Affiliate marketing is alive and well, and the growth numbers published by two major players in the field prove it. Both LinkShare and ValueClick (owner of Commission Junction) have recently analyzed and publicized their Q2 2010 results.
LinkShare
This affiliate network has recently “announced that more than 190 new advertisers have joined” it “since January” of 2010 [source].
Seeking more detailed information on their growth, I have contacted LinkShare, and found out that the overall affiliate-referred sales in the affiliate network have been up over 30% year-over-year in the second quarter, and in the first half of 2010.
The verticals that have registered the most remarkable growth were:
- Beauty — up 23% YOY in Q2
- Computers — up 31% YOY in Q2
- Department Stores — up 54% YOY in Q2
- Travel — way up over 200% YOY in Q2
ValueClick
ValueClick — the owner of Commission Junction affiliate network, ValueClick Media, Mediaplex, Smarter.com, CouponMountain.com, Investopedia.com, and PriceRunner — has also announced its second quarter 2010 results, reporting that its revenue and profitability “exceeded the high-end of the guidance ranges management provided on April 29” [source].
Affiliate marketing has generated the most significant growth (28.9%) in revenue for ValueClick, “increasing 10.3% from the year-ago quarter to $28.7 million” [source].
If you’re reading this as an affiliate network rep, affiliate, or an affiliate marketing related agency, and have your own data to share, I’d love to hear from you too (either via email, or you can just type up your comment under this post).
Nice to see positive movement within our industry. I think there is much more growth potential, especially as affiliate networks are able to remove additional layers of risk and brand uncertainty from the equation. One way to do this is to enhance transparency and push for truly ethical marketing by all publishers.
Governments at all levels could help by getting out of the way of individuals and small business. Affiliates do not equal nexus and states should drop that argument, which, I feel, has no place within established legal precedent. The federal government needs to both get its fiscal house in order and reverse the bloated expansion of government that is eroding individual liberty.
Individual liberty is the energy that fuels business through the freedom to be creative. It fosters a willingness to risk assets in order to gain rewards (i.e. profits). Match this with low taxes that lets producers keep a large portion of their produce and you encourage a lot of investment and economic activity (instead of merely sheltering assets). Played out over all our communities, this scenario produces small business viability, jobs, and economic growth that ultimately lifts the entire nation.
Thank you for your comment, Mike. Yes, there are still many things to improve; and yes, it is good to see this positive movement, which, by the way, goes hand-in-hand with the overall Q1-Q2 2010 U.S. retail ecommerce spending increase reported by comScore just yesterday. It’s also good to observe that in the cases of the above-quoted affiliate networks the sales and revenue growth tripled the broader online commerce spending increase.