UK Affiliate Census 2011 is Available Now

Econsultancy has published the 2011 Affiliate Census for the UK, and it reveals many interesting data points.

The survey of affiliates found almost half (48%) of respondents drive at least £5,000 per month (£60,000 per year) for advertisers, compared to only 31% of affiliates who were generating this much revenue in 2009.

More than 300 affiliates took part in the third UK Affiliate Census, which Econsultancy conducted in partnership with the A4u and sponsored by Commission Junction and Argos.

The majority of affiliates (57%) say that their commissions have increased in the last year, with a fifth of those affiliates (19%) earning higher commissions, as they reported more than 100% growth in this type of income over that period.

Also, affiliates are optimistic about the future of the industry, and they are saying communication has improved from merchants to affiliates.

Some other findings from the 2011 UK Affiliate Census:

• Thirty percent of affiliates are now sending at least 20,000 visitors a month to merchants’ websites, significantly more than the equivalent figure of 19% two years ago, while the proportion of affiliates promoting at least 80 merchants has increased to 25%, up from 14% in 2007 and 21% in 2009.
• Almost half of affiliates (46%) surveyed now work full-time in the industry, a large increase from 34% in 2009.
• ‘Content’ is still the most important affiliate category, despite the rise of other publishers such as voucher-code and cash-back affiliates.
• More affiliates than in 2009 cite voucher codes or cash-back / reward as the single most important categories, up from 5% to 10% and 5% to 8% respectively. However, a combined percentage of 18% shows that less than a fifth (18%) of affiliates rely primarily on these types of consumer incentives.
• The two most widely promoted sectors are travel / flights and fashion / accessories, both relevant for a quarter of affiliates surveyed.
• In 2009, a third of respondents (34%) believed that the last click should hold sway, but this has now increased to 43% of publishers.
• More than a third of affiliates (36%) say that merchant de-duplication is having a negative impact on their revenue from affiliate marketing.

The full report is available on the Econsultancy website to Econsultancy subscribers at http://econsultancy.com/reports/affiliate-census.

If you’re not a member, you can get a free sample.