According to seven CEO’s and Network Leaders

In this article we’ll be taking a long, hard gaze in that crystal ball to try and glimpse the most important affiliate marketing trends in 2022.

Or actually, we didn’t do most of the gazing ourselves. Instead, we asked the leaders of seven affiliate networks from around the world one simple, but at the same time rather complicated question.

What trends do you foresee in affiliate marketing?

Eager to find out the results? Of course you are! (So were we when we started writing the article). 

We felt that, in order to get an honest inventory of which affiliate marketing trends could shape 2022, we had to get a wide scope of opinions.

And not just from anyone who is “doing a little affiliate marketing” in their spare time. No, we wanted the opinion of people who’ve made it big in affiliate marketing.

And we found them.

They all answered that same question: What trends do you foresee in affiliate marketing? 

But we also asked them whether they feel like it’s still possible to get into affiliate marketing in 2022.

Last but not least, we asked them about what (new) affiliate niches they’re expecting the most of in 2022. 

So, enough foreplay. Let’s get to what you’re here for: those fresh and juicy affiliate marketing insights for the future. 

Affiliate marketing trends in 2022, according to seven CEO’s:

• Şencan Özen, Owner at ReklamStore
• Marko Dobroschelski, CEO at Daisycon (part of Linehub)
• Patryk Hoffmann, Founder & CEO at MyLead
• Zane McIntyre, CEO at Commission Factory
• Wouter Groenewoud, General Manager at Traffic Company
• Anna, General Manager at Mobytize
• Morten Grothe-Kraemmergaard, Managing Director at Salestring.com

Affiliate marketing trend 1: Growing importance of micro influencers

Şencan Özen, Owner at ReklamStore

ReklamStore is a data-driven digital advertising platform. In line with some of the upcoming predictions on this list, Şencan expects the role of influencers to keep on growing. Especially that of micro influencers. “I think the importance of microinfluencers will increase in 2022. Influencers specializing in a particular field have a great ability to convince their audiences. That’s why I think that microinfluencers who produce quality content will attract more attention of the affiliate world in 2022 with their high conversion rates. New features and trends on social media like live shopping will also give more power to marketers in this area.”

Do you believe it is still possible to get into affiliate marketing in 2022, or is the market saturated in your opinion?

Since Şencan believes in the power of micro influencers, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he also believes that there is always place for newcomers in the affiliate marketing market: 

“I think there is always room for new players in affiliate marketing. With the rise of social media platforms and their new features, the entry barrier is even lower than previous times. There are several ways that marketers can attract audiences without even building a website.”

Şencan’s niche prediction for 2022:

“I can say that those who produce content in areas such as banking, finance, automotive or health, where consumers make large investments both financially and emotionally, will earn more from affiliate marketing in the coming period.”

The niches that Şencan mentions are – perhaps not surprising – niches that are regularly viewed as highly competitive. It is an interesting thought that micro-influencers might be able to still earn a living there, leveraging the personal relation that they’ve built with their audiences.

Affiliate marketing trend 2: Revshare with the consumer

Marko Dobroschelski, CEO at Daisycon (part of Linehub)

Daisycon is a performance based affiliate network in greater Europe. They are technology oriented with a personal and local touch. Currently, Daisycon has offices in 9 countries.

Marko expects that revshare (revenue share) with the consumer will play a bigger role in 2022 than it has so far: “Revshare with the consumer, affiliate marketing integrated in loyalty and cashback for non-traditional publishers.” Do you believe it is still possible to get into affiliate marketing in 2022, or is the market saturated in your opinion? Marko is positive that there will always be possibilities and chances to get into affiliate marketing. “The essence of affiliates will always exist, new niches will appear. There are challenges in regulations (regulators) and techimpact (big tech), but in essence the affiliate model will survive.”

Marko’s niche prediction for 2022:

When asked about what niches he expects to be especially lucrative in 2022, Mark points to the following markets:

“Health, Education, Decentralized finance (Crypto e.g.) and Fintech”

Affiliate marketing trend 3: Bigger volumes and smarter tools

Patryk Hoffmann, Founder & CEO at MyLead

MyLead is an innovative affiliate network that has been around for over seven  years already. Smartlinks, content locker, ready-made landing pages, 3000+ affiliate programs, 24/7 support – you’ll find it all in one place. In the previous Affbank Awards, we won “The Best Crypto Network” and “The Best Smartlinks Network”.

Patryk points towards the current booming trend in e-commerce. Just like later entries in this article, he explains this from the pandemic, which has forced many offline buyers online. He expects this trend to follow through in the coming years, which means that the biggest affiliate marketing trend he foresees is higher numbers and booming statistics. “If it comes to the most desired affiliate marketing trends, my prediction is that it will stay the same for the next year. It means that all the data indicates increasing popularity of e-commerce. That’s mostly because of the pandemic. In some areas, online shopping has become the only way to purchase products. The problem has been promptly adjusted by e-commerce players. According to JDSupra, nonstore sales in the United States increased by 31.3% in December compared to November 2019. This trend will continue to accelerate.”

