Yucca

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing practice whereby affiliates/partners promote the products or services of merchants/clients and get remunerated for every sale, visit or subscription sent to the merchant.

In simple terms, web publishers generate leads and sales for you and, in return, they receive a bounty.

Industry stats

As estimated in the 2009 E-Consultancy Affiliate report, the UK market for affiliate marketing grew by 22% in 2008, taking the total value of affiliate online sales in 2008 to £3.82bn. The 2009 Affiliate market is expected to exceed £4bn, and that's taking into account the current recession.

To put this in context

• The UK market for Search Engine Marketing was worth an estimated £2.75bn in 2008.
• The UK market for Email Marketing Platforms and Services grew to an estimated 24% to a value of £274m by the end of 2008.
• During 2008, combined UK Usability and Accessibility markets were estimated to be worth £214m.
• The value of the UK market for e-commerce technology is likely to be around £78 million through 2008.

Not only does affiliate marketing generate large sales volumes but it is also an ideal marketing tool for the current recessionary times, as Alex Burmaster at Nielsen Online stated: "In a tight economy, advertisers need to show results and prove that they're spending ad budget wisely - it's easier to do with CPA because advertisers pay only for leads or sales, not just whenever people view the ad or email creative".

The 2007 E-Consultancy report showed merchants spend an average of 16% of their online budget on affiliate marketing, which is responsible for 18% of their online sales. So, the affiliate marketing industry is very big and it’s very effective.

The main client concerns with affiliate marketing however have been the lack of brand control traditionally associated with affiliates, and the amount of time and effort involved in managing client relationships. Which is why our clients need us.