comparison, among affiliate advertisers who also use SEM, 80% of them are satisfied with their SEM in terms of distribution return on investment in the last year.
36% of advertisers use first-party cookies primarily to track affiliate marketing. The use of third-party cookies continues to decline, dropping to 14% this year. A significant proportion do not understand how they are being tracked or that it relies on third-party cookies.
In recent years, browsers and operating systems have removed third-party cookies and identifiers to increase user privacy, and the data signals available for ad tracking continue to decline. The Australian government has also proposed amendments to strengthen privacy laws. However, his 26% of respondents across advertisers, agencies and publishers feel unprepared for these changes.