Something else that Patryk points out, is the development of privacy issues and how the big companies seem to adapt.

“What’s worth mentioning is a privacy issue. Apple is already aggressively implementing the privacy policy, Google is also considering it with Chrome, but it was postponed to 2023.”

This of course will raise new issues for affiliate marketers and platforms, since both rely heavily on being able to track where a certain transaction originated from. It is therefore interesting to monitor what the future will hold in this regard.  

Patryk completes his fortune telling with some interesting thoughts on tools that might see increased popularity in 2022.

“Modern tools like Content Lockers and link cloaking systems. Content Lockers are great if it comes to monetizing content. It allows affiliate publishers to block a certain part of their website. Once a recipient wants to unlock it, they have to perform a certain action. On MyLead, we have four types of Content Lockers. 

If it comes to a link cloaking system, it contains two elements. One is a safe page which is basically a landing page that social media bots and moderators are directed to. The real recipient is directed to a proper sales page. MyLead has created a link cloaking system called HideLink. With its help, publishers can promote any type of offer on restricted social media platforms, like Facebook. Access to any tool, including HideLink and Content Lockers is free to each MyLead publisher.”

Do you believe it is still possible to get into affiliate marketing in 2022, or is the market saturated in your opinion?

“Sure, affiliate marketing’s popularity keeps increasing which means that more and more people get into it. For some people that equals too much competition which could be discouraging. But that’s not the right way of thinking. Even though there’s a lot of beginning publishers, this branch of marketing should still be joined. And it is! Statistics say that last year was amazing, 2021 is still growing and 2022 will be just the same in the context of joining.

Because affiliate marketing is (and will be) so popular, there are so many materials, resources, free tools and an increasing amount of affiliate programs. All these things will help any publisher maximize their profits. Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways of earning online.”

Patryk’s niche prediction for 2022:

“Of course, the aforementioned e-commerce is and will remain extremely lucrative in 2022. The popularity of betting and gambling is also increasing like crazy.  Betting has risen to the top in 2020. According to statistics, it now accounts for 20% of all gaming market revenue! Here, too, the pandemic had its impact. People stopped coming to casinos and started playing online. 

Also, in all affiliate marketing trends lists, the dating vertical remains one of the most significant. Dating offerings will continue to attract those who are bored of being cooped up at home, with Valentine’s Day serving as a warm-up. And if the anti-COVID vaccination is successful, we will see more individuals going out more often. There’s no bad time for this niche.”

Affiliate marketing trend 4: The role of trust 

Zane McIntyre, CEO at Commission Factory

Commission Factory is the affiliate marketing network that has supported and grown the industry in APAC since 2011. We believe affiliate marketing should be accessible to everyone and have created a platform that is simple by design and deep by choice – giving everyone access to the tools they need as they scale.

The increasing importance of influencers is a common thread throughout this article. Note that, just like Şencan, Zane also points to the importance of trust and personal relationships between influencers and their following.  “Influencers with hyper targeted audiences and niches will see the greatest success in their campaigns. As we digest so much content digitally now more than ever we will seek influencers and content that is not so broad but targeted to us specifically. Trust plays an enormous role here, where macro influencers do not have the same level of trust as the micro influencers and this creates continued opportunity for more social media stars to rise.”

Do you believe it is still possible to get into affiliate marketing in 2022, or is the market saturated in your opinion?

“There is still plenty of opportunity within the industry and we are are constantly seeing new entrants and ideas.”

Zane’s niche prediction for 2022:

“As COVID-19 moves from pandemic to endemic our world has changed in a short period of time where health, wellness and fitness are front and centre. I believe there is still a lot of growth available in this industry as our focus has shifted from materiality to mindfulness. This sector will saturate quickly so those wanting to get into this space will need to do so quickly with USPs to match.”

Affiliate marketing trend 5: Even more influence for influencers

Wouter Groenewoud, General Manager at Traffic Company

Traffic Company is a CPA network that is focussed on helping publishers to get the best revenue from their visitors.

Wouter is very clear on his expectations on the ever growing influence of influencers. “The influence of ‘influencers’ will grow even more, especially in niche markets.” As stated above, many of the people who shared their insights for this article agree on the fact that influencers will play a major role in the affiliate marketing trends of 2022.

Do you believe it is still possible to get into affiliate marketing in 2022, or is the market saturated in your opinion?

Wouter seems to share the opinion of Marko Dobroschelski from Daisycon that the potential for success hinges on the subject or niche that one chooses.

“No, I don’t think the market is saturated. You have to pick your topic, your niche, wisely though. Whether or not it is still possible to be successful as a newcomer to affiliate marketing depends on the vertical you choose to focus on.”

And as Marko stated under the first affiliate marketing trend for 2022, new niches will always appear, opening up new possibilities to get into affiliate marketing. 

Wouters niche prediction for 2022:

“I expect a lot from the crypto market, as it becomes more and more mainstream.”

Cryptocurrency is probably the best possible example of the rise of influencers in a new niche. With all the buzz that this topic has been turning up, it has been a very worthwhile topic for new influencers to get into. It’s exciting to think what the next year might bring for this niche and if it will finally manage to mature as a niche, or keep on bouncing up and down.

Affiliate marketing trend 6: New sources of traffic and opportunities

Anna, General Manager at Mobytize

Mobytize is a CPA Network with various verticals, the strongest of which is gambling.

Anna foresees massive growth for the affiliate market in 2022, which will open up new and exciting opportunities.

“The affiliate market will definitely grow, because after the pandemic, many were forced to look for income while sitting at home. This is an attractive market for many and can bring good profits. With the influx of new people into this market, competition and problems with some of the existing traffic sources will increase. But, I think, thanks to this, we will have new sources of traffic. As for the verticals, I think nothing will change much, all verticals have their own audience, which will not go anywhere. Is that the crypto advertisers will attract a little more affiliates from other verticals.”

Do you believe it is still possible to get into affiliate marketing in 2022, or is the market saturated in your opinion?

Not only is the market growing rapidly, says Anna, she points to the fact that new spaces will always keep opening up.

“In the market, someone always leaves, someone comes. There are a lot of verticals and traffic sources here. There are also quite a lot of GEOs that are abandoned. So I think there’s enough space for everyone.”

Anna’s niche prediction for 2022:

Anna doesn’t believe in one niche that promises to become successful in 2022. Rather, she points out that the road to success is paved with experience with the topic.  

“Each niche has its own pros and cons. If you know how to work well with gambling, then your attempts to work with crypto will not be crowned with success, since the target audience is different. Therefore, I think for everyone, the most successful niche will be the one in which he understands the target audience, the niche with which you know how to work.”

Affiliate marketing trend 7: The future of shopping is online

Morten Grothe-Kraemmergaard, Managing Director at Salestring.com

Salestring.com is a Danish affiliate netwerk, that focuses on the growth of Danish webshops.

Morten points to the accelerating impact that the corona pandemic has had on the digitalization of companies, in particular shopping.  “The corona-crisis has made it clear that the future of shopping more than ever lies online. There are thousands of webshops looking for a way to boost awareness on the lower level without having to spend a huge amount of cash they don’t have on search, media agencies etc.” This also means that Morten sees a lot of potential still for newcomers to the affiliate marketing world.

Do you believe it is still possible to get into affiliate marketing in 2022, or is the market saturated in your opinion?

He expects that the surge of companies that have started to (also) operate online, will open up plenty of opportunities for newcomers in affiliate marketing.

“Affiliate appeals to smaller and medium sized shops wanting to build their business – and 2022 will see even more activity on that front.”

Consider also the rise in the amount of people that conduct most of their purchases online, thus boosting the number of people that are looking for information and recommendations, and it seems indeed clear that affiliate marketing is far from saturated. 

Morten’s niche prediction for 2022:

When asked about which niche he expects the most of in 2022, Morten points to small and medium sized webshops. 

“Close and present customer service is key for all small and medium sized webshops looking for trust in companies aiding in building THEIR business to greatness.”

Conclusion: what will be the most important affiliate marketing trends in 2022?

As we have seen, there are a few returning topics that keep popping up throughout this glance toward 2022.

The most interesting of those is probably that three out of seven respondents mentioned influencers as the “biggest thing” for 2022, especially micro influencers who have a strong bond with and trustworthiness towards their audiences.

An important takeaway lesson for all affiliate marketers is the emerging importance of trust and personality. When you’re looking for ways to boost your own affiliate business in 2022, you might look for ways to bring more of both in your content and platform.

Whether you have the ambition to be an influencer or not, try and look at yourself as an influencer in the niche that you are targeting.

Another interesting find from the survey is that there seems to be no doubt about the fact that affiliate marketing will always open up new and exciting possibilities and that it’s never too late to get into affiliate marketing. 

So if you’re reading this and yo-yo-ing with the question whether or not you should start as an affiliate marketer, put your doubts aside and go for it. (Here’s why affiliate marketing is still worth it.)

Of course, any prediction about the future remains just that: a prediction. Only time can tell which affiliate marketing trends will have the most impact on the market.